Most of them are sites on the Internet that offer to invest money in cryptocurrency and get fabulously rich.
Usually, pyramid sites are blocked at the very start. But some manage to disguise themselves well, gain popularity, and attract "investors"within a few months. On average, each participant loses 600,000 rubles on such highly developed pyramids.
Modern financial pyramids are disguised as different types of activities: investments, cashback services, chain stores, joint purchases, games. Because of this, they affect people of all ages and from different social groups.
In the 1990s how long do pyramid schemes live? some pyramids managed to attract money for several years. Now they are fighting them more actively, so usually such schemes collapse in a few months.
Despite the claims of new revolutionary ways to get money out of thin air, no pyramid scheme can exist forever: elementary mathematics prevents this.
For simplicity, let's imagine that the company "Multiply Ten"has appeared. It offers to invest 10,000 rubles at 400% per annum — a rather modest return for pyramids. Under the terms, the profit is paid four times a year, i.e. 10,000 rubles every three months.
In the first three months, 100 thousand people invested in the company, and it's time for the first payments. So that people don't suspect anything, you can simply return the same 10,000 rubles that they invested. But then the company will have nothing left, and after another three months you will have to pay exactly the same amount.
To pay off the first depositors, during this time "Multiply ten" will have to attract at least another 100 thousand people. But then, by the end of the first half of the year, 200 thousand people will demand their profit. And then 400 thousand — and so on exponentially.
Even if all the citizens of the country and then the world bring money to the company, sooner or later people will run out. The flow of new deposits will dry up, there will be nothing to pay participants, and the pyramid will collapse.
Inflated yield. There is an ironclad rule for financial instruments: the higher the potential return, the higher the risk of losing money. If someone offers to earn several times more than on a bank deposit, and at the same time assures that it is completely safe, they want to deceive you.
Stories about "cheating the system". Allegedly, the company's organizers have found a new earnings scheme and want to share it with the world. The words "cryptocurrency", "blockchain", and "innovation"are often used. If someone really comes up with a way to make a lot of money, they will not call everyone in a row, but just take it and earn it.
Pressure on emotions. Pyramid ads don't tell you about investment strategies or warn you about risks. Instead, she puts pressure on emotions, while simultaneously shaming them for being poor and promising to make them rich: "Look at these photos of successful people. If you had invested yesterday, today you would have already flown on your own plane to your own island! Immerse yourself in a world of limitless possibilities! Make your dreams come true with us!"
Adding funds to your account in cryptocurrency. Such transactions are anonymous: if you are deceived, you will not be able to prove to whom and for what you transferred money.
In the foreground is a network program. Many businesses attract customers with "bring a friend" promotions. But for pyramids, this is usually the only real type of activity, because everything is based only on new investors. If you've already been told about a multi-level loyalty program, and you haven't even figured out what you're going to advertise yet, this is a wake-up call.
Huge bonuses for the first installment. An honest company may offer a small bonus, but if they promise to double your contribution, this is suspicious. Even if the promised amount is actually paid out, it will be at the expense of new depositors. And this is the pyramid.
There is no Russian legal entity. The company operates from some islands or without registration at all. The license of the financial regulator is not shown or forged. In this situation, no one checks whether depositors 'money actually goes to business development or to the organizers' pocket.
There is no proper contract. To start earning money, it is often enough to come up with a username and password. If there is a contract, it is written in such a way that in case of problems you don't have to pay anything. At best, to defend your rights, you will have to go to another country and sue under its laws.
There are no audited financial statements. Without it, it is not clear what the company actually does, what it earns, and what assets it has.
By themselves, red flags do not prove that you are looking at a pyramid. But the more they are recruited, the higher the risk of losing money.
The Pyramidometer T-Z service is built on these principles. If you have doubts about the company, answer a few questions and see how the risk indicator changes — we called it the suspicion pulse.
Single-level pyramid schemes. They are also called the Ponzi scheme-after the Italian who organized the fraudulent scheme in 1919. The principle of such pyramids is simple: investors are lured by a high yield, and at first they get it — from contributions from newcomers.
