Day 146: Scam Targeting Writers

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 146: Scam Targeting Writers

There’s a long list of things that tick me off and somewhere on that list, you would find … scammers, especially scammers who target writers.

One such scammer is Amy E. who one fine day decided to start flooding my inbox with messages such as: do you want to be a writer? Do you want to sell more books? Do you want to be a bestselling author?

I knew right away that I was dealing with a scammer as nobody can make you a bestselling author. To become a bestselling author, you have to write something, a literary agent has to accept it, a talented editor has to make the work better, a publisher has to publish it and a marketing team has to bring it to the attention of readers.

Now if Amy E. were a bestselling author or even an author for that matter, her offer of advice would carry some weight, but she’s a nobody.

If I were to get a chance to address Amy E. I would say … Do you know what Ernest Hemingway, James Patterson, and J.K. Rowling had in common? Each of them had an idea, sat down, opened a book, took a pen and started writing. 

At the time, Hemingway had no idea he would become one of the most respected authors of our time; Patterson didn’t have a clue that he would be listed in the Guinness World Record book with the most New York Times bestsellers; while Rowling would have been baffled if she had known that little Harry Potter would make her one of the richest people in England.

If those people were to offer advice to writers I would be the first to take a front-row seat, but Amy E. … who is Amy E. and why would I take writing advice from someone who isn’t published, who isn’t even a writer?

Her advice to writers to get their work noticed is:

·          Join local writer groups

·          Online critique groups

·          Facebook groups

·          RWA (if you’re a romance author)

·          Bloggers;

·          Websites dedicated to authors and their crafts.

Is this the best she can come up with? I typed in Google “How to get my writing noticed” and within seconds I received 209,000,000 results. My guess is that Amy did the same. She prowled Google, gathered information on how to write and get writing work noticed and then passes it off as her own advice. Shame on you Amy, while this is not exactly plagiarism, it’s highly unethical, especially if you’re charging for this advice.

For those who already have written something, Amy offers a review of their work. For a standard review, she charges $250, for a rush review $325. I have news for Amy … most writers are broke and can ill afford $25 for a review, let alone $250. Besides, have a look on Amazon, there are tons of reviews there all written by readers FOR FREE.

Some people just have no scruples. They’re looking for a way to make money and any means will do. A few might fall for her scam and end up disappointed, others – especially those who have been around the block a few times – will shake their head and think ‘Nice one Amy, but try again’, which no doubt she will. After all, if one scam doesn’t work, try another.

As for me, one good thing came out of Amy’s worthless babble … it got me out of my slump. Ever since Gabriel’s passing I hadn’t written one word. As you can see I’m out of that slump.

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Day 44: Writers Beware

My Project: 365 Creative Writing Prompts

Day 44: Writers Beware

As a freelance writer, I am constantly on the lookout for new gigs. As such, I am a regular visitor on Craigslist. Not the best source of employment for freelance writers, but in the past, I have found some valuable information.

Unfortunately, for every legitimate job, there are a number of dubious posts. It is impossible to recognize these scams as the individuals use a generic Craigslist i.d.

Not only is this a deceitful practice but every ad raises hope in freelance writers to be considered for a job, only to have that hope smashed.

One individual who likes playing tricks on freelance writers is Eric Scott, also known as Scott Eric, Magnus Aanya, John Klevs, Shawn, and probably a few others. 

His ads read as follows:

Creative talented writers $1000 weekly

Hello, my name is Shawn and I am looking for 2 talented writers to help me with my publishing company. I am looking for those who can write short stories, blogs, and articles. Pay will be up to $30 per HR. Please Reply to email as it goes directly to my cell. I cannot have my text going off a million times.

Or

Working from home 

Hi there! We are working on a project and we need additional VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS or CONTENT WRITERS to help us to get the tasks done.

