Who are info-gypsies and why they should be avoided

Who are info gypsies

This is the name for people who sell courses, trainings, books and other educational materials that do not carry any real value. The info-gypsies themselves can define themselves as info-businessmen, business trainers, coaches, motivators, and so on.

In order to attract customers, info-gypsies like to talk about their own successes and the achievements of their students. Photos next to expensive sports cars and yachts or bragging about trips to luxury resorts are indispensable attributes of the posts of such people in in social networks.

For a small fee, info-gypsies promise to reveal the secret of luxury life. True, it usually turns out that there was neither a secret nor a success. And the only thing these businessmen want is to make more money faster, until the clients realize that they are being deceived.

How info-gypsies attract people

Usually such deceivers know how to become popular.

Oriented in trends

Info Gypsies are quick to grasp new trends such as the development of online stores, network marketing or deliveries of goods from China and try to attach ways of earning to them. This pseudo-experts are ready to teach everyone. For money, of course.

And swindlers love to parasitize on problems that never lose popularity. For example, on topics of motivation or positive thinking.

Rely on public speaking

Usually info-gypsies are very confident in themselves, have a lot of experience in public speaking. It helps you look convincing and professional.

It is known that bright and charming people are able to hide their incompetence even from experts. So, back in the 1970s, an experiment took place in the United StatesD. H. Naftulin, J. E. Ware, F. A. Donnelly. The Doctor Fox Lecture: a paradigm of educational seduction / Journal of Medical Education with the participation of students and teachers of psychology. A certain "Dr. Fox" spoke to them. He made a big impression on the audience, and the listeners considered him a real professional.

It just turned out that it was not a doctor, but an actor who read only one article before the performance. The interest and respect of the audience "Dr. Fox" won with the help of charms and the ability to work with the public. So for people, presentation may be more important than content.

Gather in groups and create entire organizations

Info-gypsies often form their own community of supposedly successful specialists. They are even able to found a center or university disguised as an educational organization. And it will seem that the courses are being sold by really successful and knowledgeable people. This is not the case, though.

Why info-gypsies can be harmful and even dangerous

There are several main reasons.

Waste your time and money

Usually, info-gypsy courses are completely useless. At best, such people have a superficial knowledge of the subject. For example, they rely on information from a couple of books about business. Well-known truths and facts are mixed with such knowledge. This is also unlikely to come in handy. It is clear that you need not be lazy, but how to do it, the course will not tell.

They teach everything in a row

Do not think that info-gypsies parasitize only in business or finance courses. Often, an imaginary expert understands everything and, simultaneously with sales courses, conducts training on relationships, photography or sex. And if nothing terrible happens because of bad photos, then the advice of a non-professional psychologist can be really harmful.

Use manipulative practices

Fraudsters often go to various tricks to get them to buy their courses and other services.

For example, such people like to splurge. It is no coincidence that info-gypsies post photos from the Maldives or even organize closed business clubs with their own merchandise and privileges for members. This is how scammers create an image of something elitist and inaccessible - all in order to make potential buyers envy and desire to change their lives. Of course, with the help of these supposedly successful professionals.

Another common practice is to host a free lesson or webinar that you may be invited to attend. On it, info-gypsies try especially hard, however, they mainly talk about the advantages of a paid course. Here their task is to involve the client in the system so that he starts buying services.

In some cases, fraudsters generally create organizations like pyramid schemes or network marketing. In such associations, only those who are able to sell the course to other people can earn money. Therefore, more and more participants are involved in the process. And some even give their savings to deceivers or even take credits.

How to distinguish a normal course from an info-gypsy one

The course on business development is far from always the Info-Gypsy one. But there are many scammers, so you need to be on your guard.

Check out the training program

Try the following.

• Check if the program exists at all. If it is, but not in the public domain, demand it - you must understand what they are going to teach you. When there is no program, you can safely abandon the course.
• Read what they promise you. If they claim that the secret is simple, and you only need to pay a little to get to know him too and become rich - it's better not even to waste time. It is possible to master some specific skills, such as recruiting or building a sales funnel, but it is unlikely to repeat the success.
• Review the course plan. Find out how long the training will last, what are the different modules and whether there will be practical tasks. The lack of specifics should be alarming.
• Look for common phrases. For example, "you will learn how to conduct business communication, discover tools to increase sales, and much more." Such formulations show that the course is a superficial dummy. After all, the author did not even try to create the appearance that he would teach real things.

Learn more about the mentor

It can be done like this.

• Study his biography. For example, does a person have expert publications in the media, is he invited to educational events, does he maintain a training blog. If someone is going to teach business, then such a teacher should at least have his own business.
• Find the opinions of real people. Look at the reviews, and not only on the website of the training side, but also on independent resources. Overly positive and similar reviews can be fake. Sometimes you can really understand this by the avatars of those who leave laudatory responses. Photos are often taken from photo stocks.
• Dig deeper. Most often, the only business of scammers is selling courses. But even it may not be formalized. Therefore, pay attention to whether there is information at the bottom of the site about registration SP. The most meticulous ones can be advised to look into register legal entities. All businesses of a person and their income are clearly indicated there.

Check docs

The main thing is to pay attention to certain points.

• Find out if a contract will be signed with you. Unwillingness to do this is a sure sign that the mentor does not have an educational license.
• Find out if you can get your money back. You receive a paid service and must have guarantees that you will not be deceived.
• Figure out what kind of paper you get at the end. For example, a simple certificate of completion of an unknown course will give you little, in contrast to a standard diploma.

Where to find courses

There are many venues where you can online gain knowledge from the best teachers and universities. Sometimes even for free or by giving a small amount for a certificate of completion. Some of the largest such services: Coursera, edX and portal "Open Education".