Is it just me, or has there been an increase in marketing of "simple" or "easy" ways to make money. I'm constantly seeing YouTube ads for how to make 25k+ a month in simple online realestate management, or making 2-10k a month selling ebooks on Audible (I don't even know how that works), or buying and selling on Amazon and this company will do all the work for me, I just provide the inventory, etc. Then there's the easy stock trades that are so predictable that every year I can make tons of money.

My mom is also getting phone calls from folks offering to charge only 750/yr to teach her what investments are the best for her to put her money in. And they'll give her a $250 discount the first year! She wants me to sit in on the conference call with them to see if it's worth it.

Has it always been this common? I feel like it has gotten a lot worse since the pandemic. Maybe people had too much time at home to figure our how to market these things.

I'll admit, some of the ads seem pretty innocent, and pretty bold if they were a true a scam. I could see myself falling for them if I was desperate.

I think there is money to be made doing these "side hustles" but the ones pulling in anywhere close to that number it's their full time job, and even then it's very select few who make it to the top. Like all industries.

The real kicker and catch is the marketing scam of "buy my class" and I'll teach you how, when the reality is they're going to (probably - I'm guessing because I'm not gong to sign up for it) teach you something you can google yourself and figure out on your own. For this "class" they'll charge you and that's their real income stream.


Edit to add - not all "classes" are scams, see OA, he provided free advice for years so no shame in him making a buck off teaching and showing his trades when he did it as public service forever around here.

JDCAG (NOT Colin) said:

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It's 100% BS, just like all of the "trader" channels on Youtube.

If you know a way to make $25k a week by doing nothing, you don't go out and teach it to everyone you can. You just sit and let it roll in.

None of these people make money doing what they're "teaching" - they make money convincing people they've found the golden ticket and charging money for their courses/discord channels.

Consider how much time it takes to put together a well produced Youtube video and ask why the heck anyone would do that? The answer is THAT is how they're trying to make their money.

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Yep, the money making "side hustle" they're all engaged in is hustling people out of their money.

On another note, be one of the first 1000 people this month to message me about my course on how to make $25,000/month. On sale this month for $50 now $25. Don't delay!

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When it comes to instruction on money making systems, the money is made by the teachers, not the students.

I don't know what the scams are, but I've been able to for several years keep my primary cell phone almost spam call free (like maybe one per week). The last few weeks, it is about 2-3 per day (and I don't answer which is one reason I've kept my phone fairly clean from spam calls). But, it is very noticeable of an uptick.

I've had two different friends, both good dudes, whose entire feed now is "look what my client did / made on bitcoin". I kept waiting for one of them to post that they had been hacked. But every week...someone new made a hefty six figures. Neither guy was remotely connected to investments / finance.

OP, tell your mom to never answer the phone from that investment guy again. If you know his name look him up on FINRA Broker Check.

I turned on my Open to Work tag on LinkedIn about 3 months ago and I have been getting one a week of 'franchise investments' or 'AirBnB investment' messages. I have no idea how they are targeting me, but it is annoying AF.

My mentor gave me great advice a few years ago. Find what you are good at and what you have today and capitalize on that. For me, I live in a large home with lots of empty rooms. I rent 3-4 of them out to seasonal workers all year. I also guide for hunting a fishing. I haven't paid a mortgage note in 3 years and I have met some great new friends from guiding them. It isn't $25k/mo, but my side hustles certainly give me a lot of financial freedom.

Not necessarily a scam but I think a similar sign of the times is the desperation in the real estate world. I'm friends with one mortgage lender on Facebook, don't really know the guy but think he's decent enough from what I can tell. There's been a noticeable shift in him pushing for business and also advertising all these crazy special ways he can get you qualified for a mortgage that seem like they come right out of the Big Short.

All the stay at home moms who get suckered into multilevel marketing are the ones who get me. No shame in using all their friendships to try to make it work. I used to see them all the time on Facebook, but it seems to have died down some in recent years.

The newest one I saw from my hometown was a new sunless tanner. I had to turn off all notifications from her and her posse. What a scam.

To me...whenever someone is advertising an "easy" way to make money I have to ask myself this.....

If the system you are pumping is so great at making money then why are you trying to make money pumping the system instead of making money using the system?