My Three Rs: Especially Online: be Scam Aware

My sister sent me an email. About a website -- or a person -- or possibly a set of professional... sales people? -- offering a miraculous cure. No endorsed value. Just in an area which is of interest to me.

I went to the website. Looked -- rather quickly -- and replied to my sister:

Am I too cynical? Nope, don't think so :-) There are plenty of scams on the internet... this looks like one of them. Thanks for sending it though -- I appreciate the thought -- and I appreciate the opportunity to see something that I would otherwise have missed. It's just as important to look at "the other" side, even if only a snippet is useful.

And I do enjoy a good debate :-) If I sound offensive -- below -- it's directed entirely at the author of what looks like a scam. And I would be happy to get hold of "real" evidence of his success. If any exists...

1. The name "the truth about..." [and I don't dignify it with, about what] is a warning. It indicates an absolute refusal to consider any other point of view. Or to allow customers to consider any other points of view.

2. Eleven years surviving xxxx? Pish & tosh... If all I had were my own xxxx -- and there is no sign of that spreading -- I would already have had it chopped out. And have the chance to live a very lot longer. The web-advertised part is not as easy to remove, but... it can be chopped out, plus a bit extra for extra caution, the body will live on.

3. To cut out enough brain [that's my own "area of concern"] to give a similar margin of safety -- I would be, well, severely affected. The brain is far too central to life. My right parietal lobe is (I think) part of vision, I could go blind. Chop the wrong way, I could be paralysed. Another misplaced snip and my brain could stop reminding me to breathe... etc. My cancer is -- almost invisibly -- attacking all of those areas of the brain. All the efforts to build or restore a healthy body... too bad... it's the *brain* that needs to heal. And the brain is very bad at self-healing.

4. Back to the website. What is his general approach? No hint whatsoever... A sure sign of a scam. Or, at the very best, a sign of a money-making operation. A strong indicator of weak ethics, no moral value, *self* centred aims. I prefer my "cures" to come from people who care about *me* :-) Who care enough to say, this is what we will be trying... people who are willing to admit that there may be a cash (or other) cost.

5. What is he offering? A "free" Part One. Known as a loss leader... give this away so that customers will come back -- and pay for -- more. You can bet that Part One looks really good but is very limited. Perhaps a well written process to *begin* the building of a positive *attitude* ? Or a very small -- easy to follow -- placebo-value change to diet? (Eat less fat! That's always good, positive -- and will immediately make you feel ... different. Which you will be convinced means, better.)

6. Then there will be Parts 2 to 10 -- at a substantial "discount". Followed by as many Parts as you can afford... All accompanied by literature which aims to convince you that, yes, you are feeling better. Or -- at least -- that you would feel worse if not for all the money spent on all those Parts. People are predisposed to convince themselves that their own decisions and actions must be right, so they convince themselves that their self-chosen actions must really be good for them :-) (I've drunk wine every day for 50 years and look at me now! It *must* be good for me!)

Enough... Read anything. But... Be scam aware!