3 Ways to Identify Fake Life Gurus Who Are Trying To Scam You
Psychology Tricks Used for Exploitation
Fake Gurus are unfortunately all over the self-development world. They will claim to better your life with unrealistic and shady tactics to get you closer to “your dream.” They prey on people who are in bad situations (typically economically) or people who are living regular lives and the “multi-millionaire success 10x business coach” makes them believe they could live a millionaire’s lifestyle. They prey on your impatience to get rich quickly. Get fit quickly. Do “x” QUICK. Their marketing might look like, “why spend four years getting a degree working for a 9–5 making $60k a year when you could take my six-week training program and make up to $500k your first year?”
The Psychological Tricks Involved
1. Scarcity
“Hurry, there are only ten spots left in my live webinar!” Creating a sense of urgency is the oldest trick in the book. They are trying to plant the idea that this opportunity is so hot that everybody wants it, and if everybody is getting it, it must be good, right? Wrong.
2. Up Sell
Typically give you a free eBook. Subconsciously when we are given something, it makes it easier for us to give back something in return. They will offer you a $10 course then a gold packaged $80 course, and finally a premium platinum something course that was originally $500 dollars, but because they are warm-hearted angels they drop the price down to $250 dollars when the course is actually worth $20 maximum. This is a psychological trick known as the Foot-In-The-Door Phenomenon.
3. Use Your Emotions Against You
Use your dreams and fears. They will market their program or service with the attitude that not taking it will be the biggest mistake of your life. They will also figure out what you want most out of life and use that against you. If they know you love cars, they’ll say, “don’t you want that new car smell? And to roll past the people who called you a loser in high school with a Bentley?” or if you care about your family, they might say “ do you love your parents? Would you like them to retire early? To never be worried about money again? Buy my course and prove to me how much they mean to you.”
Concluding Thoughts
These are psychological deceptions to the highest of levels. There are REAL life coaches and motivational speakers out there, but please do your research, ask people who have already taken their course/service, and talk to family and friends before putting down ANY money.
Having a real mentor is amazing. Having a con artist act as a blood-sucking leech for your money is… [Insert explicit word here]
If you want to learn more about fake gurus being exposed, check out these two YouTube channels:
Coffeezilla
https://www.youtube.com/c/Coffeezilla/videos?view=0&sort=dd&flow=grid
