Get Rich Websites...

[greatscotuk]

These have been around for years... and in book form before the web revolution. Are there any legitimate 'get-rich-quick' schemes out there?

If not, then why are so many people sucked in by them?

[Tony]

Yes, write a "get rich quick" book detailing how you go about writing and selling a "get quick rich book" to get rich quick. : )

The problem is people actually want a "get rich quick with absolutely no effort nor risk" which is impossible. When you buy one of these books you realise that a lot of effort and risk is involved and most people can't be bothered.

Tony

[GlasgowGirl]

Some of these are about pyramid schemes which, as I understand it, can generate a fair amount of money for those at the very top. Of course the problem with them is that they rely on people recruiting others, which gets harder and harder, until eventually the whole thing collapses and the people at the bottom get badly hurt. I guess that's why they call them pyramids!

[barbarp]

The internet scams work pretty much the same way, you pay a fiver for example then get 100 people to sign up and you get a percentage of the fiver they pay {which gets smaller the further down the line you go..} and the rest goes to the person ahead of you.
They work by appealing either to people's greed or their desperation {note how the ads/emails often show you an aspirational life style with the big car and the gorgeous wife or repeatedly use phrases in big bold letters like 'be debt free' and 'An end to your money worries'.
Just try going on anything like a money management or debt consolidation loan site and see how many emails you get about these schemes afterwards or the 'Your uncle died in ....... and has left you xxxxxxxxxx amount of money, just pay us a check into this account' emails.
Theres only two get rich quick schemes that work ,

1 Marry a footballer
2 Become a dictator and have an entire country's income at your disposal {bad job risk of getting shot!}

[Tony]

Just like this one - http://whatconsumer.co.uk/forum/just...ands-fast.html

The worrying thing is that people still fall for these... : (

[Paul Carcone]

There are idiots born every minute...but it's a shame that it's often the most vulnerable people that get sucked into these things through sheer desperation.

If getting rich could be done quickly and easily, then everyone would be doing it!

[shalloran]

I guess people are always hoping that it's going to work for them and convince themselves it's real. I worked with a guy whose parents fell for that Canadian lottery scam a few years ago and paid over £20,000 in 'admin fees'. They were elderly and it was their life's savings. I think that scam might even still be going. Shocking.

[Chutzpah]

My thought process is always that if you really could get rich off the scheme the people who know about it wouldn't tell you.

[kris1anne]

"1 Marry a footballer
2 Become a dictator and have an entire country's income at your disposal {bad job risk of getting shot!}"

Lol. Failing that go on a reality tv show. Rob a bank.

On a serious note, my understanding was that pyramid schemes are illegal in this country for this very reason. Also watch out for commission schemes and the schemes that tell you to set up email spamming from your accounts. Spamming is not lawful regardless of who does it and you will get your email account closed.

[Kimboha]

Pyramid schemes are also called Multi Level Marketing.
I had never heard of it before until i read an article and a report (apparently done by a independent third party). It was for Utility Warehouse where you had to sign up 6 people who changed over their utilities supply to this company. Then you would get a sign up reward and a percentage of what these people paid on their bills. So if i signed up one chap who then spent £100 on his phone bill, i would get a percentage of the £100. So in effect you are getting paid to get people to swap their energy supplier.

Then the 6 people who signed up would then sign up another 6 people and so on. You, being at the top, would get a percentage of everyone beneath you.

They also showed an example of 'double a penny for a month', where by day 15 you only have about £160 but by the end you would have nearly £5.5 million. Apparently because the money doesn't start getting big until the middle, that is when most people drop out thus actually benefiting the company more as they have gained lots of new users and they dont have to pay someone anymore.

I guess you need to check it out as much as possible, look at the benefits, how much money they are promising and then either take the risk or walk away.