[DTF notes: Article kept for historical reference only.
We do NOT recommend any "high yield programs" or "money games" - they were all ponzi/scams/duds! However, you may still find some other useful, relevant, or interesting information here.
To highlight some of the issues, some original words have been struck out and other words placed next to them in italics like this: original text added text. Or comments have been added [in brackets like this].]
by Frederick Mann
Note: The quality of some programs changes over time. On the Freedom Business Opportunities page we have a Risk Meter with the most current information on the programs we recommend. The Risk Meter is updated regularly.
Q. What steps would you suggest for the average person to achieve financial independence as quickly as possible?
[The answer to this question has been moved into the article Basic Money Skills -- Money Skill #39: Eliminate debt.]
Q. Of the programs you promote, which do you consider the safest?
A. BIG International and PILL. The biggest risk is probably that the principals of any given program will at some point "run away with the money." I'm very confident that the principals behind BIG won't do this. Over the past six years, the PILL principals have demonstrated their reliability and integrity and I think the possibility that they'll "run off with the money" is remote. With Stockgeneration this is probably the biggest risk. The answer is to take out the original money you put in as soon as you think appropriate and then to regularly take out profits thereafter.
Note: Since the above was written, we've added many programs to BigBooster. We've also introduced a Risk Meter that rates our programs. Obviously, the safest programs are those where you don't have to risk any of your own money.
Q. Which programs are the best for making short-term gains?
A. Generally those that make high returns, provide good customer service, and have efficient payment systems. Generally, the programs using e-gold (colored green on the Risk Meter are in this category.)
Q. Which program is the best for long-term gains?
A. BIG International. You can achieve phenomenal leverage by purchasing additional PRs with your earnings. BIG also has the best system for "referral earnings." If you can build a significant downline, the long-term earnings will become phenomenal, particularly when those in your downline use some of their earnings to buy additional PRs -- further sales credited to your account.
Note: Since the above was written, the nature of BIG has changed. See The BIG Paradox. Our best programs for long-term gains are probably Success Arsenal!(sm) (if you're willing to risk $86 and are willing to invest time in marketing and learning marketing) and the high-rated Private Programs (if you're willing to risk your money and not necessarily interested in spending time on promotion).
Q. I'm concerned that BIG seems to generate their funds through so-called "bank debenture programs." It's well known in financial circles that all these programs are scams.
A. Although probably all such programs offered to the general public are most likely scams, there are exceptions. For more information on this, see A Big Stumbling Block for Some. See also the Appendix at the end of this FAQ.
Q. I want to maintain as much privacy and protection as possible regarding information about me and any returns from my capital. Should I take the time to investigate offshore trusts/corporations now (before committing any money), or is that something I can reasonably put off for a while?
A. I would suggest that you join the programs you select as soon as possible. With some of the programs there is some flexibility as to how money can be taken out. In the case of NCE (see above), there's considerable flexibility concerning what can be deposited. You can then also send proceeds from various programs to a PILL account. It's always prudent to have more than one avenue for handling money flows. Not only can you make good money from PILL (if you're a good marketer), you can also transfer proceeds from other programs to PILL for credit to your debit card, enabling you to withdraw money at any ATM.
Q. It doesn't look like using an assumed identity with BIG is the way to go, however, I would probably still want to put money through an offshore entity.
A. BIG requires details of your driver's license or passport. They may request a photocopy. (I would never suggest that anyone break the law.)
Q. I recently found your web business opportunities page. Programs like Big and Stockgeneration, even though they look almost unreal and risky, seem probably worth a trial. (Of course, If I were sending them money, I would use Build Freedom as my sponsor.) I have a few questions which I didn't find in your other FAQs: How do you justify gains from these kind of programs to your local IRS? In which category do you declare them? It's not a salary, it's not dividends or capital gains for actual shares, you don't receive a statement from your employer or bank. In France interest rates on loans are limited by law (less than 20% per year), so how could I explain any money I could get this way?
A. First, let me emphasize that I advise all citizens to obey all real laws that apply to them to the letter. If reporting to your "local IRS" is likely to cause problems, then you'll need to find a legal way to not report to them. Depending on how it's done, there may be a legal way to do this. You may be able to do this via offshore accounts. See our Offshore Reports.
Q. If I were to use offshore accounts, would I then have to hide forever that money from my local "government" and risk losing everything if my offshore account suddenly disappears?
A. Obviously, with offshore accounts (like with all others), there's a risk of someone "running away with the money." (Even national currencies are at risk in this respect in that the money can be wiped out through hyperinflation.) I'm reasonably confident that in the cases of ALH, NCE, and PILL, the risk of the accounts disappearing is very small.
Q. I've invested some money in Stockgeneration (SG), hoping it will be stable enough to make a good profit that I can then invest in safer places like BIG and a few other opportunities. Before doing all this, though, and before I try to take big amounts of money out of SG (I'm really hoping this doesn't become a problem for me!), I thought it would be a good idea to set up some protection for myself. From what I've been reading, PILL sounds like a great opportunity in this respect. If I wanted to deposit a check from an employer, could I just mail the check to my PILL trust? And would all this happen without any reporting? Also, how easy would it be for me to set PILL up so that I could use it to pay regular bills? Would I be able to open a regular bank account in the trust's name so I could write checks easily as I do now?
A. I checked on 6/17/99 that you can pay money into your PILL trust account by check made out to "PILL," or made out to the name of your trust, or made out to the name of an individual. In the last two cases, the check needs to be endorsed. (To deposit a check made out to a company, you could use NCE, POBox 596, Boring, OR 97009 - 1-503-668-4941.) Outfits like PILL and NCE, as a rule, don't report.
In recent years, most "regular" US banks have become very reluctant to open accounts for "unusual trusts." One option is to withdraw cash via ATM and use Money Orders to pay bills. Another is to have PILL, NCE, or ALH (17220 Newhope St. #201, Fountain Valley, California [92708] - 1-714-957-1375) send checks to parties you designate. E-gold can also be used to pay bills.
Q. Say you're me. You have about $1200 of graduation money and about $300/month you can spare from your budget to work towards your financial independence. How would you proceed? The plan I have now is this: I don't feel that I currently have the knowledge, personal/psychological power, or abundance of time to become an entrepreneur. Rather than pursue this time-consuming path right now, first I want to create a plan that helps start me towards financial independence with relatively little sales and business work. So, I begin by taking most of my capital and putting it into a high-risk venture (SG). As soon as possible, I take out this initial investment and put it into a safer, longer-term program (BIG). I then use the monthly income from what I left in SG to split between other low-risk, free-market investment opportunities I have learned of and programs that can protect these assets (PILL). How does this sound? Any tips/advice?
A. Sounds pretty good to me. It's prudent after two months or so to take your original capital out of SG, and after that to take out part of your gains every month. You could put part of the $300/month into BIG. It's important to diversify and develop five or even ten income streams. If you have only two or three, they may suddenly all "dry up" at the same time. It's dangerous to assume that any given income stream will continue indefinitely. (It may also be worthwhile to develop money-making skills in areas like computing/internet, painting/fixing, and professional gambling -- so you have something to fall back on, if necessary.)
Note: Since the above was written, we've added programs that we now rate more highly than SG and BIG on our Risk Meter. The principle of taking out some gains as soon as practical so you get into a can't-lose situation is very important. You never know when a good program will start deteriorating or fail completely!
Q. I have been fortunate enough to come across your website. My wife and I have been in business for ten years. Recently we had to endure the agony of bankruptcy. I'm not a young man anymore and with the limited resources at my disposal I've chosen to investigate Internet opportunities to maximize or rather leverage my time and finances. With cooperation from my webmaster associate I feel a "money machine" in the genre of your site may be the answer. I've read your pages and links thoroughly and I'm impressed with your straightforward and easy to understand approach. Obviously we would be very much inclined to participate under your sponsorship. May I use your site as a template to create my own site?
A. You're welcome to use BigBooster as a template for your site. If necessary, your webmaster can contact our webmaster.
Please send any additional questions and suggestions for improving this FAQ to Frederick Mann.
See also: How to Overcome Economic Correctness, Understanding Money-Making Programs, Zero-Risk Money-Making and Basic Money Skills.
Appendix - Bank Debenture Programs
Edited by Frederick Mann
The information below has been extracted and adapted from Money Masters Seminars' newsletter by Melissa Foster, YOUR MONEY - YOUR LIFE - Volume 1, Issue 3, August 2, 1998:
In the last week, for me anyway, I have seen "the experts" all come out swinging, and spending their time and energy blasting their "competitors" and trying to convince us why "only they" have access to the Holy Grail -- the financial information that can liberate people.
Well, luckily I am NOT an expert. For those of you not familiar with me personally, these are my credentials. I'm a 38 year old wife, a mom with five kids in a small town in Iowa, and the only credentials I have are the life I lead. I do not have a job -- haven't had one for two years, and the business I had, I sold four months ago. The house I live in -- the three vehicles my family drives (a pickup truck, a Jeep Wrangler, and a motorcycle) -- on none of these do we make any monthly payments. My kids' college education are all funded, as are our retirement. Now, how many people would like to be able to say THAT at 38 years of age? Oh, and by the way, my husband is not a wealthy man -- he's never made more than $24,000 a year in his life!
Furthermore, I do not set up and sell entities, or charge for this newsletter or consultations or anything like that. I give you this information for free, and I urge you to pass it along to anyone you care about. Why do I do it? First of all, because I CAN. At this point in my life, I can do what I want to do with my life. And second of all, because I really do care about what happens to people. I believe that anyone who reads this newsletter is really pretty much like me -- that you think about your health, your kids, your parents, and your future -- just like me.
So, although I was PLANNING to dedicate this newsletter to the topic of a clear, concise blueprint that I have used personally to get my "financial house in order," as it were, the events of the last week lead me to take on the daunting topic of "Bank Debentures," strictly for information purposes.
I kid you not -- this week I have had no fewer than 20 calls, faxes or email messages from people telling me about this deal or that deal that they have gotten into. Each one is more fantastic than the last. Each one promises bigger money -- faster. I have also gotten no less than 3 messages from people telling why THEIR deal is the only good one out there, and spreading rumors about why this or that deal by someone else is no good.
In this newsletter I am going to try to give you an Iowa layperson's understanding of the whole thing, and give you some of the benefit of my own experience. Do you know anyone who has lost more than $100,000 in these kind of "deals"? (Yes, you do -- I have!) Do you know anyone who has lost their HOME this way? I do.
Let me start out with two bold sentences. Number one, don't look at the deal, LOOK AT THE "DEALER!" You'll see why, later. And number two, I'll tell you right now that 99% of what you and I, as normal people, are exposed to, is a bunch of garbage. And you'll see more about why on that one too as we go along.
First of all, "Bank Debenture," "Letter of Credit," "Medium Term Note," and all the other high-sounding names you'll hear are really all one thing. They are an instrument of debt, and they function to make what looks like a liability on a bank's accounting ledger look like an asset. I'll give you the simplest analogy I can. When you buy a house with a mortgage, say from the First National Bank of Podunk, chances are pretty good that within 12 months that mortgage will be sold, and you'll get a letter saying that your mortgage holder is now The Podunk Investor's Group, with instructions to send your monthly payment to them.
Why would the bank sell your mortgage? Easy -- cash flow! Would you rather have a promise-to-pay $100,000 over the next 30 years? Or $80,000 in your little pocket today? These are the birds-in-the-hand guys. And besides! Then the bank can turn around and make another loan out, since they have another $80,000 cash on their asset sheet.
