The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

How many of you idiots want to give me money?

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
445%
Jul 23, 2007
38,076
169,476
Utah
DISCLAIMER: Thread title is done for conversion/reading purposes -- I don't mean to offend my forum regulars -- this is for the folks who don't get it, and continually look for the path to "Easy money"...

So with that said...




----- MY BIG ANNOUCEMENT!!!


I'm happy to announce that I am the new CEO and Founder of a great company, Multinational Associative Care Systems Corporation, or MACS and for a select few individuals, I am offering a great investment opportunity that can give you the chance to yield 18.5% upwards to 23%, yearly, and securitized by a broad range of assets.

For your investment of $100,000, I am offering a 18.5% return, if you give me $1 million dollars, I'm offering a 23% return, paid monthly! Tired of 1% bank CD's? Imagine opening your mailbox every month to a check! Well with MACS Corporation, you can.

But PLEASE hurry - this is a ground floor opportunity as I can only offer this investment to 23 individuals as our latest offering prospectus calls for a $15 million dollar funding round.

After we reach that limit, the offer is CLOSED. We cannot offer it until a new round is requested, so you must hurry! (And guess what? Vigilante, AndyBlack, and other LEGENDARY CONTRIBUTORS have already stepped-up to the plate and invested with me!)

So, what do we do?

I founded the Multinational Associative Care Systems Corporation (MACS) which is an accounts receivable financing organization that helps finance hospitals and healthcare organizations with funding while awaiting payment from government agencies, insurance providers, and patients.

What we do is we purchase the account receivables from various hospitals and healthcare organizations (HCOs) around the world at a greatly discounted rate. Since many hospital bills go unpaid, or are hard to collect, our discount on receivables sometimes approaches 90%. We then seek to collect on these account receivables via negotiated settlements with various funding agencies; Medicare, state Medicaid, HMOs, PPOs, insurance companies, and of course, the patients themselves.

Your safe investment is used to fund collection operations as well as to purchase the accounts receivables.

Our company offers a win win for everyone involved: Hospitals / HCOs receive immediate cash flow from us in lieu of bad debt and/or inconsistent cashflow, and our investment clients get a great return, securitized by MACS extensive assets and partnerships.

As I write this, we have clients around the world; US (74%) AU (9%) UK (5%) EU (11%) ... other (1%).

Join thousands of other investors around the world who enjoy safe, predictable returns, all while helping improve the healthcare in their community!

For investment information, please contact me.



------------------- THE TRUTH

The above "sales pitch" is nothing but a scam. MACS (Multinational Associative Care Systems, Incorporated) is SCAM backwards.

I made it up.

It's BS.

But doesn't it sound "legit?"

Of course it does.

That's how the scam works, often involving these 8 steps.

1) Create a complicated story, often involving multiple parties, international transactions, and then throw in maybe a 3rd world country (Kenya, Tanzania, or some other emerging market).

2) Load up the story up with big fancy words and acronyms.

3) Make sure your story resists diligence -- this is done through the complexity of the story. For example, with MACS, your mind analyzes the concept and thinks "Wow, that makes sense" -- and it's complicated enough to fend off any legitimate due diligence attack.

4) Create a snazzy website that screams professionalism; include pictures of distinguished "honest looking" men in finely tailored suits.

5) Throw various logos on the website to add credibility; could be a newspaper or blog logo, anything that makes the user think "Wow, the NY Times logo is on the website - it must be legit!!"

6) Create urgency: This offer is only available to 23 people -- get in now or its gone!

7) Show and display social proof "Joe Schmo is an investor" or "Bob, the owner of Bob's Pizza down on Main is an investor" or "Pastor Pete over at Bethany Lutheran Church invested!"

8) Validate the opportunity by "Rewarding" early stage investors by doing as promised - these early stage investors act as the "growth seeds" and will start telling their friends/families/and coworkers to invest, steamrolling the expansion loop. The expansion loop creates the exponential growth of the scam, enriching the scammer's pockets.

