Last post, I said i will make a list of possible signs you can use to detect and determine possible scam cases, so here they are:
1. Mastermind, mastermind, mastermind
Calling themselves mastermind and that they are the top of their game is to create the image that they are experts of the field – trustworthy with authority. I personally don’t think even the best in the field will overly brag about this. They will make promises that you can make lots of money quickly and easily, and if you hesitate, their team will revert to more high pressure tactics.
2. Luxury cars / homes / planes in the video
their “success” lets them buy these assets, to make you envy of them and to try to be like them. In some cases, the guru may not even own the cars~
3. Criticize normal jobs
You will hear two formats: the first is where they will say how the normal jobs are mundane / corporate rat race, etc, and that these jobs earn nowhere near as much money than what they are doing. The second version began after the spread of COVID-19, saying that as a result of the virus a lot of jobs will disappear but the online scene will now thrive.
4. Invites you to a “live webinar”
The entire thing may be staged to look like a popular / successful event. It is also possible that the “live” in the “live webinar” is false, more like a “live recorded webinar”.
5. Paid course
why is this millionaire saying they want to give you their secret formula suddenly charge you money to get it? That does not make sense.
6. Age of the guru / affiliate
Seriously, if the person selling you is a young person, how much real world experience do they have that they can jsutify their “guru” status?
7. No verifiable financial history
They mostly say they went from $0 or in debt to over 100k in a short period of time and the process itself is smooth sailing, but they don’t go into the specifics of the business activities itself. Also, some gurus say how they have created several different businesses but they don’t tell you what kind of businesses they are.
8. You see their ads on Youtube or Facebook
Running adverts means it is mostly a sales lead. You can think about why do they need to advertise themselves, by themselves to get your attention in the first place. If they are reputable, surely there will be media organizations wanting to cooperate with them on these events.
9. Free Resource in exchange for contacts
This is another sales lead. Most likely they ask you to leave your contact details in exchange for the free resource. Once you leave your contact information, be prepared to receive a never ending list of emails, or be contacted by one of their team to further push you in.
10. Emphasizing a mentor / mentee relationship
They will keep themselves in a position of authority to you, dominating your decisions and overiding your hesitations. This is to help with their teaching and also to make you pay more money for their packages.
This list of possible “alerts” was made up from three sources: 1) my own experience; 2) various youtubers discussing this topic, and 3) various online discussions. Of note, I want to credit youtubers Coffeezilla and Spencer Cornelia on their work about these online schemes and I thank them for making a stand on this subject, because like MLM and pyramid schemes, a lot of people end up losing money for what they thought was a genuine opportunity with a decent possibility for success.
In my opinion, if even an ‘online business opportunity’ has one or two of these signs, you already need to be cautious and conduct deeper research to determine its authenticity. If more of these signs appear in one setting, then no matter how enticing it may be, I suggest you take a step back and avoid it. If most of these signs appear, I say you shouldn’t even continue looking at it.
Remember:
IN THE BUSINESS WORLD, THERE IS NO FREE LUNCH.
IF AN OPPORTUNITY WAS SO EASY, THERE WILL BE NO POOR PEOPLE ON EARTH