I can't tell you how many times I have had this conversation (with someone else or with myself) after falling for another scam. I guess the silver lining (if there is a silver lining) is if we are serious about making money online, we learn from our mistakes and move on (Fool me once, shame on you! Fool me twice, shame on me!). I have heard this referred to as "stupid tax". When it does happen, we can either become skeptical (careful about shelling out any more of our hard earned funds) or cynical (believing it is not possible to make money online). It is up to each person to decide. Unfortunately, just about everyone has to get burned at least once before they will accept the fact that these scams, no matter how amazing they sound, are just a pipe dream...pay your stupid tax and get back to applying elbow grease to the wheels of prosperity.