Early last year, a friend of mine acquired reservations for a business seminar at a prestigious hotel located in the town I live in. Upon arriving at the meeting place, a pleasant individual greeted us by the door. I also noticed a large eBay poster visible near the entrance of the hall. My friend and I were under the impression that we were attending an official eBay seminar. Hooray! But when the seminar began, I gradually felt the sinking feeling that I was in a bad episode of the Twilight Zone. Not only did the seminar have nothing to do with eBay, but also the way it was presented to the audience was very deceptive. They used a lot of misdirection techniques and a lot of times, the speaker capitalized on the insecurities and fears of those who were in the audience who might happen to be financially in need. He made it sound as though it would be the end of our chances for financial independence if we miss the opportunity to join their