- What kind of person make their own scam business
and then tricks their friends into joining?
How do people fall for something
that is obviously too good to be true?
Back in 2012, I got to find out.
Everything I'm about to tell you is 100% true
and filled with a bunch of bad decisions on my part,
so I've changed some of the names and specifics.
So, here we go.
I'm 26, working in New York City, when I get
a random Facebook message from a guy named Daniel.
I've never met him before, but it shows
we went to the same high school, so I read his message.
Hey Jeffrey, I am working with a local business team
in online distribution currently.
We're growing quite a bit and we're looking for
one or two ambitious individuals.
Right off the bat, it sounded pretty scammy,
so I told him I was interested.
On the phone, he tells me he's looking for
a few go-getters to start a business of their own.
He says it would be easy for me,
I could work in my spare time at home
as often or as little as I'd like.
If I was interested, he wanted me to meet with his boss.
I had a lot of questions.
What kind of business was this exactly?
Uh, my boss can tell you more when you speak with him.
And what is the name of your company?
I'll explain everything when you meet my boss.
I've gotten a vague promise of money
and literally no other information.
So I tell him I'm in.
Flash forward to the day of the meeting.
To prep, I create a fake resume and put it in a folder
with a picture of Bill Gates to really impress them.
I bought a $20 oversized suit at Goodwill
along with a pair of bright yellow running shoes.
I tell my real coworkers where I'm going
and that if they don't hear from me in two hours,
get worried.
At the hotel, Daniel is waiting for me in the lobby
in a navy blue suit, completely alone.
Let's go meet everybody.
Everybody, who is everybody?
I thought we were just meeting his boss.
We get into the elevator and to my surprise,
Daniel hits the down button.
Down, what on Earth could be underneath
the lobby of this hotel?
For the first time, I start to get really nervous.
The doors open and I am stunned.
We walk into a massive ballroom
with what's gotta be like 200 people.
There is a stage with tons of chairs
and a bunch of other people wearing the exact same
navy suit as Daniel.
I have no idea what's going on.
Daniel tells me a presentation will be starting shortly
and takes me to the seats
where there's a bunch of other people
who look like they're in the same situation as me.
I immediately turn to the person sitting next to me
and ask do you have any idea what is going on?
She says she's not sure, it's just a business opportunity.
Do you know the person who invited you here?
"Not really," she says.
The person on the other side of me
says the exact same thing.
What is going on here?
Who are these people?
Why did they come to this event?
Who in the world would come to this
with no information at all?
The lights dim and one of the navy suits gets on stage
and tells us we are in for a very special treat today.
He introduces a man named Joseph
and all of the navy suits erupt into a huge applause,
cheering and howling like this man is some kind of a god.
Joseph walks up to the microphone
and proceeds to spend the next 15 minutes
telling us about what a great life he has.
He's 35 years old, his business is at the diamond level.
He works three hours a week and makes $150,000 a year.
He goes on vacation all the time.
He's got a beautiful wife.
He's retiring in the next two years,
and then he tells us the most important thing of all.
This could be all of you.
Me, me? (gasps)
He starts pointing to people in the crowd.
What would you do with an extra $100 a month?
What would you do with an extra $1,000 a month?
At this point, about 30 minutes have passed
and the only thing he's really talked about
is how good money is
when he finally tells us about the opportunity.
You'd be starting your own business
that sells home goods and beauty products.
Instead of going to the store to buy them,
you'd buy them from yourself.
Hey, you got some friends who need these?
They can buy them from you too.
Why would they support a big corporation
when they can support a friend?
If someone you know joins your business,
you get a percentage of whatever they make.
It's easy money, you don't even have to do anything for.
Joseph tells us we'll make the diamond level in no time.
The audience is eating it up,
they cannot wait to hear more.
This sounded like a pyramid scheme to me.
The sleazeballs at the top of the company
make a ton of money as long as a bunch of suckers
keep signing up below them.
These unfortunate people will keep putting their own money
into this business, losing more money
than they'll ever make.
