We're being overrun by fake finance, investing, and RE gurus

[Greg R.]

Who's your favorite fake guru?

Oh my... this is not an easy question - so many to chose from. From the fake lifestyles, the rented yachts, private jets, Lamborghini's/ Ferrari's, and most of all the fake success. One thing that almost all of these gurus have in common is that they built their "wealth" (or at least a vast majority of it) from their students, not from investments!!! This can be from selling courses, memberships, subscriptions, or just forming a large cult following which carries sponsorships and high ad revenue. And of course, if you follow them, watch all their videos, and purchase their courses you can be successful just like them! or not. 

On a serious note folks, please, please do not listen to "gurus" for investing advice. Join a local REIA and network with folks on forums like BP where real investors who operate in the real-world are. This fantasy land where grifters are promising insane returns (100%-5,000%) is a scam. Plain and simple.

One of my favorites, Brian Rose... 

Brian is a serial grifter well known for his get rich quick scams... "How to go from zero to a seven-figure business". He recently partnered with "the wolf of wall street" convicted felon & well-known fraudster Jordan Belfort. These two recently offered a two-day "crypto, DeFi, NFT, and Metaverse mastermind" for a whopping $24,000!!!!  

Another one of my favorites is "Swaggy C" from the "Swag Academy". An exact quote from him "9:00-5:00's are the biggest scams in the world!" He sells "forex training", which packages have totaled over $3,300. Those who have performed an analysis of it have found it to be very, very close to other material readily available on the internet for free. Basically a slight rebranding of other info that's already "out there". 

Honorable mention is Graham Stephan.

Graham is a new breed in this arena, a "high-tech" innovator of sorts. He is much more subtle, no direct "get rich quick" claims from him. Most who are familiar with him would agree that he had some generally good info (although rudimentary) on his channel when he first started. He has since went full click-baiter with the sole goal of getting a lot of likes & subscribers for ad revenue. He has fed off the idea that he is a multi-millionaire and achieved most of his wealth in his 20s. However, truth is that he has made most of his money from being a social media influencer. It's estimated that he made $6,000,000 alone from his primary YouTube channel in 2021. he also has several other YouTube channels, and a $500 course geared toward those wanting to be a realtor. He previously worked as a realtor in "selling sunset" reality show and has since become a celebrity realtor. You're not likely to get scammed out of a lot of money (yet) from following Graham. But you will waste a lot of time and watch videos that are 95% sensationalism to get a few small nugget of information. 

These are a few thumbs from his YouTube channel, and yes, they are real! lol

**Disclaimer because fake guru's like to sue people when they are exposed. 
All points made in this thread are an opinion and in no way should be construed as statements of fact. scams, bad business opportunities, and fake gurus are subjective terms that mean different things to different people. I think someone who promises $100K/month for an upfront fee of $2K is a scam.