Qualifications: good writing skills

** Option to make up to 200$ a month with only 10 minutes of work every day

When a writer responds to these ads the following message is received:

Goodday,

I am very sorry for replying you late i have been busy for the past three days now that is why i am unable to get back to you fast. My name is SCOTT ERIC, I am 60 Year old,  I write in response to your message concerning the job posted on Craigslist which you're interested in, although the position has been filled but after going through your response, i'm quite impressed, but i have another position available if you will be interested, I am looking for someone who can handle my personal Assistance (PA) and business errands at his/her spare time.

I am in United State Of America ( U.S.A) presently so there will be no interview. I will prepay you in advance to do some business errands for me  and have my mails/packages forwarded to your address. If you will be unable to stay at home to get the mails, I can have them shipped to a post office near you and then you can pick them up at your convenience. All errands will be in your city/town so It is not a must that you have a car for the job, you can go places by bus or taxi. When you get my mails/packages; you are required to mail them to where I want them mailed to. You won't have to put money out of your pocket, all you have to do is have packages shipped to your house. You ARE NOT ALLOWED TO OPEN THE PACKAGES TO REVEAL THE CONTENT. I will pay you $500 per week.

(email unedited)

Not only does this reek of a scam, it would appear that Eric Scott (or whatever his name is) is dabbling in something illegal. Packages that are not to be opened … hm, suspicious to say the least. 

Needless to say, I did not follow up on this job, but the question remains ... when will Eric Scott, Scott Eric, Magnus Aanya, John Klevs, Shawn, or whatever his name is strike again and will he eventually find someone naive enough to fall for his scam? 

www.connymanero.weebly.com

Do job seekers have rights?

All over the world people have rights. Men have rights, women have rights and children certainly have rights. African Americans have rights, gays have rights, the disabled have rights and a whole lot of other people have rights too. The only people who do not seem to have rights are job seekers.

Potential employers can engage in false advertising, toy with their emotions, offer them less than minimum wage salaries, and when they complain they don’t have a leg to stand on.

Anna (not her real name) who complained about false advertising received the following message from the Ministry of Labour.

This issue is not covered under the Employment Standards Act. The Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) sets out minimum rights for most employees in Ontario workplaces by setting standards for such things as payment of wages, public holidays, hours of work, overtime pay, vacation time and pay, pregnancy, parental and personal emergency leave, and entitlements to notice of termination (or pay instead of notice) and severance pay. Hiring is not covered under the ESA.

In another instance Anna applied for a job where the employers offered her less than minimum wage. Again she complained to the Ministry of Labour. To the best of her knowledge, paying less than minimum wage is against the law. 

Apparently it isn’t. The law on minimum wage might as well not have been written, because employers can pay whatever they want. It’s up to the employee to take it or leave it.

This time Anna got this message.

This issue is not covered under the Employment Standards Act.The Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA) sets out minimum rights for most employees in Ontario workplaces by setting standards for such things as payment of wages, public holidays, hours of work, overtime pay, vacation time and pay, pregnancy, parental and personal emergency leave, and entitlements to notice of termination (or pay instead of notice) and severance pay. Minimum wage is not covered under the ESA.

This is not very encouraging. Companies can advertise jobs that don’t exists, can pay whatever they want, and according to the Ministry of Labour it’s none of their concern. When will the law give job seekers some rights?

This makes my blood boil

Some people make me sick. There’s this guy on Facebook, who is on welfare. He posted today that he wants to upgrade his computer and that this was going to cost him between 600 to 700 Euros ($852 to $994)

I responded to him that upgrading an old computer is a waste of money. I recently looked at laptop computers and found a very nice machine for just under $500 (453 Euros).

He commented that he doesn’t want a normal PC or laptop, the wants a state-of-the-art machine to play games.

My jaw dropped. He’s a man on welfare and a normal computer isn’t good enough for him! He DEMANDS a state-of-the-art machine to PLAY GAMES!!!

Continue reading at:

http://connymanero.weebly.com/blog/this-makes-my-blood-boil

PMF Scam - Update

If you read yesterday’s post about the Princess Margaret Foundation scam, you might have come to the conclusion that I’m puzzled by the way they handle their money.