When the incoming amounts no longer cover the obligations to depositors, the organizer of the pyramid disappears with the money. The most famous example of a Russian single — tier pyramid scheme is Sergey Mavrodi's MMM.
Multi-level pyramid schemes. The search for new participants is shifted to the depositors themselves. Their contributions are distributed among the higher members of the pyramid scheme.
Participants earn income while the number of levels increases, and for this, the number of contributors must grow exponentially. Usually, a multi-level scheme does not live longer than a year. A vivid example in recent history is the Finico automatic generation system.
Matrix financial pyramids. Matrix schemes, unlike single-level and multi-level ones, can exist for years. They are more complicated:
HYIPs. The term "HYIP" comes from a free reading of the English abbreviation HYIP, high-yield investment program. In Russian, this means "high-yield investment program".
In fact, a hype is an accelerated version of a pyramid scheme with promises rolled out to the maximum: investors can be lured with a profit of tens of percent per day, and sometimes even hours. Because of such promises, HYIPs don't last long: from a few days to a couple of months.
Unlike the creators of classic pyramids, hype administrators often do not hide the fact that someone will lose money in their project. On the contrary, they emphasize that it is important to invest as quickly as possible in order to have time to withdraw profits before the crash.
How HYIPs differ from pyramids and whether it is possible to make money on them, I told in a separate article.
Modern financial pyramids have almost completely gone online. That's what they look like now.
Economic games with money withdrawal. Players are offered to develop their virtual business and get real money for it. For example, you can build a colony on another planet, develop agriculture, sell crops and exchange them for rubles. Or buy a golden egg-laying hen and sell it for in-game currency.
Of course, the game itself does not generate money. As in any financial pyramid scheme, old players make a profit at the expense of new ones: to start playing, you will have to buy a farm or a gold-bearing chicken for rubles or cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency pyramids. Almost all pyramid schemes offer participants to top up their account in cryptocurrency. But some people specialize entirely in crypto: they allow it to trade, earn money on "blockchain maintenance" , or simply invest money and make a profit.
Such projects emphasize that cryptocurrencies are the technology of the future, which is sure to become popular and make money for those who helped develop it. But in the present, we can confidently say that almost all such earning schemes are invented by scammers, and only they will become rich from such "investments".
Pyramids in social networks and messengers. Such projects are guided by the logic "if you don't have a website, you won't be blocked". All communication between the organizers and investors takes place in closed channels and private messages, and investors themselves are involved in attracting them to the pyramid. This makes it harder for social media moderators to track and block fraudulent ads.
Debt pyramids and friendly scams. The organizers of debt pyramids provide themselves with a luxurious life at the expense of other people. Under various pretexts, they ask for a loan of money and promise to return it in a few days or months with huge interest rates. For example, they may ask for 100,000 rubles and promise to return 150,000 rubles.
At first, it is important for scammers to gather as many loyal people as possible. Interest is actually paid, but from money borrowed from other people. Thus, a pyramid is built up, where the first creditors make a profit at the expense of subsequent ones.
When attackers collect enough money, they stop paying interest and start delaying payments as much as possible: they tell stories about illnesses, business problems, or blame evil banks that lose and block transfers.
Learn more about schemes based on deception and fake friendship, we told on the example of a fraud artist Natalia Solovyova.
Profit generation systems. Scammers can come up with any kind of legend: artificial intelligence, incredible blockchain technologies, hacking of exchange algorithms, or free distribution of money from a billionaire.
The bottom line remains the same: you need to deposit money, and then somehow magically there will be more of it. Someone can even pay a profit, only the funds will be taken not from the" generator", but from the pocket of new investors.
Some people believe that MLM and pyramid schemes are one and the same thing. However, MLM is just a tool, a sales system that can be used for both legal business and fraud.
