Since the time I have been marketing Born To Be Rich and the Back Issue Comix web site program, I've been receiving E-Mail messages with a basic pitch: Sit at home with a computer. Do little work and make a great amount of money.
I read through these at one time, however I now simply consider these letters as potential clients and E-Mail back my program, however it's not likely that any of these individuals will ever respond! Family PC writer Chris Yurko decided to follow-up one on of these letters and provided a scathing report in the April '99 issue of Family PC Magazine.
Fraud Watch , a division of the consumers League says that work at home plans, franchises, and multilevel marketing are the three most common types of online fraud. Most people who buy into these plans end up broke.
Chris reported his experience with one of them. "THIS IS IT FOLKS!!" began the salutation. Supposedly a 42-year-old woman named Susan sent this letter asking Chris to send $5 for four reports. "How To Make $250,000 through multilevel sales," " Major Corporations and Multilevel Sales," Sources For the Best Mailing lists," and Evaluating Multilevel Sales plans." The letter went on to explain how to add Chris's name at the top of the list, delete the last etc. If ten people would respond, Chris could expect $55,550 to show up in his mail box. Sure!
The letter claimed that P. Brown, a lawyer pulled in over $36,000 in nineteen weeks. The letter also claimed that CBS 48 Hours investigated THE LETTER and dubbed it," the opportunity with the most income potential on the internet!" "Is it legal?" The letter answers its own question and suggested to Mr. Yurko that he contact the Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection!
Chris decided this all looked quite suspicious, sent in the $20 and called CBS. No one there had ever heard of THE LETTER investigation and the five persons in the testimonials were unconfirmable.
Undaunted, Chris contacted the others on the list where he had attached his name. Three of the four responded. Patrick Green, the first name on the list said he had paid a company $200 to mail out 200,000 e-mails of THE LETTER for him and after a month had received back $25, five of it from Chris. He had also received a letter from the Maryland Securities Office ordering him to cease this illegal activity! The other two reported a similar experience.
Betsy Broder, assistant director of the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection calculated the four reports as having no real value and the entire LETTER a fraud. James Walsh author of You Can't Cheat an Honest Man says its an old scam that has been given new life on the internet.
Here are a few clues that flag these schemes as a scam:
It's a simple business in which you advertise on the internet and fill orders for your customers. Expect that just a few orders a week and a tiny bit of your time will generate extra money for yourself. It's simply an easy-to-operate part-time business to supplement your regular income. For more in-depth look at your internet comix shop: CLICK HERE.
copyrighted 1999 Reynold Jay