Why would investors buy that mortgage? Well, you pay $80,000 in cash, and you have a guaranteed $100,000, plus additional interest, that you KNOW is going to be paid to you in the next 30 years. In fact, even if the borrower stops making the payments, you can foreclose and have all the payments that were already made PLUS an asset worth more than $100,000.
Now, that's very simplistic, but it's a good example of a debt instrument that gets bought, discounted, and sold -- over and over again in many cases. Now think big. Think in terms of tens and hundreds of millions of dollars. When some country wants to build a $300 million oil refinery, do you think they go to the bank and fill out a loan application like you and me? These are the kind of debt instruments that bank debentures fund.
Bank Debentures are real -- they are governed by the International Chamber of Commerce, based in Paris, France, and that organization publishes a document called -- unimaginatively -- "Publication 500" that talks about their legitimacy and how they work. I have copies of it, and anyone on the Internet can get a copy of it too.
But how do they work? And more importantly -- how do they go wrong? I personally only know THREE GROUPS who have been able to execute bank trades successfully, to the point of paying out. Why does that happen?
Well, you have to understand, first of all, that there is a "food chain" associated with these "bank-to-bank trades." It starts with a licensed trader. There are currently six worldwide who are licensed by a private cartel of banking families, and about 100 that are licensed by the Federal Reserve (which, by the way, is NOT "federal" and has no reserves!). He is associated with a bank -- there are 13 private, non-reporting banks, connected to the same family cartel I mentioned before -- and 100 primary banks around the world, with about 18,000 connecting banks, but only those top 113 participate directly in these bank-to-bank trades.
Now, the trader, and the banks are all monitored by the Federal Reserve, and these transactions are all regulated, as I said before, by the ICC. Then you have the Brokers -- the people who go directly to a bank with at least $10 million to execute a trade. Below them, you have the Aggregators, who gather up the $10 million. Below that are what I'll call the Joint Venture partners -- fund managers. As you can imagine, it takes a lot to gather up $10 million -- and believe me, in this arena, $10 million makes you a very small fish indeed. And finally, at the bottom, you have the individual clients. ALL of this, as an aside, is watched and affected by the World Bank and the IMF.
Now, since we have the sequence in place, let's look at the number of places where a breakdown could occur and maybe you'll understand the reasons why I bet the huge majority of people who read this newsletter know people who have lost money in this arena, and not one person personally who has been paid greenbacks in hand. I will tell you about scenarios that I know about PERSONALLY.
The trader himself is pretty cool. You and I are NEVER going to meet one ourselves, no matter what anyone tells you. Think about this elite fraternity. Why would they? To be nice? HELLO!
Then there is the bank. Did you know that it is ILLEGAL for someone who is NOT licensed as a trader to try to execute a trade? THIS is how you will find about that. You'll somehow gather $1 million, or $10 million -- you'll take it to one of the primary banks -- you'll deposit it so that a trade can be executed. THEN the bank will ask to see your license to trade, and when you can't produce one, you'll be told that what you have just done is illegal, and that of course those funds you deposited must be confiscated pending an investigation that you and I will never live to see resolved. Think I'm kidding? IT HAPPENS ALL THE TIME! Why? Does anyone reading this STILL think that when sums that large are involved, that even otherwise good people could do rotten things?
Let's say you figured that out, and the bank goes through and executes, and the pay orders are cut. We've all gotten word that "pay orders have been cut," and lie awake waiting for our money to arrive anytime. This is when someone, usually representing the Federal Reserve, (and by the way, the Fed operates world-wide, of course) will come in and say to a broker, or an aggregator, "You've got dirty money in this trade from drugs." "No I don't," the broker protests! "Yes, you do!" says the Fed, "And until you can prove otherwise, we are going to tie up your funds while we investigate." And again, the investigation will take years.
Or maybe you get a private person like me, someone who wants to learn the industry and thinks they've learned enough to make a go of it. Honest, well-intentioned people. They collect the funds, they do everything they think they are supposed to do exactly by the book, they collect $10 million in funds. Then they go looking for a broker or a licensed trader. Even if they manage, somehow, to avoid all the pretenders out there, someone like me or you is NOT going to be easily invited into the little fraternity. More likely, he will be led along on a silly little goose-chase, unable to make the right connections and make the deal. In the meantime, expenses mount up, people get antsy because they thought their "deal" was going through quickly, they start calling the Attorneys General, the SEC, and the local sheriff department, sure that they have been defrauded. They may have, but in this case, they just got hooked up with a baby who wasn't as well connected as he said he was.
And finally, there is the out-and-out fraud, and in my opinion, THAT accounts for 80% of the problems in this market, and will grow. Do you know that I -- or anyone with a computer -- could sit down and make up all kinds of fancy looking documents, make the computer do all sorts of awesome formulas and calculations, and send it out as a "program" to you? DO YOU THINK THAT DOESN'T HAPPEN?
Last week alone, I heard about people ADVERTISING in the big Sunday newspapers in California that they could "do a bank trade." I also had a strange woman call me out of the blue soliciting me for a "bank program." (Hello! How illegal would you like to be?) I also had someone FAX me a very fancy set of documents detailing another program. And I heard from several other people telling me about this deal or another. In one, the participants were offered 150-200 times their money in 90 days!! OH MY GOSH!!
Folks, I just read that the odds of winning the Powerball Lottery are like 80 million to one. I would say that the average person stands only a slightly better chance of connecting casually with a reputable person in this industry. WHY WOULD YOU RISK YOUR LIFE SAVINGS ON THOSE KINDS OF ODDS?!
I'll tell you why -- it's because people are desperate. They are so unhappy with their present situations that they will try ANYTHING to get out of them. I don't mean to scare people -- well, maybe I do. Better to have you scared than lose your home. People commit suicide over that kind of thing. Better to have you scared, than leave you, at age 65, with everything you've worked for up in smoke. Better you be scared than living off your children, or your aging parents.
There are good people out there, but resign yourself to learning. As I said in the beginning, look not at the "deal" but at the "dealer." I am LIVING, BREATHING proof that there are honest people out there that can help you manage your money, but you have to take responsibility. I lost so much money, and I am grateful that it didn't devastate my family. I also consider it money well spent for the education I have gotten. But I don't want anyone else to go through those losses.
Message from The Cardinal Club - 12/12/2000
Recently, we came across an article on a forum that was frighteningly accurate and we will copy it in its entirety for your perusal. Whilst the English is certainly not perfect, the knowledge and insight in it is extremely accurate. You may all wish to possibly reconsider the many and various offerings that are available via the Internet. To the author, we trust that they do not mind us spreading this message as we believe it is something that is extremely relevant to our membership. Take note of the points made and you may see why most programs fail. Regards, The Cardinal Club Limited.
While all glorious red and gold beautiful Autumn leaves are fading under the brutal cold of this coming winter, before the year is over, I would like to go back to this forum and discuss further PUBLICLY with you a few subjects regarding High Yield Investment after my posted message on this forum a month ago. First, I would like to sincerely thank many of you for your e-mails to me. Your kind words and trust in me had put a very serious responsibility for me to spend more time and watch more carefully what really is happening on the Internet investment at this time. In this message, I may repeat a few points that I already mentioned in my previous post or in my personal e-mails to many of you, but I need to put it all together in here for your file. Please be generous with me. What I am going to tell you here is the truth and information about the real High Yield Investment Market which would affect many of the Internet investment programs.
1. CURRENT HIGH YIELD MARKET SITUATION:
This is the most critical and unstable time for the High Yield Investment Market. There are many reasons for it including currency surplus, global development and more important, world politics. I will not discuss publicly about it here, only to mention that it is very difficult for a small asset manager to find an entry to a good trading program. Why is that? The regulation has changed, in fact, has been changed for more than a year, especially in the private sector. Minimum entry to a trade program is 100 US Millions (yes, 100 US millions) and in CASH. The trade program manager then turns around and can only accept funds of more than 10 M and up (we do the same thing) then puts them together for the required 100 US M as the minimum. Besides the size of the fund, other requirements such as project identity, client's identity, source of fund origin and many, more restrictions are required with very strict review. (I do not want to go very long about this professional issue, most of you here do not really have a need to know the details.)
