Be cautious of quick-fix online trading deals
When the promise of riches comes in the form a salesman peddling an online course, ‘fold it over once and put it back in your pocket’
There is money to be made in stock market trading, but when the promise of riches comes in the form of a hard sell from a salesman peddling an online course, you'd do well to remember Mark Twain's advice on how to double your money: "Fold it over once and put it back in your pocket." So compelling was the sales pitch for an online trading software package that cancer-stricken pensioner Rodger Stonehouse abandoned his usual caution and handed his credit card to two salespeople. After speaking to him on the phone, they travelled more than 400km from the Bellville headquarters of Ismega to his home in Great Brak River to convince him that it was a great investment. That was in September 2016. They left him with a box containing a tablet, loaded with an analytical JSE monitoring software programme, an undertaking to set up training the following month and his signed authority to debit his credit card monthly for the next six years. Within hours almost R22 000 was debited, followed by mo...
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