Of Cons and Con Games - 2

[Hypiereon]

Of Cons and Con Games – 2

There are two classic cons for people to look out for. Whether you’re dealing with a recruiter, an opportunist, or genuine con artist, here are the two cons I’ve managed to piece together you need to watch out for – and how to beat them. (cue music to “The Sting.”) Here’s the second.

2. The Fee up Front.
You only think it would never work on you, but this game is still around even though “everyone knows about it” because it still works. This clever little game is not so widely used as the above, but just because it’s not as used doesn’t mean it isn’t effective. This is usually played on foreigners already in-country, and I’ve been hit up once already.

You’re thinking “I’d never pay anything up front” and you’d be right if that’s the way the game was set up, but it’s not always that easy, so watch out. Here’s the game as it was presented to me.

A guy comes up talking about someone needing a teacher for their child (maybe the person needing a teacher is a foreigner or a rich businessman – in my case the person needing a teacher was a foreign rich businessman.) The fee that businessman is willing to pay is something around double or a little more than double of what your monthly salary is – in my case 10,000 RMB per month to tutor two of his kids.

A variation on this is someone finding a school for you that is willing to pay a lot more than you’re getting now – always in another province or some place inconvenient enough for you to not check out if it even exists.

Most people would jump at it, but I’m a little pragmatic. I had questions. How many hours a week? At what time? What curriculum does he want me to use? Does he want me to actually teach or just tutor as a supplement to real teaching going on somewhere else? The guy – we’ll call him the “middleman” and he was also a foreigner by the way – didn’t have any answers to these questions, but said he’d get back to me.

He called me up about 10 days later to say that the businessman was out of town and couldn’t be reached (what “businessman” couldn’t be reached?!) so he didn’t have answers to my questions yet, but he wanted to let me know that he had a finder’s fee of the first month’s wages. (This is the “up front fee” disguised as a finder’s fee – you never pay anything up front, remember?) I never let it get THAT far, as soon as he told me about his “finder’s fee” I simply responded, “Well, whatever you work out with the foreigner is up to you. Whatever you get out of him for a finder’s fee is between you and him.”

That’s how you beat the game. The fee is always paid by the other person, never you. They don’t even get a tiny itty bitty piece of your income. You are the one doing the work, not him. Think about it. Why should you be paying him to work for someone else? You think he’s working for you? Really? Then who is working on behalf of the school/other person to find teachers?

Reasoning here is really rather simple; he’s not finding me a job. This foreigner is finding a teacher for a foreign businessman – the guy who owes a finder’s fee then, if anyone does, is the foreign businessman, not me. I guess he assumed he was helping me, but I didn’t see it that way. I’m the one offering the services, so I’m the one doing him a favor, and I’m the one who sets the rules, not the other way around.

That’s how you have to see yourself. You’re not “looking for a job teaching” you’re “helping schools find teachers” – namely YOU! So, don’t pay a single cent to ANY recruiter or anyone else for “finding” you, and certainly make sure they’re not taking anything out for “placing” you.

This scam works because – again – you feel you need the help finding a school or a job. This scam can even come from online or other training centers who promise to help you find a job abroad. Whatever! You certainly don’t need their help, they are not going to stay at the school with you and hold your hand while you fall flat on your face trying to adjust in a foreign country, and trust me, whatever “help” they’re promising by way of advice can be certainly found for free if not in this portal then somewhere else.

I thought about it, and this scam probably would have worked better if the guy had been more knowledgeable. Here’s a scenario I pictured in my head some days later after the phone call - P.S. on the phone call, I never heard from the guy again.

Basically, if it were my game, I’d make the offer of 10,000RMB per hour and set up a meeting. I’d say that the guy is going to pay YOU 10,000 RMB, but my finder’s fee is usually the first month’s payment; however, because I like you and I’m leaving to go work another teaching job in another country (the reason I’M not taking this wonderful opportunity by the way), I’m willing to settle for 5,000 RMB, or half of my usual finder’s fee, on this one occasion as a favor to you. If you come up with anything even close to it, I’ll take it and put it in my pocket saying you can pay me the rest after you’ve been paid from the businessman. I’ll still be in town for another month, just so you know I won’t leave you abandoned or anything. *Wink*

My words will be smooth, sweet, and tickle your ears. My smile and manner will be warm and inviting. My handshake will be firm and my presence will be confident and authoritative. Then I will walk out of that meeting with your money, and you will never hear from me again.

You only THINK this won’t work – and if you’re still thinking that then you are the mark I’d be looking for if I were a con man. A con man isn’t selling a deal, he’s selling his trustworthiness to you, and if you buy it (if you trust him) then you will be swindled, and he has a very big play book for gaining your trust, thus the acronym DTA – Don’t Trust Anyone.

I don’t believe it whole heartedly – can’t go around life without putting your trust in anyone, but that kind of trust should certainly be earned and be grown over time. Even then, trust can be betrayed, so never lay anything out there you aren’t prepared to lose whether it’s your money, your love, or your life.