• One Minute Primer on Ponzi Schemes

    In this one minute video, Tracy explains how Ponzi schemes work. They are also called pyramid schemes because the constant recruitment of new “investors” creates the shape of a pyramid, with many new investors required at the bottom of the […]

  • It’s Not an Investment Club, It’s a Pyramid Scheme

    Have you seen these invitations to “join an investment club” on social media? They’re frauds. They’re scams. They’re not investment clubs. This is a typical pyramid scheme (also called Ponzi scheme). Below is the scam being promoted by an attorney […]

  • Typical Red Flags of Ponzi Schemes

    Last week the FBI posted an article on its site, A Pyramid of Lies, that told the story of the Gentry Ponzi scheme in rural Tennessee. Ponzi schemes are pretty easy to spot if you know the red flags. Even […]

  • Ponzinomics: MLM Fraud and the FTC

    Robert FitzPatrick, president of Pyramid Scheme Alert has written a new book about multi-level marketing and how the FTC allows these pyramid schemes to exist. In PONZINOMICS, the FTC’s Protection of Multi-Level Marketing, he discusses the political interests involved in […]

  • TelexFree: MLMs are Pyramid Schemes

    This week we heard news of $20 million (hidden in a box spring) being seized by the federal agents in its ongoing investigation of TelexFree, a multi-level marketing company that the government says was a massive Ponzi scheme. You can […]

  • Why Products Offered by Multi-Level Marketing Companies Are So Expensive

    Multi-level marketing companies (MLMs) are nothing but legalized scams. Make no mistake… they are pyramid schemes, but the government allows them to operate. Why are these obvious Ponzi schemes (which, by the way, the MLMs will swear up and down […]

  • Google Your Financial Advisor BEFORE Investing

    Investors are nearly $2.4 million poorer and Janamjot Singh Sodhi has earned himself an almost 5 year stay at Club Fed, thanks to a Ponzi scheme carried out through a company called Elite Financial Inc.  The fraudster also used the […]

  • Bank Liability for Ponzi Schemes

    An article in a recent edition of the Bloomberg BNS Banking Report on Ponzi Schemes and bank liability referred to an article I wrote on recognizing red flags of Ponzi schemes: Under each, a plaintiff must account for both the […]

  • Daughter Turns in Mom in Tri Energy Ponzi Scheme

    More than two years ago, I mentioned here a news story about a Ponzi scheme called Tri Energy Inc. The Securities and Exchange Commission first took action against the company in 2005: The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday obtained a […]

  • Marketing Fraud: Why Multi-Level Marketing Pyramids and Financial Ponzis are Ignored By Law Enforcement

    Dear Colleagues, Consumers and Pyramid Scheme Alert Supporters, A new essay recently posted on the False Profits Blog addresses a question many of you  have raised. Why are multi-level marketing pyramids and financial ponzis able to ensnare so many people […]