On the 10th January this year a class action lawsuit was filed against Quixtar (formerly known as Amway). This class action lawsuit charges that the company are operating an illegal pyramid scheme, a move which could have far reaching consequences for the MLM world.
The charges target the very heart of what MLM has become synonymous with - that there is no real selling of product and that profits are earned primarily from recruiting others beneath you in the pyramid scheme.
Al Gore
The charges have been raised by a law firm known as Boies, Schiller and Flexner - David Boies represented Al Gore in the Gore vs. Bush vote counting case during the 2000 Presidential election.
The suit brings similar charges to those that have shut down other MLM operations, namely that recruits are buying products for personal use rather than to sell at retail and that they are given incentives to recruit further members to the scheme under the same conditions. It is further alleged that the resulting multi-level compensation scheme associated with such recruitment is nothing more than a fraud.
Interestingly, Quixtar’s own payout data shows that less than 1% of those who sign up to their scheme ever earn any profit. Lawyers will attempt to prove that this is due to the pyramid recruitment model and non-selling of real product rather than the inability of new recruits to be successful.
I think most countries receive this popular game show now don’t they? The version in the UK is hosted by Chris Tarrant. Am I saying he wants to scam you? NO! Of course not. But someone does.
A new lottery scam of sorts, the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire ruse runs something like this -
The potential victim receives an email saying they have won a large sum of money, such as $1m, in an online draw run by the popular television show. It then goes on to list two alternative ways of making contact to claim the winnings - a couple of UK 070 phone numbers or a yahoo.co.uk email address.
Choosing either method could prove costly!
Send an email and the scammer will be looking to obtain your personal information, possibly to aid in identity theft.
Call the phone line and you will most definitely NOT be phoning a friend. Instead you will more than likely get redirected to some foreign country and will be paying excessive call charges whilst the scammer once again tries to extract your personal information.
There’s no 50:50 about it - this scheme is a scam. Don’t bother asking the audience, just give it a wide berth and don’t get suckered in.
As the market for self certified mortgages grows, so does the pressure for tighter regulations for self certified mortgages.
Those who have a keen interest in the future of self certified mortgages may have noticed that they are beginning to appear more and more frequently in the media. Self certified mortgages - which enable the borrower to certify their income without needing to supply standard income documentation – may be extremely popular with the self employed but they are also a cause for concern for the regulatory bodies.
Despite being introduced over ten years ago, it is only over the last few years that significant concerns have been raised over the future of self certified mortgages. Many experts believe that although self certification mortgages have worked well until now, the situation could be completely different should the UK economy take a turn for the worst. The worry is that mortgage lenders have, during the last few booming house market years, relaxed lending rules too far allowing many unsuitable borrowers to qualify for self certified mortgages.
Traditionally self certified mortgages were normally only suitable for the self-employed. However as the UK economy has grown in strength, the attitude towards self certified mortgages has changed, resulting in lenders approving self certified mortgages for a range of applicants such as temporary employees or part-time workers. Moreover, there are concerns that desperate house buyers may lie about their income in order to secure themselves a mortgage.
These concerns have been thoroughly investigated by the FSA and on the whole it is thought that the majority of those being accepted for self certified mortgages are not being encouraged to exaggerate their income and that they are fully suitable for self certified mortgages. This is thought to be as a result of a push for lenders to tighten up their procedures in detecting more fraudulent applications. Although normally this would suggest that the future of self certified mortgages and self cert remortgages is secure, the regulatory bodies still seem to be concerned over the possibility for future abuse of the system.
So what does all this mean for the average borrower interested in self employed mortgages? The changes in regulation which have so far taken place may mean that it is more difficult to obtain a self certified mortgage. However, it also means that you are only likely to be accepted for this type of mortgage if you are really suitable for it. For those borrowers who are bent on obtaining a self certified mortgage regardless of whether they have to lie about their earnings, the future may indeed be bleak but for those who are interested in self certified mortgages as they genuinely meet the self certified mortgage criteria, the future looks bright.
Terry Ruddy is the Sales & Marketing Director of The Mortgage Broker Ltd one of the fastest growing mortgage brokers in the UK. To read more articles on self cert mortgages please visit the self cert mortgage centre.
I like the way this latest advance fee solicitation references the fact that the obligatory deceased millionaire has the same surname as me. This amuses me as it was sent to my “Jack Hov” email address that I used when investigating the Russian dating site!!
Dear Friend,.
I am PETER FISCHER, An Accountant in London, United Kingdom. I got yourcontact from the British Council, and I have decided to contact you so that we can carry out this mutually beneficial business transaction. My late Client (A National of your COUNTRY) until his death aboard an AERO FLIGHT 801 in 2001 deposited a total of USD$5.5M with CHARTERED BANK OF LONDON , UNITED KINGDOM.He gave me the custody of the deposit documents,
and as such entrusted me with the Legal Rights
to transfer and execute this deposit to any Next
of Kin after his demise. I have since tried to
locate any Next of Kin without success, hence I
decided to contact you so that you can rightfully
stand as the next of kin to inherit the deposited
sum by virtue of the fact you share the same SURNAME
as my late CLIENT. I am writing you confidentialy because you will be <>able to claim
this DEPOSIT because you have the same
SURNAME as my Late CLIENT.
You will be entitled to 40% of the total sum should
you be willing to assist me in this business
transaction, 10% will be earmarked for taxation
expense and I will get the remaining 50%.
I will prepare a formal agreement to gui de
us in this transaction for accountability purpose.
Please reply to my private email: accountantfischer@yahoo.co.uk
Yours truly,
PETER FISCHER
42 Campshill Road, London United Kingdom.
Tel: + 44 7040116358
Hmmmm, that’s interesting. Another “respected” businessman, i.e. an accountant, using a yahoo email address. Strange that he didn’t choose to use his business email - after all, he says he has the LEGAL RIGHTS to do as he suggests!!!
If your email inbox is anything like mine then your spam filter probably receives a good few offers of cheap software - I know I get over a dozen a day.
OEM
Advertised as “OEM” the prices stated are often far less than retail.
Does this mean they are trying to scam you though?
Firstly, what you have to realise is that software sales are often covered in detail by licensing agreements.
If you purchase or use software in a manner not covered by the licence then you are breaching it’s terms and are, effectively, breaking the law.
OEM products are almost always shipped with hardware.
So, if this OEM software is being offered as a standalone product then that should be a warning sign at least.
Software Scams
Other pointers that may indicate that the deal is a scam are -
- The email makes a big point of telling you it’s legal - funnily enough this is usually a sign that it isn’t - genuine retailers wouldn’t need to labour this point.
- There are disclaimers in the email that prohibit you from initiating a chargeback on any monies paid, or worse, a clause allowing the seller to sue should you attempt a chargeback.
- The seller states that the software cannot be registered - this usually suggests that it is a copy.
- There is no warranty available.
- It is stated or implied that no updates will be available.
If you do decide to go ahead with the purchase then you may be taking some risks.
For instance, exposing your credit card details to a scammer at the time of purchase, a faulty product for which you have no means of recourse, a piece of software that contains a virus, trojan, etc designed to cause problems to your system or to install malicious code to extract your bank and other details.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
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