We need to be mindful of this: real success in any field we can think of, including the endeavor of business, is coming up with a great product or set of services and putting in a lot of hard work to promote them, cultivate customer rapport, and maintain the quality of what we are selling.
That’s the reality of becoming rich and financially stable. But here’s the problem. The vast majority of people don’t want to hear about that. What they want to know about and try for themselves is the easy way of hitting it big: achieving the success and wealth they dream of in the quickest way possible.
It is for that reason why scammers exist, and why people are being scammed.
Why the seemingly endless cycle of scamming and being scammed doesn’t go away is mainly due to the exploitation of human psychology. Scammers will always employ any tactic available so that they can scavenge whatever money that the vulnerable and desperate have. Let’s delve into the psychological aspects of people that scammers find to easily exploit.
The spirit of greed and laziness
In this aspect, they will scout for people who are not too smart to think or analyze, but are very hopeful in attaining a life in which they can be financially free. These are the type of people who think that riches can be easily attained in just a few clicks or few pushes of a button.
These people are usually the type who adhere to the idea that they are entitled to live a good and extravagant life. Most of these people think that a life scenario in which they can have a passive money-making method in which they can make money without really doing anything.
Once they can spot a group of people like that, it is when the scammers will say to themselves, “Here, we have our target audience.” Once they have unleashed their salestalk skills and over-the-top convincing power, those people will be handing over their money without too much hassle.
Most of those target people don’t understand, or wouldn’t really want to understand that success is really about extended periods of planning, execution, and hard work. What they want to attain is the end result.
If we are going to view those people in Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, those people are only looking into the bottom of the pyramid. They don’t want to hear about the complexities of the methods of success. They only want to know if there’s a shortcut to the goal which is to make a lot of money.
Because of that, scammers will bombard those prospects with hope and drain their wallets of their cash.
The desire for prominence and authoritativeness
Another tactic that proves to be very effective is showing people how accomplished they are with their lives through pictures on social media. In this method, scammers will broadcast to any prying eyes that they live their lives by traveling first class in any airlines possible, or that they constantly travel in private jets, in their yachts, or how they trek the streets of world-class cities with their expensive cars.
Whenever they are able to buy something that those potential victims can’t afford, the scammers will post them relentlessly so they can give the illusion that they are in fact, someone who really knows how to get around with life so it can become a whole lot better.
They will also show pictures of bank accounts with outrageous numbers on them. Such numbers don’t need to be real, they are just there to represent the alleged wealth that they have. The sad thing is that many of the vulnerable hopefuls will actually believe it, although just on a subconscious level.
They might also show pictures of themselves working in random places like working with their laptops beside a swimming pool, inside an expensive hotel room, inside a limousine, or inside expensive restaurants everywhere.
Why this strategy works so well is that oftentimes, those who haven’t achieved greatness in life yet have the notion that wealth and power are very much closely associated with wisdom. If you have lots of money, then you must be some kind of really wise individual who has managed to squeeze through life’s difficulties. And since scammers and internet gurus appear to be in the greatest levels of success, people, mostly those who belong to the poverty line often look up to them for help and guidance.
The desire to belong and the quest for freedom
To reinforce the idea that you really need to buy their online courses and coaching services, they will preach the idea that people deserve a better lifestyle than the ones they’re currently living in. Oftentimes, get-rich-quick gurus will emphasize the keypoint that the lavish lifestyle they’re having can be attained by anyone if they will just believe that they can also get it.
This is something that financial coaches will do, they will fill the victims’ minds with irrational logic. Although the sad thing is that to the minds of those victims, the logic is really valid and rational. Using vague quotes, they will brainwash people into believing that the advises and courses they give are really effective and worth it.
For instance, they might put some slogans on their websites that speak about optimism, success, and freedom. They would put some famous person at the bottom though there is actually no record of that person saying the quote anywhere. The viewers will not bother to research them anyway. What they are so focused on is the idea that they can in fact get rich with the methods presented to them.
When you’re too broke or desperate, you tend to get hooked by vague, yet plausible quotes by some famous people who allegedly said those statements. Because those quotes make you feel stronger and motivated, you tend to overlook the fact that you are actually scammed in the process.
By becoming immersed in those ideas, people will be given hope, and they will begin to trust the scammer. It makes them dream of big events that might take place in their lives not too long from that moment. Of course, the real deal is that those fake gurus are not really thinking of teaching those people some valuable lessons.
By enrolling in the online courses offered, the victims will have the feeling that they already belong to some kind of “elite group.” They will be made to feel that they are inside some kind VIP program that not everyone can get to avail. Upon reaching the goal of the course, they are expecting that they will finally have the total financial freedom that they’re hoping for.
