Here's the bit that concerns me:
This forum is visited by not only potential customers, but others who may now, or in the future, have an interest in developing relationships with our company.
How many of you know about the various quasi-legal pyramid schemes that roll out in the USA every few years? Favourites are the Emu Breeding scheme and the Alpaca Scheme. See this link for details:
http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Telemarketing/Outbound/Major/Investments/wacky.htmThey involve setting up what looks like a reputable business and then convincing people to invest in it for a certain financial gain. By the time the truth comes out (that there is no market) the people behind it move on to something new and take the cash with them. These are not "classified ad" scams, they actually involve a lot of money and run real adverts on actual TV stations.
So, let's say I wanted to do a similar scam...
Phase 1:
Set yourself up a company and make it an LLC, for example "MY COMPUTERS LLC".
The reason you use an LLC is because in the USA it stands for "Limited Liability Company" and anybody that attempt to sue you can only sue the company for the assets of the company. This protects the actual assets of the business owner (his home, his car, his personal bank account, etc) and his family.
Phase 2:
You need to identify a market, produce eye catching stock and advertise in reputable channels to quickly establish yourself as professional business with good connections. Push your upcoming products on as many media sites as possible so that anyone doing a search for your products or company will find multiple hits.
Phase 3:
Sell some of your wares and build up additional advertising demonstrating that sales have been made and repeatedly state that demand is outstripping production. Post fictitious sales figures, sales projections and perhaps even some fake shots of the production facilities. All of these things will pop up for anyone doing some quick online research.
Phase 4:
Look for small investors. This works a bit like McDonalds where other people set up the business and are then trapped into purchasing their stock from a single supplier. In this case you have multiple people invest their own money to open up "mom & pop" shops to sell your underpowered and heavily over-priced equipment. As you are selling the equipment to them and ordering it from a third party based on demand, you are at no financial risk and it is up to the investor to actually find customers.
Phase 5:
Look for big investors. Now you point to your "extensive product line" (from 3rd parties) and your staggering global distribution outlets (the poor buggers trying to sell your overpriced goods) and don't forget to mention your own production facilities (the ones that actually belong to the people producing the goods for the 3rd party companies you buy your stuff from). If you're going to claim to be fighting the big boys then you might want to make wild claims like having developed your own Operating System and make sure that nobody finds out that it is actually a rebadged free OS that you ahve nothing to do with.
Phase 6:
Pocket all of the investment money you can and make sure you pay top prices and salaries to yourself, family members and the shell companies you've set up as "middle men". When the scheme finally collapses, the LLC has no cash assets, the offices turn out to be rented, the staff are all temps and there is nothing left for the investors to recover.
Alternatively, you could open up an LLC and make novelty computer case and hope you sell millions of them just like C=USA.....
