How I Got Scammed (and How You Can Avoid It)
Scams suck.
It seems they are everywhere! You are led to believe a complete lie, and most often you end up short a large sum of money. I’m usually pretty good at detecting and avoiding scams, and like to think I am a great judge of character, but I am human and sometimes get caught up.
The Scam
To provide some background, I am debuting my upcoming book, Possess Your Success: Mastering the Limitless Success Method, and I was looking to launch a Kickstarter campaign to help offset the marketing and publication costs. It would also be validation that my book provides value to people, and that it will sell when I eventually do debut it.
However, I know nothing about Kickstarter campaigns and needed someone with experience to help show me how to make this Kickstarter a smashing success. I then looked to a freelancer website to find myself a top-notch marketer with crowdfunding experience.
I thought I found THE marketer. On paper, he had everything I needed. However, due to the pressure of trying to launch the crowdfunding campaign by the end of the month and my excitement surrounding the upcoming book, I hired the guy without doing my full due diligence.
Thus, due to one lapse in judgment, I found myself one day last week $400 lighter.
Looking back, I could have avoided it too, had I not ignored all of the warning signs. And there were plenty of warning signs:
1. The scam artist promised me everything I wanted, and then some (when things are too good to be true, they usually are).
2. He said he was new to the freelancer site but had done a ton of work offline
3. He asked for money upfront
However, losing $400 and a bit of my pride are not–I repeat NOT–going to stop me from achieving my goal. I don’t care if I have to limp and crawl towards the finish line of a completed book in my hands and the hands of others… I will make it to that finish line. However, I have to reflect on this experience to ensure that it doesn’t happen again.
How You Can Avoid Getting Scammed
Watch the video below to check out my lessons learned and how to avoid making my same mistakes:
Have you been scammed before? Share your experience and lessons learned in the Comments section below!
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.” – Elizabeth Kubler-Ross
Love that quote. Thanks!
Hey my friend,
You had a great learning experience and you’ll have
many more. This is called, life. Enjoy the journey and
march on in the midst of the storms.
Namaste!!
I hear that. From these experiences, all we can do is learn and grow!
Freelancing is a growing trend around the world. If a freelancer takes some protective steps before starting to work, they can avoid losing money.
Not only that Michael, but the client must take steps to protect themselves as well. Each party must abide by the rules and take action when those rules aren’t followed. Be ever vigilant and ensure the work you asked for is completed in full before payment, or that work is actually being completed before payment. That way both sides are protected.
Outstanding post but I was wondering if you could write
a litte more on this subject? I’d be very grateful if you could elaborate a little bit further.
Cheers!
Hi @Doom 4 Cheat,
Sure, I can elaborate. Any specifics you were looking for? Cheers!
Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something.
I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message home a little bit, but
instead of that, this is wonderful blog. An excellent read.
I will definitely be back.