By now, Joseph is wrapping up his presentation.
He tells us he knows we're super excited,
but that we shouldn't go telling our friends
or family about anything yet.
They might have questions that we don't know
the answers to and it's better off if we just wait.
He says goodbye and the navy suits
give another excessive round of applause.
Everyone stands up and Daniel makes his way back over to me.
So, what do you think?
It sounds amazing.
I can see the dollar signs light up in his eyes.
He takes me back to the lobby
and tells me to hang tight while he grabs an info packet.
While I'm waiting there, I watch as two navy suits
walk across the entire room
and stand like two feet away from me.
So, what level are you at?
I just got to platinum.
Wow, and you've only been doing this for three months.
And then, they walked away.
They came across the entire room
and stood two feet next to me
just so I could overhear that.
Daniel returns in gives me the info packet.
It's titled Creating Choices, A Business of Your Own,
and the very first page has a picture of a sailboat
on the ocean with the caption
imagine where life can take you.
The book then goes on to a diagram of their business model,
which is actually shaped like a pyramid.
It also shows that the only thing you need to do
to start your own business is pay $200
to get your very own website.
You gotta pay to play, right?
He puts the pressure on me to do it right then and there,
but I tell him I need a week to consider it.
He says "okay," but he warns me not to google anything
about the company, so of course I google the company
and immediately my browser is filled with horror stories.
People talk about losing their life savings.
One lady even wrote about her brother
trying to recruit people at their father's funeral.
He was a great man,
and these are great products.
Some people call it a cult.
They brainwash people to convert
their entire lives to this company.
They convince you it's not a scam
and they train you how to reply to anybody who says it is.
They have a very special way they want you to
run your business, and it can only be learned
by purchasing their books and DVDs
and paying to go to their seminars.
So it's a week later and I'm meeting Daniel in a cafe.
I get a little nervous when he gets right down to business.
When I say I don't know if I'm gonna have enough
time to do this, you could work as little
or as much as you like.
When I say I'm not good at sales,
we have specialized training
and we can teach you how to succeed.
When I say I'm not sure I wanna spend $200
on something right now,
actually, the startup fee is $300.
(record scratches) Wait wait wait, $300?
The packet says $200.
Oh, yes, the $200 starts up your website,
but there's an extra $100 needed
to get you your first training books and videos.
Eh, I don't think I need those.
Oh, but it's the only way our business owners
can be successful.
Did you buy them?
Of course.
Well,
then can I just borrow them from you?
Huh?
I can see nobody has ever asked him this before.
He gets flustered for just a moment,
but then jumps right back in.
No, no, no, it's really recommended
that you buy your own.
Why?
Well, if you borrowed mine, everyone would want to,
and there wouldn't be enough to go around.
I tell him I'm a really fast reader
and I even read most of of the Harry Potter
books in a single weekend.
Are any of your training books
as long as a Harry Potter book?
Then it wouldn't really be difficult
for me to read these quickly.
Right.
So, I can just borrow yours?
And I can't believe it, he says
I, I guess.
I'm using logic to get out of paying him money.
I can tell that's not what he wants.
He wants someone who's not gonna ask questions.
I could see that for Daniel's sake,
I should stop wasting his time.
It's either join his team
or tell him I was messing with him.
So I do the only proper thing.
I abruptly leave.
Over the next few years, every now and then,
I'd get little reminders of this company.
I actually know someone else from high school
who joined and lost a lot of money.
So after two years, I decide, hey,
maybe I should check in with Daniel again.
Hey Daniel, how are things with the business?
Did I make a mistake by not joining you?
Business has been cooking like never before.
Well, to tell you the truth, I can't say you haven't
missed out, but then again,
sometimes the timing just isn't right for people.
To be honest, I was a little bit surprised
he was still with the company, but
I guess that means he was making money.
I guess it goes to show you should never give up
on your dream, even if your dream is scamming people.
(triumphant music)
(upbeat music)
- [Man] Hey guys, we're--
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