For the second time in about a month, the FTC sued a company that falsely promised it would show people how to earn money in real estate to get them to pay thousands of dollars for seminars.
In the latest case, the FTC filed a complaint against Nudge, a company that sells training programs and other services to aspiring real estate investors. Nudge encouraged people to attend one of its Preview Events through mailings and infomercials featuring TV personalities from shows like “Flipping Vegas,” “Flip Men,” “Renovate to Rent,” and “Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles.” One infomercial featured a celebrity who promised to share a “formula for success” in real estate investing that was “proven” to get results. But these events were mainly sales pitches to get people to buy workshops costing more than $1,000.
What do you think happened at these expensive workshops? You guessed it: even more sales pitches — this time for “Advanced Training” costing tens of thousands of dollars. In all, according to the FTC’s court filings, Nudge raked in more than $400 million from its pricey seminars. What’s more, an FTC survey of Nudge customers showed more than 95 percent of people who attended the seminars ended up paying more to Nudge than they cleared in subsequent real estate transactions.
If someone says you can earn a lot of money on an investment with little or no risk, that’s probably a scam. Learn more about investment and business opportunity seminars before buying into the hype. And if you know about an investment scam, tell the FTC at ftc.gov/complaint.
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