Scam and Phishbusters → [Scam] Anthony Morrison/Hidden Millionaires Infomercial

You guess wrong.
That is unless paying 3 thousand dollars to get on telemarketer's sucker lists is getting your moneys worth.
Getting people to pay for the opportunity to be persuaded to dump even more money into the "training" hole whose bottom is only reached when the victims smarten up or run out of money is not giving someone their moneys worth, it's taking their worth, every last cent that can be 'coached' out of them.

Post copies of your commission checks or it didn't happen. You can blank out the personal info and account numbers to show that you made money with AM.

While I completely agree that Morrison is dishonest and his "product" is a scam, what are people really expecting? People who sign up for his seminars are just looking to make easy money. Morrison is driven by greed, but his "customers" are driven by greed as well. It's a sad state of affairs in this country when people are too lazy to get off the couch and put in real, honest work, but they are willing buy into some unknown system that promises them easy money with little to no effort. Then they get upset that the greedy Morrison took their money.

Right, let's blame the victims.

Naivete is not the same as out and out dishonesty. Morrison knows he's scalping people out of their last bit of cash, the victims are only hoping that "that internet thing" holds the promise of a way to make some money. That's what Morrison just about promises in his come-on.

The people who fall for it may be unemployed, fell ill and lost their money to medical bills or otherwise had a bad time. Blaming them for "greed" as a way to equate them to the criminal intent of Morrison is just plain wrong.

I can not entirely say that Anthony or this system is a total scam, but what I will say is that it is misleading at 1st glance. I've never attended one of Anthony's seminars but I did order his system offline. I was watching the infomercial on late night tv as you know, because that's when they usually do there preying and advertise these false shows of HOPE. Initially I was curious and also a bit skeptical, so I sat on the information for a while. A while later I saw an email in my in box also pertaining to the Anthony system. At this point i was desperate, out of options and needed cash bad. So I ordered the system for $19.95, thinking that was all I had to pay in order to learn to make money online. Boy was I in for a rude awakening. Once I purchased the system and was given access to the site, I later discovered that I needed more money that I didn't have. You have to pay for website building, advertising, hosting and traffic direction to your site. That's hundreds of dollars extra that you have to pay for this system. Correct me if I'm wrong but, it would seem like the people needing this system would be the ones that are financially challenged not the already rich and successful. In an economy like today its hard enough just to get by, with mortgage, car note, utility bills etc. It's almost impossible to spend this type of money on a system that you would be taking a chance on, so who does that leave in the winning corner. The rich get richer while everyone else just barely get by. There are people that don't have jobs and not because they are lazy and don't want to work. It's because it is almost impossible to find work in this economy. An opportunity like this would be life changing for an average person, im sure of it. But the fact that they don't tell you on the infomercial or on the web advertisement that you are going to need much more money than $19.95 is very misleading. I was in a terrible situation and I spent my last 19.95 on this system, only to have my hopes torn down. I thought that I would enter the site that same night and begin making money, boy was I stunned. I went from seeing a light at the end of the tunnel to staggering in pitch black darkness again. I was DISAPPOINTED. I think they should tell people upfront the complete amount of money they are going to need in order to successfully master this system. At least that doesn't build up any false hope and you don't have to waste your time requesting a refund, by the way which you have to do by email because there is no number to reach anyone at that company. Then you have to wait to have your money deposited back on to your card. This was an unnecessary hassle that I didn't need or could afford. So many other so called guru's are offering this same type system, including a familiar face that resembles another guru. Is it really possible to achieve success overnight? Well I guess i'm back at square one wondering does this system really work, guess I'll never (NO)!!!!!!!!

It's a scam....

But all you did was go on and explain precisely why it is a scam. You never even got to the part where everyone can not be number one on a search engine (which he promises) at the same time.

