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GAF.... How do I stop my siblings from getting lured into a Pyramid/Ponzi Scheme?

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BLOODED_hands

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My brother-in-law's best friend has recently been lured into a pyramid/ponzi scheme. My BIL's other friend, the one who has been in the scheme longer than my BIL's best friend, was the one who got my BIL's best friend into it. Now they are both trying to "recruit" my BIL, my older sister, and my other older sister.

How do I stop them from convincing my family members to join their scheme? We always invite them over to drink and hangout but now that they have been lured into this scheme, they cannot stop talking about it to my siblings. I know that rejecting them should work but it's getting to the point where my siblings are saying, "but how much are they making compared to me?" Hint: they're not making any money since joining this scheme.

Just a bit of info about my two older sisters and my BIL: both sisters are in the medical field with one doing blood work and the other is a assistant. My BIL works for Cintas. All three have been saying how hard they are struggling to pay their bills, the mortgage, etc. My sister and BIL has a kid..... So I feel like it's going to happen sooner rather than later that they actually get involved with this pyramid/ponzi scheme :(

The reason I'm asking is because I'm the youngest one in the aforementioned group and with less working experience. So it's going to be hard for them to take anything I tell them seriously, including facts and signs that they won't receive any compensation for being in a pyramid/ponzi scheme.

Has GAF had any experiences with keeping their loved ones from joining a pyramid scheme? Has anyone had their siblings join a pyramid scheme?

Fyi this scheme is trying to "sell" life insurance.
 
usually for the major ones a quick google can turn up a few "look this is obviously a scheme"

hell when i was looking for an entry level job glassdoor of the company can usually really help

how does one "sell" life insurance? like whats the scheme? or is it just...selling insurance
 
Tell him to google it.

Tell him directly.

If he still doesn't believe you make him an offer where he gives you 20 dollars and in exchange he goes out and finds two people to give him 20 dollars each.
 
Most of these schemes are laid out online as to how they don't work. Do a little research and show them. Besides jumping into a sales job is far from a better and safer way to pay your bills financially. It is completely dependent on how many sales you make which means you have to invest a lot of time and hustle to be successful. A family with a kid can't afford both parents spending 12 hours a day unsuccessfully trying to sell crap. When will you have time for the kid.
 
Agree with John Oliver skit, but I'm sure there's plenty of gone-wrong testimonials on YouTube if you search for it with some key terms. There's sure to be plenty of people jerking off the pyramid scheme and trying to recruit randos though, so stay away from those.
 
There is no small amount of information available on why they are scams. Be sympathetic if they are financially vulnerable but explain it to them and point them to the information linked above.

That's all you can do. If they don't listen to you, some people just need to learn the hard way.
 
Tell them you heard it's a scam. Don't tell them directly it's a scam, because no one likes being told what to think or that they're flat out wrong. Tell them to google the name of the company they're considering.

Type "<company name> is " and let autocomplete put up some suggestions.

If it's full of stuff like "is a scam" then they have a bunch of links from different sources to read through.

This is actually good practice when looking up any company that you're unfamiliar with.
 
What insurance company?

Some people just need to learn the hard way.

If they are grown ass adults with a kid (or two), then they should know, at minimum, that any job where you earn a good salary isn't going out recruiting people with no experience. Doubly so for insurance sales.
 
Be blunt, and try to emphasize that this is likely to make their financial problems much worse as the program will ask them for more and more money. Be supportive afterwards if they don't listen and it all falls apart. I have a friend that got involved in "selling nail designs" (stickers for your fingernails basically) and it was all just throwing dumb parties to try to recruit people. I tried to talk to her about it but she was so focused and hopeful that it was going to solve her problems. Once it all fell apart, she figured it out, but she also didn't have the means to dump a ton of money into it so it could have been much worse.
 
LosDaddie said:
What insurance company?

Some people just need to learn the hard way.

If they are grown ass adults with a kid (or two), then they should know, at minimum, that any job where you earn a good salary isn't going out recruiting people with no experience. Doubly so for insurance sales.
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They already have good jobs yet are struggling to pay bills. They don't sound smart enough to learn but this could be that hard slap of truth they need.
 
I will definitely watch and show them that John Oliver bit posted.

The insurance thing is something known within my culture and community, the Hmong community. They go around trying to sell Life Insurance policies and then try and runaway when they get their money. Gilles Moua case is perhaps the biggest one I could find via google. The first post has the pdf of the court case.

Now there is a new one called Visual or something has begun and my BIL's friends are in it.
 
BLOODED_hands said:
I will definitely watch and show them that John Oliver bit posted.

The insurance thing is something known within my culture and community, the Hmong community. They go around trying to sell Life Insurance policies and then try and runaway when they get their money. Gilles Moua case is perhaps the biggest one I could find via google. The first post has the pdf of the court case.

Now there is a new one called Visual or something has begun and my BIL's friends are in it.
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All you can really do is tell them it is a scam and give them any supporting info you can find and hope they make a good decision. Alternatively you could also try to report the scam and see if you can get it investigated.
 
This happened to my older brother about 10 years ago. He wouldn't stop talking about it for a few months. We are really close and I was constantly telling him it was going to end up a waste of money, but he never listened. In the end, I just ignored it.

Fast forward a year, he was down about $700, had a few boxes full of bottles of grape juice in his basement, and had learned his lesson. Sometimes that's the only way.

