I have seen enough pyramiding scams in my lifetime and I am grateful that I wasn't a part of any of them. Not so lucky are a few of my relatives and friends who lost hundreds of thousands of hard-earned money in this faulty business setup whose ends serve only the interests of only a few at the top of the pyramid. Filipinos are especially vulnerable because of the country's economic situation. Despite of their low purchasing power, they bite easily because of the scammers' highly convincing and lucrative offers. Believe me that the desire to get rich easily almost got me scammed when I was out looking for a job, but I was able to weigh in the feasibility of this venture and that got me back to reality.Digest these Facts
- A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, usually without any product or service being delivered. It has been known to come under many guises.
- Pyramid schemes are illegal in many countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Malaysia, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Iran.These types of schemes have existed for at least a century.
- A scam also known as a con, swindle, grift, bunko, flim flam, stratagem, or scheme, is an attempt to swindle a person or people (known as the "mark" or sometimes "griftee") which involves gaining his or her confidence.
- There are other commercial models using cross-selling such as multi-level marketing (MLM) or party planning which are legal and sustainable, although there is a significant grey area in many cases.
- Most pyramid schemes take advantage of confusion between genuine businesses and complicated but convincing moneymaking scams.
- The essential idea behind each scam is that the individual makes only one payment, but is promised to somehow receive exponential benefits from other people as a reward. A common example might be an offer that, for a fee, allows the victim to sell the same offer to other people, or receive bonuses through other people they refer. Each sale includes a fee to the original seller.
- Clearly, the flaw is that there is no end benefit; the money simply travels up the chain, and only the originator (or at best a very few) wins in swindling his followers. Of course, the people in the worst situation are the ones at the bottom of the pyramid: those who subscribed to the plan, but were not able to recruit any followers themselves. To embellish the act, most such scams will have fake referrals, testimonials, and information.
You have been warned...
