Never mind the whole "never pay for a job!" rule (although, students, you should never, ever pay for a job!) ... it's also really important to reflect upon how such a "job" would appear to the vast majority of potential employers.
While social media marketing is indeed a valuable skill in certain industries, having something called "I'm Shmacked" on your resume, and explaining to an interviewer what exactly it was charged with doing, probably isn't going to earn you any fans or job opportunities. Participate on your own time; party as hard as you want. College is supposed to be fun! But recognize that racking up thousands of Instagram followers by posting pictures of drunk college women isn't going to make anyone want to hire you. And the people you "network" with probably won't be the types you'd want to work for down the road, either.
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For everyone saying the students should know not to pay for jobs ("jobs pay you, don't pay for a job") the problem with that is many students experience the opposite. Unpaid internships, which is paying to work in many cases, are very prevalent not only for students but even recent graduates. Even worse are the programs where students get credits for working. Sounds great until you realize you're paying to work- in some cases huge amounts of money if you're at an expensive school. Work has been so devalued by our society that it's not hard to see how these kids got scammed.
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@Andrew: This is not about unpaid internships - that's a big fat red herring. What IS abundantly clear is that none of these kids talked to their parents before "investing" in this luscious 'opportunity.'
Bottom line is: You don't pay for a job, a job pays you! Maybe it's time for unpaid internships to go the way of the dodo.
Something is very wrong when parents pay for college but the communication between them & their children is so lacking. I get the impression that the parents are basically told "Hey, I got into this school, now shut up and pay my tuition."
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Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want. These students are all getting very valuable life experience, namely: DON'T pay anyone for a 'business opportunity' and don't think posting videos is going to make you all rich and/or famous. Basically, don't be a jerk, and don't shill for a jerk. The amount of money you lost was your tuition payment to the school of hard knocks.
And DON'T pay for a job; jobs pay you, you don't pay them!
On the other hand, IMO, people who choose which college to attend based on videos of drunk students carrying out stupid stunts (and outright vandalism) are probably too gullible to know up from down, and they deserve to be out the money.
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@L
Choosing to attend a particular college "based on videos of drunk students carrying out stupid stunts (and outright vandalism)" is no different than doing so based on the college's athletic teams.
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@Garak It's not. Who said that's a reasonable criterion for college?
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Yes, please put your association with this company on you resume. That way I can reject you right away and not waste time and money on interviews and visits.
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As a student on a nearly full-tuition scholarship at one of the top party schools in the country, I’d like to point out that wanting to pursue knowledge and wanting to party hard are not mutually exclusive. A lot of judgmental Boomers have come to excoriate today’s youth for falling prey to such an “obvious scam”, but I’m Shmacked was indeed a huge online presence and never appeared to me as a sketchy organization with tactics reminiscent of a pyramid scheme.
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@I’ll pass
As a boomer who also enjoyed partying hard...it was legal to drink yourself into oblivion back in my day. Drinking age was 18.
I'm stunned that these young "ambassadors" actually "create content." I take that to mean they'd set up parties where plenty of alcohol was available to all so some particularly interesting activiities might develop.
Do you have any idea the legal mess those "content creators" could have gotten into if thing went south at one of these events?
I'm seriously stunned by the lack of judgement, and by your cavalier attitude.
You can "OK Boomer" me now, but that doesn't make your judgement any better.
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@I’ll pass
Sometimes the most valuable lessons aren't taught in school.
"Pay us so you can work for us" is probably the most obvious scam I've ever heard of that doesn't involve a Nigerian prince. The whole business model couldn't be more sketchy, and the "huge online presence" that's entirely made up of underage people drinking and scantily-clad young women is a clear red flag.
/not a boomer
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If a company charges you money to "work" for them then it's probably not really a company, it's a pyramid scheme... maybe they should've consulted some Boomers for advice on this one cause that's the oldest scam in the book
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@Ben L. The company is hitting up kids who don't know any better. In my day, it was a letter mailing scam.
