Writing Habits with AI

THW Global – another work at home scam

Dear readers, today I am among the tens of millions of gullible online workers around the world. Welcome to THW Global, paid video viewing (‘a reverse of Youtube’) – where “apparently” you can make up to $25 an hour (who knows what currency) and recruit others and make even more money (20% extra for the first level). In some parts the rambling made sense, although the use of ‘up to $25 an hour’ is a bit cagey…. but they failed to convince when I couldn’t find a PAYMENT setting in the user control panel.  Nor could I spot an About Us page. Who are these people?  Khan at OnlineLearningMentor believes he has found the possible creators, people who do MLM scams by way of a living. Ethan Vanderbuilt, a veteran online scam buster, believes the reason the creators of THW Global do this…
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What Can We Learn from a Ponzi Scheme?

Recently a news story caught my eye – its real life plot truly ‘stranger than fiction’. A dead man’s body washed up on a Sunshine Coast beach. A tale told of a $100-million-dollar investment ‘Ponzi scheme’ – but hardly a trace of money has been found, apart from $1 million worth of US property and $91K cash. The “trading syndicate” invested in shares, real estate and commodities, and aimed to achieve returns of 24% a year. The fund manager had no Financial Services license. Police did not suspect foul play, but there was a robbery in his office, so they might investigate. Yes, he just decided that his narcissistic and lying ways were all too much, not that literally dozens of investors had woken up to the fact their savings were all gone. As ever, I think to myself: what…
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Writing Habits with AI

Family Finances Not a Cause for Fury

When I think about my family finances, I do not get caught up in the emotional traps that others seem to. Perhaps because I believe that managing money has, at its base, simple accounting and mathematic principles. If you can understand what the words “income” and “expenses” mean, then you can probably manage a budget, if you don’t let emotions get the best of you. Some simply look at their income and unwittingly imagine that their entire salary is theirs to spend. Unfortunately, only a part of your gross salary is ever yours to spend. The rest goes in income tax, accounting fees, interest on loans, and all those fixed expenses. Justifying your shiny new car because of your high income/hard work is an example of letting your desires run away with you. (I wrote more about this trap in…
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Writing Habits with AI

How Easy it is to Get Scammed by Home Worker Offers

This morning I clicked on a pleasant-looking ad for working from home, claiming you can make $65 an hour without selling. It took me to a sales page for Online Wealth Markets trading, listing huge payout details in the thousands and ‘real user’ comments. It had a clever little ‘phone-shaped’ opt-in form to take credit card details and $5 ($7 Aus). Even though all the warning signs were there, I thought “let’s follow this white rabbit and see where it goes”.  It might help somebody. Inside is a bit about ‘members’ binary options trading with James Ulrich. Googled his picture; just a stock photo. Googled James Ulrich; not much on him except a SEC record for insider trading in 2007 — however, due to legal ramifications I must state that this trading record may not be for the same person…
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