Now, imagine if I did exactly described as above? How long do you think it would take me to amass millions, assuming I paid out all the investors as described for a year or two?

I'd guess it take me a year or less.

Folks, this is how Ponzi schemes and other scams are created and perpetrated.

It took me 10 minutes to create this one. Another day or two and I could have had the website created as well. In less than 48 hours, I can create an illusion of a $100 million company by simple virtue of a "story" and a "website".

I'm amazed at how many people would buy into the BS above. MORE than NOT would buy in, assuming it was coupled with a nice website, some nice graphics, and some official looking documents.

Folks, WAKE UP and SMELL THE COFFEE.

Easy money is easy for a reason...

--------

Note to the SEC: This is NOT an official solicitation for money or for an investment. This story and investment description is hyperbole and metaphorical to show the community (and the internet) how scams are created and perpetrated. There is no investment. There is no MACS Corporation.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Hassassin

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
125%
Oct 14, 2012
216
271
Scary thought is that I probably would have fell for that a couple of months back. Heck! It even seemed legit
 

CommonCents

Silver Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
69%
Apr 14, 2009
1,167
810
MN
Your scam wouldn't have worked, because you didn't mention "GROUNDFLOOR OPPORTUNITY!" in a "MULTIBILLION MARKET"! or "Deep payout matrix" :)
 
  • Thread starter
  • Admin
  • #4

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
445%
Jul 23, 2007
38,076
169,476
Utah

DrkSide

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
219%
Mar 26, 2013
675
1,481
:eusa_clap::rofl:
 

Mike39

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
100%
Mar 17, 2012
1,496
1,496
Orlando, FL
1030148d1364776449-quickie-review-nato-strap-company-run-fellow-f71-member-shut-up-take-my-money.jpg
 

InMotion

Silver Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
62%
Mar 18, 2011
857
532
I always ask why the hell would you send this to me if its such a great opportunity lol.

That pretty much eliminates anything I haven't sought out specifically myself or through personal contacts.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

JEdwards

Legendary Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
418%
Jan 16, 2011
1,339
5,600
Texas
I was about to post a very simple ponzi anyone can do and make a million in a few months.

Just someone here would probably do it and go to jail. So not worth it. Delete.
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
445%
Jul 23, 2007
38,076
169,476
Utah
I'll be using the 8 steps you listed to improve my pitches

Bingo! Those steps are great at creating a growing company assuming you have a product that forces an expansion loop.
 

Jake

Platinum Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
148%
May 15, 2011
1,801
2,669
41
Bangkok
I stopped reading at please contact me. Checks in the mail. I hope it's enough :crosses fingers:
 

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
445%
Jul 23, 2007
38,076
169,476
Utah

vtlambo

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
81%
Mar 10, 2012
141
114
Reminds me of this: [video=youtube;TbIRedOqDwE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbIRedOqDwE[/video]
 

MGR-GT3

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
117%
Aug 28, 2012
18
21
Phoenix, AZ
People that are so stupid deserve to be scammed... that's all I have to say. The same people who decide to buy a million dollar home with no job, income or assets and then blame their lender or "the economy" when they cant' pay for it and they take the home away from them.

MGR
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Eskil

Legendary Contributor
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
418%
Jul 18, 2012
1,860
7,778
Scottsdale, AZ
I'm amazed at how many people would buy into the BS above. MORE than NOT would buy in, assuming it was coupled with a nice website, some nice graphics, and some official looking documents.

...and just imagine how many more people wouldn't even think about due dilligence if you were asking for lower numbers. (Naturally, the more you ask for upfront, the more skeptical *some* of the people would be).

But instead of $100k or $1M, you could amass even more "investors" even quicker if the amounts were within reach for more people. Sums like $1k or $10k as their initial foot-in-the-door 'investment'. Scary.

