fraud
752177862584483840
“Influencers rely on having an audience, while artists create for the sake of their art, regardless of who’s watching.”
— Do Not Destroy
747739793249730560
Catch Me If You Can (2002) – Trailer
747592403863699456
747140369479876608
Americans are hooked on the fantasy of financial liberation
About 1 in 13 American adults have participated in MLM, or multilevel marketing, contributing to an estimated $40 billion industry.
MLMs feed into the idea that “if you work hard, try hard, you’ll get rewarded,” says Jane Marie, the host of a podcast series called The Dream and the author of a new book, Selling the Dream, both of which investigate the intersection of MLMs and pyramid schemes and the broader “wellness” industry. “There’s an ‘us versus them’ mentality and it feeds on the idea that there’s a shortcut and a cheat code to financial prosperity, to achieving the American Dream.”
747061517018710016
Why Do People Hate the Term ‘Influencer’?
When people ask Sara Wilson about her former position at Facebook (now Meta), which began in 2013, she includes a caveat: “I worked with influencers, but now ‘influencer’ is a dirty word, so we call them ‘creators.’
742885395418791936
scam
noun [ C ]
UK /skæm/ US /skæm/
a dishonest plan for making money or getting an advantage, especially one that involves tricking people:
- Banks often carry information about email scams on their websites.
- To avoid scams, never sign things in a hurry.
- an insurance scam
742373462808707072
scammer
noun [ C ]
informal
UK /ˈskæm.ər/ US /ˈskæm.ɚ/
someone who makes money using illegal methods, especially by tricking people:
- Phishing is used by scammers to get bank account numbers, credit card details, etc.
741912025847021568
740505062334414848
739628565515157504
A scam, or confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group[clarification needed] after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim’s credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as “a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct … intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial”, as they “benefit con operators (‘con men’) at the expense of their victims (the ’marks’)”.