It is absolutely legal to sell cosmetics, dietary supplements or insurance through network marketing if the cosmetics are not defective, dietary supplements are not harmful, and the terms of insurance do not violate any laws. For example, a pizzeria can offer you a free pizza for your friend's first order, and the bank will give you both a cash bonus.
The main difference between honest MLM and pyramid referral programs is in goals. The goal of an honest MLM is to sell a product or service. The goal of a pyramid scheme is to attract a new participant. There is no clear product here or it does not play a major role. If you are invited to network marketing, but the company does not sell anything, this is a pyramid scheme.
Some pyramid schemes also sell goods or services so that they can be mistaken for an honest business. There are four signs that will help you recognize deception.
The company's product can't be found on store shelves. The company doesn't even have its own online store. Products are sold only to representatives who make large contributions for this purpose.
You need to pay now, but you need to receive the goods sometime later. Investors are promised cars at half price, luxury apartments at the price of a one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts, or magic cosmetics that stop aging. Only the car is still being brought from China, the apartment is still being built, and the magic cosmetics are being bottled at the factory. But you need to pay now, otherwise the miracle won't happen.
You can get more for attracting new members than for selling them. Some companies consist of two parts: a pyramid scheme and trading. You can get a small reward for selling a product, but they promise to earn more money for attracting new participants. At the same time, they ask for an entry fee for a place in the network and the right to build their own network — and not for a set of products.
It is not clear what the company sells. When a product is just a cover for a pyramid scheme, its purpose and content can be unclear. But they will say that this product is the future or that the market for these products is growing rapidly, so you need to invest yourself and offer it to your friends.
The penalty depends on the damage caused by the pyramid organizers. If the investigation finds that the damage was insignificant, the organizers will be held liable under Article 14.62 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation and fined a maximum of 50,000 rubles. The same article also provides for punishments for depositors who lured people into the pyramid scheme.
If the scammers managed to attract a lot of money, the punishment will already be criminal, under Article 172.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The minimum sanctions are a fine of 1.5 million rubles, the maximum — imprisonment for six years.
In some cases, the investigation fails to prove that the scammers conducted organized activities to raise funds — that is, they organized a pyramid scheme. Then they can be convicted of fraud under the classic Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The range of penalties under the article for fraud is quite wide: from fines and compulsory labor to imprisonment.
At the same time, the articles that hold pyramid organizers accountable do not imply confiscation of property in favor of victims or other ways to return money invested in the pyramid.
To begin with, the company must be recognized as a financial pyramid. There should be victims of its activities who will write a complaint to the police. The police will conduct an investigation and take the case to court. They will prove the organizers ' guilt there.
Based on the court decision, it will be possible to file a civil claim against the founders of the pyramid and demand damages. In case of victory in court, a writ of execution will be issued, according to which money will be collected from fraudsters. But you need to understand that collecting money can take years: attackers will most likely take care in advance that nothing remains on their accounts.
There are other strategies as well. For example, you can try to prove that the money was transferred for other purposes or even by mistake. We will tell you more about this in a separate article.
Usually, pyramid sites are blocked at the very start. But some manage to disguise themselves well, gain popularity, and attract "investors"within a few months. On average, each participant loses 600,000 rubles on such highly developed pyramids.
Modern financial pyramids are disguised as different types of activities: investments, cashback services, chain stores, joint purchases, games. Because of this, they affect people of all ages and from different social groups.
What is a pyramid scheme?
This is a fraudulent scheme in which some participants make a profit at the expense of others. The pyramid imitates investment activity or disguises itself as a business, but in reality money only flows from the" bottom "of the pyramid to the "top".In the 1990s how long do pyramid schemes live? some pyramids managed to attract money for several years. Now they are fighting them more actively, so usually such schemes collapse in a few months.
Despite the claims of new revolutionary ways to get money out of thin air, no pyramid scheme can exist forever: elementary mathematics prevents this.
For simplicity, let's imagine that the company "Multiply Ten"has appeared. It offers to invest 10,000 rubles at 400% per annum — a rather modest return for pyramids. Under the terms, the profit is paid four times a year, i.e. 10,000 rubles every three months.
