View From the Balcony

Writers Block

2005-09-12

One Life In A Drawer

I have this great oak desk that serves as my computer base. It's
worn and scarred and certainly seen better days. What I like about
this oaken horse is its nooks and crannies supplying lots of storage
room for my needs.

In one of those forgettable moments, I decided to open one of the
drawers that seldom sees daylight. Inside was an envelope from
a new friend I made some years ago.

Anja was a housewife living in the boonies of Fort St. James in
British Columbia. What I recall most, was her need to find an
online business that would fill in her lonely hours and make her
a small income.

I liked her instantly, we began to talk. There was something warm
and real about this woman, so I agreed to receive some information
on this company she was working with.

Scams, Shams and Disappointment

Anja is special because she was real. But for Anja, it stops there.
What went wrong for Anja would have gone wrong for me if I had
followed through and joined her. What the real shame is in all of
this, is that many caring people just like Anja ended up in a losing
position because they trusted in the mission of a pyramid company.

It will be two years and two months to the Sept 23rd date we met
and discussed this company, that Global Online Systems bit the dust.

"A Competition Bureau investigation into a Vancouver-based multi-level
marketing firm has led to a $150,000 fine and guilty pleas on two
counts under the deceptive marketing provisions of the Competition Act. "

The company and its directors voluntarily plead guilty and paid the
fine. What I want to know is, what peace and compensation is
there for people like Anja who get sucked in by these types?

Those who join pyramid schemes are often enticed by promises of
easy money, but only the very few at the top ever see any real benefit.

While The Bureau is committed to pursuing these offences under the
Competition Act and ensuring that Canadians do not fall prey to such
scams, what can be done for so many Anja's who are caring and real
who lose everything for trusting in these people?

Due diligence is a nice term, equally as useless as caveat emptor -
buyer beware for the new, the susceptible and the trusting. Shouldn't
our Governments be spending more time investigating these people
when they apply for a licence to scam rather than waiting for the
heartbreak of many to cause them concern?

If they did, would the Internet still be so full of such vultures?


copyright © 2005 Fran Klasinski All rights Reserved