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The Fig Leaf_adding respectability to a scam
By Cheryl Baumgartner
The Scam issue has reared it's ugly head again, There is a program out there right now that I firmly believe is a scam. It has all the classic earmarks of a Pyramid/Ponzi scheme yet people believe in it and will argue with you even when the evidence from Agencies such as the FTC and SEC are presented to them. Why are they so convinced it is for real? Even one of their own reps states "A free program like this cannot last forever." There is a reason people get duped by scams like this one. It's called the "Fig Leaf" concept. Most of us are familiar with the story of Adam and Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve ran around naked as jaybirds in the garden until the serpent convinced Eve to eat the apple. Eve then convinced Adam to do the same thing and they immediately realized...they were naked. The next time God came to the garden they hid, because they realized they were naked. They then came before him using fig leaves to cover up their "naughty bits". This is the same principle with a scam. The scammers uses the same tactic (Fig leaf) to cover up the naughty bits of the scam and give it respectability. Fig leaves can take any form when dealing with a scam. 1.The scammer may partner with a respectable industry or company, using the respectability of that entity to cover the scam. Because there is a respectable entity involved you think it can't be a scam. 2. The scammer may pay a few people to give the impression that money is there to be made. This is simple enough in the beginning because the cash flow allows it. Once enough people sign up the entire thing topples because there is no money to pay anyone else. However those few who first got paid have a belief level and will push the scam on others arguing that it cannot be a scam because they got paid. 3. The scammer may offer an overpriced or cheap product for sale. The product is not worth what you pay for it but because they are "selling" something it must be respectable. 4. The scammer let's you join free or for a minimal cost, yet promises to pay you when you recruit more people to the program. But there is no product being sold outside of the members of the opportunity. You think you are among the elite few who have access. The truth is that money is only made when new people come into the program and buy the products. Before you get scammed, before you join any opportunity; due your research. Forget all the company hype, all the promises, all the respectable partners ,all the products and check the opportunity against accepted definitions of the Pyramid/Ponzi scheme. If it fit's the definition, that's exactly what it is. Covering your naughty bits with a fig leaf does not change them or make them go away, it just hides them. A fig leaf in a scam has the same purpose, it doesn't miraculously change a scam into a legitimate opportunity, it just disguises the fact that it is a scam.
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Contributor's Note
Just because that opportunity looks legitimate doesn't mean it is
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This intel first appeared on: http://beta.apsense.com/topic/1136.html
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May, 2012
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