The show American Greed on CNBC often shows plenty of stories like this where even the most skeptical of investors were tempted by scenarios not too different than the one you posted.
 

theag

Legendary Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
297%
Jan 19, 2012
3,903
11,580
If it sounds too good to be true, it is.
 

socaldude

Saturn Sedan and PT Cruiser enthusiast.
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
212%
Jan 10, 2012
2,380
5,043
San Diego, CA
BTW accounts receivable is the most tricky and notorious tool for fraud.

A good way to spot a scam is to simply ask yourself: where is the value creation? and is it legit.

Scammers try to create the ILLUSION of value. if value can be created easily and effortlessly then chances are its not really value and its a scam.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Talisman

Bronze Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
89%
May 19, 2011
456
407
Australia
Really? People throw in 100's of K, without due diligence? I suppose it makes sense, it's just a scaled out version of the "WIN A FREE IPAD" spam that my friends fall for on Facebook. If they want to believe, they will.

And as was said above - the sales approach/steps are effective regardless of legitimacy, useful 8 step guide there!
 
D

DeletedUser2

Guest
Having been on the receiving end of a number of these pitches, I listen for these keywords, which were all in the above pitch. ALARMS go off in my head when I hear them.

"I'm happy to announce" Over exuberance just sets my teeth on edge, and warns me a smackdown of salesy stuff is heading my way.

"for a select few individuals" true money raisers, know money is a commodity, and select individuals just warns me that its looking to start defining a group i would want to BE in. and there fore creates a sense of group identity. dangerous for the unsophisticated.

"securitized by a broad range of assets (or anything really)" securitized is a very over used word by ponzi guys. it smacks of sounding legit, but is dissociative language that helps make the abstract concept seem very sanctioned by the powers that be. great word, dangerous use on the smaller investor. makes my ears perk up. I rarely hear this word outside hedge fund chat

"But PLEASE hurry - this is a ground floor opportunity" GRRRR. my pet peeve. ground floor opportunity to me, screams, run away now! this overused cliche is a scarcity tactic that allows people to be drawn into the analogy that usally follows. (remember face book, what if you could have been one of the 1st 10 investors there?....) and that kind of comparison seems to blow past most people logical fallacy detectors in about 2 seconds for some reason. hear this? run.



"only offer this investment to 23 individuals" scarcity, yes, but the SPECIFICS of scarcity is what draws people in. great copy. but its a false trap. it fails the logic test of "if the investment sizes are variable, why only 23?" I know the laws that could make this a reasonable deduction of limited to certain number of investors. but the number, and specifics are pretty damm fishy.

"that limit, the offer is CLOSED" in most deals, people back out, or the deal gets oversubcribed sometimes, but when they are pitching its going to be closed, vs the merits of the deal, it definitely says, scarcity vs good deal is the driver here. PERFECT EXAMPLE of how it ropes so many people in.


"(And guess what? Vigilante, TheTruth, and Zendophin have already stepped-up to the plate and invested with me!)" Social proof. easy to fling about, ask to see their check. or ask for verification and proof? social proof, turns to social "poof" fast. (but hey, MJ says im going to make MONEY whooo hooo!)

"Your safe investment" the words "safe, secure, guaranteed, predictable, consistent, never ending, " all make me run. NOTHING and I mean NOTHING is guaranteed in the investment world. in fact if someone does not approach me with the risks pretty quickly and is pretty clear that I could lose all my money, I consider them an amature, and im out, quick.

"win win for everyone involved" Ugh, need I say more? just slime ball tactics

"securitized by MACS extensive assets and partnerships" Securitized by "extensive" assets, RUN

"As I write this, we have clients around the world; US (74%) AU (9%) UK (5%) EU (11%) ... other (1%)." another call to specifics since specifics cant be lied about right? so they must be true? right? shoots right past the fallacy detectors again. ZOOM.

"enjoy safe, predictable returns" Safe and Predictable in the same sentence is like the death knell of sane investing. STOP NOW>


I have heard so many pitches like this, and 30 seconds in, im just waiting for them to take a breath, so i can interject and say NO.
then 5-10 min trying to gracefully exit the conversation. sometimes I just have to get up and walk.
the worst by far, are the "converts" who have ALSO invested, and are getting paid, and are now helping the company out to help find other "smart, savvy investors" who want "safe and Predictable".

