Lately I have been seeing a lot of local news reports regarding investment scams in my part of the world. There have also been numerous scam companies which are now being monitored by local authorities in my city. What really puzzles me is how a huge number of people still fall for these make-money-fast scams when it's so obvious that these so called companies are only nothing but pure fraud. Years ago, one of my aunts became a victim of a scam. She invested $25,000 to a company which turned out to be a pyramiding scam company. She never recovered her money together with many other investors. I would like to know if you have ever been a victim of these scams or have almost fallen into the trap of investing in companies which turned out to be fraudulent.
Despite the warnings being all over the net, numerous people still fall for investment scams on the net. How can you trust someone you've never met, send them your money thinking that you'll make 20 or 30% in returns each month? If it sounds too good to be true then it probably isn't. If people can be that stupid on the net, they are more likely to make even bigger mistakes in the real world. I knew someone who invested all his money in some shady venture and lost it all. He committed suicide soon afterwards. We all ought to be very careful when investing our hard earned money. It would be best to let the money lie around in your savings account instead of investing in companies you've probably never heard of.
Just last night, the news on tv featured a young woman, allegedly the right-hand person of the mastermind of a scam estimated to reach 1 billion from gullible people in Quezon City. With the promise of a get-rich-quick scheme, I wonder why some people fall for that trap. Isn't it out of logic that your money will earn that much with you just sitting there on your butt? Come on. If that is really then why don't they invest themselves, why invite others? Sometimes I think that those people who were fooled deserved that fate because they are greedy.
You're right guys. I know it should be a matter of common sense that's why I can't understand how people still fall for this trap when it has been happening over and over again. They seem to not have learned anything from the experiences of others and from the constant warnings from authorities and economic experts. I even encountered a thread here yesterday from another scammer trying to see if he/she can penetrate through the people of this forum.
Yes, common sense should exist in all aspects of life and even more when we are dealing with business. If we don't have the capacity to analyse properly what's happening we just might fall for a scam.
Following the "if it's too good to be true.." technique you can spot most scams really fast. But yes somehow people still fall for them... I can understand if it's small amounts and feels credible but it has to be quite a good scam if people really do throw thousands and thousands into it. I've been scammed once. I was a bit skeptical but it was an interesting system. Ended up trying with a ridiculously small amount of money and even that I got back through paypal's antifraud system.
Agree with the "if it's too good to be true...." Many people are greedy, some are just sadly ignorant of these things. Stick to the well-known, reputable BD firms and banks for investing and any investment advisory services.
Sad to say but even if these victims of scams have already been warned about the "if it's too good to be true..." line, they just ignored and went on with the get-rich-quick promises of these scam agencies and websites. It's such a disappointment because I even see a lot of advertisements in our local paper from unqualified investment companies, which could turn out to be scams. I'm surprised at how they haven't been monitored yet by our local authorities.
Greed makes people credulous. But it is also the case that these scams often target their messages to groups of people who might have reduced cognitive skills or be less well-educated bout finances like the very elderly or recent widows. We have to not just watch over our own interested but those of friends and family who might be more naive or more vulnerable to con artists.
Well there are no shortage of people who want to get rich quick. Everyone is looking for some kind of shortcut to success it seems. Get rich quick schemes are some of the options that you can find when you are looking for ways to make a quick buck. Pyamid schemes are as old as the hills, and remembering the old adage if something seems to good to be true it probably is. This is something to remember.
