3 Common Lies of a Get Rich Quick Scheme (and How to Avoid Them)Practical insights to help you weed out deceptive offers.

If you've recently received an email from a Nigerian Prince asking for a small sum of money now to help him out of a financial bind, don't bother. I have already paid it and should be receiving an expeditious reward in the form of gold bricks. It's a great feeling.

Thank goodness I didn't fall for anyscams. You're probably familiar with them; The Ponzi scheme, for example, whereby current investors are paid only by new investors until the jig is up and the new investors dry up. Without naming names, one very famous financial advisor used this ruse andMadoffwith millions.