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Sense of urgency
Quite often you realize you have been scammed seconds, minutes, or a few days after the deal is made. Once they have you, the sense of urgency vacates. Don’t be too hasty. There should always be a firm “NO!” answer to any business proposition that warns “You better get in before the price goes up!” This is a sales tactic used for centuries and almost always portends that there is something inherently wrong with the proposition. If there is no other life lesson that has been learned recently it is that the “get in on the housing boom” before it’s too late can lead to monumental losses. If the proposition is truly that good, a few thousand dollar expenditure later should be able to be recouped quickly.
Why do we fall for these scams?
The idea of becoming rich appeals to everyone, especially if we “supposedly” have a benefactor that, for a price, will guide us through the training process, provide the tools for success, and opportunity for interaction with others already in the industry. The true reality is that they have a failure rate exceeding 90% and the money you pay them is being used to finance their daily operations and not the investment in your future success.
Don’t be hooked into trying these work at home scams, they don’t work for the VAST majority of people. Here’s a checklist of “sniff test”, to make a decision if this stinks:
1. Does the organization welcome critical opinion and learn from it to make themselves better or do they attempt to suppress, trivialize, or dismiss it?
2. Has the organization ever sued one of its members that openly expressed dissatisfaction with their product?
3. Anytime you are required to speak with an “Evaluation Board” as a condition of membership it should remind you that Bernie Madoff’s victims were required to be sponsored into his scam.
4. Go on “Linked In” and join groups associated with the field you are considering entry. This is a no cost way to explore the career before paying anyone, anything and can provide insight into the profession. If you stumble across anyone already associated with the organization attempting to pry your money out of your pocket, take their comments with extreme cynicism. After all, they may have a financial motivation behind their “glowing” comments”
5. Contact the Attorney General’s office in your home State and the State of Incorporation for the company that your are considering. If necessary, file a Freedom of Information Act request in order to obtain any details on the company’s performance. It’s as easy as sending them a fax or letter and most are happy to provide detailed information regarding complaints they’ve received.
6. Always consider the contract and payment terms. If the organization is demanding an upfront 100% payment of the membership fee, it means they don’t expect you to be around long enough to make progress payments. Even if they try to lock you into a commitment to pay them the full amount over a specified period it means they don’t have enough confidence in their own product to provide an “out” for those dissatisfied.
7. Consider the source. If the primary source of information available is provided by the person trying to secure your payment, the old adage “Just walk away” should apply. Some organizations place so much information on the internet that it buries negative information crucial in the due diligence process to a point of irrelevance in the results (like the 6th or further page of results).
In the end, if it smells like a scam, looks like a scam, and even attaches scam to the end of it’s name in a domain to redirect you to more propaganda produced by the scam, it is probably a scam in a CAN.
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