Get-rich-quick scheme
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Get-rich-quick scheme is a plan to acquire high rates of return for a small investment. Most such schemes promise this high rate of return while at the same time promising that they are easy and risk-free.
Most get rich schemes also promise that little skill, effort, or time is required. They often assert that wealth can be obtained while also working at home. Legal and quasi legal get-rich-schemes are frequently advertised on infomercials and in magazines and newspapers. Ones that are illegal or scams are often advertised on the Internet through spam or through cold calling. Most get-rich-quick schemes are usually advertised by others, although many will devise their own schemes. Some forms of advertising for these schemes market books or compact discs about getting rich quick rather than engaging them to invest directly in a scheme in itself.
It is clearly easy to potentially get rich quickly if one is prepared to accept very high levels of risk — this is the premise of the gambling industry. However, gambling offers the near-certainty of completely losing the original stake over the long term, even if it offers regular wins along the way. Economic theory states that risk-free opportunities for profit are not stable, because they will quickly be exploited by arbitrageurs. Nevertheless, many people long for wealth, and find these schemes highly desirable.
Theodore Roosevelt is known to be quoted, "The things that will destroy America are ... the love of soft living, and the get-rich-quick theory of life."[1]
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[edit] Legal get-rich-quick schemes
- Work at home tasks such as stuffing envelopes or assembling trinkets. Essentially cottage work; only small fees are paid per piece, and to make real money vast quantities of work are required.
- Many get-rich-quick-schemers offer training courses in areas such as real estate, estate auctions, rare coins, or gemstones. Generally they promise that the trainees, after purchasing educational materials costing several thousands of dollars, will be able to locate cheap or discounted items that can then quickly be resold at great profits.
- Get-rich-quick schemes often sell software programs for betting on horse racing or other forms of gambling, promising that if run properly they will pick winners. They rarely do and most users lose money. This software normally sells for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
- Selling "miracle products" over the Internet, telephone or to friends and neighbours.
- Many e-books are written about how to get rich quick by selling goods on eBay. The books are rich on irrelevant basic details, but are unlikely to give you advice on which products to sell in order to succeed.
[edit] Illegal get-rich-quick schemes
- When there is no pretense at selling a product, multi-level marketing degenerates into a pyramid scheme or matrix scheme, which is illegal in most countries.
- Ponzi schemes are illegal in most countries.
- Advance fee fraud
In general, the maxim holds that 'if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is', and there is usually a catch. Many apparent get-rich-quick schemes are the work of confidence tricksters.
