Part 2: The Bottom Line of Internet Business Opportunity Scams

Often, after the people who buy into these dot-cons have tapped out their friends, relatives, neighbors, church comembers and everybody else they know, they soon realize that the so-called Internet business opportunity was not the piece of cake the hype made it out to be. According to an article about MLMs by Small Business Advisor, Dr. Judith Kautz, "There are countless stories of folks who have destroyed their social foundation through pressuring friends and family to buy their products."

After the product or service phase fails, the only way left for them to recoup their investments or make what little money they can, is to dupe others into paying the fee, the same as they were duped. But they soon realize that's not easy either, as it'll take a lot of dishonest, "network marketing" legwork. Those with a conscience usually just give up at this point, eat their losses and learn a lesson the hard way.

But there are some who still don't get it, even after they've ticked off everybody they know. Sadly, scam artists turn otherwise ethical people into scam artists too, whether or not the otherwise-ethical realize it. Dr. Kautz indicates that they are so brainwashed by the hype, it becomes a cultlike obsession. She says, "Members mouth company mottos with no conscious awareness of how ludicrous the claims may be."

You've probably seen their "Wonderful Opportunity" and similarly-titled posts in forums that allow it. (The Job Searching: Technical Forum doesn't.) Besides their typical ambiguous hype about all the "wonderfulness" with no mention of the inherent flaws and risks, the URLs they provide are one of the clues that they're duped "cultists" attempting to dupe others into an Internet business opportunity scam. The URLs terminate in tags that credit them with a chunk of your fee, should you bite the bait. For example,

http://www.getduped.com/?id=maryq123

Where ?id=maryq123 is the tag. They likely also get a cut of your future sales, as your "sponsors." In other words, you'll help them move up the "pyramid" at your expense.

Others are just unoriginal and lazy con artists, looking for an easy ride at your expense. They could care less about selling products or services and have joined several, dupe-others-in Internet business opportunities. They'll say just about anything to get their cut of your fee. Some will even act hurt or angry if you question their motives. But con artists really don't give a hoot what you think about them. It's all just part of their bait-and-hook campaign.

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