In the first three months, 100 thousand people invested in the company, and it's time for the first payments. So that people don't suspect anything, you can simply return the same 10,000 rubles that they invested. But then the company will have nothing left, and after another three months you will have to pay exactly the same amount.
To pay off the first depositors, during this time "Multiply ten" will have to attract at least another 100 thousand people. But then, by the end of the first half of the year, 200 thousand people will demand their profit. And then 400 thousand — and so on exponentially.
Even if all the citizens of the country and then the world bring money to the company, sooner or later people will run out. The flow of new deposits will dry up, there will be nothing to pay participants, and the pyramid will collapse.
Signs of a pyramid scheme
A pyramid scheme can look like a normal business — for example, a cosmetics store or investment consulting. To detect fraud, it is useful to evaluate the financial model not by the overall impression, but by individual criteria: promises, legal hygiene, and online reputation. Then red flags become visible-signs that betray an unfair attitude to business.Inflated yield. There is an ironclad rule for financial instruments: the higher the potential return, the higher the risk of losing money. If someone offers to earn several times more than on a bank deposit, and at the same time assures that it is completely safe, they want to deceive you.
Stories about "cheating the system". Allegedly, the company's organizers have found a new earnings scheme and want to share it with the world. The words "cryptocurrency", "blockchain", and "innovation"are often used. If someone really comes up with a way to make a lot of money, they will not call everyone in a row, but just take it and earn it.
Pressure on emotions. Pyramid ads don't tell you about investment strategies or warn you about risks. Instead, she puts pressure on emotions, while simultaneously shaming them for being poor and promising to make them rich: "Look at these photos of successful people. If you had invested yesterday, today you would have already flown on your own plane to your own island! Immerse yourself in a world of limitless possibilities! Make your dreams come true with us!"
Adding funds to your account in cryptocurrency. Such transactions are anonymous: if you are deceived, you will not be able to prove to whom and for what you transferred money.
In the foreground is a network program. Many businesses attract customers with "bring a friend" promotions. But for pyramids, this is usually the only real type of activity, because everything is based only on new investors. If you've already been told about a multi-level loyalty program, and you haven't even figured out what you're going to advertise yet, this is a wake-up call.
Huge bonuses for the first installment. An honest company may offer a small bonus, but if they promise to double your contribution, this is suspicious. Even if the promised amount is actually paid out, it will be at the expense of new depositors. And this is the pyramid.
There is no Russian legal entity. The company operates from some islands or without registration at all. The license of the financial regulator is not shown or forged. In this situation, no one checks whether depositors 'money actually goes to business development or to the organizers' pocket.
There is no proper contract. To start earning money, it is often enough to come up with a username and password. If there is a contract, it is written in such a way that in case of problems you don't have to pay anything. At best, to defend your rights, you will have to go to another country and sue under its laws.
There are no audited financial statements. Without it, it is not clear what the company actually does, what it earns, and what assets it has.
By themselves, red flags do not prove that you are looking at a pyramid. But the more they are recruited, the higher the risk of losing money.
The Pyramidometer T-Z service is built on these principles. If you have doubts about the company, answer a few questions and see how the risk indicator changes — we called it the suspicion pulse.
Types of financial pyramids
Pyramids are usually classified according to the method of earning money that they offer. In some cases, it is enough to simply deposit money into the account and receive it with interest after a while. In others, you will have to invite friends to join the project or even become a professional fraudster yourself by organizing a mini-version of the pyramid.Single-level pyramid schemes. They are also called the Ponzi scheme-after the Italian who organized the fraudulent scheme in 1919. The principle of such pyramids is simple: investors are lured by a high yield, and at first they get it — from contributions from newcomers.
When the incoming amounts no longer cover the obligations to depositors, the organizer of the pyramid disappears with the money. The most famous example of a Russian single — tier pyramid scheme is Sergey Mavrodi's MMM.
