I have educated myself in tactics people use to scam other people. When I'm suspicious about a "company" I will research them before investing or referring anyone to invest.

Things to look for in a valid company:

1. Transparency
   It is easy to contact a representative and the domain registration has a name telephone number and address of a valid business.

2. Offers a product or service
   "Money for nothing and my checks for free" ... There is no such thing as money for nothing, and if you earn from referrals then your money comes from the referrals. While pyramids are still legal in some parts of the world, the US, UK, and EU ban them.

3. References and Endorsements from other businesses
   This one is optional, but helps prevent a bad investment.

I recently researched a pyramid "mining" scam. They have an expired business number in London, an address that is a whole apartment building (not a data center), and a picture of the CEO of Genesis standing in front of his mining farm as their "proof of equipment". I was easily able to detect the scam by looking up the registered business number and reverse image searching the picture.