Conned, I’m not blaming you but I’m also not letting you “only” blame others. You got taken by the scheme, I didn’t and I am not an expert in the field nor does my job have anything to do with R/E or finance. Your analogy about having to become an expert in medicine is flawed. You need to know the basics, two aspirin if you have a headache, a hundred might kill you. That’s a more accurate analogy of someone making 100k a year buying a few million in R/E with borrowed money. You now have a circle of friends within the support group of victims but don’t think they are indicative of all non experts, they aren’t. The vast majority of people don’t fall for this because they were given pearls of wisdom from their parents, grandparents or mentors. “There’s no such thing as a free lunch,” “If something is to good to be true, it is,” and “Don’t bite off more than you can chew.” These cliches are cliche because they are true, they have always been true and they always will be. No matter how you spin it, no matter who you try to “educate,” you will never learn your the lesson you already paid for until you look in the mirror. There is a reason my grandmother doesn’t drive on the freeway, she lacks the skills and her vehicle lacks the ability to drive 80 mph, when she does it everyone honks at her and she runs the risk of getting killed. Either learn from your mistake, educate yourself that even if these people were honest there is no way for you to skip business school and become a tycoon, stay on the surface streets and next time you try for the freeway, start off in the slow lane.