New to real Estate, is wholesaling bad in Illinois?

[Evan Alexakos]

I've been trying to save money to get into real estate and previously did much research on wholesaling; however, when I attended a meetup in Chicago for real estate. I was told that it was illegal and that, in most cases, to be a wholesaler is to be a scammer. That the practice is shady and can hurt the seller of the home. I do not post looking to offend; I am genuinely interested in finding a way to join the real estate business, though I am too low on funds for most other methods. Was that meeting just people being rude to a new investor? Is there a wrong way of wholesaling? How can I get started and do so properly?