So what are internet scams? The word scam is often used when describing an online “get rich quick” scheme of some kind. There are certainly plenty of those to choose from. Are they all actually scams though? I would argue that a lot of online opportunities that get branded with the word are actually just badly thought out, unsustainable ideas.
To the ever increasing numbers of people making their living online through digital marketing the idea of internet scams is actually pretty alien these days. If you’ve been in the game for a while you basically know there are some fraudulent schemes out there that aim to scam naïve people out of their hard earned money, but they are so blatantly full of hot air and false, unrealistic claims that you treat them a bit like mosquitoes: Swat them when they appear in your inbox, Skype feed or Facebook messages.
Scams Or Just Crap ideas?
I actually don’t even think about this side of the industry much anymore. I was stung in the early days of my online career. Most people who start with a google search for making money online encounter internet scams. I still wouldn’t class all of the things I lost money in as scams or fraud, strange as it may seem.
They were definitely producing on paper profits that seemed too good to be true. They usually turned out to be just that but when the sum you started with was negligible then when the house of cards comes tumbling down, it’s not really a big deal. Not so for those that put a lot of faith and hard cash in though. I never did.
This is the process: You find something that sounds good – maybe a friend recommended it so you take a small punt to see what happens. If you make a small profit and can actually get it out of the system before the rumours of imminent collapse start to get serious, you might reinvest it in the next one that comes along. These are just silly money games and as long as you never risk more than you can afford to lose then it’s just a numbers game. Usually these are not actually internet scams or Ponzi schemes as such – they are just bad ideas that are doomed to take an early bath.
Is It A Scam Or A Ponzi Or Neither?
Scam or not this is no way to live or make money. Granted some do by developing an ear to the ground that lets them get in fast and out faster but most lose a little or a lot. The ones who lose a lot are understandably the ones who get bitter about all things online, the rest of us learn our lessons, lick our wounds and move away from that side of the industry.
I’ve had friends who used to say things like “Man I put $1000 into this a month ago and its now making me $1k a month !” trouble is that they just don’t know when to quit – a bit like gambling which is actually what it is. They think if they just let it grow to an amount that they could live on before they try and withdraw their “profits”, things will be great. Sadly what usually happens is that that first test withdrawal never goes through and suddenly it’s all gone – Again.
My advice if you are looking at these sort of online “opportunities” is to see if you can actually understand where the money is actually coming from. The classic Ponzi features a vague product of some kind that you will never see or use – it’s based around a clever investment that allegedly pays huge interest to those that help fund it – run away !!
The other element in all this stuff is that the true believers insist that the people who tell them it’s a scam are dream stealers who are living in the dark ages. I may have been guilty of that myself when I was getting started but I have come to know that the old adage – If it looks like a duck – it’s probably a duck is a good one.
There is huge money and great lifestyles to be had by working online but it can be done by honest to goodness hard work, by learning how to sell useful things to people who want to buy them. It’s not rocket science but it’s not easy: It’s simple but not easy. By that I mean that it’s not just a matter of shaking a money tree and catching the falling bounty. It takes time and education but it’s so worth it not to be biting your fingernails worrying about whether you’ll ever get your money out of the latest scam/Ponzi/bad idea.
The Real Deal – professional Digital Marketing