To get clarity, I wrote to them and ask them for an explanation.

Dear Sir or Madam,

I had a look at the sweepstakes and when I add all prizes together I come to about 10 million dollars.

Wouldn't it be better to invest that money into healthcare instead of all those items?

How can you afford all those houses, cars, vacations and electronics?

I'm looking forward to your answer,

Conny

This morning I found a reply …

Hello, Conny, and thank you for your note.

This is a long-standing debate. The problem is, without the prizing, especially the largest of the prizes, the lottery doesn’t hold the same cachet. It would be all but impossible to have people pay $100 (or any sizable amount of money) for a ticket without offering something very substantial in return. The homes, cars and trips provide dreams for ticket buyers, but these dreams fund essential cancer research work at The Princess Margaret in turn. And we need the lottery proceeds because they are the single largest source of funding, outside the government funding, that the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre receives. Since the first Princess Margaret lottery was presented in 1996, more than $227 million has been raised for cancer research programs at The Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. We wouldn’t have had that source of revenue without the lotteries.

I hope you better understand why we hold the lotteries and why we offer such wonderful prizes.

Respectfully,

Kevin Shea

The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation

This fund raising still doesn’t make any sense to me.  Do people really need a reward to find a cure for cancer?  Isn’t healing (and subsequent living) enough?

The Cancer Society was founded in 1913 by 15 doctors and businessmen.  So they’ve been in operation for 99 years.  Although progress in the diagnosis and treatment of certain cancers has been made, cancer is still a dirty word that for a lot of people sounds like a death sentence.

In comparison, vaccines have been formulated for viral and bacterial diseases.  Nearly all these vaccines were formulated quite some time ago, without the use of computers and with limited funds.  So why is it, that with all our technology no more cures our found. 

One cure our brilliant scientists did find.  The cure for erectile dysfunction (Viagra) and it only took them 13 years. 

When can we expect a cure for cancer?  My guess is never. 

Imagine if you will that a cure was found.  No more donations for the Cancer Society, Princess Margaret Foundation and a list of other cancer related organizations.  No more cancer related doctors and nurses, no more machinery and oh dear, no more drugs.  That translates into a loss of not millions but of billions of dollars.

For the longest time I thought I was the only one being skeptical about the use of all those donations, but after talking to quite a few people, it turns out I am far from the only one.  All kinds of people are more than a little suspicious of cancer “research”.

In general they all agreed, cancer is not just an illness, it’s a business.

Are people really spending $100 on a ticket for the Princess Margaret Foundation?  They bitch and whine about the gas prices; they switch to LED lights to save electricity; they go to the store with coupons; they complain about unemployment after the recession; there’s all kinds of advice on frugal living.  In short … do you really see these people throw away $100 on a ticket that might or might not win?

And speaking of winning … where is last year’s list of winners?  Who won the houses and the cars?  Were they won?

The Princess Margaret Foundation Scam

It’s that time of the year again … the Princess Margaret Foundation is pulling the wool over your eyes.

The usual slogan is “Help Conquer Cancer” and they want you to contribute to their scam by buying a ticket.  To make the deal a little sweeter, they promise a series of prizes.  Million dollar homes, sports cars, vacations, etc.

Of course, the prizes are reserved for the already rich.  Think about it … who can afford to drive a $229,825 Ferrari or a Porsche 911 valued at 130,940?  Do you have any idea of the taxes and insurance on those cars?  

