Building wealth is not easy and it is not something you can do overnight, but it is easy to sell a dream. What if I told you that you can become rich tomorrow. This practice is the bread and butter of many people throughout the centuries. Today it is widely present online among fake financial gurus.

There are countless fake financial gurus and experts on many platforms across the internet. Despite their relative differences, their objective is the same. To make money off people by selling them the idea of becoming rich.

payday

Source: Cheatsheet

How fake financial gurus sell the dream

Videos in sportscars and fancy houses attract the attention of young people feeling lost. By praying upon those same people, fake financial gurus will use their techniques to rip them off of every dollar they own. Their technique is easy, you start by telling a story of how you became successful. Emphasize the hardships that they overcame.

Through this, they get the audience to relate to them and to feel like they can be them. They start by showing some information about trading, the stock market, or real estate. Their videos will usually try to direct you to their websites.

There you can find countless courses on many topics and what seems to be a key to success. They will mention the number of people that they have helped and how much money they are making now.

The idea is to sell a dream. It is incredibly easy how they can get millions of people to think that they can become like them using their courses or books. Despite the small differences in the fake financial gurus, the main idea is all the same. Get the audience hooked on your content, thinking that is a way to succeed. Thus, the truth is they do not make money mainly from their businesses.

Avoid buying useless courses

They make money by selling courses! This is what people usually have a hard time comprehending. If someone is so successful and has a lot of businesses going on. How would they have the time to put up videos?

Why would they focus on selling courses if they are so successful at X, Y, or Z. This is the first question viewers should ask themselves. Why are they sharing this information? If someone is so successful why would they help other people to become successful and compete with them? It simply does not make any sense. 

financial planning

Source: GoodUniversitiesGuide

Research for yourself instead of relying on financial gurus

Viewers should also question all of the information that is shared. The reality is these financial gurus will use anything they can to convey their image of success. The truth is some of the cars that they show are rented, and the same goes for the houses.

It is incredibly easy to rent a high-end sports car and a fancy house. Shoot some videos and pretend that it is all mine. In fact, most wealthy and successful people tend to be shy when it comes to sharing information about themselves.

Why are these gurus sharing all of this information with me? The bottom line is they are trying to impress the viewers. Selling themselves and the idea of becoming like them. 

As a matter of fact, fake financial gurus can often be wrong, as we have seen in 2008. It is important as an investor to think for yourself and research your investments. This does not mean you should not talk with people and listen to their ideas. But at the end of the day, you should research things for yourself.

study finance

Source: Indonesiaexpat

Study and read

If you are new to investing and you intend to expand your knowledge there are many ways to do so. Today there are countless articles, videos, and free available courses online that can help you to reach your goals.

Platforms like Udemy or Coursera offer a vast variety of high-quality courses. Personally, we like Coursera, as it offers tremendous value for free. There are courses you can take with very distinguished professors, some are even Nobel laureates.

To think that there are people convinced by the idea that an expensive course, is touted by one of these fake financial gurus. Will provide them with more knowledge than a course taught in a university by distinguished scholars for free is mind-boggling. 

As someone interested in investing and looking for ways to expand their knowledge. It is easy to be caught in these marketing-driven fake financial guru schemes. That does not seem to help anyone other than the guru itself. It is important in life and particularly in the investment world to think for yourself.

There are several investment books you can start by reading them. The bottom line is you are the sole responsible for any investment decisions you make. For that reason, those decisions should be pondered with time and clarity, and should also be made independently of any external influences.

Featured image source: First10EM