People get scammed not so much because they can't analyze a scheme on an intellectual level, but because of their personality or emotional state. Smart are often *more likely* to get scammed, because they're more confident in their own judgement. "Is it a scam?" A checklist.
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(scams will often try to hide their lack of practical foundations by saying they represent a "new paradigm", like "the internet in the 90s" -- everything that involves tech and hucksters must be like the internet, nevermind what the internet was actually useful for back then)
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2. Are you encouraged/required to sell the thing to your friends/family? While there's sometimes an actual business need for hierarchical marketing, it's often the case that the requirement exists because *your friends/family are the product* -- without their money, no revenue.
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3. Is the reward proportional to the risk? I.e. what are you arbitraging -- why would *you* be making money rather than anyone else? Investors make money by taking calculated risks and arbitraging information/insights. So, what's your unfair advantage? Why are you getting paid?
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(Scams advertise risk-free rewards that are accessible to anyone -- no need to provide any particular value, information, or insight -- unlike traditional investing or VC)
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Perhaps a very succinct way to put it is this: if it's a sound investment, knowledgeable actors are going to want to buy as much of it as possible. If it's a scam, knowledgeable actors are going to want *other people* to buy as much of it as possible.
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End of conversation
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