MY PONZI ADVENTURE- an unforgettable sting
INTRODUCTION
I know you must have heard or read something about PONZI SCHEME or GAME. A scheme built on lies and uncertainty.
Allow me me to educate you a little if you've not heard or read about it. In case you've heard, allow me to remind you and I know you'll learn from my story..
If you're wondering why I choose the word STING, please seat back, read through and I'm sure you'll understand why trust me.
At the end of this post, maybe you may want to rename this topic, feel free to do so 😉😁
WHAT IS PONZI?
- Well to me, it's a fraudulent operation were the operators generate huge returns from investors by using what they call CROWD FUNDING. A beautiful principle.
Well the mathematical explanation is using Polycarp's money 💰 to pay Paul and when Peter joins this community, his money will be given to Polycarp.
Hmmm!. What happens when people suddenly refuse to join; it therefore means my friend Polycarp is in big trouble
BRIEF HISTORY OF PONZI SCHEME - the devil's game
- It is named after Charles Ponzi, an Italian businessman who used logical and lies to defraud people back then in 1920.
- He used schemes like international reply coupons- for postage stamps - meaning you buy stamps with your money and after a period of time as demand increases, you can sell the stamps at a higher price.. How clever.
Soon greed crept in and he diverted investors money to pay himself and his investors and eloped but was later caught because he was foolish enough to use his name, face to register the business.
Ponzi has evolved with time. It's now a GHOST ENTERPRISE because you can't trace the company, you don't have their contacts or address and nobody bears the name PONZI again... Hahahaha 😁😀.
MODE OF OPERATION
They use guise such as the promise of ridiculous RETURNS within a short period of time
They prey on your ignorance and financial insecurities to exploit you
Like they say, "Ignorance is bliss""
They have promoters who invest their money to kick-start the cycle and pay themselves to sing the happiness song as well as write the letter of happiness ( more like the letter of indebtness.. 😀😀😀😀). Once you fall for this get rich quick charm/spell you're in trouble because you can sell your house and invest the money in this platform
They've successful masterd the first golden rule of business: which is " money 💰 begets more money"**
They build TRUST level so high that within a period of time they have "die hard ignorant followers".
I once witnessed a sweet fight between a participant and a prospective participant.
We have our own version of John Cena and Baptista in Nigeria. Lol!
- Finally they vanish into thin air leaving no trace but a a lifetime meal of regrets for her members.
- You can't reach them or access the site and you can't sue them.. Believe me I would have tried this option
WHAT IS THE BIBLE'S VIEW ABOUT PONZI
The Bible has a detailed record of everything and there's nothing hidden under the sun.
God warned us through King Solomon about PONZI.
Proverb 13:11 (New Living Translation) explains it better
Wealth from get rich quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.
Check your bible please
Wow!!! If only I knew this early enough 😪😖.
- They said experience is the best teacher but I'll say experience only teaches the wise and those who are willing to learn
- Allow me to share with you all my experience. See it as a bonus package for your followership and a reward for your patience.
MY EXPERIENCE
We're in the interesting part. If you blink, you'll miss the trill of my adventure. Trust me 😣.
It all started like every other day. The sun was at its peak and the heat was killing me in my room with many thoughts running through my mind. I was not in a smiling mode at all because I was hungry, broke and the stress of college was killing me softly
All of a sudden my phone rang and it was my friend. I thought she wanted to ask me why I didn't come to school that day, I already have a perfect excuse which is I read all night and woke up with serious headache and waist pain. 😜
Then she blew my mind by asking me if I want to gain financial freedom?. What a question indeed
I told her I have been praying and fasting for financial freedom since. God knows I needed the cash ASAP.
I told her to speak up because I was charged now with a bubbling sensation in my stomach. Then she told me how much she has made in the past 2 months after joining a Ponzi scheme called MMM (Mavrodi Mondial Movement). A student like me, my legs could no longer carry me, so I looked for a chair to seat down. All of a sudden I lost signal and the call was disconnected..
