In 2004, a new company called Vemma Nutrition started offering a life-changing opportunity to earn full time income for part time work. Vemma’s offer was open to everybody, regardless of prior experience or education. There were only two steps to start get started earning: purchase a $500-600 kit of their liquid nutrition products, and recruit two more members to do the same.
Leta 2004 je novo podjetje Vemma Nutrition začelo ponujati življenjsko priložnost, zaslužiti polno plačo za polovičen delovni čas. Vemmina ponudba je bila na voljo vsakomur ne glede na izkušnje ali izobrazbo. Samo dva koraka sta bila potrebna za začetek: nakup kompleta njihovih proizvodov tekoče prehrane, vrednega 500 do 600 dolarjev, in rekrutiranje še dveh članov, ki bosta storila isto.
Vemma Nutrition Company grew quickly, becoming a global operation that brought in 30,000 new members per month at its peak. There was just one problem— while the company generated $200 million of annual revenue by 2013, the vast majority of participants earned less than they paid in.
Podjetje Vemma Nutrition je hitro raslo in postalo globalna operacija, ki je na svojem vrhuncu vsak mesec pridobila 30 000 novih članov. Bil je le en problem. Medtem ko je podjetje do leta 2013 imelo 200 mio dolarjev letnega prihodka, je velika večina sodelujočih zaslužila manj, kot je vplačala.
Vemma was eventually charged with operating a pyramid scheme: a common type of fraud where members make money by recruiting more people to buy in.
Vemmo so nazadnje obtožili vodenja piramidne sheme, pogoste vrste goljufije, kjer člani služijo denar z rekrutiranjem ljudi, ki prispevajo denar.
Typically, the founder solicits an initial group of people to buy in and promote the scheme. They are then encouraged to recruit others and promised part of the money those people invest, while the founder also takes a share. The pattern repeats for each group of new participants, with money from recent arrivals funneled to those who recruited them. This differs from a Ponzi scheme, where the founders recruit new members and secretly use their fees to pay existing members, who think the payments come from a legitimate investment.
Tipično ustanovitelj privabi začetno skupino ljudi, ki kupijo in promovirajo shemo. Nato se jih spodbudi, da rekrutirajo druge, in obljubi se jim del denarja, ki ga bodo ti ljudje investirali, medtem ko si tudi ustanovitelj vzame del. Vzorec se ponavlja za vsako skupino novih udeležencev, denar zadnjih prišlekov pa se zliva tistim, ki so jih rekrutirali. To se razlikuje od navadnega piramidnega sistema, kjer ustanovitelj rekrutira nove člane in na skrivaj uporablja njihovo plačilo, da plača obstoječe člane, ki mislijo, da plačila prihajajo od legitimne investicije.
As a pyramid scheme grows, it becomes increasingly difficult for new recruits to make money. That’s because the number of participants expands exponentially. Take a structure where each person has to recruit six more to earn a profit. The founder recruits six people to start, and each of them recruits six more. There are 36 people in that second round of recruits, who then each recruit 6 people— a total of 216 new recruits. By the twelfth round of recruiting, the 2.1 billion newest members would have to recruit over 13 billion more people total to make money– more than the entire world population. In this scenario, the most recent recruits, over 80% of the scheme’s participants, lose all the money they paid in. And in real life, many earlier joiners lose out too.
Ko piramidna shema raste, postane novim rekrutom vedno težje služiti denar. Razlog je ta, da število udeležencev narašča eksponentno. Vzemimo npr. strukturo, kjer mora vsakdo za svoj dobiček rekrutirati 6 ljudi. Ustanovitelj za začetek rekrutira šest oseb in vsak od njih jih rekrutira še šest. V drugem krogu rekrutov je torej 36 ljudi, ki potem rekrutirajo vsak po šest ljudi - skupaj 216 novih rekrutov. Do dvanajstega kroga rekrutiranja bi 2,1 milijarde najnovejših članov moralo rekrutirati več kot 13 milijard novih ljudi, da bi zaslužili, kar je več kot cela svetovna populacija. Po tem scenariju zadnji rekruti, več kot 80 % udeležencev sheme, izgubijo ves denar, ki so ga vplačali. In v resničnem življenju izgubijo tudi mnogi, ki so se priključili prej. Piramidne sheme so nezakonite v večini držav,
Pyramid schemes are illegal in most countries, but they can be difficult to detect. They are presented as many different things, including gifting groups, investment clubs, and multi-level marketing businesses. The distinction between pyramid schemes and legitimate multi-level marketing can be particularly hazy. In theory, the difference is that the members of the multi-level marketing companies primarily earn compensation from selling a particular product or a service to retail customers, while pyramid schemes primarily compensate members for recruitment of new sellers. In practice, though, many multi-level marketing companies make it all but impossible for members to profit purely through sales. And many pyramid schemes, like Vemma Nutrition, disguise themselves as legal multi-level marketing businesses, using a product or service to hide the pay-and-recruit structure.
