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Raw Bytes Computer News KPBX FM 91.1 Radio National Public Radio Network Frank Delaney Producer Broadcast on Wednesday Morning 7:35 AM During Morning Edition Support Public Radio ! The Theater Of the Mind |
In computer news this week 4/08/2009 Millions of ways to lose your
money on the internet, in money making scams ... I first
personally encountered people who had bought into internet get-rich scams
back in the year 2000 when I was living in a small town south of Spokane. I was on the town council, and I had
volunteered to put on a class on understanding the internet, as part of a
community education project. Only one
couple showed up for that, and they told me that they had just bought an
internet business that was going to make them rich, from attending a seminar
that had been advertised in a local rural paper. But when
I asked them details about their business, they admitted that they
didn’t have a computer; didn’t know what a website was,
didn’t know anything about running an internet business, and were hoping I could help them understand just exactly what it was
that they had purchased. But they
had no information on it, so I just showed them the internet and some
existing websites, and I watched their eyes glaze over. I never heard from
them again, and I’m sure they never got rich. About a
year later I encountered another person who had attended that same seminar
– it seemed to have been aimed at people in small towns – and
this person actually had a computer and had gotten his website from the seminar
up and working, at a cost much higher than told in the seminar as he had to
pay for the camera work for his products and the website programming to
display them, and the credit card processing fees and other hidden costs. and he had done about $ 500 of sales. But his sales were all to himself,
purchased as gifts for relatives. Not a single person in the world had come
to or found his website. In recent
years it seems that people selling internet get rich schemes have turned to
television, and a few years ago there was a constant ad on late night tv of
two young women – very amply endowed and revealing it with extremely
low cut blouses–
and chattering about all the money they were making on the internet
without knowing anything about computers, and how anyone who bought the
program they were selling could do the same. This ad is viewable
today as it appears to have become an internet classic clip. This same
company is selling their programs on how anyone can
become an internet millionaire in an updated ad on late night tv and on their
website. The girls are just as curvy, but
now they’re wearing mini-dresses at a Southern California swimming pool
party,
and it seems that everyone there has bought their system and is making up
to $ 100,000.00 a week, without knowing anything about computers or the
internet, just by buying the
program for $ 39.95 which will turn your computer into an “internet
money machine”. The video
goes on to introduce you to the creator of the program – who they claim
is now making up to $ 1,000.000.00 a week, but he is willing to share his
secret with you .... for $
39.95 You never are told any
pertinent facts about what the products will be that you are selling, and
there are some basic economic concepts that are left unexplained – like
the difference between gross sales – and net sales – which is
gross sales minus the inventory cost of the goods sold and other related
expenses. This
particular program has many critics and other websites that
claim this program is a ripoff, but many of the critics are
selling their own internet get rich schemes. I guess
it all comes down to the old saying “There’s a sucker born every minute ..” , and that applies to real life and
cyberspace too. |
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For Raw Bytes This is Frank Delaney (C) 2009 MTA Micro
Technology Associates http://www.mtamicro.com/kpbx.html PO Box 31522 Spokane, Wa 99223-1522 (509)624-7230 |
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