Is That a Golden Side Hustle Opportunity or a Get Rich Quick Scheme? Look Out for These 3 Common Lies. Practical insights to help you weed out deceptive offers.

If you've recently received an email from a Nigerian Prince asking for a small sum of money now to help him out of a financial bind, don't bother. I have already paid it and should be receiving an expeditious reward in the form of gold bricks. It's a great feeling.

Thank goodness I didn't fall for any scams. You're probably familiar with them; The Ponzi scheme, for example, whereby current investors are paid only by new investors until the jig is up and the new investors dry up. Without naming names, one very famous financial advisor used this ruse and Madoff with millions.

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There are pyramid schemes, advance pay schemes, coaching scams, and the clever "pump and dump" swindle where the fraudsters hype the price of a useless stock, then cash out suddenly.

But who falls for these deceptions anyway? Haven't most people been exposed to these kinds of subterfuge long enough to avoid them?

Who is most likely to be scammed?

According to research published by FINRA and AARP, it's not just the elderly and cognitively challenged that fall victim. In fact, it's the sophisticated and intelligent ones that are more likely to be deceived. One reason is they feel they are too smart to fall for such a ruse. Yet social engineering is designed to overtake the higher-level thinking parts of the brain when strong emotions of fear and greed take over.

There is also the fact that the offers have become so cleverly disguised as to deceive, if possible, even the elect, including the most discerning of would-be, financially free business owners. One of the most prevalent is the scam that doesn't fit the mold of the scam at all. The business is legitimate and there are a respectable number of people who have succeeded. So how then is it a scam?

It is a swindle of misrepresentation and omission. It's a business that operates as described but is presented as doable within a matter of months and within the grasp of the average person who simply has the desire.

Observe here a few characteristics of this common offer.

1. Anyone who is determined regardless of skill level can do this

" Many people," they say, "will fail to take action, but those who are determined and willing to over-ride their self-doubt and make the investment will make more money than they've ever dreamed." The message here is that it's mostly a matter of will that will determine success. Is that true? It's not completely untrue but it's certainly not an accurate reflection of the onboarding webinar.

It's a message that attracts like a porchlight to a moth for the dreamers. It creates a mental picture of a soon-to-be oversized manor made with white brick that stands proud in the background behind the dreamer's golden Lamborghini.

The truth is, the technological know-how and ability required to create, grow and scale this business is far beyond the requirements advertised.

In reality, a new student will need to understand WordPress and become proficient in sales copy. Just those two skills alone take a considerable amount of time and dedication.

The student will need to learn the craft of creating funnels, the art of producing magnetic landing pages and will be required to link the new addresses to an email server and create a series of automated onboarding emails.

The new students will need to learn the highly technical inner workings of the business. They'll need to know the ins and outs of Facebook and Google ads, have a working understanding of SEO, and will need to download and learn the basics of a data management system.

Is it fair that all these and many other skills are required to succeed? Yes. What's not fair is that, without an honest representation of what's required, countless, gullible and hopeful students, stuck alone in a quagmire of technical challenges, watch their fifteen hundred dollars, as well as their hope, fade to consternation, frustration, and finally to defeat.

Related: Over-Promising is the Worst Mistake an Entrepreneur Can Make

2. There is plenty of coaching to answer all your questions

Nope. There is a vault filled with videos and articles where you'll find no less than two hundred thousand hours of material to sort through. Otherwise, there is the weekly group coaching. Here, a small group of between 10 and 180 students, each with a list of a half dozen urgent needs, gather to hear the longwinded answers to five questions, none of which apply to the masses.

Students are invited to send a general question in a private message on social media but, unfortunately, your questions need a more specific touch. "Why doesn't the training video fit the template I was given?" "How do I get unstuck from this glitch?" "Is there someone I could talk to for five minutes?

3. Once you make the hard decision to invest, you'll be on your way to success

Spending $1000 or $2,500 for a training program is a fair price if it delivers what's promised. But, it's a huge sacrifice for many people and it's done at a tremendous risk. For many, the charges are loaded on an already stressed credit card or borrowed from a guy in a trench coat that hangs out on the corner at night and rides in the back seat of a black SUV.

Once the investment has been made, the student is welcomed into a sea of other likewise confused entrepreneurs who are given a new message: "If you want the real answers, you'll need to invest a lot more for specialized training." There's good news after all.

According to a recent Psychology Today article related to social media fraud, the losses to con artists in the areas of illegitimate products, relationships, and cryptocurrency scams were in the range of $770 million for 2021 alone. Does that mean you should give up the idea of becoming an online billionaire? Absolutely not.

Legitimate offers from reliable companies with tremendous growth potential exist among the deceptive ones. The trick is to determine the truth from the lies; the wheat from the tares.

Tips on how to put any virtual business opportunity to the test

In considering a side hustle or even a career change through the unlimited online opportunities; beware of "opportunities" that not only fit the mold of the common scam but also the ones that seem too simplistic for such a fantastic result.

• The first step is research. Who are the owners and do they have a legitimate track record?
• Does the product solve a real problem that is suffered frequently by an adequate segment of the population? Is this solution something other than making lots of money by selling a product strictly to teach people how to make lots of money who, in turn, do the same?
• Can you talk to students who have been in this business for a year or more to get a clear understanding from the inside?
• Can you invest in small increments and grow as you profit or do you have to risk large sums in order to find out the truth?

It all comes down to your discernment, research and risk tolerance. Opportunities do exist that solve genuine problems in an ethical way and deliver financial freedom to the business owner as a deserved result.

If you want to win, are you willing to learn the new skills required in any online business?

If you want to win, are you willing to continue your search until you find the perfect match?

These are risks you must weigh and questions you must answer. If your answer is yes, you may have found the essence of the true entrepreneur.

If your answer is no, perhaps the Prince of Sudan will happen upon hard times and you will be chosen to help.