MATRIX / MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING AND PYRAMID SCHEMES

MATRIX / MULTI-LEVEL MARKETING AND PYRAMID SCHEMES

"MAKE MONEY NOW!" scream their websites! And do it in your spare time! Earn big bucks for almost no work. If that isn't enough to tell you it is a scam, let us explain why it is. These schemes are promoted through websites offering expensive electronic gadgets as free gifts in return for spending about $25 on an inexpensive product, such as a mobile phone signal booster.

Consumers who buy the product then join a waiting list to receive their free gift. The person at the top of the list receives his/her gift only after a prescribed number of new members join up.

The majority of those on the list will never receive the item.

Pyramid schemes offer a return on a financial investment based on the number of new recruits to the scheme.

Investors are misled about the likely returns. There are simply not enough people to support the scheme indefinitely.

Internet Money-Making Pyramid Scams

This page has a summary of pyramid schemes which are typically a specific, illegal subset of MLM's (multilevel marketing organizations). See this page for more information about MLMs. Click on the buttons at left or the links below for more detailed information about: