Introduction
Aspiring entrepreneurs are always on the lookout for opportunities to grow their businesses and achieve success. Unfortunately, there are individuals out there who prey on these ambitions and take advantage of unsuspecting individuals. These individuals are known as “contrepenures,” and they are online con artists who scam aspiring entrepreneurs out of millions.
Here is the reality behind the self-proclaimed-expert consultants that are scamming aspiring entrepreneurs out of their hard-earned money.
What does Contrepenure mean?
The term “contrepenure” was coined by YouTuber and online scam investigator, Mike Winnet. He has dedicated his channel to exposing online scams and educating people on how to avoid them. According to Mike Winnet, contrepenures are individuals who pretend to be successful entrepreneurs, coaches, or mentors, and offer services or products that promise to help people achieve their business goals. In reality, these services or products are usually scams, and the only people who benefit from them are the contrepenures themselves.
The Drunning-Kruger effect and why incompetent people think they’re geniuses.
Dunning-Kruger effect, in psychology, is a cognitive bias stating that people with low ability at a task overestimate their own ability, and that people with high ability at a task underestimate their own ability.
People with little to no real expertise in a field tend to overestimate their skills by mistakenly self-assessing themselves as experts, while, on the other hand, truly competent people tend to belittle or underestimate their skills and their own real competence.
Most ‘Gurus’ are usually at the Peak of Mount Stupid – in that they have high confidence but know very little. They’ll go out hire a flashy car/house (distraction from their lack of substance), write a snappy script filled with lies and false promises and record a 3min video.
The Formula
Pitch
Does this sound familiar?
“Listen up, this is important, I’m going to be telling you the most important SECRETS to SUCCESS. These secrets will help you outclass ALL your competitors. It’s a super-secret formula that has been developed by marketing experts. When you implement these secrets into your daily routine, your SALES will SKYROCKET, and your friends and family will be amazed at your success. Our 12-step program will give you all the tools you need to succeed in the shark tank. Sign up today for our accelerated program to learn these valuable 12 steps!”
You click out of curiosity; it is an information game after all…
The Landing Page / Sales Funnel
Spammy Headlines, bold statements (with no proof), Fake or purchased reviews, PM’s, Testimonials.
Overinflated, then heavily discounted prices (ending with a 7 of course) with paired with the cliché scarcity:
“prices are going up next week”
“running out of places for prospects”
“Only 2 remaining”
Or how about the fabricated sob story, paired up with an image from when they were 14.
“10 years ago I was homeless, only had $20 in my bank account, was eating from bins… Now I earn $400,000 / month using 3 simple rules. The best part? YOU CAN TOO!”
Anyway, eventually you decide to ‘reserve’ a spot on their webinar. Ah yes, the webinar, a generic video where you receive a very high-level overview of what they offer, some meaningless statistics (e.g online business is an $5tn industry and raising exponentially). This is designed to be overly simplified for a few reasons:
- Answer no questions, inspire curiosity, and intrigue customers to learn more and think how they could benefit from there ‘mentoring’.
- Trick customers into thinking that they can implement the “industries best kept secrets” strategies and yield instant results, beating their competition.
- If they gave any specifics anyone watching would realise, they full of s##t.
Courses & Coaching Programs
One of the most common tactics used by contrepenures is to offer courses or coaching programs that promise to teach aspiring entrepreneurs the secrets to success. They often claim to have made millions themselves and offer to share their knowledge for a hefty fee.
However after wasting $7997.97 on a course you end up with very generic pre-recorded videos derived from a range of industry standard books (usually a combination of business books with an element of self-help/productivity) or online information you can get for free. The only thing that aspiring entrepreneurs end up learning is that they have been scammed.
Dan Lok
One notable example of such scams is Dan Lok, a self-proclaimed “millionaire mentor” who has been accused of scamming his followers. Lok, who is known for his extravagant lifestyle and flashy marketing tactics, has been accused of using his charm and charisma to dupe his followers into investing in his programs and courses, which often turn out to be nothing more than generic advice and recycled content.
Unfortunately, Lok is just one of many such individuals who have built their entire careers on the backs of unsuspecting entrepreneurs. They use various tactics to lure in their victims, such as promising to reveal “secret” techniques or offering exclusive access to high-profile investors or influencers.
