People on self-isolation are being increasingly targeted by financial scammers
Cash App Wheel Game: pyramid scheme or a way to make money? Source: shutterstock.com
People on self-isolation are being increasingly targeted by financial scammers. Many of those who had stable incomes before the pandemic are now looking for remote work or easy money. Others are just bored and may fall for those offers which they would usually ignore. The users of Twitter, WeChat, and other social media have recently received a promising message about the new cash app wheel scheme that allows earning $700 in a quick and effortless way.
Cash App Wheel Game
The message explains the process of earning a profit. 9 participants form the so-called “wheel” with one person in the middle and others on the outer ring. Everyone chips in $100 and the whole sum then goes to the central figure.
Basically, you invest $100 you will get $800 from your 8 fellow wheelers. Hence, your net profit is $700.
Then the wheel splits up and a new person gets to the middle and the cycle continues until you get to the middle and you’re getting $800. It takes you 3 circles to the middle, but you only pay $100 once.
When you get your $800 – you’re out, but you can pay $100 again to re-enter.
The conditions laid out in the message make the deal sound like a 100% win-win situation with infinite earning opportunities. However, there are many pitfalls in this scenario.
Firstly, if there are three wheels before one gets to the middle, at least 24 people have to join this shady business for you to qualify for the prize.
Secondly, it’s strange that you always become the third in line to the middle, considering there are 8 people in the outer ring with you.
Finally, there is always a possibility that the almighty wheel of cash will stop without finding the 8 people to make the next round. Those unlucky in the previous circle won’t get any rewards.
Not to mention that all participants you see on the wheel may actually be fake bot profiles, designed specifically to lure gullible people to invest their money in this strange financial scheme.
By the way, the wheel creators explicitly state it’s not any kind of illegal pyramid scheme. Telling the truth, consumers often have difficulty telling the difference between a scam and a legitimate multi-level marketing opportunity.
Why Cash App Wheel Game can be called a pyramid
At the same time, the pyramid is defined as a fraudulent system of making money based on recruiting an ever-increasing number of “investors.” The initial promoters recruit investors, who in turn recruit more investors, and so on.
One of the signs of a pyramid scheme is that your income relies on mass recruitment rather than selling any product with actual value. Therefore, the statement of the Cash App Wheel promotion is clearly misleading.
Please, pay attention to the fact that pyramid schemes are illegal in many US states. For example, Article 23A of the General Business Law of the State of New York §359-fff sets forth the criminality of initiating and participating in pyramid schemes (also known as chain distributor schemes). You’d better think twice before getting involved in this type of profit gaining.
Pyramid schemes are not only illegal; they are a waste of money and time. Because pyramid schemes rely on the recruitment of new members to bring in money, the schemes often collapse when the pool of potential recruits dries up (market saturation). In that case, only a few at the top of the pyramid (most often the founders and their closest allies) gain their money. Others lose all their initial investments and precious time.
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