Raphael Vargas has worn many hats, from a Forex expert, to now, a Walmart Automation wiz. He runs Real Ecom Empire and targets innocents.
Most people know him from his YouTube videos where he flashes rented luxury cars or his Facebook page which is basically the same as his YT channel.
If you’re wondering is Raphael Vargas legit or not, then you’ve hit the jack pot. In this report, we will go over how Raphael manipulates, misleads, and gets away with his scam. Let’s not beat around the bush and dive right in.
IS HE A FOREX EXPERT, A REAL ESTATE MOGUL, AMAZON AUTOMATION MASTER, OR A MERE SNAKE OIL SALESMAN?
Short answer: Raphael Vargas is a generic scammer who simply targets naïve individuals and sells them a dream for thousands of dollars.
Who is Raphael Vargas?: An Incompetent Jobless Salesguy
EVEN THOUGH RAPHAEL PORTRAYS HIMSELF AS A SELF-MADE MILLIONAIRE WHO DRIVES LUXURY CARS, HE IS SIMPLY A LOW-LIFE SCAMMER.
To put it simply, Raphael is a sales guy, he knows how to sell people something they don’t need (kind of like Sam Ovens). After doing a background check on him, I found out that he started his career as a real estate agent for Keller Williams Realty in May 2014 and worked there for almost 2 years. Other than that he has no other employment history. His lack of skill and competence might have been a big reason behind him choosing to scam people for money instead of working for it.
Vargas started a company by the name of “Ace Exotic Car Rentals” in April 2015 however due to lack of business, the company was permanently closed in October 2017.
Raphael also launched a real estate investment company called Ace Equity Pros, which is essentially the main company of Vargas’ operations. We will talk about this company in detail in the next section, it isn’t as legit as it seems.
Finally, Raphael also started a company by the name of Real Ecom Empire, where he sells exorbitant courses/services to unsuspecting victims.
A big reason why scammers like Raphael choose to become con-artists is that they are simply incompetent and no one wants to hire them. They never worked hard in their life to get an education and when they realize that their life is a train wreck, they decide to start defrauding people.
Raphael tried to hold a job like a normal person, however, he didn’t have the work ethic and thus he quit (maybe he got fired, this hasn’t been confirmed).
Maybe if he had a work ethic and discipline, he wouldn’t have turned out to be a fraudster.
On his LinkedIn profile bio, Vargas claims that he has done “hundreds of transactions” in the real estate throughout the country. However, he shows zero proof of doing even one of these “multi-million dollar deals”. Even Grant Cardone has actual properties and he doesn’t have the best rep in the market.
With the history of Mr. Vargas out of the way, let’s take a look at his offerings and figure out whether they are worth their hefty price or not.
The Walmart Automation Scam: Raphael Gets $50K, You Get Loan Sharks
Raphael Vargas’ main product is his Walmart automation service where he claims that you can make up to $100K per month without doing any work. The FAQ section of his landing page states:
What Do I Have To Do On A Daily Basis?
NOTHING…. Our team does it all for you! BUT you need to ensure capital is flowing from your credit card all the time. We do not want to run out of money to process orders!
So can you really make tens of thousands of dollars per month by doing nothing? Or is it just a get rich quick scheme which can ruin your life? Let us find out.
Raphael’s Walmart Automation offering is a criminally horrible scheme that can easily ruin your life. Raphael Vargas asks his victims to use their credit cards to pay for his services and that too is not a small amount as it ranges from $30K-$50K.
If you ask ANY real business person, they will strongly suggest against taking personal loans for running a business. We have business loans specifically for that. But if we have business loans which have much lower interest rates, then why does Raphael and his sidekick want you to take personal loans?
The answer is simple, it puts them at zero risks, so when the business fails, they leave with $50K, while the victim leaves with a ruined credit and loan sharks.
Raphael is Highly Incompetent
This is a big statement but it is true.
On his Walmart Automation landing page, Raphael clearly states that you don’t have to do anything as his team will be doing all the work, however, he also states that there are no guarantees of returns on your investment.
This is utterly bizarre. He wants you to risk your credit and financial health, and gives on a guarantee of even breaking even.
