Avoid Money Scams

GPT stands for Get Paid To, or at least that is what the scams tell us.  A more appropriate acronym would be Going To Pay.

GPT offers include fillng out surveys and providing market research.  Companies look for information about the consumer sector that they serve.  This is really nothing new.  Companies have been doing this kind of survey research for years.  I even once had a job for a company that did telephone surveys for various markets.  Often you can find these types of surveys at busy malls and shopping centers.  Companies will re-imburse you for your time with free product or a few dollars.

The hype about GPT online is that you can provide the same market information from the comfort of your home computer.  It sounds simple enough.  Unfortunately it does get a little more complicated than most GPT sites are willing to explain.

First, a couple of notes about the legitimate surveys.

• They don’t pay much.  Perhaps one or two dollars, if anything.  Often the payment is in the form of coupons or free product.
• Companies are looking for legitimate participants.  If you haven’t had experience with their market sector they will screen you out and you will get nothing.
• The surveys take time.  Often the hourly work rate calculates out to around $3.00 to $5.00 per hour, less than minimum wage.

Those are the legitimate paying surveys.  Now, for the true scams.  These are the sites that ask you to pay for the privilege of taking surveys through their system.  Of course, if somebody is asking for your money up front they are scamming you.  Don’t give them your money.  Odds are good you will never see it again.  One of the great dangers of the online world is that scammers can remain completely anonymous.  Never give away money, and never give away your credit card information without knowing exactly what you are getting in return and who you are doing business with.

A quick search about the company you are thinking about doing business with should reveal more of the truth about how legitimate their business really is.

Worry about your identity?  So do I.  Here are some tips to avoid identity theft and keep your finances safe.

1. Never give out your Social Security Number.  Banks, airlines, colleges, and other institutions have other ways of tracking your identity.  Politely request that they use one – such as creating an I.D. number for you.
2. Get a paper shredder.  Shred bills and credit card offers before throwing them away.
3. Talk about identity theft with family members – especially teenagers.  Family members are often the victim of identity fraud from each other.  Being open with your concerns with family members can help keep all of you safe.
4. Check your bank statements.  Go over each transaction each month.  Don’t just toss the statement out.  Watch out for transactions you don’t recognize.
5. Get a Post Office Box.  Especially if you receive checks, such as child support or other payments as paper checks.  Have it delivered to a post office box and not to your home.

My particular gripe against multi-level marketing is not so much that it is a scam, but that most MLM’s or network marketing groups don’t do what makes sense in a consumer culture.

If you own a company that makes a legitimately beneficial product, such as vitamins, soap, etc. then why not use some tried and true methods of marketing and selling that product rather than attempting to turn inexperienced, untrained individuals into a sales force.

I’ve had some experience in sales, yep the door to door kind, and truthfully I didn’t enjoy it all that much.  Now I had a product I believed in, and I did pretty good at it.  But if you are in the business of selling a product you don’t believe in, then it becomes very difficult to market.  Most people get involved with MLM’s because they want to make money.  They aren’t particularly attached to the makeup or kitchenware that they are selling.  Yes they do like the product.  Yes they do become infatuated with it for a time, but after a while the scrap booking supplies just don’t hold the same appeal and they’ve run out of friends to sell to.

If the same company were to simply buy some radio or television advertising time, I suspect they would do much better.  Rather than inflating the prices of their products to compensate for the low distribution rates to end consumers (not the associates or business owners), they could market their product at a fair price.

What happens in many cases is that the new business owner purchases some inventory and then finds themselves incapable of distributing it because they have not received the training and do not have the time to get the skills to learn to sell the product and develop the business.  Then the new business owner ends up consuming his or her inventory over the next several months and eventually leaves the business altogether.

The same company could simply have made a life-time customer of the same business owner, selling at a better price but for a longer time and made a more sustainable business model for themselves.  Really that is my gripe.  MLM’s for the most part are simply not sustainable as profitable econimic entities.  This draws resources from the economy as a whole and  the economy (global or local) does not need these kinds of drains.

One of the many powerful forces in advertising today is the drive for healthier living.  Media targets consumers from all angles with directed ads concerning our health and well-being.  For the most part this kind of awareness is a very good thing.

Like all consumer choices, the choices we make concerning our health should be made cautiously and with a reasonable amount of research.  Of course everyone doesn’t have time to become a nutritional expert, but it doesn’t hurt to google a particular product and read a few trusted reviews.

Many nutritional supplements have not received a high level of scrutiny, and should be purchased with caution.  Though the  health risks in most cases are slight by using these products, the health benefits are also often an unknown quantity.  The benefits of colloidal silver , for example, are highly controversial.  I am amazed that in our day of science and innovation people still fall for advertising that this product cures (almost overnight) over 500 diseases.  If this were true we would need far fewer medical professionals.

Understanding that quacks and snake oil salesmen in the 18th and 19th century started businesses based around dubious products and scams can help to understand our continued fascination with pills and elixirs of every sort.  Before medical practice became regulated to the degree that it is now, many purported doctors claimed to have developed cures for everything from gout to warts and they traveled from town to town selling their wares to anyone desperate enough to try it.

