When you hear about the tale of Richard Nieswonger and his string of business opportunities from scammer hell, you find yourself wondering why the man isn’t back in jail. At least, I did. Bilking people of almost $10,000 each to peddle guidance on how to hide your assets in offshore corporations … and at a time when Congress is already breathing down our necks about the tax gap?

You also have to wonder why people would fall for a so-called business opportunity that entails making a $9,800 investment without knowing precisely what the “opportunity” is. I can only conclude that some people really want that self-employment lifestyle pretty badly and that some form of reasonable education for those poor folks should be a lot more readily available than it is.

I didn’t mention this in either the MicroEnterprise Journal article or in the News Briefs, but the suggestion I mentioned about asking online microbusiness owners how they’re doing if you want to know how they’re doing actually came from me. I was actually able to meet with Congressman Gonzalez to talk to him a bit about what kind of information he could reasonably expect to get from the large companies that provide the platforms we use, versus the sort of information he can get from actual microbusiness owners.

For that matter, I was able to seize the opportunity to tell me a few things about microbusinesses in general that appeared to pique his interest. And, while I was tickled pink that he was kind enough to publicly thank me for my input, I’m much happier about the degree to which he seemed to have incorporated my suggestions into his subcommittee hearing.

And, of course, the fact that hearing witnesses told the subcommittee a number of things that I had already told Congressman Gonzalez was fun, too.

For more information:

Press Release: FTC Secures Full Proceeds of Business Opportunity Scammer’s $100,000 Performance Bond
Hearing Archive: The Impact of Online Advertising on Small Firms
Hearing Archive: Examining Solutions to Cope with the Rise in Home Heating Oil Prices
S. 1631, Small Business Emergency Fuel Assistance Act of 2007 (THOMAS)

[tags]microbusiness, law enforcement, Federal Trade Commission, business opportunities, online advertising, e-commerce, Congressman Charles Gonzalez, fuel prices, home heating oil, Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve, Senator John Kerry, Senator Olympia Snowe[/tags]

 

 Scammers Prey on Would-Be Self-Employed [8:09m]: Play Now | Play in Popup