FTC went after Ganadores, which schemed to steal millions of dollars from Spanish speakers
I’ve written columns recently about affinity fraud that targets members of specific groups and about fraudulent business coaching opportunities that promise to teach people how to make big money.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has finalized a settlement with the owners and employees of several companies that combined these schemes to steal millions of dollars from Spanish-speaking consumers.
The operators of Ganadores Online and Ganadores Inversiones Bienes Raíces promoted an “infallible system” for people to achieve financial freedom investing in real estate or operating an online store (Ganadores translates into “winners” in English).
Attendees at their real estate events were told they would earn an annual income of $100,000 to $112,500, while people who bought into the online store opportunity would realize $30,000 per month in sales and $10,000 per month in profit running a store on Amazon.
How Ganadores hoodwinked its customers
The FTC said Ganadores operated a “sales funnel” to move victims up the financial investment scale. They started with free seminars marketed on social media where attendees would learn strategies to make big money in real estate or in operating an online store. But the seminars were nothing but a pitch for people to attend three-day workshops that cost hundreds of dollars. And the workshops were just a way to recruit people to sign up for high-dollar mentoring services.
People who bought the mentoring package would be paired with an expert who would guide them “by the hand” so there would be “no way to lose.” Ganadores would help buyers of the VIP package, at a price of $27,000 to $29,000, find 100% financing for their real estate deals.
The FTC said most of the claims were false and accused Ganadores of these particularly shady practices:
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Marketing presentations were conducted largely in Spanish, but contracts and legally required disclosures were often provided in English, despite the fact that many customers had limited to no fluency in English.
People who tried to cancel and get their money back were rebuffed based on a clause buried in the contract that said they only had three days to cancel and, again, that many couldn’t read.
The one-on-one mentoring that people paid tens of thousands of dollars for often consisted of large group calls in which they were instructed to use public websites like Google and Zillow to find investment opportunities.
These three tips can help consumers avoid scams
Samuel Levine, the Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said, “This scheme made grand promises of life-changing returns in Spanish, but hid key terms in English-language contracts that many consumers could not read. They took millions of dollars from Spanish-speaking consumers seeking to better their lives and provide for their families.”
Several of the leaders of Ganadores had settled FTC charges in two similar scams in 2018 and 2019. The settlement in this case permanently bans them from marketing such programs.
The FTC and BBB offer these tips to avoid becoming the victim of a business coaching or real estate investment scam:
Research the company and offer online using words like “complaint,” “review” or “scam” to see what people say about it before paying. Check out the company with the BBB.
Question promises of big money or profits. Only scammers guarantee success or a return on an investment.
Read success stories and reviews with skepticism. Many are faked or exaggerated.
Randy Hutchinson is president & CEO Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Better Business Bureau: Ganadores schemed to scam Spanish speakers
