Be careful to fall into the crowdfunding trap
Source: consumer.f Release Time: 06:21:33 2019-08-12
If you're thinking about contributing to crowdfunding, take a moment to research the creator's background and comments before paying. Crowdfunding is a way to support projects you trust and get rewards for this support. But the projects you support are as good as the people behind them. For example, did the creator have participated in previous campaigns? How do these activities work? To prevent yourself from falling into no products, no projects, no rewards. In the scam!
Here's how crowdfunding works: People who are called “creators” ask many people to fund a few projects through sites like Kickstarter or Indiegogo. In exchange, creators provide rewards to contributors, just like the products that creators try to make. Sounds great... unless the creator does not create any benefit for himself. In a lawsuit against iBackPack, the Federal Trade Commission said it had bombarded more than $800,000 through crowdfunding campaigns. The company said the funds will help consumers provide built-in batteries for backpacks and shoulder bags to charge mobile devices. However, according to the US Federal Trade Commission, iBackPack claims that bags will soon appear in the hands of consumers. More importantly, the US Federal Trade Commission's survey found that creators often don't get the money they get from their campaigns. Instead, the Federal Trade Commission said that the CEO of iBackPack spent most of its money on personal use. When people started complaining, the CEO allegedly threatened some of them - and added that he knew their address and other personal information.