Two dead amid Colombian protests over pyramid scheme: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is

Old fashioned pyramid schemes and ponzi schemes have been around for more than a hundred years, probably longer. Apparently the people of Colombia are learning the lesson of these schemes the hard way:

The security guard for a Colombian investment company was killed amid riots in the capital Bogota on Friday. The shooting came after police said $270 million was believed to have been lost in a scheme run by the DRFE, or “Easy Money, Fast Cash,” agency across its 240 offices.

The scheme collapsed earlier this week amid rumours that its owner, Carlos Alfredo Suarez, who local residents said had, until recently, sold snacks on the streets and looked after parked cars, had fled the country. Source: Al Jazerra

I always wonder what makes people fall for these rackets. Is it greed? Stupidity? Desperation? Perhaps a little of each leads one to invest in these types of “get rich quick” schemes. Many pyramid or ponzi schemes are presented as modern day multilevel marketing (MLM) or network marketing. It can be very difficult to tell the difference between a legitimate MLM business and an illegal scheme.

I have been approached in the past by family, friends, and even the pastor of my church to participate in these schemes. You heard me. I said that the pastor of my church, my former church now, actually had the gall to bring what I recognized as a pyramid scheme into the house of God in order to steal from his people.

I am a level-headed person, however I just wasn’t ready to be on the look-out for a pyramid scheme in my own church. After the Thursday night service, the pastor had the nerve to actually allow a pyramid scheme to be presented to the congregation. The presentation was so smooth that the many in the congregation (including myself) rushed to fill out the paperwork to join. I had my checkbook ready to invest, when I made a call to my husband to talk it over with him. Being the steady and logical person that he is, his response to me was, “Baby, just come on home and don’t give those jokers anything.”

I never set foot in that church again after that day.

So my question to you is have you ever been asked to join a scam, or lost money in a business scam?

Filed under: By Cheri Thomas, civil unrest, Colombia, International news, Ponzi scheme, protests, Pyramid scheme