Sucker-trap

A sucker-trap is any ploy intentionally used as a trap, to trick people, who is perceived to be gullible, into doing something foolish and that the user in some way will profit from. While the ploy itself is "perceived to be" so obvious that "only fools would fall for it".
The foolish act can be: spending time or money on something, on which the suckered fool would have been better off by not spending any time or money.

The profit can be: money, amusement etcetera.
What will make this topic a valid article is the things that can be said about the usage of such ploys themselves (not the usage of the term!). Of special interest to the public, will be the fact that trolls do make use of time-stealing sucker-traps! (See: m:What is a troll?).
Origin of the term
The first use on record of the term "sucker-trap" is the 1952 classic science fiction novel The Space Merchants (see: ) But it has later been heard in use among people who presumably not have read that book .
Etymology
The term: "sucker-trap" refers to that infants, who are sucking mothers milk, are the ones that are both the least experienced and the most carefree in this world. And therefore they should be the only ones that would be gullible enough to fall for a trap like this.
Use of the term 'sucker-trap'
The ploy in question does not, in fact, have to bee all that obvious, to most people, as long as it is quite obvious to those 'in the know'.
The term itself may often be considered to be an indication of, or a hint about, a possibly derogatory attitude from the one who uses (sets) the trap, towards its intended victim(s). Implying that the trapper might argue along the line: "Being so stupid, they had it coming!" and subsequently and maybe unconsciously: "...and therefore I do not have to feel bad about treating them this way".
References to potential sucker-traps who steal time
*Monty Hall problem --May be aimed at people who do not fully grasp the concept of probability, but who may have some knowlede of probability calculus, and who are making an effort trying to get a better grip on the subject.

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