If he had any competence in the field then this wouldn’t have been the case. There are actual agencies that do marketing for stores and convert leads, they HAVE to give results in order to stay in business, however, that’s not the case with Raphael. He simply needs to convince you to give him the $50K, and then his job is done, he doesn’t have to give results.
The brainwashed Raphael fan boys might say, “You are just a hater, Raphael gives an 18-month money back guarantee!!!!!” Well, why not take a look at the refund policy and see if it is easy to get a Raphael Vargas refund.
Skewed Refund Policy: Good Luck Getting Your Money Back
Raphael Vargas is a cunning scammer, he claims that he has an 18-month money-back guarantee. He also says that no one else in the industry provides this guarantee. Well, Raphael, not everyone is running an online scam like you, also they don’t lie about a “money-back guarantee”.
The refund policy that Raphael has put together makes sure that most of his victims don’t qualify for it.
It is very common for stores on Walmart and Amazon to get suspended and Raphael clearly knows this, that’s why he has put this policy in place.
One condition I found to be absolutely unnecessary was this one:
IF YOU LACK THE NECESSARY CAPITAL THAT RESTRICTS STORE GROWTH, THEN YOU DON’T QUALIFY FOR THE REFUND.
This is borderline extortion. It means if you don’t pay Raphael and his buddies thousands of dollars, then you won’t even get the initial investment back. There is no necessity for this condition except for hoarding money from naïve people who are likely to fall for this scam.
It is clear that the refund policy is very skewed and a lot of thought has been put to it by the legal team of Raphael Vargas to make sure that no one gets their money back.
If you are victim of Raphael and failed to get a refund, then you might be tempted to file a lawsuit and sue Real Ecom Empire et al., however, Raphael’s team has also thought of this. And chances are, you can’t sue Raphael because of the fine print disclaimers he has put in place on his website.
Let’s talk about these disclaimers.
The Fine Print Disclaimers: Why you can’t sue Raphael Vargas
If you scroll to the bottom of the shiny landing page of Real Ecom (Raphael’s current business), you will see the following disclaimer:
The disclaimer states that the sales figures used in the landing pages & advertisements are mere examples and are not a promise or guarantee of even a similar experience. It goes on to state that “results may vary” and the net store profits will vary depending upon multiple factors.
Why would Raphael use bizarre, unrealistic, and possibly fake testimonials and examples of earnings if he knows 99% of people won’t get even similar results?
Well the answer is simple, he doesn’t care about their financial health, he just wants to make sales. And if getting more sales means lying to your customers’ faces, then that’s the price Raphael and Real Ecom Empire are willing to make. After all, they have nothing to lose, they can disappear from the internet while their victims are stuck in financial hell.
Below is another “earning disclaimer” which can be found on the policies page of Real Ecom Empire.
This just goes into more detail about the horrid policy.
A statement to note here is this: Real Ecom makes claims related to its customers, those claims relate the experience of at least 50% of its customers who have complied with all terms, as of the date of the respective claim.
There are a lot of thigns wrong with thsi statement. Let’s break it down one by one.
First off, Raphael Vargas is clearly stating that 50% of his customers fail, as only 50% of his clients are getting the results he & his team show on the website.
Secondly, there is no way to find out whether ANY of his claims are true or not, as there is no entity holding Real Ecom Empire liable for its claims. For all we know, it can be a big scam where Raphael takes your money, blocks you, then buries your complaints with fake PR articles.
No Guarantee of Profits, But Takes Money Upfront
Raphael Vargas and Real Ecom literally have a policy that states that there is no guarantee of any profits or even the timing of the profits.
Not only that but Real Ecom has the audacity to state that it may take even years before a client gets their initial fee back.
At least Raphael and is team are self-aware about their poor competence.
Just like other scummy disclaimers on the real ecom website, this disclaimer too is put in place solely to avoid lawsuits.
This disclaimer should be put on a big banner on top of the landing page, as it is a very important piece of policy. However, if that happens, Raphael won’t be able to scam hundreds of people like he hopes to do.
Fake Reviews & Paid PR News Articles
Fake reviews are a common tool among online fake gurus as it helps them mislead even the skeptical people who do their due diligence before spending thousands of dollars on an “online service”.
Raphael knows that his targeted audience consists mainly of young men who want to get richer than their friends and they don’t prefer to do the conventional high-pressure jobs. These youngsters believe that there are hidden ways to get rich and fall for scams like those of Raphael.
