Cambridge Who's Who (formerly known as Manchester Who's Who, and to be known as God only knows...) is an outfit that plays on people's self-esteem. Those that are particularly vulnerable are those who have not had much success and are viewed as such by others. Such folks might, therefore, be looking for a way to "show them a thing or too." "See, look at me now..."
Not too long ago, I received a letter from the Cambridge Who's Who, and thought "Why me? What did I accomplish?" These scam artists have even selected a name for their organization that would suggest credibility—"Cambridge" (What generally comes to mind when you hear the name "Cambridge"?)
Anyhow, I went and filled out the application, which stated that membership within the organization was free. Not having the most prestigious of jobs, I played up on what I DID have, an independent business. Not giving it much consideration, I mailed the application back, and never gave it another thought. Weeks later, I received a call from one of their representatives, who told me that I was "almost" qualified for membership, and that I would have to answer a few questions prior to being officially approved for membership. These questions were very carefully chosen.
Here's where the "ego-building" talents of the rep really shined, because even though I was kind of trying to dig up things to say (with regard to a business that I really haven't done too much with), the rep not only showed an unprecedented enthusiasm in every one of my answers, but made it seem like my membership was going to be a shoe-in. I was not the least bit surprised that, after our conversation, I was granted approval with a most warm "congratulations".
Then, I was told about all of the wonderful perks that come with the membership I was just approved for—ability to network among well accomplished people, my name listed in the official Cambridge Who's Who directory (of 200,000), a CD with the entire Cambridge Directory, and on he went.
Toward the end of the conversations, the rep started to tell me about the different tiers of membership packages (and each of their "fees"—remember the "free membership" the letter spoke about), including their "lifetime" membership (WOW, I get to be a member for life and never have to renew my membership?) It was then that I made up a story about having to fork out a lot of money to help my ill father (trying to explain why I couldn't come up with a sizeable amount of cash on the spur of the moment), and instead of just the $589 and $789 membership options, the rep offered me a lower "introductory" membership option which is normally made available only to "non-profit" organizations. Hmmmm. That sounds like a move of desparation to me. I wonder what's up. The intro rate was only $349, and guess what, he was even going to include the airline tickets at that membership level!
Fortunately, while I still had the guy on the phone, I went on the internet and Googled "Cambridge Who's Who" "scam", and got wind of what was going on. I put the guy on hold "forever", and he tried to call me back (by the way, my caller id indicated "private number", hmmm If the local pizza joint were to call me, there would be an establishment name and number there). I never got taken, and hope Google does a good job at getting people to this consumer complaints website before they have their hard-earned money sucked clean out of them.
BEWARE of folks that are extensively inspirational, ESPECIALLY if they're asking for your money. My own relatives haven't even been that inspirational to me. There is also a good deal of "misdirection" with these scammers, i.E. One can easily lose themselves in pondering how they're going to use their new networking connections, where they might travel with their airline tickets, etc.
Be Careful...
Be careful!!!
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