When Greed Kicks In

By: Ros Edralin

I was glued watching episodes of "American Greed" one Saturday afternoon. It's an interesting CNBC documentary about scammers and their evil schemes. It's alarming that there are people out there who can easily entice people to trust them with massive amounts of money with the evil intention of using it for their personal gain. Sadly, they can turn out to be people you already know (the friendly neighbor, a colleague, a trusted friend, or even a relative) or probably someone you could never imagine deceiving you, not even in your wildest dreams.

Money, itself, is not necessarily the root of all evil. As a matter of fact, we need it. It's an important thing to have in order to acquire the basic things we need to survive (food, water, shelter, etc). But when greed kicks in, it's a whole different story. That deep love for money and material things can bring out the worst character out of any person.

In the Philippines, we do have a lot of stories too -- the latest known case was the 500M-Birkin scam. Some people pretend to live a luxurious life yet they do it at the expense of others. Why live luxuriously when you can't afford it? In the eyes of your true friends and loved ones, your social standing doesn't really matter.

Anyone has the potential to become rich. We could tap a wide market of opportunities to earn additional income. However, greed can slowly creep in and it can be contagious too. There is a growing underground economy which could seem harmless at the onset until people eventually end up as victims.

Despite of the news and information available, why do people still get to be fooled by scammers? Unconsciously, we tend to be greedy too at some point. The promise of a high return of investment for a very short period of time can be very attractive.

Stay legit and do your research. There are a lot of well-established companies with proven track records already. Be wise with your investments.

If you are serious enough in your dream of getting rich, then better face the fact that it is not an easy overnight process --- unless you have hit a million peso lottery prize. It takes hard work, discipline, and a lot of patience. So while on your journey to earn that first million, always remember to keep both of your feet on the ground.