HYIP

HYIP online investment schemes

All HYIP's are simply Ponzi schemes (more commonly known as Pyramid schemes). They offer high returns to lure investors and use the money from new investors to pay old investors out.
The trick here is to keep the old investors in the scheme so no money is actually paid out.

For more information on Ponzi schemes (and Charles Ponzi, the man it is named after) check out this page - www.thebestscams.com/ponzi.htm

For this scheme to work there needs to be a steady influx of new investors, once there are no more new investors then the owners of the web site will shut it down and start a new one. There are about ten new HYIP schemes started each day.

I really need to point out one thing here - 100% satisfaction guarantee is complete bulldust, if a scheme is a scam then no guarantee will cover your losses. If you see a 100% guarantee on an investment web site then simply ignore it.

Tell tale signs that the HYIP you are looking at is a Ponzi scheme (and they all are) -

	Interest rates are high - anywhere from 1%- 8% daily is normal; remember that they only pay for a while in order to gain other investors and then they disappear. 400% a day is ludicrous but some people try their luck (and lose).
	They advertise via spam emails or via HYIP monitoring sites.
	On the front page of the web site they have 'site statistics' (e.g how many members, how much has been invested) and these statistics DON'T update daily. I have seen one site that always has '11 members online and 44 guests online'.
	Privacy policy (or any other pages) are copied from another web site.
	When you get your first payment you try to withdraw it, some schemes keep your money in a 'payment pending' fund which you will never receive. Don't believe a payment (or tell someone you were paid) until the money is in your financial account.
	Following on from the previous point - Some schemes put your withdrawals into 'payment pending' and refuse to release it until you give them good feedback on HYIP monitoring sites, this is blackmail and is no guarantee that they will then pay anyway.
	They offer more than 10% for 'referrals'. This is so others will find the investors for them.

Just because a site is 'paying' on a HYIP monitoring site doesn't mean everything is okay, it has been known for HYIP's to pay just the monitoring site in order to keep a good standing. Read the forum boards as well.

I'LL SAY IT AGAIN - ALL HYIP'S ARE PONZI SCHEMES!!

So, you've been scammed? Get ready for round 2!

Emails for new HYIP schemes

I recently received several emails from 'friends' who have discovered a new HYIP that is paying. Too much information is included in the email to say it was spam.
So what's going on? After investigating I found out that scam HYIP schemes are emailing their members to NEW scam HYIP's!

This trick has two benefits to the scammer; if the scammer owns the site then it's the best way of getting new investors into the new scheme. If the scammer doesn't own the site then it's a method of getting referral bonuses!