"Our Mission is to Help You Reach Your Goal!" - NOT!!

Live by this simple rule and you will avoid most of these scum-sucking scams: Never believe them when they spout: "Our mission is to help you reach your goal."

The majority of "biz ops" promoters have one mission and one mission only: To make themselves rich with your money. In fact all their promises are empty (and sometimes even illegal) - every last one.

Anyone who promises that his or her "program" or "secret" or "turn-key business" is your ticket to financial freedom is simply lying to you.

Most Canadians searching for "the perfect business" are desperate to escape a 9-to-5 job. The con artists know this fact and prey on their dreams. We all want to believe there is an easier way to earn a living. As a result, suckers line up in droves to buy into these various "opportunities."

No matter how big a lie is being told, people eagerly pay money for whatever "Business In A Box" is being peddled. The pitch can come over the phone, in an email, a free ‘seminar' or right in your home. The key is asking the right questions, and then determining the right answers from the wrong ones.

If it's there's even one wrong answer, walk away! Er, no run away!!! And never look back.

Among the wrong answers, any requirement to whip out your chequebook or credit card as the first step towards "financial freedom" stop! It's always a sign of bad faith when your money is required up front.

Most "biz ops" make their profit on the opportunity not the actual products and services being offered. Those are the ones you want to stay away from no matter what. Cut up your credit cards!  Close your checking account! Have your phone disconnected!  Bribe your mailman to burn your mail! Move into your bathroom and have your meals stuffed under the door! You will always be burned financially!

Among the scams to avoid:

Work-at-home: The classified advertisement reads: "Earn money from the comfort of your home stuffing envelopes, assembling products, or completing surveys." These work-at-home schemes all have one thing in common: you must pay a fee in order to earn it. Don't' bother.

Mystery Shopping: A new twist on the mystery shopper scam involves the victims receiving a cheque to use as payment for services rendered. Seems legit since the company has ‘paid' you in advance. The company simply asks you to ‘shop' the wire money transfer service of a specific well-known international company. But after cashing the cheque and transferring the funds, the victims discover the cheque is fake and the 'mystery shoppers' are out the money they wired to the con artists.

Employment services: These schemes guarantee access to the "unadvertised job market" in Canada or overseas ... for a fee. In most cases, the information they send you can be obtained for free from other sources such as the Internet or industry associations. Do your own research online.

Any biz-op advertised on TV: The only way these companies can afford the expense of advertisements and infomercials on television is cash flow. They need you money to keep their con game running. If their stocks-tip software, real estate investment strategies, classified advertising schemes, receivable collections programs or a million different ideas were so good, why wouldn't the inventor simply use them to make him or herself the millions of dollars they are promising to put in your pocket instead. It makes no dollars or sense. Despite the fact these promoters paint themselves as altruistic trying to help others become rich as they did, it's a simply line of bull-crap. Don't fall for it. They are simply getting rich taking your and others' money.

Quick Tip: In Canada, it is illegal for an employer to charge money in order to provide employment. Work-at-home companies do not provide a legitimate employment opportunity, nor can their earning claims be substantiated. Watch for unreasonable claims of weekly earnings, non-disclosure of the earnings of typical participants, hefty upfront fees or large inventory purchase requirements with vague return policies. If it sounds too good to be true, look elsewhere. Envelope stuffing schemes quite often turn out to be disguised pyramid schemes.

I love using the Internet to unearth the real dirt on these scams. Just add the words "scam" or "victims" on the end of any Google search. The results often come up with dissatisfied customers, criminal indictments, past bankruptcies, court judgements or other negative reviews. It's truly amazing how many times these same scam artists reinvent themselves under new company names, aliases or concepts, even after serving time in jail for previous swindles. Before you invest a dime into any ‘opportunity' take all the time you need to investigate, research and question every aspect of the business. It will save you thousands of dollars and hundreds of wasted hours making someone else rich.

The final article during Fraud Prevention Month helps businesses avoid con artists who target small businesses, Canadian corporations and other companies in Canada.