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.  

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.

Get your Facts Straight!

Get your Facts Straight!

In light of the recent upheaval in the online world with payment processors, paid to surfs and hyips, it's time to take a look at what you're doing.

Any so-called business can make any outrageous claim they want on a website. While some are blatantly obvious thrown-together sites filled with typos, bad copy and erroneous statements, there are thousands of very slick, well-written, professional-looking sites. The crooks and con artists know how to fool people!

The common thread between an honest business site and a con artist's site is that BOTH are involved in sales. They are trying to sell you on the idea that YOUR life will improve if you take them up on THEIR offer.

Depending on the skill of the copy writer, they can be very convincing. You, as a reader, need to be aware that one of the key skills in writing good copy is to be able to appeal to the emotions of the reader.

If the copy is properly written, your mind will tell you that if you take the deal, you'll feel better, live longer, make more money, have a happier life, get more visitors, or many other things too numerous to mention.

It doesn't matter if the information you're reading is false. Your mind will believe it, because it wants to believe it. After all, it's going to solve your problems and make your life better.

You, as a savvy business person, need to set your emotions aside and do something you've likely heard of many times before, called DUE DILIGENCE.

What that means is, you immediately start digging to find out all you can about the company behind the website. Use the search engines and whois to find out all you can. Follow the links on forums. (Note that forums are often deceiving in themselves, because the writers will often post links that when followed prove their assertion to be false.)

Look for proper contact information on the website and use it to ask questions about the company. If you get no reply, or can't find the information, stay away from that company!

Don't let a friend's excitement cloud your decision! Just because a company has a history of paying doesn't mean it will continue to pay. One of the classic tricks used in ponzi and pyramid schemes is to start out paying on time and regularly. Then, when a certain point is reached - often right before the company would collapse anyway, the owners take the money and run, leaving YOU broke and mad.

Avoid prelaunches that tell you nothing about the coming business venture like the plague! They are used to hype up the "venture" before it comes on line to drive up the emotions in advance of the launch.

It is a trick that works will with products or services that are basically very boring, difficult to understand, poor quality, or expensive (or all of the above).

By steadily building up excitement during the prelaunch, the sales team is priming you to jump as soon as the PAY NOW button appears. They constantly publish the numbers of people joining during prelaunch and strongly suggest that it's so popular that anyone who jumps in and pays as soon as it launches will be guaranteed to get wealthy.

NOT SO!! I've been involved in sales and networking for over 27 years and have never seen someone get rich from taking part in a hyped-up prelaunch. I HAVE seen people make a lot of money from choosing a really good company and working really hard to make it work.

Now let's get back to the so-called companies I started this thread with - the paid autosurfs and hyips. First of all, let's deal with the hyips. Can you spell S-C-A-M? You convince me how they can offer the percentages they offer legally and I'll print a retraction.

Now let's go on to paid to surf. I include any kind of system that pays you to surf, autosurf, click ads, or whatever in this category. This is not the first time these things have shown up.

I can GUARANTEE you that if you make any of these your primary business - no matter how honest they may be - you ARE going to lose. You will lose either all the time you've put in, or all the money you've invested, or both.

Let's assume that you pick a paid to surf company that is running legally (if there is such a thing these days), and you work hard, build a downline, invest your money, and watch sites buzz by till your eyes fall out.

Where do you think the money is coming from if they're legal? The bulk of the money comes from advertising! By their design, these are high traffic sites, which makes them a desirable advertising venue for other businesses.

A banner ad on the sign in page of a paid to surf site costs a lot of money! However, as happened a few years ago (like I said, this is NOT new) so many companies are jumping into the arena that the value of that ad space has been steadily declining and eventually there will be so much competition that these companies will either have to drastically reduce their payouts or stop paying period.

If you think they won't stop, you haven't been around long enough to remember when this happened before AND you haven't read the fine print on the site that states that they DO NOT GUARANTEE PAYMENT! (Does anybody remember AllAdVantage.com and all the others that came after them?)

So, if you're SERIOUS about building a long term, profitable, paying business, start looking for a real business and do your due diligence.

Visit the online forums of people who deal in solid facts and learn from them. Take a serious look before you leap! You'll succeed much faster by slowing down first.

What's all this Nonsense about Global Warming?

OK - here it is, February - almost March and we're freezing our buns off! 

 I keep hearing all this stuff about Global Warming, and yet my roses are freezing to death here on the south coast of BC, and they're setting record low temperatures on the prairies! Record LOW temperatures! And not by just a little bit, either. They didn't just break the records - they destroyed them! 

 Personally, I don't accept everything I see on the news or hear from politicians and government-funded research. Why, the best way to keep getting funded is to create a crisis! 

 Do a little research, yourself. Go to Google and type in, mini ice age. What you'll see is that we've had around 600 years of lower than normal temperatures and if we ever get back up to normal, they'll be able to grow grapes in northern England again, and native grain again in Scotland, plus they might actually be able to use the Northwest Passage for more than a few days a year.  

OK - the ocean levels might rise a bit. Bummer. But think of all the land that is presently unuseable! A few degrees higher temperatures would allow a LOT more food to be grown, and make a LOT more land liveable than at present. 

 So when I'm shivering here in the "temperate zone," don't try to scare me with the "threat" of Global Warming. I'm all for it! And I'm far enough away from the water to appreciate the view without getting my feet wet!