Multi-level pyramid schemes. The search for new participants is shifted to the depositors themselves. Their contributions are distributed among the higher members of the pyramid scheme.
Participants earn income while the number of levels increases, and for this, the number of contributors must grow exponentially. Usually, a multi-level scheme does not live longer than a year. A vivid example in recent history is the Finico automatic generation system.
Matrix financial pyramids. Matrix schemes, unlike single-level and multi-level ones, can exist for years. They are more complicated:
- The participant makes a contribution and waits until the first level is filled in and the number of contributors reaches, for example, eight people.
- Then these eight contributors move to the second level: they are divided into two matrices of four people each. They need to attract new investors by building their hierarchy.
- When the new first level is filled, the matrix will split again, and everyone will move up one level.
- The depositor will receive a reward only when he reaches the top after completing all the levels.
HYIPs. The term "HYIP" comes from a free reading of the English abbreviation HYIP, high-yield investment program. In Russian, this means "high-yield investment program".
In fact, a hype is an accelerated version of a pyramid scheme with promises rolled out to the maximum: investors can be lured with a profit of tens of percent per day, and sometimes even hours. Because of such promises, HYIPs don't last long: from a few days to a couple of months.
Unlike the creators of classic pyramids, hype administrators often do not hide the fact that someone will lose money in their project. On the contrary, they emphasize that it is important to invest as quickly as possible in order to have time to withdraw profits before the crash.
How HYIPs differ from pyramids and whether it is possible to make money on them, I told in a separate article.
How do modern financial pyramids work?
In the nineties, ads for Russian pyramids were broadcast on television and radio, and numerous offices were lined up with people who wanted to hand over cash. Zero offices remained, but fraudsters were no longer allowed in the media — and they began to organize marketing campaigns on the Internet and social networks.Modern financial pyramids have almost completely gone online. That's what they look like now.
Economic games with money withdrawal. Players are offered to develop their virtual business and get real money for it. For example, you can build a colony on another planet, develop agriculture, sell crops and exchange them for rubles. Or buy a golden egg-laying hen and sell it for in-game currency.
Of course, the game itself does not generate money. As in any financial pyramid scheme, old players make a profit at the expense of new ones: to start playing, you will have to buy a farm or a gold-bearing chicken for rubles or cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency pyramids. Almost all pyramid schemes offer participants to top up their account in cryptocurrency. But some people specialize entirely in crypto: they allow it to trade, earn money on "blockchain maintenance" , or simply invest money and make a profit.
Such projects emphasize that cryptocurrencies are the technology of the future, which is sure to become popular and make money for those who helped develop it. But in the present, we can confidently say that almost all such earning schemes are invented by scammers, and only they will become rich from such "investments".
Pyramids in social networks and messengers. Such projects are guided by the logic "if you don't have a website, you won't be blocked". All communication between the organizers and investors takes place in closed channels and private messages, and investors themselves are involved in attracting them to the pyramid. This makes it harder for social media moderators to track and block fraudulent ads.
Debt pyramids and friendly scams. The organizers of debt pyramids provide themselves with a luxurious life at the expense of other people. Under various pretexts, they ask for a loan of money and promise to return it in a few days or months with huge interest rates. For example, they may ask for 100,000 rubles and promise to return 150,000 rubles.
At first, it is important for scammers to gather as many loyal people as possible. Interest is actually paid, but from money borrowed from other people. Thus, a pyramid is built up, where the first creditors make a profit at the expense of subsequent ones.
When attackers collect enough money, they stop paying interest and start delaying payments as much as possible: they tell stories about illnesses, business problems, or blame evil banks that lose and block transfers.
Learn more about schemes based on deception and fake friendship, we told on the example of a fraud artist Natalia Solovyova.
Profit generation systems. Scammers can come up with any kind of legend: artificial intelligence, incredible blockchain technologies, hacking of exchange algorithms, or free distribution of money from a billionaire.
The bottom line remains the same: you need to deposit money, and then somehow magically there will be more of it. Someone can even pay a profit, only the funds will be taken not from the" generator", but from the pocket of new investors.
