Have you ever been swindled by someone you hired to provide a service?
We all have. It happened to me just today.
I purchase 30 days of Google Adwords program management services from a contractor who did not, in fact COULD not, deliver what he is offering on his website. I only got taken for $300, but it’s the principle that matters.
The experience made me consider what I can learn when I’ve been taken for a ride by someone who “seems” competent. I wanted to share with you my ideas on protecting yourself from being cheated by unscrupulous players in any industry:
7 Tips to Avoid a Scam Artist
1. You get what you pay for. If someone is offering a service that is priced well below the industry standard, beware. And do your due diligence.
2. If you get a gut feeling that this person just can’t be trusted, go with it BEFORE handing over your cash. While we all want to give the benefit of the doubt, remember the power of intuition. If you decide to hire them anyway, limit your financial investment until they're disproven your intuition.
3. Be on the lookout for “scarcity mentality” behavior and words. If the person you are interviewing is constantly reminding you of all they’ve done for you without charging, trying to invoke the victim principle, run away. These types of people are trying to hide their incompetence, and will only take your money without providing what they promised when you hired them.
4. Set up a checks and balance system during their contract period so you can evaluate their work for consistency based on your projects scope. Look for belligerence and defensiveness when you call them on their shoddy work.
5. ALWAYS know just enough about the tasks you’ve given them to recognize if they’re not delivering. Never just hand over a task that you are not able to check for quality control. Keep educating yourself to reduce your risk of being ripped off.
6. Pay by credit card, and document all communications with contractor. So when it comes time to refute the charge with your credit card firm, you have clear evidence of nonfulfillment.
7. And lastly, learn from your mistakes. Every tough experience is an opportunity to learn how to do things better the next time, and a way to hone your senses to become aware of discrepancies earlier in the game the next time around.
I hope these tips help you avoid doing business with people just out to take the money and run! I TRULY believe in the universal principles of energy. You eventually get back what you put out.
So do good, honest business with an abundance mentality, and prosperity will come back to you 10-fold.
And avoid the “wolves.”
Grab the entire eBook I wrote on this at http://www.wealthpromotion.com/ScammerTips.htm
To Your Success,
Barbara
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1 comment:
Barb (if I may be so familiar):
After many decades of encountering cheats, liars, swindlers, con artists and bible-thumpers, I have developed some "gut" feelings, as you have described. Some call these intuitive moments as "B.S. detectors".
Whatever it is that makes your hair stand on end a little bit, you should take heed and move quickly away.
The clues may take the form of the con-artist saying, "Don't you trust me, or are you calling me a liar?"
These comments are intended to intimidate the potential mark and hopefully embarrass them enough to take the bait anyway.
Coming from the South, I have encountered a lot of those pseudo God-fearing folks who throw in phrases like, "God willing, I will do......." or "I go to church every Sunday,blah, blah....." Those scoundrels who invoke God as their witness to honesty are the worst:
they are both cheats and hypocrits.
Glad you made it out with just the loss of $300; it could have been worse.
Tell your readers to keep the initial commitment very short and very cheap, with strangers.
Brandon, the Cynic
Dallas, TX
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