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@Ben L. This type of scam is common with all age groups-- if it's not paying for an instagram handle, it's paying to sell MLM products.
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Sounds like Toufanian, this prince among men, and his business would make an interesting project for some university students at a place with good programs in law and criminal justice.
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Is this what people are loading up on student debt for?
I think I'll have my kids live at home and do their basic coursework online, instead of sending them off to Studio 54 U. because they were lured by some "influencer" on Instagram.
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Sounds like the Trumpian method of doing business. Complain while I rip you off and I will sue.
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How do I know these are the same kids saying: "OK boomer".
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Yeah, and these are the people who say "OK, Boomer."
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Sounds like these students were enrolled in Trump U.
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Um, people choosing a school based on the party scene gives me pause about offering Free Tuition.... yikes!
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I am very surprised a bunch of kids who picked their college based on party videos fell for such a scam.
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If I were a parent whose kid was making his college selection based on this site, I would be closing the check book pronto.
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@Allison: If I were a parent, my kid would NOT be making his/her college selection entirely on their own! AND I'd be wondering where I'd gone wrong in raising my kid.
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Hey, we all think and do dumb things in college, but imagine thinking that putting “I’m Schmacked” on your resume will look good.
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“I’m Shmacked”? More like “I’m Shocked that the guys who run a business making videos of drunk children are jerks and scammers”
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Google Arya Toufanian and you'll find articles about this con man that go back 6 years. Why hasn't the FBI or universities done something?
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I wonder if there was a @ImSchmacked_TrumpU account? The irony would be be a match in conman-heaven.
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Am I the only person who does not feel a lot of empathy for a bunch of entitled frat boys who have $$$ to burn trying to become "influencers" or whatever by making and distributing videos of embarrassing behavior at college parties? This is a pretty clear get-what-you-pay-for situation.
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Are the "scantily clad women" also students, and if so do they exist only for the delectation of the males who populate this story? Reading this, you'd think college parties only interest straight males (if not that colleges themselves are male-only).
Then again, maybe college parties only draw the kind of straight male dumb enough to pay a company for the privilege of working for it.
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This is exhibit A in why fewer people should go to college. For many students, higher education is purely transactional... They're customers who are buying a degree because that's what the economy says they need to get a job. Learning is secondary. Colleges are complicit in the way they market the beach volleyball pits, bbq stations and granite counter tops available at their dorms.
America should stop shoveling so many kids into college and instead develop a nationwide network of college-equivalent trade schools that are focused on preparing people for jobs in the modern economy. This could cover everything from plumbing and green energy to the skills necessary for office work (writing, working with various kinds of software, etc.). Keep it practical.
"College" could continue to focus on liberal arts and science... and be for a much smaller student body.
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Toufanian sounds like a scarier version of that Fyre festival mastermind Billy McFraland. Who is now serving six years I think.
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P.T. Barnum aptly said, "Young people starting in life should avoid running into debt. There is scarcely anything that drags a person down like debt."
Paying for a job is an absurdity.
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@Raphael - My grandpa's favorite saying? "Never trust a bank. If you can't pay cash, you can't afford it".
Good luck trying to buy a house.
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I've heard about American college. I heard it was short on education and long on 'Greek life'.
I didn't know it was this bad.
Oh, and by the way: if you pay someone to work for them, you're as smart as the south end of a north facing horse.
And these guys are going to college?!?
Which brings me back to my first point.
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Doesn't Facebook own Instagram?
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I love reading about people like this. Every generation has a few - rules don’t apply to me, I’m smarter than you, I’ll sue you, do you know who my dad is, etc.
“lol”, as they kids say.
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The story is ripe for a Hollywood screen writer!!
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A lesson on what not to care about in college.
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The technology changes, but the story of a conman and their naive mark remain the same.
In a few weeks or sooner, toufanian will resurface with a new angle and the fleecing will be anew.
