jokach
August 20th, 2005, 01:48 AM
This article is based out of Ireland, however the feeling seems to be the same across the globe about what the "PIPS" program is really all about.
Reposted from:
http://www.unison.ie/meath_chronicle/stories.php3?ca=34&si=1451811&issue_id=12875
Some say they have been ripped off
Paul Murphy
A KELLS investor in a controversial “get rich quick” pyramid-style scheme said this week that there was nothing sinister about the scheme and that reports of being “ripped off” were exaggerated.
The Consumers Association last week issued a caution about the scheme called the People in Profit System (PIPS), which has been the subject of alerts in two US states and in Australia.
One person who contacted a national newspaper claimed that he had lost E5,000 and was now anxious to warn people against the scheme.
Another investor said the scheme is a “scam” that has swept Kells and was beginning to do the same in Navan. He said that 10-12 individuals had “blown this scam up by constantly preaching about its great rewards” and claimed that many people in Kells had put in E1,000-5,000.
He claimed that many people who had been pursued to join the scheme had borrowed money from the credit union and would never see their “investment” back unless they got a relative or friend to join the scheme.
It appears that initial investors in the scheme have received pay-offs but there have been recent reports of people waiting on a return on their investment since last November.
The scheme, which has its own website, claimed it was ‘designed to ensure members achieve the financial independence they desire’.
The site says ‘members can take comfort in the fact that they will be providing urgently needed aid to underdeveloped countries and will also be assisting in the building of a sustainable world environment’.
Under the terms of the scheme investors are asked to ‘loan’ $460 to the company. A sum of $35 is retained as an account set-up fee and the remaining $425 is characterised as a loan to the company for 180 days.
PIPS agrees to pay the investor with interest under a schedule depending on the type of plan the investor chooses. The interest payments on the loan can be as high as 5,000 per cent, with a $460 dollar loan purported to return over $8,000.
US and Australian officials have warned that the system was essentially an ‘illegal Ponzi scheme’. Named after US swindler Charles Ponzi, the scheme uses money from later investors to pay early investors, the US officials say.
One Meath investor claimed that the scheme worked initially but soon the payments had dried up and his E5,000 investment had now disappeared.
A Kells investor who has defended the scheme denied that he and a small group of people in the town were organisers or agents for the scheme. He said there had been a lot of talk about people being “ripped off”.
As a result of “sinister” messages posted on a website noticeboard, he and the others had consulted a solicitor. “First, there were a lot of people coming on to the website saying they could not get their money out of the company. Then it got a bit more sinister. People were being mentioned, not by name, but by their street addresses.”
The investor, who did not want to be named, said: “There’s nothing sinister about this. PIPS Incorporated is based in Malaysia. I joined up for $460 and I mentioned it to a few friends. I would explain to them what was involved but none of us were agents for the scheme.”
It was his belief that about 80,000 people worldwide were in the scheme, using 2,000 accounts. He said that he had spoken to “about 60 people” about the scheme. “On the website there are details of the terms and condi-
tions before you join. The type of investment would be termed high risk. There’s no guarantee of a return. It warns you not to invest if it is going to have an adverse effect on your life.”
Asked if people would be advised to borrow from a credit union or bank to go into the scheme, he said that it was up to every individual to decide what they should do. “It’s not something I would do but it’s up to every individual,” he said.
“The scheme has been okay to me. I was told that from November last the payments have been slow coming through but I think they were sorting that out. I think there was trouble getting the banks to forward the money for the scheme.”
The man said that some people thought that he and others got commission for getting people into the scheme or that they were agents for it “but that is not the case”.
He said the interest paid on the amount invested amounted to two per cent gross per trading day. “I was one of the first people to join it and when people heard about it I was getting calls night and day. I must have spoken to about 60 people. It just snowballed.”
He had put in no more than $2,000, he said.
Dermot Jewell, chief executive of the Consumers Association of Ireland (CAIU), said the reality was that reports of this scheme were just “variations on a theme” of schemes from which few, if any people, benefited.
