X800 Pro $34.95 scam
Daniel
Some dude on TradeMe is doing it, but, I also noticed it operating out
of Canada on eBay (where there is also 17inch LCD montiors, 2.4GHz
laptops, and 20GB iPods for $19.95 USD!!!).
Looks like a pyramid scheme, you accumulate credits for "registering"
(which just happens to cost $35 USD), and if you can get other people to
register, then you get more credits until eventually you receive your
"cheap" X800 Pro or whatever piece of incredibly low-priced hardware it is.
Dave Taylor
news:ctmrvk$3ci$1...@lust.ihug.co.nz:
Probably related to some kind of spam email I already deleted.
--
Ciao, Dave
David Preece
> Looks like a pyramid scheme, you accumulate credits for "registering"
> (which just happens to cost $35 USD), and if you can get other people to
> register, then you get more credits until eventually you receive your
> "cheap" X800 Pro or whatever piece of incredibly low-priced hardware it is.
It works the same as the free iPod schemes. It's more like a Ponzi
scheme than a pyramid, although there are similarities.
The way it works is cunning. The first person to pony up their $35 has
to get ten other people to register and also put in $35. When you get
your ten people you get into the queue, and with every tenth member
joining the scheme, the head of the queue gets sent their video card and
everyone moves up one place. After a while everyone gets bored, people
stop signing up and the queue stalls. Total number of people in the
queue when this happens x $35 = profit! Best of all it's totally legal
because you read the T&C before you signed up, didn't you?
How it works psychologically is just beatiful. The first people in wait
about three days before their card arrives. They run round the Internet
telling people how f'n cool this is and they arrive in droves.
In the mid-life of the scheme people start waiting a few weeks for the
cards to arrive but are cheered up by people running round the net
saying "it works! it really works!" and posting pictures of their video
card, free iPod or whatever. I believe some sites even let you know what
your position in the queue is so you can watch your progress to the head
of the queue and maintain the faith. The delay in joining the queue
until you've got your ten people means that people get frantic about
signing up their ten downtrees - hence people appearing on TradeMe
trying to get you to sign up.
After a while the queue gets so long that it becomes obvious you're
never going to get your card then everybody gets really pissed off,
stops trying to recruit new members, and after a while the queue stalls.
Profit!
But, oh look, free iPod!
Beautiful.
It was invented by a guy called Charles Ponzi in the 1920's.
http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/ponzi/
Dave
Daniel
>
> It works the same as the free iPod schemes. It's more like a Ponzi
> scheme than a pyramid, although there are similarities.
>
>
> It was invented by a guy called Charles Ponzi in the 1920's.
>
> http://home.nycap.rr.com/useless/ponzi/
>
> Dave
Cheers Dave.