Con-artists are evil

The con-artist has extensive emotional insight, quickly figuring out what it is their victim wants and finding a chink to exploit. They lie with ease and are devoid of compassion. Validating their victims desires, a con artist establishes trust in a short period of time, making out they are your friend and giving the belief that you will benefit from meeting them. They often come with very little history.

The short con or the long con: 

A con artist gains control of your thinking and leads you down a route that only they will benefit from. 

Con-artists are compelled by the desire for money: They spot individuals who have money and a need and they strike. They may appear influential and powerful, but they only have one aim and that is to take your money.... 

The short con: Victims are fleeced in a very short space of time. There is little need to establish trust, as long as victims can be persuaded to part with their cash. Your spam folder is likely to be littered with examples of short cons. 

The long con can extend over many months. It starts with an initial proposition, quickly-established trust and promises made. When success does not come as easily as promised, assurances are given that the win just around the corner and doubts assuaged – and the money continues to pass just one way. 

If you are not getting what you were promised from a business relationship, perhaps you should stop listening to the con man. Instead, start listening to that inner voice and act to stop further losses. 

Examples of a long con: 

• Franchising – see The Infinite Group 
• Pyramid Selling Schemes
• Overseas property deals 

Today I want to talk about franchising. 

Franchising has been given a very bad name because unscrupulous franchisors see it as a way of making large sums of money for little effort. 

Ian David Johnson is one such franchisor; he sells business advisory franchises for £25K plus £5K training fee. Franchisees are offered very little support or structure, training is poor and the business model is limited – facts that franchisees only discover after joining. Franchisee debt builds rapidly, followed by aggressive legal proceedings instigated by Johnson. 

Some observers say Ian Johnson is deluded, I feel he is just a conman. He uses stolen intellectual property from Action Coach, another business advisory franchise he was involved with in 2001, but does not have sufficient intelligence or business acumen to build a sustainable business. 

He refuses to join the British Franchising Association. Members of the BFA operate to a strict code of Ethics, not to protect them but to protect you. 

He does not appear in internet searches. In this day and age, as individual would have to go to considerable lengths to wipe the internet of all references to them. Why do this if he has nothing to hide? 

A prime example of a long-con artist.