Preying on Desperation

Property of Stormberry

Classes are about to start for me (again) next week - both in my German classes as well as with the University for the fourth and last (hopefully) career in Marketing. With that in mind, I decided to pick up on a well loved practice of mine, which is the Letter Writing Mondays. Instead of the usual Starbucks close to the office, I went to another closer to home. There I've got a cup of fresh, diced fruits, a bottle of water and a Pumkin Spice Latte. Yes, it's back in season and I want to make the most of it.

This particular store has a very unfortunate space distribution, because the single tables are all next to the waiting line, and in front of the door. These are always windy, cold, and offer no sense of privacy at all. Thus, when studying here or writing letters, I always choose the large table. Since there isn't much space available for working, this table is usually ocupied also by other people, and this was also the case yesterday.

All was good and dandy, until the clients of the other two girls occupying the table arrived. At first I thought the girls were simply university students working on some project, but then it turned out that they were salespeople for some sort of academy/business that offered some flash-not-so-flash course on FOREX (it's a virtual stock market for divisas), and also gave the students/investors an account with US$50 for them to try out and make money. (Cost of the bundle? Around US$216). They were right in front of me, so I was forced to listen to their sales pitch, and goodness gracious, it was textbook scam case!

The leader saleswoman started introducing herself and empathizing with the "clients" (I put that in quotation marks because instead of potential clients, I believe them to be potential victims). She claimed she also had such a hard time, and had also taken fake FOREX courses and seminars, but then she decided to put her whole unemployment compensation check (Note: in Costa Rica, by law, when someone is fired by causes other than their own fault, companies must pay the person a month of salary for each year worked - proportional too, for the months that do not add up to the month, up to eight years maximum. This is the compensation check I mean.) into this academy-thingie and has been doing great every since. Now, THAT is a lie: people don't really put all their money into one uncertain thing, not in Costa Rica. Yes, people lose money and get scammed, but Costa Ricans are cautious by nature. They could put all their money into a store, a bar... something that can be sold if it doesn't work, but not into an academy/business with such a high risk.

She followed her pitch with the usual "success cases" of people who allegedly made it. People you can't check on. It's worthy to note that Costa Rica has a very incipient stock market, and that's so because all big businesses are family owned and remain so. If I recall correctly, we have only three or so publicly traded companies, and then the usual, Government papers, brent and so on. I might be mistaken, but the general feel is that. So, if there is no big stock market culture here, how exactly can you point to credible "success cases"? Well, there was a couple, who are preachers and have four kids. Yes, preachers here tend to do really, really well. When they are charismatic they become millionaires by preaching that "Prosperity Bullshit" thing. So, FOREX? Nah, more like the power of their god moving their flock to shower them in money.

The came the third part of the pitch: "you make as much as you work for". Now, in other pyramidal businesses, usually you can easily sell the idea that you can make as much as you want it you apply yourself to it. The usual pitch in this cases goes like: "Well, if you make a $5 sell each day, you'd make $25 in a week, and how much would that be in a month? It's up to you." They deliberately choose a low number to make you think it's so easy. What they purposefully leave behind is that you can't sell something everyday, that the moment you run out of friends and family to sell, you are up to your own devises, stuck selling some product or some investment idea that will sound shady for many. Not to mention that you may lose family and friends in the process, specially if you are desperate and this is the only way out you've found. It also leaves conveniently behind the fact that more often than not, pyramidal schemes push people into expenses and debts they didn't have before, locking them up in a worse situation. And so, when the market turns against you, this very pitch turns against you and make you think that you are the failure, the problem, and not the scheme that was designed to scam you out of your money and the money of the people you could rope into this.

The leader saleswoman went on showering the guys with a long list of off the mark comments, like telling them that bitcoin were "fake money", or that Trump started his empire by investing US$100 in the stock market. (His father lent him one million. He has been bankrupt three or four times, and he doesn't let anyone check on his finances, not to mention that his children and his company apparently made some shady business with the money of their charitable foundation. So yes, he is not the right person to convince someone to invest.) Not once did I hear any of the saleswomen tell the guys that FOREX has very loose rules and basically stands unregulated. Basically there are no protections - as far as I know, from what I've read and learned - for investors and investments.

At one point the pitch became so infuriating, that even though I kept snapping my head up and frowning (and one of the "clients" saw me), I had to stand up and leave. Hell, I don't know if I did right, if I should have intervened, but I definitively couldn't stay there and keep listening to these women spooling their words and lies to these guys. However, I decided to come to you and tell you about it and give you a few advises on this regard.

1. If someone proposes you a business, always make sure they tell you right away what's about. Don't agree to any meeting if they tell you they will explain it then. No. If someone wants to propose a deal, they can tell you right up front, so you can do research ahead. If they do tell you, then jump on the Internet and research everything you can about the topic. That way, when you go to the meeting, you will know if they are lying to you, leaving stuff behind, and could also pose better questions.

2. Beware of the business deals where there is a pitch prepared. A pitch structured in a lenghty form like empathize with the client - success cases - you can do it - if you work hard you can succeed/little effort can get you anywhere are trademarks of shady deals. If it really were so, a lot of people would be millionaires or would not risk their necks with drug trafficking.

3. Do not trust in deals that want you to either put upfront a big amount of money, or want to rope you into a plan of payments or want you to make a decision on the spot. If they don't seem willing to give you time to think, they are not trustworthy. Run if they try to convince you after you've said no, even if it is a simple comment like "What a pity, you missing this great opportunity". They are after your money, they want to scam you and they are hurt that you (and your wallet) got away. If they give you the time, use it to research about everything you've heard and the company doing the offer. Also, take some time to cool down and see things clearly.

4. Don't trust any deal where the salesperson claims that they or someone they know made a risky move to enter. Anything like claiming to have taken a mortgage to get the money to enter, max their credit cards, invest all their savings, put in all their insurance money, put in all the severance money they've got from their last job. This is an attempt to normalize in your eyes a shady move, make you think that you are being stupid by not risking. This sort of stories fake, true or half true, are meant also to reduce in your eyes the perceived risk of the deal.

5. When a pitch includes any sort of line that puts down other honest jobs, or being an employee, run. Truth is that not all businesses are a success. Not all brokers make it into a millionaire lifestyle. Not even the majority of them. And the risk of falling and losing it all is there. If you are in a hard situation, look for employment. Jobs tend to be a less risky way to getting an income and doesn't require of any up front investments.

Any true deal and any true business is transparent and gives you time to think about it and research. Scams don't, because they need to get you confused and roped in before you get to see what you've done. Please be careful.