Please read the article and leave a comment with your thoughts
or experiences.
The mobile phone matrix scam has fast become one of the largest
growing scams on the internet at the moment and is abundant on
many of the internet auction sites, these mobile phone scams
offer mobiles for as little as £20. This sounds very enticing
and people readily sign up, however the majority of the members
never actually see the promised goods.
How do they work?
The definition given by trading standards (of a matrix scheme)
in their report into current scams sums it up very nicely :
Consumers who buy the product become members of a waiting list
to receive their chosen ‘free gift’. The matrix works by sending
the person at the top of the list their ‘free gift’ only after a
prescribed number of new recruits has signed up – the prescribed
number varies according to the choice of ‘free gift’ but can be
as great as 100. Once the ‘free gift’ has been sent, the
remaining members each move up one place on the waiting list.
The person who has moved to the top then has to wait until the
prescribed number of new recruits has signed up again in order
to receive their ‘free gift’. Although it is not compulsory for
members to sign up new recruits, they are encouraged to do so in
order to move themselves up the waiting list faster. This has
led to some members placing misleading adverts on internet
auction sites offering the ‘opportunity to buy a mobile phone
for £20′, in order to seek new recruits.
So basically the early members are paid out only when sufficient
new members have joined under them, the maths behind this are
absolutely staggering. I have used a simple example of a scheme
that operates on a ten tier matrix with an entry price of £20
and a gadget price of £150.
Member #1 pays: they are, “the member to get the mobile phone ”
Member #2 pays: Scammers Fund is £40.
Member #3 pays: Scammers Fund is £60.
Member #4 pays: Scammers Fund is £80.
Member #5 pays: Scammers Fund is £100.
Member #6 pays: Scammers Fund is £120.
Member #7 pays: Scammers Fund is £140.
Member #8 pays: Scammers Fund is £160.
Member #9 pays: Scammers Fund is £180.
Member #10 pays: Scammers Fund is £200.
Once the member count reaches 10 member #1 ‘cycles’ and receives
their gift, so the mobile phone matrix website makes £50 (£200
scammers fund - £150 cost of gadget). Member #2 then moves into
prime position and the process starts over again. When member #2
‘cycles’, the website will make another £50 and another 10
members will have had to have joined.
Using that example, the figures seem quite good, however the
majority of these mobile phone scam sites offer mobiles worth
£300-£600 and as such they need to increase the tiers (or the
entry price) so as to cover thier costs and make money. If they
operated a 100 tier scheme then the 100th member would need
another 1000 to have joined before they see their gadget! Some
sites have been found to be operating 1000 or 10000 tier systems!
Here today, gone tomorrow!
The mobile phone matrix scheme, like all pyramid selling
schemes, eventually gets to a point where it is unable to
attract sufficient numbers of new members. It then collapses and
those still waiting for their gadget are left holding the can as
they cannot move forward without new members. What tends to
happen now is that the people held in the tiers of the matrix
try to promote the scheme further through the use of websites,
forums and the auction sites and this further compounds the
problem and just lines the scammers pockets further.
Remember, these mobile phone matrix sites only make their main
money in the beginning as people join, once this starts to dry
up the scammers move onto other things leaving the lists to
collapse. Also it is key to remember that most of these scammers
never actually send the goods even if you get to ‘cycle’ and the
majority of names and claims made by the sites are all fake.
Final thoughts
Please remember that these mobile phone matrix schemes are
ILLEGAL, if you see one on a site or an auction site then please
report it to trading standards (for singular websites) and also
report it to the auction sites (most have rules regarding these
sites).
The simple way not to get taken for a ride is not to get
involved in the mobile phone matrix’s in the first place.
I will sum it up in one statement when dealing with mobile phone
matrix schemes :
If the deal sounds to good to be true, THEN IT IS
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