As for the homes, lets see:

A condo valued at $379,000

Oakville home: $4,300,000

Muskoka cottage: $1,200,000

In addition one can win seven vacations, ranging from $2,000  to $7,000

And there are the electronics:

3 – Apple MacBook Air Laptops
Valued at $1,132.09^††

10 – Sony Tablets
Valued at $451.99^††

95 – Apple TV Devices
Valued at $124.29^††

1,500 – Nikon Digital Cameras
Valued at $112.99^††

2,920 – Sony Noise-cancelling Headphones
Valued at $90.39^††

Above prizes supplied by Henry’s

3 – Samsung 55" LED 3D TVs
Valued at $3,135.74^††

25 – LG 32" LCD TVs
Valued at $593.24^††

25 – Toshiba 19" LED TVs
Valued at $261.02^††

120 – Hamilton Beach Juice Extractors
Valued at $112.99^††

699 – Sony iPod Docks
Valued at $103.33^††

4,000 – Sony DVD Players
Valued at $80.73^††

Above prizes supplied by The Brick

1 – Apple iMac Computer
Valued at $1,368.42^††

15 – Apple iPad 3 Devices
Valued at $588.38^††

15 – Samsung Galaxy Tablets
Valued at $396.28^††

25 – Bose SoundDock Series II Digital Music Systems
Valued at $284.13^††

40 – Monster Beats Solo Headphones by Dr. Dre
Valued at $226.10^††

25 – Microsoft XBOX 360 Gaming Systems
Valued at $225.99^††

25 – Sony eReader
Valued at $169.60^††

100 – Apple iPod nanos
Valued at $146.99^††

5,200 – Apple iPod shuffles
Valued at $56.60^††

Above prizes supplied by Future Shop

1,800 – Cash Prizes of $100 each

With a rough estimate, I get to about $10,000,000.

How exactly does that benefit the cancer patients?  How can the Princess Margaret Foundation afford to throw 10 million dollars out the window?  Just how many tickets do they have to sell to make a profit?

Wouldn’t it be better to invest that 10 million in healthcare?

I personally know a woman who approached the foundation for a headscarf.  Not a fancy wig, just a scarf.  They foundation sent her packing and none to friendly either.

Or is this whole sweepstakes a fraud?  Do people buy tickets without getting anything in return? Is this just another scam?

When the going gets tough, the crooks get creative

The unemployed are easy targets for crooks.  Now that promised millions from Middle Eastern business men and princes no longer have the desired effect, scammers have to come up with other ways to ensnare well-meaning people into their web.

If the unemployed happen to be a writers (and let’s face it, with millions of blogs out there, who isn’t a writer these days?) the scams become much more easy to execute.  Just play on someone’s writing abilities and you scam is sure to get attention.  It got mine.

The scam in question is a call for bloggers on Craigslist. 

Serious inquiries only. This is for people who are looking to put in the hard work daily to create limitless opportunistic for themselves through blogging. I need ten new bloggers respond to this post and the details will follow. Make anywhere between 25-1000 dollars your first day.

Sounds intriguing, right?  I thought so too.  So I clicked the provided link and made some enquiries.

Maria (not her real name) sent me the following explanation:

Hey Conny! If your already wayyyy into the freelance writing and blogging than you could very easily transform your current work into this blog! This would be great for you! I think its great for anyone really! It's the best move I 've made for myself since working wayy too many jobs to try and get by! I would like to work one on one with you so that you understand the process. I will send over the video that explains how everything works, but I must say some people are overwhelmed by it. There are four steps to our program. I myself, only did the first two steps which are basic and inner circle training. What scares people off initially is the fact that you have to pay a monthly fee to be a part of the XXX network. Don't be frightened by that. I didn't start off with much money myself and together the first two steps cost me about a hundred and twenty five dollars. (I was in between jobs when I invested trust me it is soooo worth a hundred dollars.) However, I made it all back the second day with two hundred dollars into my account! 