The Food and Drug administration was established specifically to curtail this type of behavior, but legislation has made it legal for Nutritional Supplements to enter the marketplace without undergoing the same rigorous testing that prescription medications face.  This means that the products available for purchase at health food stores may not have been proven in clinical studies and that there is not a requirement even to have been tested.  In essense the risk lies entirely with the consumer.

In most cases the risk involved is nothing more than your money and false hopes.  For many supplements this is only a few dollars.  In most cases health will not deteriorate, but the risk of side effects is very real and largely undocumented.  The greatest risk is that a person will make the choice to put the little money they have for health care towards these unproven products rather than finding a competent medical professional.

I was glancing through the Harvard Business Review management tips the other day.  I found it interesting that I found zero advertisements for get rich quick schemes and work from home businesses.Everyone needs to make a living.  The formulas for success in the United States are pretty well laid out.  Admittedly, not everyone is going to become wealthy simply because they attend a given university or because they choose a specific degree, but these activities do increase a person’s chances of success.

Think about sitting in a job interview.  Is a potential employer more likely to hire a person who has consistently tried to build their skills through appropriate training or someone who has lost $3000.00 through get-rich-quick schemes.  Employers look for consistency and ability.

A good business, home-based or not, requires that same level of dedication, day in and day out.  While there are definitely many ways to make a little cash on the side, in order to build wealth and become successful in any endeavor requires hard work, dedication, and consistent performance.

While not all of us will attend a premier business school and gain large salaries, we can still achieve our measure of success in our own ventures.

If you are the unfortunate victim of a scam, you definitely have my condolences.  Being cheated is a horrible experience for anyone to go through.  Unfortunately words don’t mean much when you have lost your money, credit, and possibly the trust of loved ones.

Call the business that is scamming you.  I’m sure you are already past this step, but if you haven’t done it already, call them.  Ask for a specific person, and when you call back, ask for that specific person again.  Write down the names of everyone you talk to, and find out from them what their job function is.  Many times businesses are simply unorganized, and you could end up talking to someone who has no idea how to close out your account so you keep getting billed.  If you can find the right person this may help.

Call the Better Business Bureau.  They can help advocate for you in a lot of cases.  Although they do not have legal authority to fine or bring judgment against a business, they do apply pressure for businesses to make things right.  For most infomercial scams or billing scams, where the business simply keeps billing you for a product you don’t want this will usually put a stop to it.  They will also be able to direct you to people who can help you further.

Search the internet for your specific scam, business or fraudulent deal.  Odds are good that you are not the first person to be scammed.  Many times you can find others who have dealt with the same problem and they will be able to give you specific advice.  One great resource you can check out is Fraudaid.com .   They have several guides on what to do.

Finally, get an attorney.  If you have lost several hundred or even thousands of dollars, get a professional on your side.  Some scams and frauds can actually get you into legal trouble.  If you suspect that you are involved in a shady deal and you want to get out before its too late, consult with a fraud attorney.  They will be able to give you specific advice for your case.

What kind of a person preys on emotions like love and friendship?  Scammers and swindlers do.  More than once I’ve seen a news cast where someone (usually a nice older female) found themselves caught up with someone more interested in their pocketbook than their affections.

The story is tragic, and unfortunately all too common.  A charismatic, likeable, attractive person approaches and becomes friendly.  At first there is no discussion of money.  There are no apparent hidden agendas.  Everything seems on the level.  But when it comes to financial matters, the con artist is secretive and never seems to pay his or her own bill.

There may be signs, such as hard to believe stories.  These stories may seem at first to be simply oddities in the person’s life, apparently plausible, but just a stretch.  They claim to have lived overseas or have spent time usually years in a place most people wouldn’t go.  They may claim to not have living relatives or to have few friends in the town they came from.  Perhaps their school burned down, or the hospital they were born in.

All of these signs will appear perfectly normal at first.  Only long after the money is gone do the clues add up.

The warning here is to be very, very careful with your money, especially online.  The internet has the wonderful ability to offer a voice to any person.  Anyone can say anything.  That means that the truly dishonest have a voice too.  They may appear on a blog, in a chat room, or over an online dating service.  They may tell you anything you want to hear.  They may share photos or even videos, but you don’t know the truth about the person until you meet them face to face, and even then you need to be careful.

Here are some rules to keep in mind.

• Never send money to anyone you don’t personally know.  Just because the fellow in the chat room says “I love you” doesn’t mean he won’t steal your money.
• Never give out your personal information, i.e. Social Security or Bank Account information.  No real exceptions here.  Unless you are filing a joint tax return they don’t need to know.
• Never loan money without a contract.  This can be a simple as  a getting a written I.O.U.  If you expect to be paid back, get it in writing.
• Never meet alone with someone you met online for the first time.  Go with a friend or family member.

Keep your money and life safe.  I’ve provided a link here to a tragic story of someone who was duped.