Get-Rich-Quick Scams FAQ
A few frequently asked questions regarding certain get-rich-quick scams. This FAQ article is in response to our main article on the subject which we suggest reading first, here.Are get-rich-quick schemes illegal?
Depends which schemes you are talking about. Most take advantage of grey areas of the FTC guidelines and some are more blatantly unlawful. They are not outright illegal because in most cases the victim does receive a product. The schemes that take the time out to insist they are legal are usually illegal or atleast dubious. Schemes that take the time out to say they are not scams usually are.
So I do receive a product then?
For the most part – yes. If they didn’t they would catch the attention of law enforcement a lot quicker and would be shut down rapidly. HOWEVER – and this is a big however – they are still scams.
Why?
Because of the way they are marketed. All get-rich-quick schemes market themselves as just that – get rich quickly. It can range from making thousands a month to being a millionaire inside a year, even though there is little to no chance of this happening.
In addition to this, many will overcharge credit cards or hide significant monthly charges in their terms and conditions.
So the product they send me won’t make me rich?
Not unless you are extremely lucky – and we mean lucky lucky! You probably have more chances of winning your national or state lottery than enjoying financial freedom through the products they send you.
So what exactly will I get sent with a get-rich-quick scheme?
Most of the schemes just send you some rehashed marketing material. It generally varies depending which scheme you sign up for. These are the likely variants of what you will receive -
- Exploiting loopholes or Black Hat SEO - basically information on various unethical tactics or tactics that involve exploiting loopholes. May be moderately effective over a very short period of time, but will give you a bad reputation on the Internet and won't make you a passive income since loopholes and unethical sites are always getting shut down. This variant may also appear in any of the below variants as well.
- Concentrated Material - material that covers a handful of tips and tricks that may be effectively used by Internet marketers, but aren't useful in isolation and are also not secret, new or groundbreaking like the scam will often imply.
- General Overall - Scheme will sell general information on Internet marketing. The information won't make people money and can be obtained for free from anywhere else.
- Sell the Same Product - the scheme will enlist you to become an affilliate with the product you just purchased. This means the victim is told they have to sell the same information they just purchased and everytime they do, they get a commission. This means the creator gets very rich without actually making any significant profit. Victims are enticed with the promises of riches and secret forumlas - all of which are simply lies.
- Google scams - victims are told they can get rich with google. The scams however merely sell the variants listed above, and the victim rarely makes more money than the hefty monthly charges.
All the schemes have one thing in common - they will not generate significant money, except in certain rare circumstances, and they all lie and mislead to get people to join. The material is always effectively useless by itself and 9 times out of 10 will always be available somewhere else for free.
So when they say I’ll get rich, that’s a lie?
Yes. If someone found the secret formula to get rich quickly, would you share it with strangers for a few dollars? Doubtful!
What about all the photos the schemes show with the massive house and expensive cars - isn't that real?
Maybe. It is hard to tell. Chances are some are just faked, but the sad fact is that some of these unethical marketers do get rich from their schemes. The prolific and successful of these scammers run many many "once in a lifetime" schemes at any one time and can make a lot of money from them, so some can be really wealthy. One thing is for sure - they didn't get wealthy by purely just running the system/scheme/formula they're trying to sell you.
Why are these schemes not reported quicker?
Because they send you a product, many people simply don't know they have been scammed. They assume that their slow progress is down to either bad luck or poor performance on their behalf. People tend not to realise they have been sold over hyped material that may make them (usually) a few dollars a day at best, using information they could have likely found for free anywhere else on the Internet.
What is the by product of these schemes?
What is produced with these schemes are many people with a very skewed look at Internet marketing. Because these get-rich-quick courses only cover a fraction of Internet marketing, there are many people out there earning hardly any money on the Internet without knowing why, unaware that they only possess a tiny fraction of information on Internet marketing. These victims of such schemes remain oblivious that there are free resources on the Internet that offer a much more broad look at marketing online that provide great foundations for people looking to make a career online. Get-rich-quick schemes simply don't offer this and their victims fail to see what is going on. The sad fact is many people become highly invested in such schemes and even when failing to make anywhere near the implied amounts will continue on a self destructive path of looking for that next "once in a lifetime" opportunity whilst investing huge amounts of time and earning meagre amounts of money from prior schemes.
Most of these schemes ask for my name and email to progress or to receive a free report. Why?
Email addresses of people who could venture these schemes or who have done in the past are invaluable to these sorts of people, so they will make up an excuse to get your email address. You will typically end up on a mailing list that promotes similar get-rich-quick products, which highlights the above point - these tactics create very skewed and misled people looking for that next opportunity. ThatsNonsense.com is on several of these mailing lists - why go looking for scams when you can get them delievered to your doorstep? As for the free reports, they are usually nothing more than promotional tools for the product or just contain basic marketing material. Never are they truly useful or contain anything you can't find a dozen places elsewhere.
Many of the schemes say they are free to join or only cost a couple of bucks, whats the problem?
The initial sales patter is just that - sales patter. The people who run these schemes know the most vital part is getting people hooked, and the inital low cost or free joining fee is just to get their details. The problem is the information provided to the user as this point is typically rubbish. It is often just cleverly worded promotional material with some basic marketing information thrown in. Not enough for anyone to get started. This initial sale is often referred to as the "front-end" sale and is a tactic employed by many of these "free-to-join" get rich quick schemes. There is another factor with these - the "back-end" sale - where the owner or affiliate of the scheme pressures the victim into "upgrading" - this can be done a number of ways, including the promise of one-to-one training and better materials. The costs are much higher at this point, but the success rate is higher since the victim is already hooked. Even after upgrading and paying more, victims hardly ever make anywhere near the amounts implied or guaranteed in the initial sales patter, and the victim remains unaware that they have been conned.
These schemes say they have the secret formula or plan to success – are their any secrets?
Sure there are certain tips and tricks that only certain people know, but there are no secret easy steps that guarantee massive success, which get-rich-quick schemes imply (or say) there are. One of the most effective selling pitches that these schemes employ is to make the victim believe that there is a massive easy-to-learn secret formula that everyone is using to get rich, and you’re the sucker because you’re on the wrong side working the 9 -5 job. This is just pure fiction. There are no massive secrets or conspiracies that you can learn for a small sign up fee.
I want to get make money online. What do I do?
There are different ways to making money online, though the most common method is simply building a website about a certain subject, making that site great and getting people to visit your site. The people who visit your site is called traffic, and the goal to making money with this method is being able to turn that traffic into money through affiliate advertising or marketing, which is essentially advertising or selling someone else’s product and getting commission. This is just one way and there are others but we won’t go too far into this.
If what we just said appeals to you, then first off you need the website and you can get some great, honest information on that subject here at – www.2createawebsite.com.
As regards to the affiliate marketing information, a great free resource is www.warriorforum.com where experts talk about ideas and publish many tips and tricks for beginner marketers. You can also join www.wealthyaffiliate.com for a small sign up fee which gives honest impartial advice and no over hyped drivel you get with get-rich-quick schemes. You can also spend a little money of a good book which will provide great information and realistic goals, without the hype!
