So let's talk about Contrepreneurs, Fake Guru's and {property, investment, crypto, forex, insert your fav} scammer behaviour in SA. My hobby is understanding how people pull of confidence scams. Here are just some things I have noted in SA.

1. [No Credentials] - For most of these people, they don't have credentials or track records. Property Guru, but no history of their company or them owning property portfolio. Investment Guru, not registered anywhere. No history in the finance industry. Not with any prof body.

2. [Establish Authority] I am the best forex guru in Africa/RSA etc. Here is article x telling you (likely. a puff piece) that quotes the person saying they are the best guru. Or they find a way to make it onto Radio/TV and then reference that appearance as proof. More on this

3. [Propaganda 1] They use a snowball of media appearances to get more media appearances. So because they were on ENCA, they now show up on SABC News and a slew of radio shows. Without any credential checks and mostly not even questioned. Media peeps why?

4. [Propaganda 2] They pay for press releases from very questionable companies that likely shop these press releases to newspapers. The press releases are mostly trying to respond to questions raised about said guru about them being a scam. They 'PR piece' says they are not ....

But in fact they are what they say they are. See pictures.

5. [Steal Authority] Look at my pictures with this billionaire, celebrity, politician, (ahem) famous pastor. I am the real deal. These people mentored me and my skills are amazing.

6. [Fake Credentials] I am so good at what I do that I was invited by famous institution X to talk to their employee/students so they can learn from me.

Some even say they then have degrees/diplomas from famous institution Y.

7. [I know a secret] I know a secret, to get to the promised land or wealth, that I will reveal to you if you pay me money. This secret I gained from working hard and as such you need to pay for it. I am a multi m{b}illionare and am trying to help you, pay me.

8. [Sell courses] To learn from me, you must pay for this overpriced course [that has no value really and sometimes costs more than a year of university tuition]. At this course, we will even sell you a more expensive course with exclusive access to me.

Side note. I have also seen some of this behaviour directly/indirectly by MLM companies in SA.

A classic is members creating Youtube Videos and Blogs that start with "Is X a scam" and then. they go to tell how it's not and then try to get you to sign up. Play the algorithm

Why am I posting this? COVID-19 have emboldened some of these types of scammers. See this video example of property scamster's who host seminars, get your money etc.

8. [Motivational speaker] Some of these scamsters are a "subject matter expert" as a motivational speaker. They don't have a track record in area recently, just do talks and try to get investors in said businesses or get paid to talk.

I've talked a bit about the prior tweet as I see this in science as well. You get referred to some guru who knows so much about your area of work and you quickly note how shallow their knowledge is but they sell an image to others. Bet this happens in every profession

10. [Best Author] They have a book, that likely is very small or just a pdf. They may claim that they are a best selling author. May have pictures of testimonials or famous people with their book. The books may be heavily plagiarised.

9. [I'm Not a Scammer] I do what I do public. Why would I do a scam? I'm a religious person, I work with famous people, I wear these nice clothes. I drive this nice car. Cannot be a scammer

11. [Lifestyle] Nice cars, clothes, houses, companions. My Instagram looks like a magazine. You want to be me. I literally take pictures with money. Look at my pictures at expensive eatery X, drinking expensive drink Y. And I only work 1 hour. What are you doing with your life?

12. [No evidence] If I was a scammer people would have reported me to the police. Hint of truth, because most people who find themselves in this situation feel ashamed or stupid that they were scammed and don't report. [Never feel ashamed, it can happen to anyone, open a case!]

If you have other red flags, I would be happy to hear yours.