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On our scams page I include the following warning regarding a particular type of business opportunity, that I feel potential business operators need to understand:
Pyramid Schemes. You'll see these frequently advertised in Exchange & Mart. These are programs claiming to offer you the chance to earn thousands every month, yet when you look into them the only way anyone makes money is by recruiting others and getting paid a cut of the joining fee. They are often dressed up so that it appears you are earning from other means as well, although the other options are totally unrealistic. In many cases these days you are provided with your own replica website for which you pay a ridiculous sum of money, half of which goes to the person who recruits you. To get around pyramid selling legislation these companies tell you you earn commission on all sales made through your site, but with thousands of identical sites the only sales you are ever going to make are to yourself. In fact the companies featured on these sites all offer free affiliate programs where you can earn commission without paying any fees to anyone. Typical examples of this type of scam are Armchair Tycoon and Host4Income.
As a result of these comments, I have received 2 e-mails appearing to be from Simon J Hill of Armchair Tycoon. Subsequent investigations showed that Simon J Hill left Armchair Tycoon last year and that these were actually copies of e-mails sent by him back in 2001 in response to complaints made by others - the first a response to the site that published the complaint containing Message 2. You can see the full article at http://worldwidescam.com/tycoon.htm Nevertheless, these e-mails do give you some sort of indication of the likelihood of constructive support if you ever decide to take up an offer from Mr Hill.
Message 1
From:Simon J Hill
17:24 08/09/2003
Subject:ArmchairTycoon
I have just noticed your "scam" article on your website regarding my company ArmchairTycoon.com
Whilst I have no problems with your site exposing scams, it does seem strange that you allow the personal rantings of a total idiot to take up your valuable server space!
If you had received ONE **valid** complaint from an AT Business Owner, then that would be fair enough, but to publish text like this is ridiculous.
Needless to say, I would therefore appreciate it if you could take down the article with immediate effect - or failing that, at least give your readers the opportunity to read my *reply* to stupid comments.
I look forward to hearing from you shortly,
Sincerely,
Simon J. Hill
Owner: The Armchair Tycoon Corporation
Message 2
From:Simon J Hill
17:25 08/09/2003
Subject:AT
Hello Loser!
I have some good news for you! You can now breathe a big sigh of relief. After further discussions with my Barrister, you'll be pleased to hear that we have decided *not* to waste any more of our valuable time (or money) on you.
From your earlier comments, you are obviously *not* a threat to us at all - in any way, shape or form.
I suppose you could say that we have taken pity on you. After all, why should we waste our time on a penniless moron like you? A moron who dreams of becoming a journalist one day, but doesn't have a hope in hell of doing so?
So, we'll just plough on regardless, wiping out all who stand in our way - whilst *you* can simply lock yourself away in a darkened room, and play with yourself.
Goodbye Loser!
Sincerely,
Simon J. Hill
The Armchair Tycoon Corporation
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