Everyone has probably heard the old saying, “you have to spend money to make money.” Unfortunately, that clich does not hold true when it comes to “get rich quick” scams. People are always trying to find ways to make money fast. In their frenzy, they sometimes overlook some of the most common red flags out there. Even if you are desperate for a quick buck, be sure not to fall prey to one of these schemes.
What Kind of Experience is Needed for the Job
Anytime you see a job posting boast “no experience necessary,” you should be a little suspicious. Not that there aren’t tons of entry level positions out there that don’t require years of training in a given field. There are, however, entry level gigs that also pay entry level wages. The postings you should be wary of are those that promise big paychecks with no experience and often little to no work. Any advertisement that “guarantees” earnings disproportionate to the time and effort required is a scam.
How to Spot a “Payment up Front” Model
A favorite tactic among scammers is the old payment up front model. Although this type of scam may seem obvious from a third party perspective, many of them can take very deceitful forms. They may use fancy terminology that sounds legitimate to the financially un-savvy. The schemer could say that he or she is presenting a once in a lifetime “investment opportunity.” Sometimes schemes will even disguise the fact that the victim is paying the scammer. For example, some ask people to deposit checks from foreign investors, keep a percentage of the payments, then write checks to the company (often an individual in a far off country) for the difference. The problem is, the original checks are bogus, and the victims end up paying large sums of money instead of getting paid themselves.
This scam was made very popular by the internet in recent years. No matter how criminals disguise their scams, always keep in mind that you should never be asked to pay for the privilege of working for a company. Try researching some top rated companies on our site first.
Be Wary of Companies that Offer Incentives for Recruiting Employees
When a company puts more emphasis on recruiting new employees than on selling a product or service, it’s a scam. This type of make money fast scam is known as a pyramid or ponzi scheme. A pyramid scheme relies on an exponential number of investors to keep it going. People must pay to join, and they make money only when others invest and join as well. A ponzi scheme involves people getting paid from their own investments or the investments of others, rather than from profit of any goods or services. Both types of scams are unsustainable business models and are illegal in most countries. The schemes were named after the infamous, Charles Ponzi, shown here.
The legal equivalent to a pyramid scheme is called a multi-level marketing (MLM) scheme. This entails recruiting new employees and selling products such as vitamins. However, most employees end up buying most of the company’s products themselves in order to hit commission goals and receive various discounts or bonuses. The problem is, most end up only making a fraction of the promised income and must continuously recruit others to join the company to see any sort of profit.
Don’t Fall for “Completely Legal” Tagline
If a top selling point of a product or “investment opportunity” is that it’s completely legal, you should think twice about joining. A legitimate company isn’t going to advertise that they’re completely legal. It won’t have to. That fact would be obvious to consumers and potential employees. If you have to ask if a business model is legal, chances are it isn’t. Consult the Federal Trade Commission on how to be prepared to invest.
These are just a few of the most common red flags for make money fast scams. The outer package may change, but underneath, it’s the same old tactics. Get rich quick schemes prey on the desperation and naivet of their victims. If you ever encounter such a scam and are tempted by the promise of easy money, remember this rule of thumb: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. There is no cookie cutter way to make money fast. True wealth is earned through a combination of hard work and skill. With this knowledge, you can be confident that the charms of a get rich quick scheme will never catch your eye again.