a včasih jih je težko zaznati. Skrite so kot mnoge različne stvari, vključno z darilnimi skupinami, investicijskimi klubi in podjetji, ki uporabljajo mrežni marketing. Razlika med piramidnimi shemami in legitimnim mrežnim marketingom je lahko še posebej nejasna. V teoriji je razlika ta, da člani podjetij z mrežnim marketingom primarno služijo kompenzacijo od prodaje določenega produkta ali usluge potrošnikom, medtem ko piramidne sheme primarno kompenzirajo člane za rekrutiranje novih. A v praksi mnoga področja mrežnega marketinga popolnoma onemogočajo članom, da bi profitirali samo skozi prodajo. In mnoge piramidne sheme, kot npr. Vemma Nutrition, se zamaskirajo kot legalna podjetja z mrežnim marketingom z uporabo izdelka ali usluge, da skrijejo strukturo 'plačaj in rekrutiraj'. Mnoge piramidne sheme tudi izkoriščajo že obstoječe zaupanje znotraj cerkva,
Many pyramid schemes also capitalize on already existing trust within churches, immigrant communities, or other tightly knit groups. The first few members are encouraged to report a good experience before they actually start making a profit. Others in their network follow their example, and the schemes balloon in size before it comes clear that most members aren’t actually profiting. Often, the victims are embarrassed into silence. Pyramid schemes entice people with the promise of opportunity and empowerment. So when members don’t end up making money, they can blame themselves rather than the scheme, thinking they weren’t tenacious enough to earn the returns promised. Some victims keep trying, investing in multiple schemes, and losing money each time.
imigrantskih skupnosti ali drugih tesno prepletenih skupin. Prve člane se spodbudi, da poročajo o svoji dobri izkušnji, preden dejansko začnejo profitirati. Drugi v njihovi mreži sledijo njihovemu zgledu in shema se razbohoti, preden postane jasno, da večina članov dejansko ne profitira. Žrtve pogosto sram potisne v molk. Piramidne sheme zvabijo ljudi z obljubo priložnosti in opolnomočenja. Ko člani torej ne dobijo denarja, krivijo sebe, ne pa sheme, ker mislijo, da niso bili dovolj vztrajni, da bi zaslužili obljubljeni dohodek. Nekatere žrtve ne nehajo poskušati in investirajo v različne sheme ter vsakokrat izgubijo denar. Kljub vsem tem faktorjem
In spite of all these factors, there are ways to spot a pyramid scheme. Time pressure is one red flag— be wary of directives to “act now or miss a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” Promises of large, life-altering amounts of income are also suspect. And finally, a legitimate multi-level marketing business shouldn’t require members to pay for the opportunity to sell a product or service.
obstajajo načini, kako prepoznati piramidno shemo. Rdeča zastava je na primer časovni pritisk. Bojte se navodil, kot je 'ukrepaj zdaj ali pa izgubi življenjsko priložnost'. Obljube velikih, življenje spreminjajočih vsot denarja so tudi sumljive. In nazadnje, legitimno podjetje z mrežnim marketingom ne bi smelo zahtevati, da član plača za priložnost prodaje izdelka ali usluge. Piramidne sheme so lahko izredno uničujoče za posameznike,
Pyramid schemes can be incredibly destructive to individuals, communities, and even entire countries. But you can fight fire with fire by sending this video to three people you know, and encouraging them to do the same.
skupnosti in celo cele države. A ogenj lahko premagate z ognjem, tako da pošljete ta video trem ljudem, ki jih poznate, in jih vzpodbudite, da storijo isto.