NOW,
be aware, Pitches come in all shapes and sizes now a days. in the next several months, CROWDFUNDING will become a daily conversation.
people will talk about a deal they did online, and it did great!
and then the snakes will come out. and start scamming the crap out of people.
and you will see this pitch in a dozen new videos on youtube, on crowdfunding sites and in emails from friends and family
the Facebook Viral Share with rain this crap down on your heads, like you were standing in a shower of pigeon shit.

its coming.

Brace yourselves, and jump start your BS detectors. your going to need them, to ferret out good deals from the crappy ones. FAST>

PS!!! *HUGE HINT HERE* when the scammers come out in force, the market will open up for a HUGE NEED to be filled. SOME SORT OF VERIFICATION FOR THE REAL PLAYERS VS the scammers.

those that can figure that out.

will make a BILLION.

with crap, come fertilizer of new great markets.

Good luck

Z
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

MJ DeMarco

I followed the science; all I found was money.
Staff member
FASTLANE INSIDER
EPIC CONTRIBUTOR
Read Rat-Race Escape!
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
445%
Jul 23, 2007
38,076
169,476
Utah
Wow Z, that's some gold right there, awesome follow up to the lead lesson.
 

wadza

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
71%
Nov 8, 2011
41
29
Great advice! It's amazing looking at some of the key people who lost money in the madoff scam... professional investors, billionaires, etc people who you think would be able to spot a scam a mile off yet so many have been fleeced...

Great stuff from Zen. It all comes back to 'if it sounds too good to be true, it is'..
 

Rawr

Gold Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
95%
Aug 12, 2007
1,838
1,755
south florida
Great stuff from Zen. It all comes back to 'if it sounds too good to be true, it is'..


That one is a fundamental one, along with "if this was this easy, EVERYONE would be doing it"

What I am curious about is will the scammers use the same formula since one can still reel in people with this,

or will they get really good and those few metrics won't be detecting them?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Rawr

Gold Contributor
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
95%
Aug 12, 2007
1,838
1,755
south florida
Watch THIS


these dudes are scamming brilliantly, and I bet all of us here think we are too smart to fall for it

yet they are getting 100 likes and users per 5 minutes

https://www.facebook.com/ItemsFromApple


So who wants to guess what they do next? Sell the likes to the high bidder and walk away with money, how much are 5-10k users worth for a business on facebook???
 

liite

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
69%
Nov 2, 2011
35
24
33
Watch THIS


these dudes are scamming brilliantly, and I bet all of us here think we are too smart to fall for it

yet they are getting 100 likes and users per 5 minutes

https://www.facebook.com/ItemsFromApple


So who wants to guess what they do next? Sell the likes to the high bidder and walk away with money, how much are 5-10k users worth for a business on facebook???

It's not even selling the likes or anything. If you look at the rest of the comment there is a survey you have to fill out to be 'eligible' for the 'free' Iphone. It's most probably a CPA offer or something. So that page is getting paid everytime someone completes it.

Sure most people will hopefully just comment and like but if it goes viral enough to reach a younger demographic I bet they will be filling in the survey. Thats what pages like this count on. For a younger individual the chance of winning something can be awesome, they fill it out. Nothing happens, oh well on to the next one.

Disgusting. All types of scams.
 

100k

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
149%
Oct 20, 2012
1,529
2,284
It sounded legit.

But I was put of for 1 thing, I did not understand what I was investing in.

Great lesson though. Thanks for sharing.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

edpaiz

New Contributor
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
23%
Apr 9, 2013
30
7
42
Guatemala
It would work becau MJ posted it.

The only reason i took th time to read it it was because it was coming from a guy that i trust and "know" that would be the lesson i take away, even if it appears to come from alegitimate, well funded, achieved source it might be a scam.. thanks MJ for the lesson.
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top