How My 13-Year-Old Spotted a Scammer

If you listened to my interview with Ben Settle I sent you over the weekend, you may have noted the colorful language I used to describe some Internet marketers.

“Knuckle-draggers” and “swamp dwellers,” I think I said.

I was in the car with Regina, my 13-year-old, the other day, and at a red light I showed her the sales page for a “make money online” product. I asked if she noticed anything strange about it.

Now obviously there are plenty of ways to earn dough online, and there are many perfectly reputable training programs showing you how to do it.

But what was different about this one?

Regina figured it out.

“I have no idea what it is.”

Exactly.

It was some new “secret method.”

The entire sales page was devoted to telling us about the great results of this method, the ease with which it can be done, and so on.

My favorite part was the Frequently Asked Questions. How I wish I had saved the link so I could quote it word for word. One of the questions, naturally enough, was “What is this all about?”

At last, I thought, we’re finally going to find out.

Nope.

“This is a secret method that anyone can do….”

Last year when I interviewed veteran marketer Sara Young on my show, I asked how to distinguish the scams from the genuine article. She replied: if you have no idea what exactly it is you’ll be doing, the program is probably a scam.

So Regina already has excellent instincts, at age 13.

Meanwhile, for those of you who are confident that there is indeed gold in them thar hills but just need a map to get there — without any “secret methods” — here are my non-secret methods:

https://www.happyearner.com/knowledge

———–

Some of the links on this site are affiliate links, which means I earn a commission if you click on them and buy something. This helps me keep the lights on around here. Naturally, I don't recommend a product unless I have used and benefited from it myself, or I have researched it enough to determine it to be of good quality and likely to benefit my readers. I don't promote anything created by the swamp dwellers. Thanks for reading!