It's unclear to me also. I don't think I've actually been scammed, but it's possible and I'm kind of still waiting to find out.
There's a trick to it: asking for the money in stages, because if you make it to a stage then you don't have to give everything back.
So if you truly need $100K, you first set your goal to $15K, then $40K, then $75K, then $100K. That way if you fail to raise your $100K, you still get to keep your $75K or whatever your max was. It seems that it's against the spirit of the sites, but it works.
On the books it's a failure, but the folks walk away with the money. Is it a scam? I'm not sure.
There's a trick to it: asking for the money in stages, because if you make it to a stage then you don't have to give everything back.
So if you truly need $100K, you first set your goal to $15K, then $40K, then $75K, then $100K. That way if you fail to raise your $100K, you still get to keep your $75K or whatever your max was. It seems that it's against the spirit of the sites, but it works.
On the books it's a failure, but the folks walk away with the money. Is it a scam? I'm not sure.