Anna:
I have several favorite bloggers, I start every morning with their posts and stories. And at some point, many of them began to tell that they were making good money on one project. You invest money - you get twice or even three times more. I logged into the account of this project and saw that many of my acquaintances were already subscribed to it.
The page was led by a very charming girl Alina. She explained in detail everything about investments in gold, equipment, and often re-posted grateful responses from subscribers who received income. And I fired up to try it too. I invested $ 300 - in a month I received $ 600. She became emboldened and invested $ 600 - she earned $ 1200. Alina also carried out various interesting promotions, she wanted to contribute more and more.
In general, I took a risk, took all my money and another loan for $ 5000 and invested. But now the deadline for payments approached, and I did not receive any interest or what I contributed. Alina communicated with me in a personal and in every possible way reassured me that she had many applications and she simply did not have time to process them.
Some bloggers at this time continued to advertise her project. But then Alina took it and disappeared - the page was deleted.
I wrote in a personal message to bloggers, asked my friends who also invested. They all said that, like me, they could not get the money back. Many also took out loans, sold cars in the hope of making more money. Some contributed a million each.
I realized that it was useless to wait and went to the police. There I was told that several hundred people had already applied. A criminal case was opened, but this Alina has not yet been caught. I hope they will find her and put her in jail, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to return the money, and now I can also pay off the loan.
Financial Culture Expert:
The organizers of financial pyramids are increasingly acting through bloggers who already have a large loyal audience. Fraudsters buy ads from opinion leaders, and they do not always carefully check the project before promoting it to their subscribers. As a result, people are led to these ads and fall into the trap.
At first, the builders of the pyramids can indeed pay the promised huge interest. They do it to get word of mouth to work. Investors happily share their successes with friends and acquaintances, the circle of participants is rapidly expanding. People are investing more and more money.
But then the scammers hide with the collected millions. And it's impossible to guess when it will happen. Very few depositors manage to withdraw their money on time. The majority lose their savings, and sometimes remain in debt.
In order not to find yourself in such a situation, it is important to remember the main signs of financial pyramids:
Unfortunately, the chances of recovering at least some of the losses are slim. Finding scammers is usually not easy, and the money they stole is even more difficult. That is why it is important to contact the police and the prosecutor's office as early as possible - the more people report fraud, the sooner a case will be opened against the criminals and an investigation will be launched.
It would also not hurt to report financial fraudsters to the Bank - via the Internet reception or anonymous feedback form on the contact page. The regulator will check the information, conduct its own investigation and transfer the data to law enforcement agencies. This can speed up the investigation.
For more information on how to act if you or your loved ones have invested in a fake financial project, see the text "What to do if you become a victim of a financial pyramid".
I have several favorite bloggers, I start every morning with their posts and stories. And at some point, many of them began to tell that they were making good money on one project. You invest money - you get twice or even three times more. I logged into the account of this project and saw that many of my acquaintances were already subscribed to it.
The page was led by a very charming girl Alina. She explained in detail everything about investments in gold, equipment, and often re-posted grateful responses from subscribers who received income. And I fired up to try it too. I invested $ 300 - in a month I received $ 600. She became emboldened and invested $ 600 - she earned $ 1200. Alina also carried out various interesting promotions, she wanted to contribute more and more.
In general, I took a risk, took all my money and another loan for $ 5000 and invested. But now the deadline for payments approached, and I did not receive any interest or what I contributed. Alina communicated with me in a personal and in every possible way reassured me that she had many applications and she simply did not have time to process them.
Some bloggers at this time continued to advertise her project. But then Alina took it and disappeared - the page was deleted.
I wrote in a personal message to bloggers, asked my friends who also invested. They all said that, like me, they could not get the money back. Many also took out loans, sold cars in the hope of making more money. Some contributed a million each.
I realized that it was useless to wait and went to the police. There I was told that several hundred people had already applied. A criminal case was opened, but this Alina has not yet been caught. I hope they will find her and put her in jail, but I'm afraid that I won't be able to return the money, and now I can also pay off the loan.
Financial Culture Expert:
The organizers of financial pyramids are increasingly acting through bloggers who already have a large loyal audience. Fraudsters buy ads from opinion leaders, and they do not always carefully check the project before promoting it to their subscribers. As a result, people are led to these ads and fall into the trap.
At first, the builders of the pyramids can indeed pay the promised huge interest. They do it to get word of mouth to work. Investors happily share their successes with friends and acquaintances, the circle of participants is rapidly expanding. People are investing more and more money.
But then the scammers hide with the collected millions. And it's impossible to guess when it will happen. Very few depositors manage to withdraw their money on time. The majority lose their savings, and sometimes remain in debt.
In order not to find yourself in such a situation, it is important to remember the main signs of financial pyramids:
- The promise of super profits. Whoever promises you mountains of gold, be it a friend, your favorite blogger or charming Elina, be on your guard. Even legal investment is always a risk, profit can never be guaranteed. And the higher the potential income, the more likely it is to lose all investments. If you are assured that you will definitely earn on an "investment project", and even 10–20 times more than on bank deposits, this is a clear deception.
- Lack of intelligible information about the organizers. Fraudsters always hide the financial statements of their "project", and often keep silent about the registration of the company. As a rule, this is a one-day firm, hastily created for shenanigans. The company does not have a license from the Bank to operate in the financial market, which means that no one controls what it actually invests your money in.
- Aggressive advertising. Campaigning is actively carried out on various popular online platforms, often with the involvement of media people - this was the case with the Cashbury pyramid. Sometimes, instead of buying ads from real bloggers, scammers simply mount fake videos with celebrities, create fake accounts on their behalf, and promote their posts on the Internet.
- Bonuses for referring friends. It is beneficial for the pyramid to lure as many people as possible, so the scammers ask investors to tell all their relatives and friends about the project. And if they also contribute money, you are promised more income. But in the end, you can lose not only your savings, but also the trust of your loved ones.
Unfortunately, the chances of recovering at least some of the losses are slim. Finding scammers is usually not easy, and the money they stole is even more difficult. That is why it is important to contact the police and the prosecutor's office as early as possible - the more people report fraud, the sooner a case will be opened against the criminals and an investigation will be launched.
It would also not hurt to report financial fraudsters to the Bank - via the Internet reception or anonymous feedback form on the contact page. The regulator will check the information, conduct its own investigation and transfer the data to law enforcement agencies. This can speed up the investigation.
For more information on how to act if you or your loved ones have invested in a fake financial project, see the text "What to do if you become a victim of a financial pyramid".
