Investment Infomercial Reviews: Are Money-Making Schemes Worth It?

What You Should Know Before Ordering a "Get Rich" Program

You’ve seen the commercials that  hypnotize you into reaching for your wallet. By the time you realize that you are on the phone you have given a stranger your credit card number and have pledged the next year of your life to five easy payments.

Before you turn on your television, arm yourself with these reviews of: 

Top Ten Moneymaking Infomercial Rip-offs

1. Carleton Sheets Real Estate Investing

The premise is to help you buy property that has been foreclosed; increasing your “net worth”,  making it possible for you to buy another one.

The problem is, if a legitimate investor hasn’t already bought the foreclosed house it’s because they know how much it’s really worth. 

According to Sheets your “worth” is measured in the appraised value of the houses you buy, regardless of what they are actually worth or how much you owe. A house appraised for $20,000 can actually be worth $5000 in the market in which it is located. It may need $10,000 in repairs and you may find yourself owing $15,000 for the loan on it. 

Your Carlton Sheets worth: $20,000.
Actual value for the house NEGATIVE $5000.

2. Don Lapre’s Making Money Course

"You get just 20 people to try the greatest vitamin in the world, we will send you a check for a thousand dollars," Lapre promises in the infomercial. What Lapre is actually selling is Web sites that advertise his vitamins. His customers buy a Web site then hope somebody shows up to buy vitamins. One woman invested $5000 in her website and sold exactly 23 bottles of vitamins. His "mentors" are telemarketers working from a script, and the equivalent of his lead list can be found by picking up any phone book.

3. Matthew Lesko Books

Real Grants… for those who have established themselves as a non-profit organization, school or government organization AND who have access to a grantwriter to write the grants and follow through the lengthy and detailed process it takes to obtain a government grant and all the strings attached. All his valuable information is available free at sba.gov.