SCAM or SPAM?

Lately it is difficult to tell the difference between scam and spam....or is there one? You receive that odd looking email that should be in spam but you investigate it and discover it is really spam. Is it possible that spam and scam are in cahoots?

A few weeks ago a friend of mine received a phone call from a fellow we will just call Willy for now. Willy told my friend he would be in line, if he wanted to be in line, to receive a territory that someone had retired from, in his state . The territory would produce a reasonable income and he would have a small Limited Liability Corporation assigned to him by the state and federal EIN Number.

My friend asked what would be involved  and he was told that, "due to federal regulations the company could not send its representatives out to call on accounts without a referral." That was where my friend would come in. He would run some ads in places like "Craig's List" and the prospect calls would be directed to a special division of the company. At that point the "salesman" for the area would be given the names and told to call on that prospect. If the sale was made my friend would receive 1% of any loans made, 2% for all business done through their credit card terminals, and "X" dollars for each terminal to accept credit cards that the prospect might purchase. Sounds cool, right?

Well, the next phone call, after my friend paid the "reasonable fee of $695.00," came from a gentleman who insisted he had several "sharks" under his command that only had to invest $50,000.00. They could expect a return of at least $15,000.00 per month. That was when he decided this was sounding a bit strange and not a part of the training program he had been promised.

Since then he has had the paper work sent to him for the start up corporation, but with the wrong name on it, and the "attorney?" that supposedly handled his "corporation start-up"  has never answered any of the phone calls my friend made to him. The trainer called him once with a list of free "on-line" advertisers like the "Craig's List" and was told that was the training he would receive.

Well, to make along story short, my friend, who will remain anonymous, is discouraged, embarrassed and out almost $700.00. He has learned that you cannot trust anyone that calls you for any reason that concerns investments, jobs, or the lovelorn.

Thought for the day...trust no one, and as my fake fish that hangs on the wall of my office says when his button is pushed, "Be Happy!"