The video will explain everything but I like to break it down for people so that they can understand it better. You blog daily, get attention to your blog simply by posting everyday and making new connections. They join your team and you get straight money to the bank! Its really quite simple. You learn new tricks and tools for small businesses and tips to live like the new rich. If you would like to talk to me more about the process after you watch the video you can call me personally at XXX XXX XXXX between the hours of 9 am- 1 pm tomorrow-Friday. I know I asked my sponsor about 100 questions my first day! If you are interested in lifestyle design and you want to take the leap I suggest you do! You can work when you want and where you want and make an endless amount of money! It sounds crazy but my sponsor Christopher is pulling in around 1500 dollars in just a few hours of work. Same for the rest of our team. Our specific team is very friendly and I'm sure you would get along with us great we even have our own facebook group called "The XXX." The last team trip was to Costa Rica! It was only my first week on the job so I unfortunately did not make that team meeting :p. Anyways thats lots of exciting things going on! I hope we can add you to the team and get you pointed off in the right direction! 

Here is the video:  They make you enter your email first but then the video appears :) Please contact me if you have questions after the video !!! I repeat please contact me if you are confused on to how this actually works. I would hate for you to get confused or think this is more complicated than it really is. Its probably the most simple, full-filling lifestyle one could have! I know the video is a little long but its worth watching! 

-Maria

As soon as I read that I had to pay to join, I smelled a rat.  I may not be a decedent from Einstein, but I wasn’t exactly hatched under a chicken either.  I also noticed several spelling mistakes, which didn't instill confidence.  So I asked Maria how much had to be paid.  She replied …

There are now five steps to the XXX Program. I started off with the first two because I really did not have any money to spare. I had no job but I knew something had to be done and that my four year business degree was worth more than babysitting and waiting tables until I figured my life out. The first step which is the basic membership is twenty five dollars. The second is 100. Third step is 500. Fourth is 1000, the newly added step costs 3500 dollars. (Which sounds insane but for our upper members like my sponsor, he makes that 3500 dollar commission off of adding new people to his team daily, that its absolutely ridiculous.) Did you watch the video yet?  What my sponsor recommended me to do was to invest in the first two because that was all I could afford until I could move up. That week I realized how easy it really was. While I had two members join my team the second day. I made two hundred dollars. They bought the 500 dollar step. Therefore I lost a thousand dollars worth of commissions off having new members join my team because well simply I did not have a choice! I was still sort of broke then! I hope that kind of puts a bit of a picture on what happens here in the XXX network. In the meantime I was blogging, getting traffic to my site was really quite easy because the XXX network does most of the work for you! You can sit at home blog about whatever you want, people like personality if they like what you write about they will be attracted to your blog! Which your probably already really good at by now! 

She made money with baby sitting ... just exactly how old is this girl?  A program that works for you while you sit back and do nothing ... I smelled another rat.  A pack of rats actually.  If it was this easy to make money, would anyone bother with a full-time job?

Do these people think we’re crazy!  Who’s going to spend that kind of money?

It might be good for the starter or the program though.  With every new fool who joins, he gets a fee.  Then it’s up to you to rope in your friends (to make a little money) or to advertise on Craigslist or Facebook to find other fools.

Fortunately, I am not a fool and those I know aren’t either.

Charity vs. people

Anyone see this article in the Huffington Post? 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/19/warren-buffett-giving-pledge-new-members_n_1896882.html?utm_hp_ref=impact&ncid=edlinkusaolp00000009

While these businessmen probably have the right idea, it’s not a good idea.  For one, it’s a non-binding agreement, so who is to say that they actually give half of their wealth away?

Wouldn’t it be far better to encourage businessmen to expand their businesses and as such create jobs for those who need them?  That would give people money, not charities.

I don’t like charities.  Never have.  What do they do with the money they receive?  Do they put it to good use, or does it stick to a number of people’s fingers?

And why is some of the text written in pink?  Does that mean that part of that money will go to the Breast Cancer Society?  Gosh I hope not.  Just exactly how much money has been donated to the Breast Cancer Society?  Millions and millions, and women are still dying every day.  I say STOP DONATING, and a cure will be revealed.

Fortunately, I’m not the only one who thinks this way.  I’ve spoken to a number of people who wholeheartedly agree with me.  There is a cure, but it’s more profitable for the Cancer Society to keep people in the dark.  When a cure is revealed, donations will dry up.  Can’t let that happen.

