Get rich quick schemes – the making of a scam

Online fraud dupes 7 lakh people of Rs 3,700 crores

This was a top news headline last week. 3 people spread a net to dupe 6.5 lakh people of Rs. 3,700 crores.

I am wondering how ‘easy’ or how ‘difficult’ it was to accomplish this. I think it was easy.

All they has to do was package it as the “get rich quick scheme” with a twist.

• Buy a predefined package from the company.
• Receive a steady stream of pages that you press like and links to click on.
• Every action earns you money.

It wasn’t difficult to make it believable too.

The likely pitch must have been – thousands of companies want to enhance their social presence by increasing the number of users that like their page. [You see those sponsored pages advt. on Facebook.] These companies spend a lot of money to see their social worth going up.

This is an opportunity for each individual to make money in the process, including you. All you have to do is click on a link or like the page.

Easy!

The mathematics of the get rich quick scheme

You can buy any package between Rs. 5,700 to Rs. 57,000.

Suppose you sign up for the Rs. 10,000 package. You would get Rs. 5 for every page like or click on a specific link sent to you.

A quick mental calculation tells you that you need to do just 2000 clicks to get a break even and after that it is all profits.

Stock market – step aside. Real Estate – Go fly! Here is the new Gold Rush, oops, the Likes Rush.

It must have been really difficult to ignore an offer like this. That is why 6.5 lac people signed up for it. I mean who doesn’t want to get rich quick.

While some must have seen it as a way to convert their online time pass into a money making opportunity, for several others it was the road to a second income. It takes nothing but a membership and some time, which you can always find between work.

Throw in referral bonus and you got a perfect scheme. Amazing!

The scheme continued to pay money to a whole lot of people and they got more people to join in leading to the bomb that it turned out to be. Finally, the bomb did blow up.

This was not a lottery. Why did so many people fall for it?

In my view, this is a very different mindset at work than the one which gets you to buy a lottery ticket.

The lottery is a simple proposition where you try your luck.

In this case though, you feel that you are working upon something to make that money. There is a certain legitimacy to the effort. That is the reason even the educated and people who were otherwise doing well fell prey to it.

The new scams of the new world

You have probably heard of Bernie Madoff’s “ponzi scheme”. Right here in India, we had the SpeakAsia fill-a-survey-and-make-money scam. Many other multi-level marketing companies dupe people through such get rich quick schemes.

Trust me, you have no idea of what is happening in the world. The above schemes are a mere speck of dust in comparison to what’s likely to come.

The technology advancements in the world have provided novel ways to tricksters. They are making brand new get rich quick schemes to dupe gullible people of their money.

These schemes use the power of internet to spread their organisation across the world and peddle their wares to unsuspecting people.

There are far more sophisticated scams getting built around the world using every trick in the book. Let’s look at one such, which is silently floating around these days and is expected to spread its menace.

A get rich quick scheme and a likely trillion dollar scam!

I will need your patience but trust me this is important. It is highly likely that you too will hear about it very soon. This could be one of the biggest scams in the making. It has all the clever elements that are invisible to an ordinary eye. You better know about it. Here we go.

You know about bitcoin, right? Do you know what value it has generated since it started?

In July 2010, if you invested 100 dollars or approx. Rs. 4,500 in bitcoin, today the value of that 100 dollars or Rs. 4,500 is over 1 million dollars or close to Rs. 7 crores. A return of 10,000 times in less than 7 years.

Whoa!

Unbelievable! As I see the chart, I feel like a fool. How did I miss such an investment opportunity?

Bitcoin has progressed big over the years. It has made deep inroads in the world economy. In fact, it is the only free, transparent and open source digital cryptocurrency of the world. It is gaining acceptance by the day.

So much so, the user tribe believes that bitcoin will be the reserve currency of the world.

But then all is not good with bitcoin. It has its problems. It cannot become the world currency because it is too free and it cannot be regulated. No one can get inside its system and change anything. In fact, due to its support for complete anonymity, it can become a dark hole to fund several illegal activities, which many fear it is already happening.

Long story short, this can’t be the digital cryptocurrency which the world needs. Its use will remain limited to the nerds of the world.

If not bitcoin then what?

