Читать книгу One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money онлайн

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The greater part of the fraudulent schemes through which women with little savings are swindled, consists of plausible plans for making “profitable” investments. The writer of this chapter is reliably informed that in a certain city of over 100,000 inhabitants, more than sixty-five men engage in this business.

Women, however, are not the only victims, for men are also easily persuaded to part with their savings.

The man or woman known to have acquired any considerable sum of money, or even a few hundred dollars, is skillfully approached and asked to make an investment that is “sure to double your money in six months,” or guaranteed to pay 1,000 per cent dividends within a year, and every year thereafter, and the alluring picture thus held out is usually a veritable gem of literary and artistic skill.

Perhaps it is a choice piece of real estate, which the owner will sell at a “great sacrifice,” as his health requires a removal to a “milder climate.” Or it may be a block of mining or industrial stock, represented by a gorgeously engraved certificate, embellished with an elaborate seal and is advertised as a “real snap,” as only a few dollars of additional capital will start the enterprise to grinding out dividends. Whatever it is, there is a dazzling certainty about its future that is perfectly bewildering to the poor investor, who is made to see him- or herself soon very wealthy. And how easy it is to make an inexperienced woman—or man, either—believe that her or his few hundred dollars can so easily be turned into a channel that will bring a swift and sure reward.