Investment Opportunities
Another common tactic used by contrepenures is to offer “investment opportunities” that promise high returns for a low investment. These opportunities often involve cryptocurrency, forex trading, or other high-risk investments. The contrepenures convince their victims to invest their life savings, promising huge returns in a short period of time. However, the investments are usually fake, and the money ends up in the pockets of the con artists.
CryptoZoo
CryptoZoo was a cryptocurrency project that was promoted by popular YouTube influencer Logan Paul. However, it turned out to be a scam, with the project’s creators disappearing with investors’ money. One of the most significant concerns was that the project’s whitepaper was plagiarized from another cryptocurrency project, which suggests that the creators of CryptoZoo were not legitimate and were likely trying to deceive investors.
Additionally, it was discovered that the people behind CryptoZoo had a history of running failed businesses and other questionable ventures. These individuals were also associated with other cryptocurrency scams.
Protection
So how can aspiring entrepreneurs protect themselves from contrepenures?
Research
The first step is to do your research. If you stumble across an ‘Expert’ ‘Guru’ or similar do some investigating…
It’s also important to be wary of any promises of quick success or easy money. Building a successful business takes time and effort, and there are no shortcuts or secret formulas that will guarantee success.
Before investing in any courses, coaching programs, or investment opportunities, do your due diligence and research the individuals or companies offering them.
Reviews & Testimonials
The testimonial/reviews you see on the website are usually purchased or out-right fake, try finding a blog post, video, or an online review that matches up with what is quoted on their page.
Google their name or their course and try to find reviews that look like they have been left by an actual human.
Trustpilot: Fairly reliable review site with bot detection for fake reviews, beyond that you can see all reviews and spot out the obvious offenders
Here are some ways to spot a real review:
- Spelling mistakes / abbreviations: Real reviews contain mistakes.
- Not 100% positive: People will usually have some grievances with the content, offering some advice for improvements.
- Generic names and a high quality profile image
Education
Another important step is to educate yourself. Learn about the common tactics used by scammers and how to spot them. Follow online investigators like Coffeezilla or Mike Winnet who expose these scams and provide valuable information on how to protect yourself.
The Person
If someone is generating $xhundred thousand a month they should be easy enough to find. News reports, company house listings, search them up on linkedin, try to find any businesses registered to their name (unlikely as they will almost always use a Pseudonym)
The 1848 gold rush
Ever heard of the first millionaires from the 1848 gold rush?
During the Californian Gold Rush, the two men were hungry to cash in on the action, but they did not head down to the rivers with their tin pans.
They knew that the chances of getting a huge payoff when panning for gold was incredibility slim and knew their focus should be steady revenues instead of one-time lottery wins.
Therefore, they decided to sell equipment such as sold picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows. They also identified a need for some riveted pocketed work trousers, or ‘Jeans’ as we now call them.
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis made millions. becoming the first to profit from the gold rush. Their strategy applies today.
The bottom Line
If you see a lambo, flashy suit, swanky house, prospect from making thousands easily, run….
The impact of these scams can be devastating for aspiring entrepreneurs. Many people invest their life savings into these scams, hoping to achieve their dreams of success, only to end up losing everything.
Some victims are left with huge debts, ruined credit scores, and shattered dreams.
The rise of “contrepenures” is a troubling trend that highlights the need for greater transparency and accountability in the world of entrepreneurship. Aspiring entrepreneurs should be vigilant and sceptical of any claims that seem too good to be true, and take the time to do their own research before investing in any program or course. By doing so, they can avoid falling prey to these online con artists and focus on building a legitimate and successful business.
Final thoughts
You share the same amount of hours in a day as the wealthiest people in the world. Why are they successful and you’re not?
You may think this is complicated with a wide array of influencing factors, however by and large they all have something in common; drive, determination, work ethic.
They worked damn hard, they took risks, ruined relationships, and preserved during testing times.
These people are effectively capitalising on the fact most people hate their jobs and feel trapped.
Hopefully these important metaphors may help new start-ups or aspiring entrepreneurs navigate the waters of their business model. Focus on your product / service and ensure you’re working towards long term success and consistent results. Do not waste thousands trying to find a ‘Get rich quick scheme’ they do not exist – it is usually you are lining someone else’s pocket that is trying to get rich.
If you’re 20 and want to be a millionaire by the time your 50, you’d need to save about $14,800/year (5% interest rate, 3% inflation).