Bitcoin has opened up a new way. It has given us the blockchain, its underlying technology, which is the basis for building new private and digital cryptocurrencies.

Here is something interesting for you to note.

Remember mySpace. It was one of the first social networks but it didn’t go anywhere. It was Facebook that captured the world’s attention.

There were many search engines before, but Google, which was the 21st search engine to enter the market, went on to become the leader.

You get the drift?

Bitcoin is good, it has paved the path, but there is nothing more to it. For its serious limitations as mentioned before, it cannot become the world’s reserve currency or even a widely acceptable one.

Having said that no one can deny that cryptocurrency is the future. Even people like Sir Richard Branson and Bill Gates believe it. World over governments are taking steps to develop cryptocurrencies.

This presents a tremendous opportunity.

That is why some of the world’s most renowned experts of cryptocurrencies have come together to launch “Onocoin”. It works exactly like bitcoin yet does not have the downsides. The backend is a blockchain, which records and stores all transactions and is open for any audits that a third party agency or the government would like to carry out.

They have set up a huge data centre to run this blockchain which will process billions of transactions on a daily basis.

Onocoin is currently into private mode and has been working behind the scenes.

It has a lofty vision. It wants to replace the yellow metal (Gold) as well as the Greenback (US Dollar) as the world’s currency of choice.

The company was started 2 years ago and the Onocoins already commands 2 times more value. Just imagine what is going to happen when it opens up to the public in 2018.

Did I hear you say that you don’t understand enough about cryptocurrencies or blockchains?

Not to worry. The company is aware of this. And it has decided to remove this lack of awareness.

The company has started with a mission –  to educate people, common folks, about cryptocurrency and how they can make the most of it.

It is offering education to billions of the world. One can access online courses that come in various packages to learn about cryptocurrency. All these courses are designed by experts in the subject of cryptocurrency.

It costs very little. From as little as 150 dollars to a few 2,500 dollars, that is, from a few thousand rupees to a few lakh rupees.

Now, there is a hidden benefit with each of these packages. It not only gives you detailed learning material but also an opportunity to access and own Onocoins.

Please understand that these Onocoins cannot be bought in the open market yet. But when you access the education packages, you get credits, which are used to mint Onocoins. You get the Onocoins at the current rate and as the price increases, the value of your investment also goes up.

You can see this all on a personal dashboard that you can access 24*7.

Currently, Onocoin is in private mode and is available only by invite. In another 2 years, the Onocoin exchange will open where it can be bought and sold publicly. Millions of merchants or businesses will start to accept Onocoins for payments.

Millions of members have already joined in to be a part of this revolution concept and become millionaires.

The thing is earlier you join, the better it is. When you check in before others, you get more upside.

You see guys like Sir Richard Branson, Bill Gates got into bitcoins quite early and today their investment is worth 100s of millions of dollars. But then there is little upside left for bitcoins.

So, you should get in early to get the same outcome.

Now, if you are interested, there is a really special offer going on now. For every education package that you buy, the number of credits that you get for converting into Onocoins will be doubled. So you get 2x the coins for the same price.

So, you will recover you money as soon as you invest. And you don’t have to invest lakhs. Just a few thousands to begin with. You can always upgrade later.

Remember, I told you about the 100 dollars going on to be a million in just a few years. This is that kind of an opportunity. And you will be able to make the most of it, if you can get in now.

For the record, I have personally invested over a million rupees and have more than doubled the money in just 1 year.

Opportunity is literally knocking at your door in the form of Onocoin. All you have to do is buy the basic education package at just Rs. 11,000 and start collecting Onocoins.

See, you missed Google and Facebook and you missed Bitcoin. Well, you have a brand new chance.

You do want to get rich, don’t you?

Remember, there is no other way to buy an Onocoin today except through an existing member. You can decide to wait until it goes public or you can decide to be an entrepreneur today.

Let me know once you are ready and I will send you an exclusive link, which you can use to subscribe to the package and start mining your own Onocoins.

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So, that’s the get rich quick pitch you receive.

What do you make out? Does it sound too good to be true? Do you find this legitimate or you see red flags? How to find out if this is a scheme or a scam? What questions to ask?

I look forward to your comments.