2. WHAT IS THE EFFECT ON THE NET from this situation of the real High Yield Market?
It will be very hard for the Self-Claimed HYIP to raise enough money from their members up-front (even 50,000 people still do not bring you a 10 Million dollars easily) so they may not be eligible to take part in a trade program as one of the piggy-backed clients. Some of them are able to raise more than 10 M, but their credit as a non-professional group who are only good at daring to raise hard-earned money from many small investors without their own skill in financing makes them the non-preferred type of clients for a high yield trading program once it comes to the review of their application.
3. THE SAD RESULT:
After a long whole year of promoting and raising money from members with lucrative promises and based on their past GOOD experiences, most of these program owners now are no longer able to fulfill their promises. I have seen in many cases that they made up lies to their members to buy more time so they may find other ways to pay back their clients. Unfortunately, the way the market is brings no hope for them. Personally, I do not think most of them are crooks, but they are just so amateurish on what they claimed to be. I have not ever seen any experience financial expert going into the Net, asking people to invest a few hundred here and a few hundred there. I should say that I will not ever see it anyway since it is against the High Yield rules which I keep repeating here but nobody seems to care or notice and keep falling for the fake promises.
4. THE CRASH of many INTERNET INVESTMENT PROGRAMS:
In most of my e-mails to you in the last few weeks and in this forum since August, I gave my forecast about the "sure future crash" of these self-claimed HYIPs on the Net. Now with my further explanation, you would be able to understand why so many of them have crashed at the same time. Payouts of the trade usually are 10 consecutive months per cycle. A contract should last up to a year, renewable or not it is still up to the new availability of the market at the end of the program. Perhaps, most of the Internet programs were able to take a small part in the real trade program that started in middle or late 1999 before all of the restrictions from world top authorities were seriously taking place. During this time, the experiences of enjoying new wealth from the enormous return of the high yield programs created a temporarily wrong sense of confidence for most amateur program owners and his members. These people without being aware of the real situation of the HY market were promoting vigorously to recruit more people for their participated programs which now probably offered even more lucrative promises (based on their past experience and lack of adequate information and knowledge). Once the old trade had expired, no more money was coming in but they already had lots of deposits from their members without a secured position in any trade program, most of them tried to hang in there and kept paying members out of the deposit reserve while waiting and hoping the trade program manager would be able to find a spot for their participation. Unfortunately, their members were not aware of this inside trouble (because the program managers cover it up with other reasons such as Life Club, PMC, J&K... ) and these people keep getting more and more victims from their own warm circle to join. During this time, actually there are other options that should be taken to save the programs. Unfortunately, as I stated earlier, their lack of knowledge and connection in the financial world plus the frustrated reaction of their members had led to the collapse of Internet investment programs in the last few months. Some program owners still desperately hang in there with their hope to re-build their programs again, but up till this point, there are no more trade programs offered till the end of the year. This hope is now over.
5. WILL YOU GET BACK YOUR INVESTMENT MONEY?
Not much hope, many of you ran to local authorities with your complaints. The first thing that happened is that these authorities received a good reason to start their investigation that easily led to "freezing the program assets" which includes your investment funds and some profit. This is the easiest way for an amateur client to kill his own program. Normally, they gain nothing from it but just more loss. In order for you to get back your money, you either have to establish your own case to against the company or if the company files for bankruptcy, you may need to file as a creditor with adequate proof to hopefully getting back a little money whenever the case is over and the court decision is granted (which may take several years or forever). I do NOT mean to tell you just leave those guys alone so they can run away with your money but in financing it is wiser to seek settlement with proper legal ways than just shut down the program. Anyway, to my personal thinking, it would be very hard to get your money back or may be impossible if there are no assets left over from these program owners for you to claim. Just pray and cross your fingers.