He said that the number of these so-called ‘pyramid schemes’ were on the decline and the CAIU had not received any reports of the PIPS scheme to date. However, he said that the fact that this scheme was the subject of alerts in the US and Australia should put Irish consumers off getting involved.
jokach
Reposted from:
http://www.unison.ie/meath_chronicle/stories.php3?ca=34&si=1451811&issue_id=12875
Some say they have been ripped off
Paul Murphy
A KELLS investor in a controversial “get rich quick” pyramid-style scheme said this week that there was nothing sinister about the scheme and that reports of being “ripped off” were exaggerated.
The Consumers Association last week issued a caution about the scheme called the People in Profit System (PIPS), which has been the subject of alerts in two US states and in Australia.
One person who contacted a national newspaper claimed that he had lost E5,000 and was now anxious to warn people against the scheme.
Another investor said the scheme is a “scam” that has swept Kells and was beginning to do the same in Navan. He said that 10-12 individuals had “blown this scam up by constantly preaching about its great rewards” and claimed that many people in Kells had put in E1,000-5,000.
He claimed that many people who had been pursued to join the scheme had borrowed money from the credit union and would never see their “investment” back unless they got a relative or friend to join the scheme.
It appears that initial investors in the scheme have received pay-offs but there have been recent reports of people waiting on a return on their investment since last November.
The scheme, which has its own website, claimed it was ‘designed to ensure members achieve the financial independence they desire’.
The site says ‘members can take comfort in the fact that they will be providing urgently needed aid to underdeveloped countries and will also be assisting in the building of a sustainable world environment’.
Under the terms of the scheme investors are asked to ‘loan’ $460 to the company. A sum of $35 is retained as an account set-up fee and the remaining $425 is characterised as a loan to the company for 180 days.
PIPS agrees to pay the investor with interest under a schedule depending on the type of plan the investor chooses. The interest payments on the loan can be as high as 5,000 per cent, with a $460 dollar loan purported to return over $8,000.
US and Australian officials have warned that the system was essentially an ‘illegal Ponzi scheme’. Named after US swindler Charles Ponzi, the scheme uses money from later investors to pay early investors, the US officials say.
One Meath investor claimed that the scheme worked initially but soon the payments had dried up and his E5,000 investment had now disappeared.
A Kells investor who has defended the scheme denied that he and a small group of people in the town were organisers or agents for the scheme. He said there had been a lot of talk about people being “ripped off”.
As a result of “sinister” messages posted on a website noticeboard, he and the others had consulted a solicitor. “First, there were a lot of people coming on to the website saying they could not get their money out of the company. Then it got a bit more sinister. People were being mentioned, not by name, but by their street addresses.”
The investor, who did not want to be named, said: “There’s nothing sinister about this. PIPS Incorporated is based in Malaysia. I joined up for $460 and I mentioned it to a few friends. I would explain to them what was involved but none of us were agents for the scheme.”
It was his belief that about 80,000 people worldwide were in the scheme, using 2,000 accounts. He said that he had spoken to “about 60 people” about the scheme. “On the website there are details of the terms and condi-
tions before you join. The type of investment would be termed high risk. There’s no guarantee of a return. It warns you not to invest if it is going to have an adverse effect on your life.”
Asked if people would be advised to borrow from a credit union or bank to go into the scheme, he said that it was up to every individual to decide what they should do. “It’s not something I would do but it’s up to every individual,” he said.
“The scheme has been okay to me. I was told that from November last the payments have been slow coming through but I think they were sorting that out. I think there was trouble getting the banks to forward the money for the scheme.”
The man said that some people thought that he and others got commission for getting people into the scheme or that they were agents for it “but that is not the case”.
He said the interest paid on the amount invested amounted to two per cent gross per trading day. “I was one of the first people to join it and when people heard about it I was getting calls night and day. I must have spoken to about 60 people. It just snowballed.”
He had put in no more than $2,000, he said.
Dermot Jewell, chief executive of the Consumers Association of Ireland (CAIU), said the reality was that reports of this scheme were just “variations on a theme” of schemes from which few, if any people, benefited.
He said that the number of these so-called ‘pyramid schemes’ were on the decline and the CAIU had not received any reports of the PIPS scheme to date. However, he said that the fact that this scheme was the subject of alerts in the US and Australia should put Irish consumers off getting involved.
jokach