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How to be a conman

January 29, 2009 By Paul (Founder, WorkAtHomeTruth) 1 Comment

Have you ever wondered how famous conmen have been able to tell so many lies and get away with it? And have wondered how some of the greatest conman pulled off their elaborate schemes – sometimes even for decades.

Conmen seem to have a strange allure and repulsiveness at the same time. Repulsiveness because of the victims they hurt, but allure because of either the cunningness or audacity of their scams and fraud.

While there are technical aspects to cons – especially the modern conman, perhaps more important are the psychological aspects of running a con.

Lynn Edgington of Eagle Research Associates just published a terrific piece called How Conmen Cover Themselves With Spin To Get Away With It.

The article is a great read for anyone who wants to have a non-technical set of red-flags to look for when evaluating if something is a possible scam.

Click here to read this fascinating and helpful article about conmen at EagleResearchAssociates.org.

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Oprah scam show – part 4 – reshipping fraud

December 4, 2008 By Paul (Founder, WorkAtHomeTruth) 1 Comment

This is a great one for her to have on her show, too. Even though it isn’t as common as some of the other scams it can get people into a lot of trouble. That’s why when someone signs up for the Work At Home Truth newsletter it’s one of the first types of scams I tell them to watch out for.

You can view an excellent video that the U.S. Postal Inspector puts out about reshipping fraud below:

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Faulty logic: “I made money, so it’s not a scam”

November 26, 2008 By Paul (Founder, WorkAtHomeTruth) 3 Comments

I know that for most people this logic would seem obviously insane:

“I made money, so it’s not a scam”.

Yet, time and time it’s the #1 defense of people in controversial programs that have come under suspicion of being a scam OR have been determined to be a scam.

Here are some actual quotes of people using that defense for programs that have come under suspicion, are being investigated or have already been shut down:

” I have only put in $300.00 out of pocket. And have withdrawn $495.00
So I can tell you with my experiance this is not a SCAM True deal.”

“I just made money in my sleep…I can vouch that it’s not a scam.”

It’s easy to find THOUSANDS of statements like this defending some very questionable programs – or as mentioned before – even programs that have already been shut down.

Of course the logic is just about as valid as saying:

“I robbed a bank. I didn’t get caught. So it’s not illegal.”

Somehow the “I made money so it’s not a scam” will bizarrely convince them that the laws of logic don’t apply in their case.

Perhaps the “defense of the system” becomes part of the “lingo” of the system and ultimately they are blocked either from inner emotional barriers or outer peer-pressure or “cult-pressure” from validating their logic with eternal reality checks.

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