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This article isn't about retirement; the reference to retirement is the line the scammer is using to hook people. The scammer is telling the mark they will gen
by asveikau 2y ago
This article isn't about retirement; the reference to retirement is the line the scammer is using to hook people. The scammer is telling the mark they will generate lots of money from passive income (from payphone calls), and won't need to work. It is actually an article about Ponzi schemes.
- hinkley 2y agoPonzi schemes are pure financial instruments. If a product is involved it’s called an MLM.
- asveikau 2y agoI'd say that is a bit like splitting hairs, but the article does question the extent to which actual payphones and calls were actually involved..
- hinkley 2y agoPonzi schemes are illegal. MLMs are legalized Ponzi schemes. The outcomes are similar but one has a veneer of legitimacy that makes it more dangerous for some people.
- asveikau 2y agoIt's instructive not to argue the finer points without acknowledging what TFA says about the operators of the scheme breaking the law: > In 2006, Charles Edwards was convicted of 83 counts of wire fraud and sentenced to thirteen years in prison. Then another company: > By 2009, more than a dozen people had been convicted of fraud in relation to Prometheus.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- popcalc 2y agoMLMs are pyramid schemes, not ponzis. For example bitcoin is a (somewhat decentralized, but centralized among major mining companies) pyramid scheme while Tether is a Ponzi. Both pyramid schemes and Ponzis are illegal. MLMs are illegal in many places. In the US they were successfully able to lobby their way into carving out a legal niche in the 80s. They are also the reason supplement safety is so loosely regulated in the US.
- verisimi 2y ago[flagged]