5 Stupid Get-Rich Quick Scams (People Still Fall For)

Fortunately, Lesko breaks this code of secrecy by revealing a list of 4,000 programs that will give you free money to pay your bills, just as his book title says (though we wonder if "Free Money to Pay for Lapdances and Nachos" would have sold more copies).

What You Will Really Get:

The good news is that you will get a book with lists of government programs that have money. The bad news is that you probably don't qualify for any of it despite the fact that the website says "Everyone who needs to Pay Bills Qualifies."

It turns out that the programs listed in the book fall into two categories: Obvious Stuff and Useless Crap. In the obvious category, it turns out that the majority of that money he was screaming about is stuff like unemployment insurance and food stamps which are about as secret as the Post Office.

In the useless category, the programs listed are so obscure that its unlikely anyone will find one they qualify for (most of it is given to other government agencies rather than individuals).

Sure, there are success stories like that dude who got 500 large to travel the world. You can get that, too, as long as you are a quantum physicist who got the award from the National Science Foundation. Otherwise, stay poor, asshole!

By the way, Lesko admits he just copied and pasted a book he ordered from the government and then sold it. Thanks to his minutes of hard work, now you, too, can spend $40 on a book of nearly useless information you could have Googled for free.

Quixtar is a way for you to have your own business without all those pesky business degrees and millions in start-up capital. The company claims that it's a $6.8 billion dollar business with three million "business owners" around the world. Hell, can three million people be wrong?

The process couldn't be simpler. They have a website where your customers log on and buy stuff, then you get a cut of the sales. Like a pimp but without the slapping and choking! And in case you need help with your business, professional consultants like this guy are there to help.

Ignore the home made sign, and the fact that "free" is in "quotes." According to some Quixtar representatives, you can make up to $250,000 a year working just 10-15 hours a week, which means you can finally hang up your squeegee and keep your sperm.

But you don't make the real money by just hawking their giant boxes of soap and vitamins. No, the real trick is to sponsor new people to join and start selling products. Then you can get a cut of all of their sales and the sales of the people they bring in. So you can finally sit back and reap the rewards of the hard work of others, in the manner of kings, or tapeworms.

What You Will Really Get:

If this sounds a bit familiar, it's because Quixtar is just Amway with a website.

As with all pyramid schemes, starting your own "business" involves bugging the shit out of people you know to buy products from Quixtar and/or to join up and sell themselves. Once you get good at being obnoxious you can then start harassing complete strangers.

"Hi, old people, a quick moment of your time, please."

Quixtar says they are a multi level marketing company and not a pyramid scheme, which is like saying "call girl" instead of "whore." If you think that's harsh, here's a legal expert comparing them to the mafia.

But at least the mafia makes money. The average monthly income from an active Quixtar "business owner" is only $115 a month. We don't need a beautiful mind to know that $115 a month is a whole lot less than $250,000 a year. If you only worked 10 hours a week on your business you are looking at a return of about $3 an hour, or less than half the Federal minimum wage. But that's OK, because you won't need money after you've driven away all of the friends who used to go out with you by pestering them with sales pitches.

Experts say this kind of trading is somewhere between retarded and illegal.

Even better, you can actually lose more money than you have if you make enough bad trades, because you can trade on borrowed money. So all in all simply feeding your $4,000 to a goat would be a better investment.