Get Rich Quick? Not So Fast

I’m sure you’ve all seen the late night infomercials on television promising you easy riches. All you need to do is purchase their “wealth-building” materials and you are on your way to financial freedom. I don’t know anyone who has admittedly fallen for such a scheme so I had to obtain stories from Ripoff Report.

Lisa from Preston, Iowa comments on Don Lapre’s Making Money Package:

“I spent big bucks to get the internet pages for four companies and never got anything but a call from some other salesperson that told me they went bankrupt. The credit card companies are trying to help, but if they can not I will need help from elsewhere. Hope that someone can help. It was over 5000 that I sunk in this crap, I was desperate and depressed--- and stupid!"

Perhaps you’ve heard of Carlton Sheets and his Real Estate System. Don from Interlochen, Michigan writes:

“My wife initially purchased this product after a television advertisement. The commercial misrepresented the price of the program, which is over $500, as $120. The materials were received and were mediocre in quality, but she was determined to uphold her end of the deal. This organization waited until after the deadline had passed and then sent an invoice for over $500. The materials were all returned to this organization, and they realized that we were onto them, so they jumped the gun and accelerated the payment schedule to collect earlier than they stated, before we could stop payment on the credit card. Upon being called, they stated that they had closed the account, leaving a 'zero balance,' (after illegitimately collecting over $200.) They waited a month and then sent out a new bill, stating a new account balance of $48. These people are crooks and liars, and should be shut down.”

I'm interested to hear what my readers have to say. Have you been successful with these "Get Rich Quick" programs? Have you been burned? Please share your story.