I also lost one of my best friends in college over this. I had graduated and got a job, he was a perpetual college student in his 6th year or so and had finally figured out how to make it big: Nuskin! It went from us hanging out every weekend having a good time to us hanging out and him non-stop telling me how I need to quit my job and join Nuskin with him. Eventually I just completely cut ties with him because he just wouldn't. fucking. drop. it.

I'm now a successful adult (by my own low standards anyway) and... not so much for him.
 
Wereroku said:
All you can really do is tell them it is a scam and give them any supporting info you can find and hope they make a good decision. Alternatively you could also try to report the scam and see if you can get it investigated.
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Showing them the John Oliver bit and will be talking to them about it the next chance I see them. Texting it to them won't get through to them. It needs to be face to face.
 
BLOODED_hands said:
Showing them the John Oliver bit and will be talking to them about it the next chance I see them. Texting it to them won't get through to them. It needs to be face to face.
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Yeah sadly even if you try to do all you can for your family eventually you just have to hope they make a good decision themselves. Good luck hope they listen to you.
 
Don't bother telling them why it's a scam; they will most likely just dig in harder and do their own "research" that will corroborate what they want to believe.

Instead, the next time the friend shows up and tries to get them into it, join in on that conversation and directly ask the friend how much money he's personally made from it. When he confirms that he hasn't made jack and/or keeps dodging the question (in which case, keep pressing. Say you're interested in joining but are concerned it might be a scam), it'll probably go a long way towards convincing everyone that he's full of shit.

It's important to press him about how much he's personally made from it. I suspect he'll go into how great and profitable the company is and how much others have made, but he won't want to answer for himself.
 
Septimus Prime said:
Don't bother telling them why it's a scam; they will most likely just dig in harder and do their own "research" that will corroborate what they want to believe.

Instead, the next time the friend shows up and tries to get them into it, join in on that conversation and directly ask the friend how much money he's personally made from it. When he confirms that he hasn't made jack and/or keeps dodging the question (in which case, keep pressing. Say you're interested in joining but are concerned it might be a scam), it'll probably go a long way towards convincing everyone that he's full of shit.

It's important to press him about how much he's personally made from it. I suspect he'll go into how great and profitable the company is and how much others have made, but he won't want to answer for himself.
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I've done that this past weekend and it was exactly like you described.

I had a small conversation with both my sister and her husband about how much he made but they still gave me this answer:

Let's keep waiting to see if he has made any money.

The dude has been in it for 3 months with no money and the other guy has been there longer and made no money. I just don't know what else to tell them if they just want to wait and see how much money their friends have made. Like they are waiting to hear back from the two dudes that they've made millions within a few more months.....
 
I think there was a thread on reddit with a tip on how to check up on whether elderly are in the process of being scammed. In any case, I found there a piece of advice that might be useful:

If you're the youngest (and even if you weren't), they're more than likely to fall back on their "life experience" to counterargue any direct advice you would offer. Instead, use a third party victim (a friend, some guy on the internet), to highlight your concern and "let" them make their decision.
 
Tell them its a pyramid scheme

He will tell you no its legal

Tell him hes an idiot and its a scam

If he says "then why has it been operating for so long"

You.tell him its because of idiots like him

Trust me.

He'll thank you later.
 
It's hard to reason with greed and/or desperation. Some people need to get burned once for their common sense to kick in. Others will bounce from scam to scam over the course of their lives.
 
Tell them not to come to you when they are broke. Honestly, if they are adults and they won't listen to the warning signs which are easy to find then they aren't being rational. I'm sure you love them and you don't want them to get hurt but if they are determined, there isn't much you can do. Tell them that and let the chips fall where they may.
 
You don't. Sometimes you just have to let people make mistakes so they can learn from them. My cousin didn't listen to my advice.
 
I'd just warn them that it's all BS. If they don't listen, leave them alone. They'll learn soon enough anyway and it's not worth damaging your relationship
 
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I am going to remind them that they won't get any money no matter how long they stay in it. If after that they still insist on waiting to see if their friends are making any money? Then I can't help them anymore. Let them struggle even more than before.

What's infuriating is that I don't want my nephew to watch his parents fall like that. I want them to come to their senses and disregard any thoughts about joining a pyramid/ponzi scheme because if they don't, they will lose a shitload of money that should be used to help their kid instead of being put into a pyramid/ponzi scheme.
 
So, if they're waiting, they're not buying in yet, at least, right? Just tell them not to buy in until their friend makes money, and they'll stay on the sidelines forever.
 
Average sucker will realize after a couple months. Like someone mentioned, just keep asking how much they've personally made. The answer is zero and they'll keep referring back to the carrot of other people's unverified success stories. It plays off people who want to be ambitious and the greedy, both things fuel their drive to buy into the scam despite not making anything from it.

They should treat you to some things if they're making so much money. Haha
 
Septimus Prime said:
So, if they're waiting, they're not buying in yet, at least, right? Just tell them not to buy in until their friend makes money, and they'll stay on the sidelines forever.
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Yup. Their demeanor when I talked to them doesn't instill me with confidence though. They're just brushing me off and thinking that despite how long it takes to get money, they would jump on it because they don't care how long it takes because by then they'll have a shitload of money.

But they can keep waiting for all I care (after I tell them more about the harms of joining their friends).
 
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