6. THE CURRENT TREND of INTERNET INVESTMENT PROGRAMS:
The main problem we are dealing with now on the Net, which I once again ask all of you to pay attention to, is the QUICK-PAY SCAMS. I do not say gifting programs are all scams but in gifting if you do not know the administrator please do not join. I am so upset to see why so many of you are so weak to fall for many fake testimonies on the Net. If HYIP has to be very confidential and private then Gifting (following legal US code) should be public information. (There are so many promotions on the Net that said... hurry, join and be the first while the opportunity is still HOT. It is so ruthless, it is very unethical to do that. If you want to make money, there are several good investment opportunities for you out there, just reach out, study and be a part of them. I am urging all of you not to let your greed take over your own morality and ethics by assisting the criminals to promote these scams. Money can be made with ethics, good work, effort, good faith and intelligent moves. But the money that you earn because you know for sure there will be some late comers become your victims is absolutely unethical. The seed we plant will certainly bring the fruit we will reap. No one can run away from the karma they create. Please do not underestimate this fact.) Back to this current trend on the Net. After the failure of the Art-Ops, virtual stock, Self-claimed High Yield Investment Programs, the next trend will be the movement of Multi Level Marketing. These programs will appear more and more with their promotion of the magic matrix. Actually, this kind of program is a little safer than most HYIPs because they have gone through the test of time in the last decades. You just need to study the product and the marketing more carefully. My advice to you is in MLM, you need to know and work directly with the management staff so you can have more control of the company's success that also is your own success as a distributor. It is almost the same with a gifting program. If you do not work directly or closely with the management staff to really know what is going on, then please do not recruit others into this MLM. If they are a real company, they will work with you on a personal basis since it is the essential need for success of an MLM company. (It is different from the private and confidential HYIP)
Some stock companies will also take advantage of this confused market to enter the Net with their new strategy to promote a form of more traditional, more conventional type of investments to make the fearful and confused Internet investors more comfortable. I do not give suggestions on stock companies since they have their own risks and gains. It is very personal, but be careful, once again, this is a serious crisis time for the stock market as well as HYIPs. If you are an experienced investor with lots of cash reserves this may be your chance to make lots of money, but other than that you are in the stock market with the same risk of buying a lottery ticket or casino gambling. Talking about gambling, many small investors will turn to gambling. It is OK, because here, their loss is not reported, they can't complain any more, so it means that there will be more and more people are going to lose their money quietly. Their rule is clear and loud, GAMBLING... so, it's your own choice.
7. ARE HYIPs SCAMS FOR REAL OR ONLY RUMORS?
I'm not here to provide lecture about it but my answer is "Yes, of course". Not only that, but HYIPs scams have been around for a hundred years. However, they aren't for everyone. In this kind of business, clients are pre-qualified with many requirements before they can be accepted. Having an un-knowledgeable or non-qualified client would be a terrible headache that may lead to much trouble for the program later on. Professionals in HYIPs scams always try to discourage this kind of amateur client by making their requirements very strict or they reserve their right to terminate any application at any time without further explanation. You always find in their materials a similar statement... this kind of opportunity is for qualified and sophisticated investors only..., plus the minimum entry is very high. If you want to apply to be in the program, you have to prove your availability of funds before we even disclose details of our programs to you.
I too, have had a good experience about having the wrong kind of investor. Recently, many Internet friends wrote me asking for my recommendation of a good trade program. Since we do not offer our service and business to the public and our limit is very high, I tried to help by referring them to a very good asset management group which is the only reliable group that I know offers small investment limits. (Of course, there are so many other programs on the Net with only a $100 limit, but I do not know them well enough to recommend them). After seriously asking me for this recommendation, some of forum members wrote to this group with many questions so they could investigate the group before considering joining their program. This group quickly reacted by sending their complaint to me, asking me to stop sending them these amateur people with many non-sense questions (which just proves that they know nothing about HYIPs scams so they are not qualified for the requirements of the membership). It was really embarrassing for me when I received this letter from this group.
