Fear of missing out can make you lose a fortune.
Ever wonder why intelligent businesspeople are so easily duped by con artists and Ponzi schemes? It’s because scammers use scarcity, urgency, and exclusivity to make them feel like they need to act now or risk missing out on making a fortune. The same thing can happen to you. Scam artists prey on the twin pillars of fear and greed—fear you will miss out and the greed to make more or lose less money.
They also win you over by making you feel special. I saw this up close when I was a runaway teenager taken under the wing by a real estate mogul in Santa Barbara, who happened to be the Ponzi King of Southern California. From observing him conduct both legitimate and illegitimate business deals to support his family, I learned the right way and the wrong way to do business and how to avoid scammers.
As a talent agent, media attorney, and professor at USC Gould School of Law, I teach my students and clients how to sniff out scammers and con artists in their negotiations. I’m also working on my new book, TILT the Room, coming out in 2026, which explains how you can use timing, influence, leverage, and trust to better negotiate.
How scammers use exclusivity to reel you in
That Santa Barbara real estate mogul was one of my first business mentors. He used to tell me, “Getting deals done is like dating and fishing. Get ‘em on the hook. Get ‘em excited, and then you got ‘em.” The way he got people excited was to use the three principles of scarcity, urgency, and exclusivity when negotiating. He never asked people directly for money. Instead, he would create an atmosphere of scarcity and urgency while making things appear exclusive to the client.
My mentor would say, “Oh, we’ve got this funding round going. There are only a couple of units left that we’re going to allocate to high-net-worth individuals. Then we’re going to close the round. Since I like you, I can see if we can get an exception. Technically, you need to have more than $10 million in net worth to invest.”
By creating scarcity, urgency, and exclusivity, he got people excited about investments. First, because of scarcity. For example, “There are only one or two spots left.” Second, he created the urgency of, “You need to act now.” Third, exclusivity meant only certain people were being let in on the deal.
Creating conditions of FOMO
This persuasion technique is nothing new. In fact, I heard this method being used just last week. A client of mine reported they were invited to invest in a “mineral deal,” and my eyes lit up. “Mineral deal? What do you know about it?” He replied, “Well, it’s done well. A friend has put in $50,000, and now it’s worth $3 million. Only certain people get invited to invest. I hope I get an invitation.”
Now I can’t be certain about the deal context. However, when you read that, what does your spidey sense say? This has all the makings of a scam, right? It’s by creating these conditions of FOMO that my real estate mogul mentor’s—and other con artists’—victims ask to join a deal when they should know better. If you’re not careful, the same could happen to you.
So, the next time someone offers you an “exclusive opportunity,” check your fear and greed for a moment. Take a closer look at the details. Is this deal legit or are you being reeled in by a con artist?