(How Not to) Get Rich Quick!

[squeakywheel]

I feel really sorry for my sister right now, and I feel even worse that I'm feeling sorry for her

Comments

[kvschwartz]

She could try small claims court.

[squeakywheel]

I'm actually curious about what the Better Business Bureau has to say about these shady practices. What is their approach to the e-business, I wonder. I have absolutely no idea.

[naebliser]

I hate scams. Especially those that prey on the disadvantaged. I mean where is one's conscience, the idea that kicking people while they are down, and for your own gain, is acceptable? I think we all fall for scams on some level, sometime in our lives, full of naivete and idealism, expending time and money expecting a level of pay off that is never to come. But we learn from it and become wiser and have better sense not to make the same mistakes or fall for the same empty promises again. I only feel bad for your sister because she doesn't seem to be able to learn from her experiences. Or maybe is deluding herself out of desperation to not see the similarities. She is just easy prey. You could blame her for being so, or blame the predators for existing. I guess in all fairness you must blame both because they mutually allow eachother's existence. At least it wasn't a tragically large amount of money, and maybe if the venture fails miserably she will get the message this time.

[neonleonb]

Well, the unfortunate is that if she fails, she can blame it on us for not promoting her well enough.

[squeakywheel]

Have you bought your multi-vitamins yet?

[squeakywheel]

Very well said. Those scams succeed because of gullible, hopeful people, but the same people fall for those same traps again and again because they simply refuse to wise up. It's a beautiful, symbiotic relationship. Okay, not exactly, but they do somewhat require each other to exist.

[katinkorea]

Tell her to start selling stuff on ebay. It's the only independant business plan that really works (did I spell independant right?) :-)

[squeakywheel]

I think she used to do the Ebay thing. I know she was active in selling Beanie Babies and did fairly well at that (this was probably seven or eight years ago). I just can't remember how or where she sold them, but I'm fairly certain it was online. She needs a product/connection like that. I'll tell her there's money to be made in cellphones. :) Beware the competition!

[katinkorea]

There are so many new users to ebay the last six months the market is really exploding, and there is more than enough room for competition. :-) Phones are a great market because no one wants to buy them new anymore. It's like buying a brand new car, as soon as you drive it off the dealer's lot it's worth about five grand less. Makes more sense to buy used but near perfect condition.

[squeakywheel]

Hopefully newer phones get better reception, though, right? Maybe?

I don't really care about all the gadgets that come in new phones although I am surprisingly in love with the camera on it, so if I could get a better camera on my phone, I might go newer. But probably not.

[starlakitty]

I think its awful that these websites exist, and worse, that they charge people for thier "services." It makes me sad to think that somewhere out there, some a-hole set this up and *knew* that people who were down on their luck would sign up for it, hoping for an easy oppurtunity to get money. =/

Perhaps Sara should have known the website looked fishy, but maybe she just wanted to believe it. Or maybe, like so many other people who may not be too savvy when it comes e-scams, she didn't realize.

I feel bad that she got suckered into it. I hope she learns from it and doesn't fall for silly scams in the future!

[squeakywheel]

It is pretty sad that people prey on others as their main means of subsisting.

Leon was telling me yesterday morning about the company that sued the people who make Blackberries for patent infringement--apparently the company only makes patents (doesn't do anything with them) and just waits for someone to come along and create a product that they technically invented/patented and they can sue them. (That was a very confusing sentence.) Basically, their whole operation is to dream up inventions and wait for someone to have the technology to physically create and then market that technology and whammo! They can sue for big bucks. Same principle, really.

Too many people prey on the weak. But it's true what naebliser said: if the weak didn't keep falling for the same tricks, these scams wouldn't exist.

[starlakitty]

oh my god! thats awful! i've never heard of anything like that!
seriously, stuff like this is why i believe in karma. if i didn't believe in karma, i think i would be tempted to kick some serious butt.

[squeakywheel]

I hope someone kicks their butts, karma or whatever. I don't know how that business practice is even considered legal or how it held up in court. The patent system needs some serious revisions.

[siouxsienova]

I think I saw an infomercial for something like that a few weeks ago. I thought "WHO in his or her right mind would do that??"

If she's looking to make some money on her own, she might want to look into real estate. Foreclosure sales. Definitely.

[squeakywheel]

They actually have a link for the infomercial video on their website. And there's an infomercial for the vitamins too. If they're the typical infomercials, I'm doubly embarrassed that she fell for them.

Although I have seen some infomercials for various weight loss regiments and been all "Wow, I gotta get me one of those Gazelles!" We all have something we're gullible about--we're just so hopeful that it might work out.

And real estate is definitely the best way to make money, but I think fixing up and reselling a foreclosure might require a bit more effort than she's bargained for.