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This article felt a bit like a book where you read the first chapter, and you don't really need to bother with the rest of the book because it's so predictable. All we needed to know were three facts:
1. This organization makes people pay for access to an "opportunity".
2. One of the ways of generating income is by recruiting others and charging them for access to the "opportunity".
3. Part of the "opportunity" is receiving exposure as a substitute for something of actual value.
Conclusion: this is an MLM scam. While the details of what the scammer in charge did might be mildly educational, it's just the same nonsense we've seen from so many MLMs before. Not even that distinctive, to be honest. Maybe high schools should start teaching "how to recognize an MLM" in their Life Skills courses.
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@Mika G That is a seriously good idea. How to recognize an MLM, also how to know when something is not legit in general. The tests would be fun to read.
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Looks as if this was their first college class. Too bad they didn't get any credits for it, although having failed, I guess that probably worked in their favor. Not much else did.
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This comes off as likely to be a criminal scheme. The FBI should investigate it thoroughly.
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How is this different than the trump business model?
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I just watched the University of Boulder video provided in the lede. A few observations.
1) I’m Shmacked is the new Girls Gone Wild - the sexual titillation and partying are all there. This time around, founders Ray and Toufanian have girls (and boys) exploiting themselves by recording their antics themselves. Meanwhile, the two devious company founders lay back and collect every penny.
2) Accredited higher education at every level - BA, Master’s, PhD - grows astronomically more expensive and out of reach for young people save for the privileged and lucky. Given this, and the recent college admissions scandal, watching all these white children drink (while underage most likely) and take drugs without a care looks bad. Really bad.
I was neither a teetotaler nor conservative in my social habits growing into adulthood. If I was a school administrator or parent today, I’d certainly feel I had my hands full after seeing this.
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@SM It seems very much like Girls Gone Wild exploitation
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@SM It says that Ray left the company in 2015.
@SM I'm not sure if it's worse or not that part of the payment plan is to get women to pay the "ambassadors" to be filmed.
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We are doomed as a culture. I hate to break the news to these gullible students but here goes; college is about education! You’re welcome.
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Federal wire fraud charges seem fitting here. Plus general fraud charges.
And kiddies, blaming the victim is not a defense.
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Oh. Am I glad I read this or horrified?
I took a peek at the ImShmacked Instagram page for my kid's school, and got nauseated instantly. (Upon sharing this info with said kid, he responded with "Ok boomer" - made all the more horrifying since I am Gen X.)
In all seriousness....I'm smacked.
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@Charlemagne
You should be honored. Boomers reached the Moon, discovered DNA and made tremendous advances in cosmology and fundamental physics. The World Wide Web is based on the old Arpanet. II guess Gen X invented MTV.
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This seems be a good example of caveat emptor.
And why are all these kids intent on building a "brand?" Just be a normal person.
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The rip-off bosses and the out of cash ambassadors are pornographers, of women, drunken behavior and whatever. Why would I feel sorry for these folk who are wasting their parents money and taking up space that more deserving students could occupy.
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What a really dumb way to run a company, if we can call it a company. Is it a young man's convoluted way of saying we can do whatever we want, we are in charge! A little forcible vacation might be helpful. He seems to be devoid of empathy and consequently of moral principles as well. What he really needs is a serious education if he is capable of it. If not he is simply another write-off and a consequence of being part of a society.
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@JG - it's not a company, it's a scam.
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This article and the ones recently discussing the use of the term "OK Boomer" are really a commentary on millennial "culture" and how shallow and naive it is.
Studies in twenty years will find that raising an entire generation of kids to be glued to their phones 24/7 will result in an entire generation of clueless, self-absorbed chil-dults with no ability to navigate the real world. Shocker.
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@Paul none of these students in the article are even millennials. The millennial generation is defined as being born between 1981 and 1996, making them roughly between 23 and 38 at this point. College students are mostly members of Gen Z, which is also the cohort that popularised the "Ok Boomer" retort. You are directing your misguided complaint towards the wrong generation.