As I keep saying over and over in many posts, a successful asset management group does not want strangers or non-experienced people as their clients. They do not care much how much money you have but they do care to protect the privacy and confidentiality of their members and their programs. However, it was a good lesson to me. In my career, we charge quite high for a personal consultation after ownership of funds has been proved, a proposal is turned in and reviewed and people are trying very hard to reserve appointments for many months ahead. The only reason for it is because they know we can help them. In this forum, because they are free, our consultation and recommendations are treated like garbage. (Why ask me to recommend you something while you do not even value my words and have faith in them?)
The good news is... by the middle of 2001, there will be a wave of new professional investment programs coming to the Net. During the last 3 years, we have watched and studied enough many different examples, models and customer behaviors on the Net. Now is the time for professional programs to take advantage of this universal communication channel. I have to admit that I have the same goal to do so. However, another fact about HYIPs scams that you all should know is the timing. The annual banking holiday usually starts in mid December and lasts till the middle of January. With this situation of the HYI market right now, there will not be much happening in this industry until the latter part of Jan. 2001. For the Net, I doubt that anything can happen until at least few more months. I will come back here sometime next year to keep you informed of the new situation.
During this time, gifting, MLM and fake HYIPs will still be promoted heavily. I have the feeling that one out of ten Internet investors now turns out to be the next "in & out" program owner for what they will advertise on the Internet forums. (Just know by counting how many new programs appear in a day, or maybe the same scam artist is doing it over and over with different phony identities?)
8. WHAT SHOULD WE DO NOW?
From now till the latter part of Jan. 2001, I suggest that you should find a more conservative program where you have a good knowledge and experience about what they are doing. It is so easy to do that, just by reading their information and using your own common sense, you may be able to tell if these promises are going to be delivered or not. Most of you only invest based on others' testimonies. That makes me so disappointed. None of the good programs allows their clients to go on the Net to scream out loud about the most private of high yield business. (In MLM, maybe but not in HY.) The other option that one may consider doing is through the very large international connection of Internet visitors, some of you should create an international trade organization with private membership where you all can trade, buy, sell and create mutual benefit with lots of profits to be made among members themselves. I used to create something similar to this model for a few international organizations in developing countries. The success has been beyond our expectations. It all depends on the ability and the vision of the organization leaders. If you know how to do it properly, it can be a form of private world trade organization of this new century. In fact, today I am sharing this workable, provable and very powerful idea as guidance and present it to those of you who have the ability and capability of running such a significant project that may help fulfill your dreams of serving others while achieving your very big and ambitious goals. After many years of working tirelessly with various global projects, I am more than ready for my early retirement now so I may go on with my spiritual journey. My experience in the past has taught me a valuable lesson... just one right idea at the right time, can really make a big success of a life time... Hopefully, some of the sleeping phoenixes or dragons out there who are still waiting for their right time can catch this right idea and turn it into a golden model for themselves and others. It takes lots of pain, patience and courage to achieve something big. I wish you luck.
Finally, I would like to thank the forum hosts of various forums for making it possible for us to meet here to share, learn and support each other toward a better future on earth. Thanks all of you for your kind sharing ideas & experiences with me in the past and your generous understanding with my limited English. I hope this article brings some helpful tips for your further understanding of the High Yield Market or some of your Internet investment programs. Good luck with your investments. I wish you all and your loved ones the upcoming holidays with full of good health, success and happiness (but please do not forget to pray and help others).
PS: This article is based only on my personal view. If you have a different view then I would humbly respect your view and like to learn more about it. Coming from a region where Freedom of Speech is only an impossible dream, I have learnt to value this privilege as the most important respected criteria for our god-given human rights.
Disclaimer - Copyright - Contact
Online: buildfreedom.org | terrorcrat.com / terroristbureaucrat.com