Today, I chose to present you some tips, but in a different form than usual. Indeed, it will not be a question of good plans to easily earn money or tricks to invest in a sustainable way. It is rather a warning against a scam that tends to come back to the fore, since facilitated by the Web: the Ponzi scheme. What is its principle and what are the signs that show that it does not smell good for you?
A bit of history first: the Ponzi pyramid, also called “Ponzi scheme” or even “Ponzi scheme” takes its name from the person who made this fraud famous, namely Charles Ponzi. It was therefore not at all born with the internet since it dates back to the 1920s. Its principle is not so complicated to understand: it is a financial arrangement consisting in remunerating the investments of the customers mainly thanks to the funds provided by those who have just entered the pyramid.
If there are a lot of people investing, this type of arrangement can last a very long time without being discovered. Indeed, if the sums generated daily by the new entrants are sufficient to remunerate the oldest, then no one will cry hoax. However, at the slightest drop in the number of entrants, the pyramid can collapse overnight.
To make it clearer, let’s imagine the following situation. You are promised 100% interest on any investment after just one week. If you donate 0, then you will get 0 back and make a nice profit of 0. Except that these 100€ actually come from the people who invested after you. So in case there were no other investors after you, you will not be able to recover the promised €100. Now imagine the older investors who deposited 10,000 euros…
As with all scams, there are some big tricks that don’t lie. I’ll give you a few that are fairly easy to spot.
If you are promised 100% interest, you can be sure there is something wrong. Without going into such exaggerated rates, your inner alarm should already be ringing if you are promised a luxury lifestyle with rates above 20%. This is even more true if there is a fairly high minimum amount to invest, such as €1,000 for example. On the other hand, if it is in addition to very fast returns over a period of less than 3 months, it is because it is fishy. This indeed encourages you to invest more and more, which will only maintain the pyramid for some time.
While it is true that professional fraudsters are able to give more and more elaborate explanations, there are certain themes that should attract your attention. At the moment, it is, for example, cryptocurrencies that are highlighted a lot. It must be said that since many people do not understand anything about how they work, there is a “magical” side which attracts and which is reinforced by the very strong growth of Bitcoin (which has faltered a little recently in passing) .
In any case, if we use too learned and almost incomprehensible vocabulary with you, I advise you to be extra vigilant. Do not hesitate otherwise to do some research on your side, search engines are made for that!