As one person said … “Years of research and millions of dollars and they can’t even come up with a drug that doesn’t cause hair to fall out.”

And why always the Breast Cancer Society?  Why about other types of cancers?  Not good enough for publicity?

This charity giving should stop.  Why not give the money to ordinary people who need it?  People who, for one reason or another, don’t qualify for welfare and work “day and night” for pittance to support themselves.  They exist, I assure you, I know quite a few of them personally. 

Give money to those in need of medical help, but who have to do without because they don’t have benefits. 

When you start looking, you’ll see 101 opportunities that are all better than these damn charities.  I worked for both the Cancer Society and a Help the Children of Africa foundation and I know first-hand of mismanagement of funds. 

Let me put it this way, I wouldn’t give one penny to charity.  I am willing to give to an individual, but an organization … NEVER!

A scam aimed at writers

I came across a blog post today … “How to make a six figure income from freelance writing”.  

A six figure income?  I was more than a little sceptical, especially since yesterday I talked with Susan B., a rather successful writer, who told me that although writing supplements her income nicely, she can’t make a living from it.

I learned a long time ago that, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.  I mean, earning $100,000 a year with writing, wouldn’t just about everybody who can type do it?

How many folks drag themselves out of bed every day at some ungodly hour to get ready for work?  How many travel up to an hour and a half by car, train or bus to get to their destination?  How many hate their job, counting the hours until they can go home?  Why do they do that, when here there is a blog that offers them a six figure salary to stay home? 

I did a little digging and found that in order to get to that six figure salary, one must pay $25 to become a member of a writing website.  Paying $25?  That’s strange, I’m a member of several writing sites and never had to pay a cent.  On the contrary, they pay me. 

Carol T. does things a little differently.  She charges her “clients” $25 to give them advice on how to write and how to land big paying clients.  In addition, she offers $50 for a guest blog post.  Yes, these are her own words … “And in case you’re not aware, THIS blog pays writers for guest posts. $50 a post. And of course, this site is free to all.” ”

$50 for blogging!!!  Well, let me sharpen my pencils because for $50 a pop I can easily write 10 blog posts per day.  $500 per day, times 31 days, that is $15,500 per month.  Holy cow, why doesn’t everybody blog for this woman?

One of her clients, Joshua, told me that thanks to Carol, he now writes emails at $300 per message.  “One of the clients I got through Carol’s job board is now my BIGGEST paying client. They pay me $300 per email I compose for them”

$50 to write a blog post … $300 to write an email message … people, this is getting better and better.

Then there is Sean, a self-proclaimed ex-ghostwriter.  He too will show you the way to make thousands of dollars.  His blog post is peppered with  where people have to insert their email address.  No less than 6 times does the  appear. 

In all other blogs I’ve seen there is one, just one, “Follow by email” button, or an RSS option.  Why is he so desperate to get your email address?

Anyway, what is everybody still doing working for a boss?  Why not be your own boss?  If you were to believe Carol, you can make money hand of fist.

Of course, you don’t need me to tell you this is a scam.  The first thing publishers and literary agents tell writers is “Never give money.  If someone asks for money, it’s a scam.”

In Carol’s case it’s a pyramid scheme.  Upon investigation I found out that I have to pay $25 for her “services” and in turn I have to create a website asking writers to join me for $25.  I get a portion of the $25 and she gets the lion share.
She calls it “becoming an affiliate”, I call it “becoming a sucker”.

How stupid does Carol think writers are?  No offense, but I suppose more than one writer will fall for her scheme, because writers are notoriously badly paid.  Here and there, there might be a writer who earns some nice dollars, Euros or whatever the currency, but a six figure salary … I don’t think so.

If you earn that much, I’d love to hear from you.  I have a couple of writing friends who will hang on my every word sharing your “advice”.  

Then again, Carol T. considers you a bunch of losers.  Yep, that's what she said.  When I said that nobody in my writer's circle earns a six figure salary she said "What are you doing wasting your time with those losers?"