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I’m having trouble keeping up with all the new names. Is the rate of new name changes accelerating or is this just additional evidence of my own mental decline? It seems like the boomer generation went on for decades. Is there accepted chronology of generational “nicknames” along with their time periods and are there any rules pertaining to when a generational name change occurs? My curiosity multiplies as my dementia (diagnosed 10 years ago) evolves and google only takes me so far. Thanks
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I never heard of this before reading this article. While reading it, I thought this sounds a lot like the guy who sold a bunch of tickets for that concert in the Bahamas which never happened.
Then, thinking about it for a few minutes, I thought this was a pretty good idea, albeit one poorly executed. Rather than charge students to join it, he should have paid the best contributors (based on volume or popularity of their content, etc). This would have provided him a steady source of content and probably developed enough traction on YouTube or other platforms to draw ad revenue. From there, it could evolve to offer all sorts of social content relevant to the college demographic rather than just viral party videos.
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@Jim O’DONNELL - but that would be working and building a brand. It's much more fun for some to scam other people.
5
Yikes. Nothing like spending $60,000 a year of someone else's money on a non-dischargable loan all for the sake of having a good party culture for 4 years!
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Have a distinct feeling "Mr. Toufanian" has a date with a grand jury in the not-too-distant future.
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Dear Students,
Never pay for a job. If a potential job is asking you to pay them to work there, save yourself a world of trouble and look elsewhere.
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@dugggggg
100% agree - and that goes for "employment agencies" that charge you to find you jobs. No sir, employers pay agencies to find candidates, candidates do not pay to find jobs - ever.
18
This article makes me sad. I had such a thirst for knowledge that I would pour through the college catalog, dreaming of all the things I could learn. I wanted to learn everything! The world of knowledge seemed so inviting. The world is so full. But these kids were choosing their college based on the party scene.
Is there anybody left who is amazed by the world and wants knowledge for knowledge's sake?
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@Linda There are! They're just regular college students, though.
I think anyone can fall a scam, but I do suspect that the type of person who picks a school based on the party scene and amount of social media followers is the type of person who will fall for a scam.
31
Thats silly. Everyone knew that UC Santa Barbara and UC San Diego were “party schools” 20 years ago without the video footage. And my mother had plenty of stories of dorm mates partying every night and flunking out in the 1970s. Today’s kids are no different. Some are diligent and some want to party.
Even scams like this arent really new. I hope the sociopathic Toufanian goes to jail for a long time.
19
@Linda I went to college part-time for ten years. (Yes, it took that long, due to finances and struggling to live on my own, and my degree.) I never came across anyone who idolized the stupid Animal House party scene - at least, not for long.
They seemed to show up, start giggling about how much they wanted to get wasted and "Go BOOM!" or some other nonsense while the rest of us stared at them in confused silence, come to the realization that that's not what anybody who is worth their salt is here for, and drop out after a couple of months, after complaining about how "boring" we all were because our primary motivation was doing well and graduating. I think that's why a lot of stuff like this ultimately fails - in all honesty, Mr. Toufanian probably believed in the stereotype and expected people to be ogling these ridiculous videos non-stop, everywhere, when in fact, very, very, VERY few people were even slightly interested, and most of his "target demographic" was actually put off by it.
9
If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.
I wonder how many of these kids discussed this 'opportunity' with their parents?
I would really like to feel sympathy for these kids, but I can't quite manage to do so. Frankly, after reading the article I feel, oh I don't know, maybe smacked.
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Reading this story made me feel better about myself. Thank you.
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Yes, I can see tons of job offers pouring in after some recent grad lists ‘I’m Schmacked Ambassador’ on his/her resume.
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Well, these kids were after an education and they got one.
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@Jane
Blame the victim.
Typical boomer response.
Sad.
Just when you thought our culture could not sink any lower.
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Yea gods, what a horrible thing. I feel like I need a long shower after reading this article. These kids thought posting crazy party videos would HELP them later in life? Omg...
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