Basketball Coaching Scams

Home - Basketball Coaching Scams


Basketball Coaching Scams

By Bob Carroll With today’s easy access to the internet, there are many unscrupulous people who are using the internet to take advantage of people with unsolicited e mails promising untold riches. These scammers have even begun to target basketball coaches and players. In this article we will focus on scams that are targeting coaches. A couple of years ago I received an e mail from a person who wanted me to come to Spain and conduct coaching courses and basketball camps for his organization, he told me that he had gotten my name from FIBA. I have conducted twenty-Five coaching courses in Africa, the Caribbean, Central and South America. He offered me Airfare, first class hotel, meals and $1500.00 a week. He left me a phone number and e mail address. I e mailed him and asked why he had picked me, he replied that since I spoke Spanish I would be perfect for his organization. I e mailed him and told him that there were highly qualified coaches in Spain and it would be cheaper to hire a Spanish coach. He e mailed me back and told me he had problems with the Spanish Basketball federation. Every question I asked ,he had and answer for, he then began working on my ego telling me how he had heard from several coaches and federations what a great coach I was. After considering all the factors I came to the conclusion that this person was not reputable and was scamming me. The last e mail from him, he asked for me to wire him a fee for a visa and a fee for a license from the Spanish federation. I always tell coaches and players never to send a fee to agents for visas, license or airfare. A couple of weeks later two coaching friends asked what I thought of offers to conducted coaching courses and basketball camps, they had received the same e mail. I tell coaches if the offer is too good to be true it’s a scam. Many young coaches have contacted me about offers to coach in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America , when I see the e mail details I tell them it’s most likely a scam. How can you tell if an offer is a scam? And what are some examples of basketball scams I have received. The Milo Basketball Academy from Nigeria offers $20,000 a month plus Housing and airfare. The Togo basketball scam uses the same method of operation as the Milo Basketball Academy offering the coach a large salary of over $20,000 dollars a month , several trips home, an apartment and a car. The Lanxiang Basketball Academy in China also offers a salary of $18.000 a month, free housing, airfare and a car. The Red Star Southern Tigers is an other scam for China that offers an outrageous salary Many of these scams do not address you directly by name but by e mail address which is a give away. Many of the job offers I have received come addressed by name or by fax or by phone call or from agents. Most of these scams are used over and over changing the sport and the name of the team and person contacting you. There are also scams coming out Europe and Australia using the same format to lure unsuspecting coaches. A lot of these basketball scams target players more than coaches. But anyone is a target. How to Spot a Scam 1.Too much information. 2. Outrageous Salary. 3. Not addressed directly to you. 4, If they have a website, its poorly designed. 5. They have e mail address like Hotmail or Yahoo. 6. Ask for money for fees for visas, coaching certification. 7. Ask you to pay for our airfare. 8. Job offers for positions way beyond your experience. In closing, don’t fall for any e mail offering you jobs, research any offer you get even from agents and never spend your own money. Use common sense and keep working hard and develop your coaching skills and your opportunity to advance will come.

Our Partners