A lot of weight on your head.

I used to be a physics teacher and in my spare time I’m finishing a Ph.D. in Chemical Physics because … well … I can. So you may notice I refer to concepts in physics often. I know. I’m a dork. I’m rare. I actually love physics. A testament to this can be seen at one of my other sites: ilovephysics.com.

Anyway, what happens when you decide to lie under thousands of tons of solid granite? It doesn’t take a chemical physicist to realize that you’ll get cruched. The force is enormous.

But metophorically thousands are doing this everyday.

I noticed a Google Adsence link on this site the other day. Here it is. First you’ll notice that the “sales” page is rather pathetic. But I’m pretty sure there is a point to that. This organization is trying to make you believe that they are an investment firm. You’re not buying anything, you’re investing.

And with a promise of 63% return-on-investment in 6 days … who can resist that?

Ok. Reality check. If all you have to do is hand someone $1,000 and then 6 days later they will supposedly hand you $1,630, then chances are you’re standing eye-to-eye with a pyramid scheme.

The only time I’ve made a 63% ROI was in real estate, and it sure as hell took a lot more time that 6 days.

Here’s how a pyramid scam works: it offers high profits for recruiting new members who should pay up-front fees in order to join. As soon as the pyramid reaches a certain size and there’s no substantial inflow of new members who are really the only source of profits, the whole structure collapses. Only a few people on the top of the pyramid (usually owners and their friends) make money. The rest get to feel the weight of thosands of tons of granite crashing over their heads.

Pyramid schemes are illegal. So once you’re pulled out from under the rock, able to breathe and see the sunlight, you’ll find yourself in the back of a boxy looking wagon with bars on the windows. And there won’t be a red cross on the side.

So if someone you don’t know offers to take your money with the promise of a huge return, then run. You’ll get winded, but at least you won’t get crushed.

–

On another note, I found this blog post about an interesting Blog Pyramid Scheme.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 20th, 2005 at 6:52 pm and is filed under Scams - Pyramid Schemes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.