Imagine if there was a place in the world where someone could pay some US$15,000, starting with a deposit of US$1000 and probably pay the balance in two instalments within 3 months. Then within a year, you get paid back at least a minimum of US$10,000 per year, with unlimited highly subsidised holiday travels around the world at no more than half of the market prices for a term of 10 years.
This is to be guaranteed in a single afternoon, by total strangers and signed by lawyers you didn’t choose and have no knowledge of their law. Imagine all it takes is a random stranger picking you up at the airport in a new city & dishing such a deal at no cost. Will you take it? Is it real? Does such a possibility exist anywhere in the world?
Yet someone believes there will be someone somewhere who will sign such an overture without thinking? Actually, quite a number of people do sign.
One may wonder how a sane person can fall into such a trap so easily. But look, you walk into a posh office block, with real people working hard to get such sign-ups. These folks wear expensive suits in a busy up-market street in a beautiful city.
I have been to a couple of countries in the short period I have been here under the sun. The truth is the world is full of many wonderful souls who will make you enjoy and feel at home, even in the most remote parts of the world. Equally true, the world has scammers who dwell amidst these good people in each society. We may be separated by national boundaries, but humanity is bonded by familiar traits wherever we go.
How then does one experience the beauty of the world while protecting their money & wealth from the few who live by scamming others? Today I share 5 basic rules of the thump:
- Put it in your DNA the reality that there is no free money under the sun – if anyone ever promises you free or easy money with no work or sacrifices on your part, just run to the hills as fast as you can. Man is a lover of money and money is what makes man and the world go round –period;
- Always remember the first rule of money is that it is a measure of value – how on earth can something worthless be paid back with something that is as worthy as money? We all pay the price of something that we value and want with money. How then can anyone want to earn this money and dish it away freely and so easily to total strangers?
- There will always be red flags – no matter how intelligent a scam might appear, scammers are not intelligent themselves. All they do is create a narrative or storyline –then capitalize on getting you off-guard or close out on their deal before you start asking questions. The moment you ask questions, they lose interest in you and move on to the next victim –they are never interested in someone who is alert;
- When it comes to money, only trust with your eyes open – blind trust does not exist even among the scammers themselves. Never ignore your instincts when dealing with money –somehow, your first instinct is always correct;
- While you MUST have a positive attitude towards money to attract it, you must tame your greed for money – money is only beautiful when it is earned and grows under fair play where you pay the full price for it. Greed blinds you from the basic rules of money and makes you easy prey for scams.
#Always ask who pays the price for anything that is offered for free. Someone somewhere must be paying for it if it is not you. Just make it a rule of asking why they would be willing to pay for it for you!