The difference between financial pyramids and network marketing
Security specialists often use the term MLM instead of "network marketing", which stands for multi-level marketing —Some people believe that MLM and pyramid schemes are one and the same thing. However, MLM is just a tool, a sales system that can be used for both legal business and fraud.
It is absolutely legal to sell cosmetics, dietary supplements or insurance through network marketing if the cosmetics are not defective, dietary supplements are not harmful, and the terms of insurance do not violate any laws. For example, a pizzeria can offer you a free pizza for your friend's first order, and the bank will give you both a cash bonus.
The main difference between honest MLM and pyramid referral programs is in goals. The goal of an honest MLM is to sell a product or service. The goal of a pyramid scheme is to attract a new participant. There is no clear product here or it does not play a major role. If you are invited to network marketing, but the company does not sell anything, this is a pyramid scheme.
Some pyramid schemes also sell goods or services so that they can be mistaken for an honest business. There are four signs that will help you recognize deception.
The company's product can't be found on store shelves. The company doesn't even have its own online store. Products are sold only to representatives who make large contributions for this purpose.
You need to pay now, but you need to receive the goods sometime later. Investors are promised cars at half price, luxury apartments at the price of a one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts, or magic cosmetics that stop aging. Only the car is still being brought from China, the apartment is still being built, and the magic cosmetics are being bottled at the factory. But you need to pay now, otherwise the miracle won't happen.
You can get more for attracting new members than for selling them. Some companies consist of two parts: a pyramid scheme and trading. You can get a small reward for selling a product, but they promise to earn more money for attracting new participants. At the same time, they ask for an entry fee for a place in the network and the right to build their own network — and not for a set of products.
It is not clear what the company sells. When a product is just a cover for a pyramid scheme, its purpose and content can be unclear. But they will say that this product is the future or that the market for these products is growing rapidly, so you need to invest yourself and offer it to your friends.
What is the penalty for organizing a pyramid scheme?
There is no concept of a "pyramid scheme"in either the criminal or administrative Code. From the point of view of the law, this is "the organization of activities to attract money and (or) other property."The penalty depends on the damage caused by the pyramid organizers. If the investigation finds that the damage was insignificant, the organizers will be held liable under Article 14.62 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation and fined a maximum of 50,000 rubles. The same article also provides for punishments for depositors who lured people into the pyramid scheme.
If the scammers managed to attract a lot of money, the punishment will already be criminal, under Article 172.2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The minimum sanctions are a fine of 1.5 million rubles, the maximum — imprisonment for six years.
In some cases, the investigation fails to prove that the scammers conducted organized activities to raise funds — that is, they organized a pyramid scheme. Then they can be convicted of fraud under the classic Article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The range of penalties under the article for fraud is quite wide: from fines and compulsory labor to imprisonment.
At the same time, the articles that hold pyramid organizers accountable do not imply confiscation of property in favor of victims or other ways to return money invested in the pyramid.
What to do if you have already invested in a pyramid scheme
Usually, it is difficult to return money from a pyramid scheme: it looks like the person decides to participate, understands all the risks, and voluntarily makes transfers. But there is still a chance. The main thing is not to believe the suggestions of "lawyers" who often write to investors of collapsed pyramids and offer to return the money through the court if you pay them for their work. Most likely, these are colleagues of the pyramid organizers.To begin with, the company must be recognized as a financial pyramid. There should be victims of its activities who will write a complaint to the police. The police will conduct an investigation and take the case to court. They will prove the organizers ' guilt there.
Based on the court decision, it will be possible to file a civil claim against the founders of the pyramid and demand damages. In case of victory in court, a writ of execution will be issued, according to which money will be collected from fraudsters. But you need to understand that collecting money can take years: attackers will most likely take care in advance that nothing remains on their accounts.
There are other strategies as well. For example, you can try to prove that the money was transferred for other purposes or even by mistake. We will tell you more about this in a separate article.
