Sunday, December 02, 2012

Is it REAL or is it a SCAMMER?

Is it REAL or is it a SCAMMER?  How can you Tell?

I have been pretty much out of commission since I got sick in late 2007, and was quite busy before that, but since getting a bit more active as my health improves a bit, I see that things are still much the same in this online world.

There are those who genuinely due their own due diligence,  and want to see the real scammers driven from the internet (and the planet!!)

There are those who want someone else to do the digging for them, because they don't really know how to do it, or they are unsure of their own abilities and cannot afford to get scammed.  

Don't Fall for a Scammer
There are those who want someone else to do the digging for them, because they're too lazy to do it, themselves, and they want to use the time when they SHOULD be digging to hope to search for the next "get-rich-quick" scheme.

There are those who have a mean, vicious and bitter spirit, who never made a success of themselves in business, who want to do whatever they can to destroy anyone who has been successful in business.  These ones I call the phony scambusters, who create a straw man (their victim's supposed scam program) and then burn it...

There are those who wildly declare many genuine and legal businesses to be scams, piling up mountains of unfounded, improbable and useless "evidence" in their desire to be heroes.  These are the ones I call the "wannabe scambusters," because they are delusional and running on their own over inflated egos, rather than on facts.

Finally, there are the real scammers, who need to be taken down to make the world a better and safer place both for businesses and consumers.  These require solid, careful, clear-headed fact checking be people who have their heads screwed on straight and are willing to plug away quietly until they can get the evidence to the appropriate authorities.

Online forums ARE NOT a place to get FACTS when doing due diligence and/or chasing down a possible scam program.  Online forums can be helpful for finding leads, but in my experience, much of what is found on so-called scam busting forums is conjecture, vitriol and nonsense from disgruntled people who didn't "get rich quick," with no work.

Another, recent (and very scary) development that appears to be happening is the appearance of scammers who are trying to pass themselves off as the good guys.  It looks like they are now posting on scam busting sites, even buying the sites, themselves. 

One might ask how it is possible that scammers could get away with this.  The answer is, when people do not have to identify themselves, but can hide behind pseudonyms and avatars, rather than using their real names and real photographs, they can say pretty much anything they like, no matter how libelous, and get away with it.  

Furthermore, when they troll for wannabe scambusters (see above) and get them on the site, they will not have a very difficult time sucking them into their web of deceit, turning them into unsuspecting allies as they work to destroy potential competition and build a database for their next big scam.

Sadly, what many of the groups listed above do not realize, is that there IS no limit to the lengths the scammers will go to in order to achieve their ends (usually their pockets full of ill-gotten cash).

The ONLY real answer I have seen over the years, which never has changed, is that people MUST learn how to do their own due diligence, and they must take the time to do it, or the scammers will just continue to create new scams.  

Like the old British maxim:  "Stay calm and carry on."  Don't get sucked in, by hype or an easy way ahead, but suck it up and get to work, the good old fashioned way.