If you look closer you'll see that the shill was saying complimentary things about the scam system without ever actually saying them, just leaving them open as logical conclusions to be drawn by potential victims.
watch-
Dearest Shill,
Thank you for sharing that touching, heartfelt, honest & down to earth bullshit shill story.Of course you won't call it a complete scam because that would be counterintuitive to the purpose of your story..
Your post is intended to have morrison's scam program look plausible in eyes of prospective victims by making claims that all but the most naive & destitute would find absurd.
The only arguments you present against the scam are arguments that the majority of desirable prospective victims would not be able to relate to.
Your criticism only applies to people the Scam Masters find a waste of time because of their lack of financial resources.Of course you'll say that.
What that says is that potential victims should not run away from the scam because their gut is seeing scam at first glance.
DO NOT follow your gut feeling -
Exactly what the Scam Masters want. Look more closely so the Scam Masters have more opportunity to bullshit their way into potential victims money.
Intended Message: but on closer examination the program is not a scamThe Scam Masters will tell you that much - nothing earth moving in that statement, it's only purpose is to give the impression that you are bad mouthing the program when in reality you are trying to promote itWhy did you highlight the word 'usually'?
Wait, I highlighted it, not you.
Why did I highlight the word "usually"?
Because that's the keyword in the sentence.
Usually = often but not always because this program is the exception to that rule, try it.Hmm, so what on earth did you do to sate your curiosity & quell your skepticism?The message with that is to not dismiss the program as just another late night infomercial scam but rather think about it for awhile. Keep it on your mind at least until the sales pitches begin.So now you are referring to morrison's system as the Anthony system
That's a cute name. It doesn't carry even half the stigma that "Anthony Morrison program" carries online.
But as Shakespeare noted, what matters is what something is, not what it is called.C'mon, you've seen the scammercial, the requirement for additional funding is disclosed by law & you know that's disclosed.
You're just trying to appear as if your bad mouthing when we both know the reality of that.Don't call me boy, scammer.This is pure advertisement for the scam.
Pay only $19.95 to have access to the 'site'.That’s just pure, misleading advertisement for the scam.
It's intended to make a prospective victim believe that website building, advertising, hosting and traffic direction to their site" only costs hundreds of dollars rather than the thousands of dollars it will cost.Ok, you're wrong.
The only people needing this system are the people that are selling it, but thank you for trying to relate to me on a personal level, that's scamming 101You've already set the stage portraying yourself as a penniless, destitute person who has spent their last dime on "Anthony's system".
So that leaves everybody else who isn't penniless & destitute.
That's the target of your story, a pretty large group by anyone’s standards.Yeah, blame the man, damn the man. I can relate!
You, me & Anthony's system, together we can beat the man!
Sign up today!Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! You can say that again Sister or Brother, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!
Say something that potential victims can really relate to, it's good for bonding with them.
Ignore the fact that it hasn't anything to do concerning 'Anthony's system, it's just a rallying call, setting the stage.
Setting the stage for what?Setting the stage for introducing the thought that 'Anthony's system' would be life changing, buy into Anthony’s system to see it’s true!
The shill is sure of it & that's the truth too.
The problem is they don't actually mention how it would change.
It won't change for the better, that for sure.yup, be sure to give what looks like criticism of the system immediately after giving it major praise.
It will obfuscate your true intent.There really isn't any money to be made by scamming people who spent their last $19.95 on anything so why not talk about "hopes torn down" to make you appear more sympathetic & credible?
The message here is that the penniless need not apply, you're a waste of the hustles time, but all else do apply, it won't tear down your hopes & dreams.'boy' is often used by scammers in their 'stories' in an attempt to sound as down to earth, friendly type of folk that wouldn't consider telling blatant, flat out lies.Whoa! That shot the bullshit meter right of of the chart!
What that actually says is that with an investment of hundreds of dollars you can master the system.
Assuming that 'master' = 'profit from', that's pure bullshit.
Anyone see where the top of my bullshit meter landed or is it still airborne?LOL, so that would only leave 'true hope'.
Don't even need the bullshit meter to see past that line.Yup, that's right, if you don't like the book you can get a refund!
But that's only about the $19.95 book.
The real money that runs in the thousands of dollars is not part of the books refund system.
But ssh, most victims don't make that distinction before it's too late.All meaningless if not for providing more faux criticism & obfuscating the real intent of the story.I'll help you with that answer.
Yes, cunning & original content shilling does work - your lame attempt is a 100% fail though.