Most people read reviews online before making a financial commitment especially when it comes to suspicious get rich quick scammers like Raphael Vargas or Wesley Virgin.
And unfortunately not all reviews are trustworthy and they are put deliberately to mislead the people looking for reviews of a specific product.
These articles and reviews severe multiple purposes including: burying customer complaints, expert reviews, and misleading potential customers.
Even the FTC has taken notice of these deceptive marketing strategies and they have been taking action against fake gurus who use them. Jason Bond and Dean Graziosi have been recently under fire from the FTC for using deceptive marketing strategies and unsurprisingly, fake reviews are one of such strategies.
PR Agencies & Manipulation
Paid PR posts on websites like Yahoo Finance and AccessWire are something all the scammers have messed with. And Raphael Vargas is no exception.
Accesswire actually offers a service called “Tell My Story” which is essentially a boon for fake gurus as this service essentially lets them get articles posted on authoritative websites.
They can write anything they want in the Press Release, and this is the easiest way fake gurus spread lies about their background story and their success. Innocent people who read these paid PR articles think that if a website like Yahoo Finance is saying great things about Raphael, then he must be legit. However in reality anyone can get an article posted there for the right price. Don’t believe me? Check the official price list of AccessWire dot com down below:
The Paid PR Fiasco: How Raphael Fools His Fans
Raphael Vargas and his team use PR services like AccessWire to spread unverifiable information about Raphael’s background and wealth.
The article by the name of “Raphael Vargas, A 29 Year Old Multi-Millionaire & Serial Entrepreneur Changing Lives With His Story” has been posted on 429 different websites & listings.
It doesn’t take a genius to decipher that the article is full of lies and BS about Raphael’s past. He just wants people to be able to relate or empathize with his story and then buy his services.
Below are some of the popular websites where this propaganda article has been posted. I’ve listed them down below:
PMnewsnigeria
Yahoo Finance
AccessWire
The ethics behind these articles is often questioned and this is something that should be in discussion. Should high authority websites like Yahoo Finance be allowed to let unverified information be shared on their website, or should they scrutinize and verify the facts presented on their articles.
Fake Wealth, Rented Cars, & Walmart Lifestyle
Unless you live under a rock, or don’t use social media at all, you must’ve saw the infamous Tai Lopez advert where he is talking about “knowledge” in his garage.
I’m talking about that ad because it is the most popular example of a fake guru showing off fake wealth to sell his program/service.
Many others like Dan Lok and Tim Sykes have also been caught lying about their actual wealth. It is a common theme among online scammers and just like earlier, Raphael is no different.
Why would Raphael lie about his wealth & success?
This is a question that Raphael’s fan boys will spam in teh comments, so I will address it here.
Fake gurus lie about how wealthy they are, so that they seem more authorotative and to get people to pay attention to what they are saying.
People naturally prefer to take opinions of millionaires with more seirousness than that of an average joe. This is a very nasty logical fallacy however, almost all of us tend to think like this.
There are large incentives for Raphael to lie about his wealth. If he seems like a millionaire to hsi audience, then they are more likely to believe that his methods work and thus they are likely to spend thousands of dollars on his service.
This is all part of his manipulative sales funnel.
In a YouTube video, Raphael Vargas was caught red handed for using rented luxury cars.
A commenter by the name of “Miguel Beretta” pointed out that they checked the license plate number of the car and it belonged to South Beach Exotic Rentals.
Raphael has spent a few thousand dollars on renting cars and posting fake paid PR articles. He doesn’t have millions of dollars in his bank account, he simply wants his audneince to believe that he does, so that he can take advantage of them later on.
I’m not saying he isn’t rich, but he is not a multi-millionaire like he claims to be.
His wealth mostly comes from the exorbitant courses/services he sells online, which have horrible refund policies.
Raphael Vargas Review 2023: Verdict
Raphael Vargas (Real Ecom Empire) is a horrible & selfish scammer. He advises people to take out personal loans and potentially ruin their credit, to “invest” in his Walmart Automation scheme. He has paid multiple websites to post false information about his past and promote his useless services.
He has been caught lying about his net worth and the cars he owns. With a skewed refund policy and multiple disclaimers to mislead clients, Raphael is an outright con artist.
