We’re now on our 3rd week of our “Scamcrow” series where our main goal is to help Filipinos avoid scams, get out from one, and just basically impart principles for our kababayans to spot whether the investment is a scam or not. I really want to see more Filipinos profitable the right way and have their investments work hard for them for a very very long time.
I beleive it can be done where we will see a generation of Filipinos moving from consumers to investors. Investors who know where they are putting there money into.
For this week’s “Scamcrow” our resident Scam columnist Mon Lao would share on the top 5 selling points that scammers normally pitch to people that they would want to dupe. Hope you learn from this and share this to as many people as possible. It’s time that we see less people get scammed. It can be done!
Catch me in my live training events! (quick plug)
The heart of why I do this seminars is I want to build a generation of Filipinos with the right foundation in stock investing. I want to bring smart investing to every Filipino around the world! If you would like to know more on how you could time the market checkout the trainings below.
Stock Smarts Malaysia — November 4 – November 5, 2017
Stock Smarts Sydney, Australia — November 11 – November 12, 2017
Stock Smarts Qatar — November 16 – November 19, 2017
Stock Smarts Singapore — November 25 – November 26, 2017
Stock Smarts Manila — December 2, 3, 9, 10 & 16 , 2017
Stock Smarts Taiwan — December 21 – December 22, 2017
Stock Smarts Cagayan De Oro — January 13 – January 14, 2018
Stock Smarts London, United Kingdom — January 26 – 28, 2018
Top 5 Selling Points of Scammers
If someone is offering you an investment right now, beware of the following tell-tale signs that it is actually a scam:
1. You are always forced to invest now.
Why are you being made to feel there is a rush to get it? If the offer is good today, then it follows that it will still be good tomorrow. It is a good practice to curb your impulse and check the offer before deciding. A lot of scammers use high pressure selling or reverse psychology to influence your decision to sign up, because they know that what they are offering is too good to be true.
According to Bruce Lee, “Knowledge is not enough, we must apply”. However, without any knowledge on the proposition, it is better not to act at all.
2. Free or no money involved
The best things in life are said to be free, but in reality, there is no such thing as free lunch. Whatever they offer you to be free will be charged or billed to you later. Scammers use the word “free” to take advantage of our human nature. Usually what will happen is that these scammers will challenge you and teach you leverage and go deep in debt to your network and take the money .
3. High return is guaranteed
The same with our existence, investing bears no guarantee. As life is always exposed to risk, so does investing. Since we are afraid of risk, the mere word guaranteed will let our guards down. If there is indeed a guarantee, it is to the side of the scammer who is sure to make money .
4. You get to earn interest now
Again, the scammer will offer to give you an advance profit when you invest your money. However that earning is actually your own money or maybe money from another victim.
5. Investment structure makes no sense.
If the explanation offered is hard to comprehend , stay away. Usually scammers use sophisticated terms to appear as experts. Even the stock market can be explained simply. Sometimes, the scammer avoids explaining how the returns can be generated.
Armed with the knowledge of these major tricks, a good thing to do is to apply delaying tactic and report this to the proper authorities. Education will still be the key to ward these scammers off.