Awesome line-by-line takedown of that shill post! I knew when I read it that it wasn't quite right, you nailed it.

Shill posts are the best. I need a laugh once in a while.

Like I have said before, " My mama didn't raise no fool" I came across the website promoting Anthony Morrison/Hidden Millionaires and decided to take a look. I couldn't buy into it then and after looking it up on google which brought me to this forum I surely would not buy into it now. Knowledge is everything and from my experience word of mouth travels fast (faster when it is negative) After spending time reading posts in this forum I will most definitely be spreading the word to others. Please people don't fall for these sort of offerings. They just don't sound good from the get go.
Thanks to all who are spreading the word and bringing the truth to light.

welcome aboard, thank you for contributing

I saw Adrian Morrison last night pimping his latest book. He made 200k in one month ya know. If you buy his latest book he will send a second book for free. Wow. I can't wait to make 200k a month like him selling ads for diabetes testing on Facebook.

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· tailpage

Oh sorry, I didn't notice you already posted this. I was caught up in the euphoria of making all that money.

Hey, I can see you were blinded by the prospect of all that easy work at home free website social network traffic leading to sales/conversions right off of page 754,295 on a google rank for a fish-hook to the boiler room pitch grabbing the last of your available credit for the personal one-on-one training and coaching swindle of all those stacks of cash at 19% interest on a visa card.. oh wait, you can get that limit raised, right? so then, where was I?.... oh yeah, I am so excited myself I lost my place ...

The short answer: The more the merrier... although it was Doctor Olds brought this bloke's latest adventures to our attention again.

-Jim

I ordered Anthony Morrison's two Internet Affiliate & Social Marketing books for $36 total - Very reasonable for what I got. I think it does have potential if approached wisely, not by blindly paying for AdWords clicks.

The only hitch was that I had forgot the personal coaching trial automatically renews as a $49.95 monthly charge to their Learning Center membership - So I emailed them about the four unexpected monthly charges, which totaled about $200. A lady called me back, and was very nice. Within 3 days they refunded every penny.

I had already tried some Affiliate marketing before (blindly using Google AdWords, etc, to directly market merchandise and services through affiliate programs). My AdWords bill invariably added up to slightly more than I made from the Affiliate percentages.

Morrison's books have some pretty good tips I thought, and his descriptions of the programs available were right on-track with what I was already familiar with, and his warnings were on target with the various mistakes I had made.

I joined Amazon's affiliate program (which is free) as he suggested, and got on their affiliate forums.

I met several people on the forums who had blogs, and they were using AdWords to drive traffic to their blogs, not to drive traffic directly to Amazon (which is against Amazon's rules). The income just depends on how popular the blog is.

One was making thousands of dollars per month, but he worked on his blog full-time, and it was very professional-looking. Another guy was just a casual hobbist who had an ugly-looking blog about his hobby - He was making over $200 profit, just posting one article per week, which led to Amazon ads for materials related to the hobby he was writing about. He wasn't even using AdWords or any other advertising - They just got traffic from Google searches.

That's all the proof I needed that the idea has great potential, after all. The guy was essentially doing some of what Morrison describes, but doing it rather poorly, and he was in a "niche" interest, so he didn't have a lot of traffic. Still, $200/month is better than a shot to the head.

I'm still trying to figure out what type of Blog or other website I want to work on, knowing that it WILL take a lot of work to drive traffic there and get them to click on the affiliate ads.

I believe the two books I bought will help me avoid some of the mistakes I had made before. Morrison never says you can just slap some Adwords up there and make a fortune. You have to do SOMETHING that sets yourself up above the crowd to just a small percentage of the millions of people searching Google every day. You have to keep the content updated, and continuously offer something new, so people will come back. I learned that just by corresponding with people on the Amazon Affiliate forums.

better written than most shills...................

Thanks for joining today to share that with us, your word can certainly be trusted, of course.

So, what did you tell us here...? Morrison's books "have potential," right. You automatically get screwed out of $50/month, check (but the nice lady refunded it all, how sweet).

