Friday, October 29, 2004

Super Scam Artists

Today I went to hear a number of speakers at Financial SuperStars conference. I received a pair of the $149 tickets for free (just like everyone else), and drove to Arlington to hear the speakers. It was a day of sales pitches, with some motivational talk, inspirational anecdotal stories, and promises of future wealth thrown in. It was almost enough to make me develop my own seminar just to sell it to Barnum's public.

Now, I did take notes, and some of the information was interesting. But mostly it was a whole bunch of speakers talking about their method of achieving wealth, and therefore happiness, success, and good looks. The most interesting was the lawyer selling asset protection in a box, literally. While glossing over the legal, accounting, and tax work required to maintain his recommended structure, he talked about how everyone was going to be sued (is the average American really sued five times?) and how loss due to a lawsuit is unnecessary. His solution, a box with retracting handle and wheels, which would give you the forms required to register the necessary legal structures with the state. He did not cover that different states have different laws. He did offer a discount from $4,995 to $2,995. I saw at least 20 people purchase the kit. Honest. I probably should have told people the Business Organization Formswere available for free on the states' website, but I was too busy marveling at the amount of money they were raking in.

For all the success these guys claimed, the main thing Google points to is the fact this circus was not very welcome during a recent stint down under.
Australian Securities & Investments Commission acts against 'Financial Superstars' investment workshops
News Article "THAT TRAVELLING SCAM SEMINAR"

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