Hope Overrides Rationality

Over the last few months, I have been hearing a spate of stories about how I can earn thousand of Rupees every month by signing up with a multi-level-marketing scheme that in my belief even then was nothing or was something more than a Ponzi scheme.  I guess the initiators of this scheme relied upon a universal fact of how everyone wants to be a millionaire easily and easily is the operational word here. Infact, very few of us know how the most important aspect of anybody's life called money actually works and it is this ignorance that some crooks take advantage of.

These fraudulent schemes have been there for ages where a select few smooth crooks, rather than arming themselves with WMDs and conducting brazen raids on banks and people and their houses, equip themselves with the basic knowledge that the 80 out of 100 people will go to any length to have free lunch or in this case easy money. This ignorance is what they seek in their potential victims.

With the onslaught of the digital age it becomes really easy for these crooks to cook something up online and dish it out to innocent but foolish masses. I myself have been a victim of such bilkers on couple of unfortunate occasions but I learnt my lesson and have always maintained that there is no concept as easy money and If somebody does try to sell me this concept I would happily take him or her to the cleaners.

I shall not name the scheme currently in question and debate here but I would lay down few pointers that could help the potential victims in their decision. Shun those from your coterie or your social circle whose idea of how investing, or even business, works is nothing but a form of conspiracy theory.

Take this idea of your head that there is somebody out there who knows the secret recipe for making easy money. Remember No Pain No Gain.

Do not think that people like Mukesh Ambani, Warren Buffet, Sachin Tendulkar, Shahrukh Khan have become rich by chance. No they haven't. They might have been lucky but luck is not always on your side. They have worked hard to be where they are now.

Also know this, that even if there exists an inner circle that knows how to earn big money they wouldn't make you a part of it for a meager 11000 Rs and that too paid online. 

People in IT space would be aware of the Cloud Computing concept. These Ponzi schemes are the best examples of the cloud investing. There is no easy way to detect and crackdown on these but the most effective way to give these operators a hard wrap is to stop spreading the benefits or stop the marketing of these schemes among your circle. In case you have become tangled in one of these make sure you don't push your friends or people known to you in this peril.

There is no limit to one's greed but make sure your foolishness has boundaries otherwise the crooks would continue making merry on your money.

Over and Out

Sam