Oh, and a guy not even trying gets a couple of hundred dollars, WOW! Just think how easy it can be to make REAL money, eh?

Sorry, I'm not buying it, none of it. I see this as more of Morrison's pathetic attempts at Google results when people search on "Anthony Morrison scam" words. Nice try, though.

He has also nicely brought this thread back up to the top.

Why not just stick with fiction?
A fictitious blog about how you met several people on forums who had blogs, and were using AdWords to drive traffic to their blogs.
That would be interesting.
As long as you made it clear that you were allowing your imagination to create the story you wouldn't have to worry about saying things such asThat suggests an income will be forthcoming, the only uncertainty being the size of the income.Bravo!
Your fiction based blog can have lessons about virtues & ethics.
Work hard & prosper or be lazy & still make a few hundred per month, you will reap what you sow.
If you were writing fact, that same paragraph wouldn't be about virtues & ethics.
It would be a sneaky, underhanded way of saying a person can make $1000's per month, but if not, they will make ~$200 month even being lazy & unprofessional.
After all, if even lazy can make hundreds per month, just imagine how much you will make!

I'm already waiting for the next installment!
Some suggestions:
You could expand on the lazy guy's relationship with the industrious guys wife, that could get racy! HooHoo!!

How about the lazy guy DDoSiNg the industrious guys blog?
You could have a fictitious Special Agent with the FBI investigate the incident & bring the lazy guy to justice!!
This is good stuff - As you know, good bullshit doesn't grow on trees!
Best of Bullshit to you!

You would think a company that has made their money by way of Google would know having shills post here is a bad thing.

What I would like to see here is one of these shills posting how much money he/she made and how he/she is reporting the income and expenses for tax purposes.

Now THAT would be helpful to all of us. I'm sure Anthony covers taxes in his valuable program.

Right?

is that how they make money?

I'm starting to have flashbacks to NANAE when I read this thread

I think we'll keep getting shill posts ad infinitum because of what P.T. Barnum supposedly said [and he would have been right if he had].

BTW: It appears I have to teach FF's spellchecker Latin. Anyone care to do the same for DSLR's?

And yet another one that can't post a website that's allegedly 'working'. This is as bad as the current banners broker scam that's imploding as I type.

I turn my back for a month and look another shill. I guess even shills have holidays at Christmas but heh gotta make a living right.

Is there a school for shills? Can I just approach ethically challenged douche bags with a bad rep online and offer my services?

How about pay? Is it performance based or by the word? What if I'm such a spectacular screw-up that I boost bad threads up in Google will I be fired?

Please PM and help me get started.

Hey, I was just searching Google to see what the $49.95 "Learning Center" was on my Checking account bill, and stumbled on this blog.

Yeah, "potential" is all I've claimed so far, because I'm still figuring it out and experimenting a little. I'm reluctant to invest much more than my time, as I know a lot of you feel.

If they hadn't refunded my $200, believe me, my attitude would have been different - But as it is today, I'm only out $36 for the books, plus about $20 experimenting with Facebook, with a $5/week AdWord-type direct ad. So far, the results with Facebook paid ads are about the same as the results I had with Google AdWords years ago.

I don't have a website yet. I've only played with the Blogger and WordPress site editors, where you can have free Blog space.

So far, my Facebook ad has gotten 40 or 50 clicks, but no purchases. I've modified it a few times but I just left it there to experiment with types of products, ad wording, etc. It only has a $5/week budget, and a per-click limit of 10 cents.

My first ad was for Ardunio cpu prototype boards, which is only sought after by a small number of computer and robotic hobbyists. As an old electronics engineer, it's one of my interests.

I changed it to focus on electronic gadgets in general, but that is pretty much a flooded field, with all the direct-from-China gadget shopping sites around, and I only affiliated with one of them.

Anyway, yeah I'll post back if I have any success.

I can't replicate that.
I've used:
1. "Learning Center"
2. "Learning Center" 49.95 scam
3. "Learning Center" fraud
4. $49.95 "Learning Center" was on my Checking account bill
The first 5 pages of each search query didn't produce a link to this thread or even site.