I got scammed and lost all my savings of $150 dollars.

Here's what happened that left me with despair.

When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.

— Maya Angelou

Source: Unsplash

In mid-2022, I was seeking online opportunities to earn money. I searched online and blindly applied to all the sectors I found. I filled out the ad forms on Instagram and Facebook. I was so focused on finding something to work on that would allow me to earn money.

After hurting my eyes while filling out forms everywhere, I got a call from an ed tech platform. I was excited and happy to join. I didn’t know that for being excited and happy, I have to pay $150.

I joined the organisation, paying $80 as a course fee. Here’s how it turned out to be a scam.

I lost my only savings left to a scammer.

It was somewhat like affiliate marketing. I had to convince people to join the organisation and work for them. It was same as I had been convinced to work with them. I started my work every day for 2 hours.

Basically, the work was to call a lead from the list or from my own contacts and convince them to attend the workshop to know about the organisation. Every time the workshop ended, I had to follow up and call the lead again to join the platform for which I would be earning a commission. But I didn’t get any commission.

I didn’t get any commission because no one joined. I felt sick seeing it happen. I shared the problem with a partner in the organisation. She said, “People will join only when they are interested. That’s why we run ad campaigns to fetch leads of interested people. I can help you with giving those leads that cost only $20.”

Without thinking much, I bought those leads. I called every single person from the leads, but no one joined. It didn’t work. I again asked for help. This time, I asked a senior from the organisation. He helped me and said, “She sold you the leads that have already been worked on, which means she had already tested and called the leads. She sold you the dead leads.”

I was shocked for a moment. But then the senior I was talking to pitched his offer. He said, “I have several people like you I work with. I provide them with original leads to work on and get results. If you want those original leads, I can provide them to you. It costs $50.”

Yes, I bought it all. I tried those leads. They were the same as the older leads I had bought. I wanted to slap myself. How can I be so stupid? I called the seniors and other members, but no one answered. I was like, what will I do now? I lost everything I had.

Tell me I was stupid. I fall into the trap again. But you know what? I was a novice in the game. I didn’t know how the world worked. I didn’t know some people play with people’s money. It was a hard time for me. I literally cried that day.

I checked my bank accounts. It was nil. It was zero. I didn’t tell anyone from my family about it. I was out of my mind. It was hard to go through all of this. For days, I was quiet. I stayed at home. I didn’t pick up calls. I wanted to be alone for my whole life. It was such a harsh experience. It felt like I had done something wrong.

Later, when the pain was gone. I showed up. I learned. I learned that you can’t trust people so easily. Almost everyone wants to get something from you. I learned one important life lesson. Copy that.

Final thoughts and my advice (offer) to you.

I am not blaming the organisation or the people who scammed me. I blame no one, not even myself. It just happened. It had to happen to teach me a lesson. As I’ve gone through it, and I know how it feels, I don’t want you and others to experience such pain.

As you see, I have made some of the worst decisions in my life, and this was one of them. It never happened when I used the decision-making hacks I found. I wish I had known about them earlier. They have helped me with every single life decision I’ve made so far. To help you out with the same, I’ve curated all of them in one place.

Here’s my offer: Usually, my decision-making razor kit costs up to $5, but for the next 24 hours, I am making it $0. You can pay whatever you want or get it for free. Grab your kit by clicking the button below.

Your well-wisher,

Sumit,
Curator of Simple Digest

Support Simple Digest

Follow me on: LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram