Jerry and the Data Science Bootcamp Scam

23-04-24 00 / episode: 383

Watch this video to learn how one kind of scam system is working. Don’t be scammed, and don’t spend your money on scams. Learn how by watching now.

I’ll teach about this scam using a story about a guy named Jerry. I’m gonna tell you about a bootcamp scam that he got mixed up with. I’ll tell you about three steps in the scam: the initial Fear, the FOMO, and the offer. Finally, I’ll tell the close of the story where Jerry finds a better way.

Hi and welcome to the Les Perras podcast episode number 383. Today’s topic is data science.

Jerry decided to change careers. He heard that the job prospects were pretty good and the salaries were great, so he decided to become a data scientist. But he didn’t know where to start. He was a bit nervous but not nearly as nervous as he would become later. So he did some basic research.

Decisions

The first thing he found was there were several branches of data science to choose from. There was data analytics, data mining, artificial intelligence, and machine learning. He couldn’t decide right at the start, but he heard that the basics were all the same anyway.

Then he realised he didn’t know where to study the basics. So he searched online and he found a webinar. It sounded great. One good thing was they had the webinar at a good time so he could join it easily. But even better was that the webinar was free. He thought this was very tempting but it was not as tempting as the offer he would hear later. He put his name on the list and soon he got the invitation link in the mail so he could join the webinar.

Initial Fear

In the first twenty minutes Jerry began to feel quite nervous. The webinar host talked about what you had to learn to become a data scientist. The host made him worry that if he didn’t learn the things they said, he would not get a good job, and maybe not even get a job. But that was not all.

FOMO

Then in the next twenty minutes he became even more nervous. The host made it sound like he would be lucky if he could get the right training. He worried that he might miss his opportunity to enrol in the course that they said he needed. He felt that if he did not get in that course, he couldn’t get a job. He had a fear of missing out.

The Offer

Near the end of the webinar, he began to feel excited. They said that although the course was super expensive and high quality, he could get in. What was even better, he could join the course for a very cheap price if he signed up right away. He thought this was a great offer but his friend was going to tell him something different.

The Warning

Just before the course ended, he got a text message from a friend. Jerry told him about this great course, and the friend warned him… it’s a scam! Jerry did not believe it at first, but the friend asked him three questions. He asked Jerry if he felt fear, if he felt FOMO, and if the offer sounded really really good. When Jerry thought about the answers, he realised he was getting sucked into the scam. Then he backed out at the last moment.

The Better Way

He talked with his friend that night. They did a bit more research and found a way better way to become a data scientist. He decided to pick up programming first and get a simple programming job. While he did the programming job, he could take online courses about statistics and business analysis. After those courses he could start to study Machine Learning. That would be a safer and cheaper way to get into the data science career. He felt he just dodged a bullet.