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If It's Too Good to be True, Don't Take That Investment


One of the many mistakes that anybody can make (including myself) is to get into an investment scam. I remembered having been conned out of money and never recovered it. It's quite a charge to your painful experience, right? Then I remembered how during my MBA days--there were also other pyramid scams and some of the victims were MBA students. A sad fact, really, that some are educated but never learned. Elon Musk even says one can get a degree and still be a fool. The story of The Scholars and the Lion had three foolish scholars who decided to resurrect a dead lion--in spite of knowing the danger of doing so. This happens also with investment scams. Some of those who get scammed do have a degree or going to graduate school. I got scammed during my stay in graduate school. I even deserved to be ridiculed and asked, "Is that what they teach you in graduate school?" Even more, I remembered getting Cash2Go which isn't exactly a feasible thing for some even if it's not a scam. Some people just want to pretend to know they know a lot out of insecurity, right?

I could remember a couple of scams but not all. There's this term called a Ponzi Scheme or a Pyramid Scheme. Somebody gets high returns but the rest don't. The scam I got myself into had someone initially pay me back then owed me higher then never returned. It's really like the too good to be true, right? Yet, many people fall for it because of financial illiteracy. I must wonder are schools really serious about teaching them? Have schools become a place where people learn then they throw everything out of the window when they graduate? I had that attitude and I find myself digging through some old notes. Just think what if an engineer decided to throw away all the knowledge about calculus, geometry, and trigonometry after he or she graduated? I couldn't imagine the chaos when these mathematical subjects get ignored by an engineer after he or she graduated or after he or she took the licensure exam. Sadly, it seems school has become like that.

There's always the promise of high returns in a short amount of time. Do the math and it doesn't. It made me think of how some people deposited their money in a bank and later the bank crashed. I remembered being part of it when I had to get a Philippine Depositor's Insurance Corporation (PDIC) check when the bank closed down. The promise was to double's one money in such a short amount of time. There were also other investments promising a free iPhone. An iPhone, by the way, is a luxury phone and why would any good businessman want to give it away for free? It's just inconceivable. Yet, people fell for the scam and lost all that money.

Recently, I think about text messages I keep getting during the pandemic. Before, I got messages that said I won a certain amount of money. However, to do so, I had to go to a certain shady location. It was too good to be true. Fortunately, I was able to exercise prudence after my painful experience of losing money in a scam. They required me to forward important details. It could be hackers for all you know. There are also text messages that offer ridiculously high salaries per day such as PHP 8,000.00 per day. Would any good businessman pay that high per day? It would definitely render anyone bankrupt one way or another. Fortunately, newer phones can have you report these text messages as scams. If you get these messages--don't reply to them and block those numbers! I think they use burner phones to avoid getting detected by the authorities.

Any real investment takes time. I think about how I entered some of my money to Axelerator Chinese Tycoon since I don't have the expertise to do stocks myself. Stock market can be a very risky investment because of the volatility--that's why there's professional management. I remembered in my MBA days when a financial forum actually had it said, "If you invest in stocks--make sure it's with money to spare." I think that would be very wise advice. I think managed funds would be better for some while directly managing stocks is better for the others. Then another warning is that any company that offers returns that are too good to be true need to be shunned. 

Reading the biography of rags to riches can help understand how true financial power is no walk in the park. The late John Gokongwei and the late Henry Sy didn't build their shopping mall empires that fast. Tony Tancaktiong of Jollibee fame didn't create Jollibee into a big empire in a few months. Real investments will take time and effort. It's pretty much like how a person living from paycheck to paycheck starts to let go of the unnecessary, focus on the needs, and have a bank account. It would be learning to manage one's money. It would also mean learning to value time and energy as part of learning to manage money. Money doesn't grow on trees so don't expect money to return that fast either. That's what businessmen who came from poverty put into heart before they got rich.

This would mean also doing thorough investigations. It would also mean checking out the claims. Compare the claim of a legitimate bank with the investments vs. a company that promises high returns in a short time. Can a real legitimate bank afford to pay you interest that much? The answer is no meaning that anybody who promises to do so is just fooling you. Doing time to do research on these matters is pretty helpful in learning how to invest money.  

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