Late night TV and the Internet are once again filled with real estate get-rich-quick authors pitching their latest "secrets" to millions of dollars and investment success.
Only this time they are recognizing the obvious. Their target market of victims which are lower middle class paycheck-to-paycheck workers don't have $495 or $1,995 to spend on some ridiculous home study course. The days of wine and roses are over, economically speaking, for now.
Instead, they pitch what the Federal Trade Commission calls "continuity programs" on its own website. Here is the FTC warning and description for your reference.
How these programs work is simple.
You buy some small inexpensive item, like a book or CD, and give the seller your credit card information. The amount doesn't matter, $9.95, $19.95, whatever, even one dollar will do.
AUTOMATICALLY you are enrolled in some sort of "club" or "society" or "program" where you are AUTOMATICALLY billed money every single money UNLESS YOU CALL TO CANCEL.
These amounts can range from $29.95 to $69.95 or even more.
You see the scam?
The original purchase is a loss leader designed to get your credit card billing information and hook you on the program. The seller often loses money on this sale but makes for it big time over the next few months.
To see a classic continuity program in action take creative real estate guru Ron LeGrand's latest home study course offering. Here is a link for your reference.
LeGrand, who has been selling get-rich-quick programs since dinosaurs roamed the Earth, has the continuity pitch down just right.
He offers tons of stuff he values in the "thousands" of dollars for just $1.
Yes, those of you who believe you can truly get something for nothing would love this offer.
But wait, in the fine print of the offer at the bottom of the page, after you scroll through thousands of words of sales copy, you find the actual terms of the purchase.
By agreeing to pay $1 for his new wholesaling home study course and all those freebies, you also agree to join his "Gold Club" and pay $59 a month (AND EVERY MONTH) until you cancel.
Also notice that your first month's membership is charged to your card when you make your purchase. So all that stuff that is pitched for just $1 actually costs you $60.
I will give LeGrand credit for making the sales disclosures visible at the end of the offer. Normally you need an electron microscope to see the fine print.
But the net effect is the same. $59 a month, every month, until cancellation. And if you think canceling is easy, just try.
This scam is popping up everywhere from online real estate courses from "universities" without accreditation to newsletter subscriptions to, just like in LeGrand's case, club and society memberships.
PEOPLE WAKE UP!
You can't buy the secrets of instant unlimited wealth from these characters unless you want to make a fortune running continuity programs like they do.
Robert J. Abalos, Esq.
