(How Not to) Get Rich Quick!
I feel really sorry for my sister right now, and I feel even worse that I'm feeling sorry for her.
She sent me the following e-mail:
Hello all. I am, as usual, trying something new. I have decided to become an independant advertiser for a vitamin company. It sounds like a great concept with little work involved. I would really appreciate it if you could all forward the website to anyone you know so they can check it out. http://www.dontforgettotakeyourvitamins.com/schmidt40686 I appreciate all help you can give me on this.
Thanks so much,
Sara
I just now noticed the misspelling of "independent," which ordinarily wouldn't bother me (much) in a personal e-mail. Except this is obviously a form letter for her to forward off of the website, which means this company didn't spellcheck their (spam) ad.
I followed the link from her e-mail and discovered that she isn't being paid to simply direct people to the website; she needs to make sales. Okay, fair enough. But I see an ad on the website offering $1000 to make these sales. Let's read that fine print, shall we?
It seems that if Sara makes 20 sales, she can receive $1000. But they'll only pay her up to $200 a month, which is piddly. Oh, and apparently she gave them $35 in order to sign up for this amazing advertising opportunity.
My heart. It hurts.
Several years ago, Sara sent away, i.e., paid, for one of those get-rich-quick schemes that asks the starry-eyed to stuff envelopes. She didn't make a cent. It was a scam, obviously, and it worked.
This Vitamin company is also a scam. Oh, sure, they might pay her if she makes some sales, but I doubt it. And even if they did, it doesn't justify them charging her 35 bucks.
There is the old adage that you have to spend money to make money, but that isn't true in an entry-level job--even if you are working out of your living room. That's true for business owners, investors, and CEOs. If you're desperate for cash and think that $35 and a few forwarded hyperlinks = rolling in it, then you should probably hold on to that $35.
My sister got scammed, and I feel bad for her. What's worse is that the nature of this scam sees her e-mailing the fact that she was scammed to everyone she knows. On any other day this might be funny to me, but I just feel so guilty--perhaps as someone who works for an internet company, I should have warned her. But you don't have to work on the internet to know that website looks fishy.
That said, if you want to buy something from her link, feel free. I don't recommend it, obviously, because I don't trust that company one bit. But I wish she could get back that $35 she so clearly wasted.
She sent me the following e-mail:
Hello all. I am, as usual, trying something new. I have decided to become an independant advertiser for a vitamin company. It sounds like a great concept with little work involved. I would really appreciate it if you could all forward the website to anyone you know so they can check it out. http://www.dontforgettotakeyourvitamins.com/schmidt40686 I appreciate all help you can give me on this.
Thanks so much,
Sara
I just now noticed the misspelling of "independent," which ordinarily wouldn't bother me (much) in a personal e-mail. Except this is obviously a form letter for her to forward off of the website, which means this company didn't spellcheck their (spam) ad.
I followed the link from her e-mail and discovered that she isn't being paid to simply direct people to the website; she needs to make sales. Okay, fair enough. But I see an ad on the website offering $1000 to make these sales. Let's read that fine print, shall we?
It seems that if Sara makes 20 sales, she can receive $1000. But they'll only pay her up to $200 a month, which is piddly. Oh, and apparently she gave them $35 in order to sign up for this amazing advertising opportunity.
My heart. It hurts.
Several years ago, Sara sent away, i.e., paid, for one of those get-rich-quick schemes that asks the starry-eyed to stuff envelopes. She didn't make a cent. It was a scam, obviously, and it worked.
This Vitamin company is also a scam. Oh, sure, they might pay her if she makes some sales, but I doubt it. And even if they did, it doesn't justify them charging her 35 bucks.
There is the old adage that you have to spend money to make money, but that isn't true in an entry-level job--even if you are working out of your living room. That's true for business owners, investors, and CEOs. If you're desperate for cash and think that $35 and a few forwarded hyperlinks = rolling in it, then you should probably hold on to that $35.
My sister got scammed, and I feel bad for her. What's worse is that the nature of this scam sees her e-mailing the fact that she was scammed to everyone she knows. On any other day this might be funny to me, but I just feel so guilty--perhaps as someone who works for an internet company, I should have warned her. But you don't have to work on the internet to know that website looks fishy.
That said, if you want to buy something from her link, feel free. I don't recommend it, obviously, because I don't trust that company one bit. But I wish she could get back that $35 she so clearly wasted.