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Income cons, tricks and scams

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Confidence tricks and scams

 

Income cons or scams have been with us since the first man or woman tried to get

something for nothing. You are asked to believe something which you know is 'too good to be true' yet the proposition is so attractive - perhaps even slightly illegal - that you talk yourself into believing that "in this case" it might be true - usually because you desperately want it to be so.

Now you came to this site looking for information about earning extra income, you are looking to make money - not to lose it - so it is worth taking a quick look at some of these income cons and the ways people are going to try and part you from what you already have!

There are probably no new income cons, people have been cheating other people since the beginning of time and everything now is just a variation - sometimes a very clever one - of tricks and income cons which have been pulled on the innocent and the gullible over the centuries.

Unfortunately, the global reach and technology of the Internet has provided rich new pickings for the dishonest. With a few clicks of the mouse, the same con or fraudulent proposition can be sent to a million or more e-mail boxes on the assumption that at least one person can be persuaded that his or her luck has changed! Remember the old adage - and the justification used by every con artist - is that "You can't con an honest man". It's a pretty fair assumption that there will be a few mugs and dishonest people in every million!

The best known internet scam is the so-called 'Nigerian or 419 Scam' (the 419 refers to the Nigerian criminal code for obtaining money under false pretences). There are many variations on this one but generally they concern a very large sum of money which can only be released from a dormant account with the aid of a foreigner - you. The attraction is that there seems to be no downside for you, you are not being asked for any money and you are promised a large percentage of the cash, generally many millions of dollars. In fact, the perfect income con.

Sometimes these offers are very professionally presented using real names and events (plane crashes or overthrown governments for example) which can be very convincing. Don't touch them! All that will happen is that you will be drawn ever deeper into an illegal operation which - at best - will cost you lots of money. At worst, imprisonment in a foreign jail is a real possibility. The only thing certain about these scams and income cons is that there is not, nor ever was, a large deposit of money in the first place.........

The other big internet scam is 'Phishing' where e-mails are sent out purporting to come from your bank or building society. They look perfect, even refer you to an authentic looking web-site, and they usually contain a worrying message 'Your account has been suspended' or 'there has been fraudulent activity on your account' or that 'unusual activity' has been noticedon your account. In every case, the con is to trick you into entering - on what look like genuine bank web-sites - your account details. Do that and your account is likely to be emptied within minutes………..

Envelope stuffing and toy assembly. The scams which I personally find most objectionable are those which prey on the most vulnerable. A housewife (this scam is usually directed towards women) desperate for a few pounds, signs up to a scheme where she will be paid to fold letters and stuff envelopes for example. She is asked for a 'registration fee' or perhaps a 'security deposit'. Probably not a lot of money - £29.99 perhaps. Whatever, it's money she can ill afford and worse, it's money she is going to lose!

In an age where a machine can stuff envelopes at the rate of 50,000 an hour, what possible point is there in paying to do the job by hand? Variations on this income con include her being required to find addresses to send the envelopes to - in other words, list building for the company, or she will be told 'her standards aren't high enough,' or the labels aren't straight, or the handwriting (the scam justification here is that a 'hand written' envelope is more likely to be opened than a machine printed one) isn't good enough. The toy assembly thing is similar. The things are junk to start with, they can be assembled in the Far East for much less and she is unlikely ever to see her money back, much less show a profit on the work done.

The other scams are what I would describe as 'mathematical'. That is, ones which at first sight look foolproof, but on close inspection can be seen to be impossible. All variations on a theme, they are based on the classic chain letter. You send a small sum of money to the top name on a short list of names and addresses. You then delete the top name, add your name at the bottom of the list and post copies of the letter to half a dozen other people who will then each send out six more copies. The maths are easy and believable, by the time your name gets to the top of the list and everyone sends you a small sum, you will receive thousands of payments. The actual maths is quite different of course. In order to succeed, most peopled mailed would have to respond - they won't - but more importantly, everyone in the country, and then in the whole world would have to take part, and how could the late joiners ever get anything then? Well of course, they can't, it's a scam and the only people to win are the originators.

Pyramid or Pozi selling works on the same faulty logic. The guy at the top of a pyramid scheme recruits two salesmen who each pay him. They in turn recruit two or more people each, who pay them to join the scheme, plus some going to the top man (there is usually some perfectly sound product involved but the scheme runs on the assumption that profits are made by recruiting people to market that product) they then each sell places to other people who hope to sell more places. See where it's going? The first people in the scheme - at the top of the pyramid - make good money but it gets harder and harder for the lower level staff to recruit until eventually there are not enough interested people in the country to support the scheme and it collapses. In most countries, this type of selling is now illegal. Note that Pyramid selling is not the same as Multi level marketing which is perfectly legal and can generate regular income.

Income cons which involve gambling are often sold on a 'mathematical' basis. For example, if sufficient people club together to cover all the possible permutations on a series of football results say, then they are guaranteed to win. Yes, but the prize money shared between all the people involved must always be less that the amount 'invested' or gambled since the pool promoters will take their share out of the pot before paying out any prizes.

Another one which is mathematically deceptive is the simple toss of a coin. Say the coin is tossed in the air and comes down with the head facing up six times in a row. What are the odds on the next throw having it tails up? One in seven? No, the odds are the same as for the first and every other throw - 50/50 - since there are only two faces it can show. It is the same as attempting to double up on each losing bet. The logic says you must eventually win, the mathematics says the world might run out of money before you do!

So, these income cons have always been with us. We know when it doesn't feel right and we should always trust that feeling. Don't hesitate to research any business scheme and try to discuss ones which look interesting with people already involved - not the guy selling, but the people who bought into it - before getting involved. If money is being asked, either up front, or later down the line, establish what you get in return.

That said, the world does run on trust and it is perfectly reasonable for someone to charge for a good product or even for a good idea. We on Income-in-laterlife.com will always try to provide information which is reliable. If we say we have tried it, we have. If we didn't think it good value, we will say so!

 

Footnote. For those interested in a professional viewpoint on income cons (and real ones) , scams and related frauds, retired Detective Lieutenant Dennis Marlock has a fascinating website on the subject here.

FraudTech's World of Cons, Frauds, and Other Lies

 

 

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Pyi-pyl.com Protect Your Identity/Protect Your Life is authored by Andy Besser, a Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist (CITRMS). Andy provides examples of and explanations for ALL areas of Identity Theft, not just Financial identity theft you hear about in the media. Individuals and Businesses alike are targets for identity thieves, learn how to protect yourself and your company. Protect Your Identity from people who may potentially destroy your life. Protect Your Life from Identity Theft.

UK's Office of Fair Trading

For a more analytical analysis, see the Wikipedia section Here.

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