The Golden Dreams of the Fake Guru Industry and Online Business

Every day on social media, new gurus emerge, promising you the secrets to becoming rich overnight while simultaneously selling their courses. The fake guru industry in America is not a new trend. However, it has gained significant traction in Pakistan since the advent of internet access.

Who are fake gurus and what are their methods?

Taking the example of the United States, you’ll find numerous fake gurus in real estate, online business, cryptocurrency, or stock trading. Some well-known names include Tai Lopez and Dan Lok. You can search for their names on YouTube and find similarities with Pakistani fake gurus who mimic their methods and phrases.

The modus operandi of fake gurus is to showcase their lavish lifestyles—expensive homes, cars, furniture—and claim that they made all this money through the very methods they are now selling you in their courses because they want you to become rich overnight like them. Where do these luxury cars and homes come from? It’s not hard to figure out. In America, you can rent such items at reasonable prices for a short time. These fake gurus manipulate your psychology, impressing you with their apparent success while claiming they have a genuine desire to help you grow your business. Therefore, you might quickly enroll in their courses for a few thousand rupees or a few hundred dollars.

One might wonder, if they are so wealthy, why are they selling courses? Why do they keep advertising everywhere urging people to enroll?

Signs of a fake guru that can help you identify them and avoid their scams:

1. They will constantly promote their courses without disclosing the price. As you enroll in their courses, the prices for advanced courses will keep increasing.

2. They will label you as poor, lazy, and incompetent while considering themselves among the world’s most successful people. Their sole aim is to make you feel inferior so they can sell you their course.

3. If you criticize them or suggest improvements, they will become defensive. The difference between a fake guru and a genuine teacher is that a teacher learns while teaching. In contrast, fake gurus become hostile to criticism.

4. They allow their followers and fans to engage in unethical behavior and disparage others. Their goal is to create followers who praise them unconditionally and attack their opponents.

5. They publicly share your weaknesses that you confide in them as examples of what not to be like, humiliating you in the process by showing your failures as evidence that the problem lies with you.

6. They don’t see you as a person; to them, you are just a money-making machine through their courses. A true teacher understands each individual according to their thoughts and struggles in life. However, these fake gurus sell everyone the same product—their course—promising that if you follow it, your life will improve.

7. They tell you they possess secrets and knowledge of success that you'll never acquire elsewhere, claiming they are sharing this exclusive knowledge so that you too can become "rich" like them.

There are many other signs of these fake guru types of frauds. Just use your common sense and don’t fall for greed; this way, you can avoid their scams.

If you want to learn any skills or anything else, there are thousands—if not millions—of free courses available on the internet and YouTube. Elon Musk didn’t learn rocket technology from some guru. You don’t need fake gurus who will drain your savings with their overpriced courses if you want to get rich overnight. If you want to learn skills, free courses are available online. If you're looking for motivation in life, spend time with your family and friends, visit beautiful places for tourism, learn something new, or take up hobbies—make friends with knowledge.

But please don’t fall for these fake gurus whose only goal is to get rich by selling courses at your expense.

And yes, there is a significant difference between a fake guru and a real businessman: real businessmen do not sell courses while flaunting money from private jets or expensive cars. I have yet to see Bill Gates, Elon Musk, or Mark Zuckerberg showcasing money like that while selling courses.

To learn more about fake gurus and their tactics, you can watch these videos (apologies as they are in English). But the bottom line is that if you value your money, stay away from them and their followers. Learn knowledge on your own. Stay happy.

Here are some Pakistani experts , selling their courses , like Shahid Anwar, Saad Hashmani, Enablers Saqib Azhar, Extreme Commerce - Sunny Ali , Ecommerce Wala - Usman Chughtai, Rehan Allahwala, , Azad chaiwala, Shoaib Ahmed Baig IDM Pakistan