Ahhh! You wicked devil I exclaimed!!!
I quickly went to buy credit with my last #1000 to enjoy the full gist. She explained everything and promised to explain more the next day when we see. Trust me, my night was beautiful and I was the first person to get to college the next day and with the eyes of an eagle, I careful searched for her after leaving about 10 missed calls and 5 text messages.
This lady was a natural sales person and she sold the idea so beautifully and she said Marx you just have to join this community with her sweet voice.
One of the worst thing that can happen to a man after death and a bad marriage is to ignorantly fall into a trap disguised as an opportunity - quote by King Marx andyou just got it for free 😉 .
I signed up the next day with the money they gave me to buy my Anatomy textbook vol 1&2 by Cherusa. Don't judge me ok..
There's something about Financial Independence, even mad people want it.
Trust me. I got huge returns like she promised and within three months I was already a guider in the platform. Wow! I've found a gold mine I said to myself and that arose within me a voracious appetite for more freedom.
Soon I had invested in about 7 different Ponzi platforms :- MMM united, NNN Nigeria, Greenspeer, Digital portal, EasyMoney, Helping Revolution and GetHelp Worldwide using both Bitcoin and naira to start up cos my risk threshold have increased.
My motto then was "risk it all or go home". I dived in and went all out.
- My target was to be a millionaire before I graduate and at this rate, nothing could stop me because the million was at arm's reach but that didn't disturb my profession cos my Dad expect to see your result after paying such a huge price to send me to college to study Medical Laboratory Science. Couldn't afford to break his heart and trust..
I also went into buying strange crytocurrencies and one of them was OBC coin without analysing them or doing my research. The truth of the matter was that I knew it would crash someday because nothing last for ever, but the question was when?.
Source
Well every story must have an end. And just last year, all the Ponzi platforms crashed within 3 months as if they planned it . Those that were still in operation went into Pause mode and Restart mode. My question afterwards was that who has bewitched me, and I found myself asking myself the WHY QUESTIONS?. It was too late and it took me months to recover. Luckily for me, I've already been inducted into my professional body; otherwise I would've left school 😟😟😟😟😟😞
A wonderful story you must admit and I'm wiser now because I lost EVERYTHING I ever made from the Ponzi schemes, broke many trust because my person and what I stood for was on a dangerous scale but I came out with God's help and experience.
LESSONS LEARNT
- Don't ever invest your cash intoany platform you know nothing about their mode of operation, how they make their money and what to expect
- Do intensive research and if you sense anything shaddy, run for your life
There is no easy money anywhere; because money is reward for value offered
There is dignity in labour and no substitute for hard work
There's no business with zero risk. A trap in disguise
Source
If you must take risk, let it be a well calculated skills into a business that you can control the outcome
E.g- taking loan from a bank to do forex trading is not wise because you can't control the outcome or movement of the curve
- Always have RESERVE. My special golden rule 😁
Open a separate account to keep your reserve cash and discipline yourself not to touch it no matter what. That cash should be kept for solid investment that you can leverage
- Allow your money to work for you, but be very cautious in your approach. Buy good crytocurrencies with your raw cash and convert into liquid cash free from bank manipulation and charges.
- But do extensive research about the crytocurrency and make sure it's listed in the ICO market and it's growing well. I always advise people not to buy new crytocurrencies because it is yet to be tested by TIME.
- Give it time as you continue to follow the trend
- Finally be patient and learn to apply the brakes before investing in any business idea or enterprise
Don't ever invest into any GHOST business. Many turn out to be a snare in disguise
Make sure the business is registered with the Cooperate Affairs Commission (C.A.C) or any international body in your country; they must have contact address, a real address and a good track record. In case anything goes wrong you can always have somebody to hold onto or to sue 😎.
Wisdom and discretion will save you.
Thanks for your time and watch out for my next post tomorrow. Drop your comments, questions and upvote ok and retweet if possible. Stay blessed!!