[comfortablynumb]

Related thread about the precursor to internet marketing

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...rketing-6.html

[TorqueyTechie]

I have been hearing about this scheme from a close friend of mine from past 3-4 months. Every time we meet he brings this topic and asks me to join. Seems like he is reaping the reward ever since he has joined it and is earning close to 25k extra per month. It is like an umbrella scheme where in you have to create a network of people under you and the same continues to them as well. I am always skeptical in these kind of things and had told him that I would not be comfortable in joining this and invariably I have started to avoid him which is sad .

Might be a legit business model but I am happy with not investing money in it. If it works good for all of them who have invested and if it does not then I can only pity them.

[S_U_N]

This thread can save a lot of money for the unsuspecting newbie. Please continue sharing names of the companies/ schemes.

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

I have been hearing about this scheme from a close friend of mine from past 3-4 months.

Can you disclose the name of the scheme for the benefit of the community so that those who wish to stay away are not caught off-guard when someone calls them for to meet at a famous cafe in town?

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

Can you disclose the name of the scheme for the benefit of the community so that those who wish to stay away are not caught off-guard when someone calls them for to meet at a famous cafe in town?

Oops the discussion was happening in a separate thread and then it got merged into this one. So the scheme as (Mr.sajo has mentioned in the previous page) is called Socialtrade where in you have to pay Rs. 57K to enroll into the program. You will get some links which you have to keep clicking to increase the count for which you get paid. More details in here

[mayankk]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

Oops the discussion was happening in a separate thread and then it got merged into this one. So the scheme as (Mr.sajo has mentioned in the previous page) is called Socialtrade where in you have to pay Rs. 57K to enroll into the program. You will get some links which you have to keep clicking to increase the count for which you get paid. More details in here

This thing is working so far. My wife started on this sometime back, and the payouts have been taking place like clockwork. It takes about 3 months to get all the money that you put in, back.
However, like GTO said, this is not sustainable because at the end of the day, the clicks are not adding any value to the client. This may fizzle out today, or may continue for some time, but is definitely not a forever thing.

[VKumar]

Looks like, this specific business model hasn't left any part of the country. BTW, I know a guy who currently owns an A4 out of this business itself. I follow a very simple rule; I appreciate anyone working hard and making money, give best wishes too, but won't be joining you in the journey.

Actually it's all fine if anyone is making some honest money. The guys are simply using their marketing skill or their relationships to make some white money; they aren't looting or making black money any ways. Only point is, I can't join you in the journey. The fact is, either don't join in or if you do, then work hard. When you make tonnes of money, I promise that I won't badmouth you or call you a fraudster or scammer (They are very different people and not these marketeers). The friend who buys nutralite, Amway car wash and Amway silcone glaze etc for me is an Amway agent, working full time for Amway since over 10 year. I believe that he is doing really well, well enough that he can retire now itself at an age, less than 40.

So, I have been approached by the guys riding on Activa to the guys riding in Audi (When their juniors call them, telling that this person can get 50-60-70 people and blah blah, they actually appreciate you and put you on cloud nine in no time) and every time, the response is simple: come in, have some tea, sit, talk, take my time respectfully (You are my guest after all), discuss everything, take best wishes and leave - don't give a phone call later, if you want to ask me if I am joining in or not.

[sajo]

Socialtrade is nothing but a money circulation scheme. The ad-clicking thing is just busywork , buried in just enough legal mumbo-jumbo to fly under SEBI's radar . They take your money and give it to someone else, and you get yours (!?) once somebody else is suckered into joining.
At 4,00,000 active users (as per their claims) , they are sitting on a cool pile of 22,80,00,00,000 Rupees earning interest. The day someone reports it/SEBI takes notice due to the large sum involved, the promoters are going to bolt with bolt with your money.

[Rachit.K.Dogra]

Originally Posted by GTO

It's a scam - as others have said, they will keep paying as long as they keep finding new suckers. Once new enrolments stop, so will the money. Avoid.

I had the exact same feeling. There would be a day when they will have enough people submitting 57000, and that is when they might suddenly disappear. Most money doubling schemes did pay initially enrolled few people, to get the word of mouth spread, and then when they got enough deposits is when they vanished.

Originally Posted by GTO

In the short term, yes. You'll see rates anywhere between Rs. 2 / click (cheap) to Rs. 10 (average) on Indian websites. Some keywords on google (e.g. car insurance) can get 300 - 500 bucks a click! These are the ones you see next to search results.

300-500 bucks a click?
Wow!! That is excellent money. I never knew it could be this much!!
I guess this might also be a reason why hosting new websites and blogs has almost become free.

Thank you

Rachit

[Joxster]

Originally Posted by mayankk

This thing is working so far. My wife started on this sometime back, and the payouts have been taking place like clockwork. It takes about 3 months to get all the money that you put in, back.
However, like GTO said, this is not sustainable because at the end of the day, the clicks are not adding any value to the client. This may fizzle out today, or may continue for some time, but is definitely not a forever thing.

+1

I agree that it is not a sustainable source of income. But even if it lasts for 1 year, you get more than your money back, which is what made me go for it, and it has paid off so far, so I'm happy.

Originally Posted by GTO

What legal documents convinced you? On that link, I only see that it's incorporated, has PAN / service tax numbers etc.

Please don't be misled. There is nothing from these 'legal documents' to separate a solid company from a fraud.

The documents you mentioned above convinced me

However, as I mentioned in my comment above, I don't have any pipe dreams about this Company/Website. The way I looked at it, as long as I was getting my investment money back, anything over and above it is good.

Also, unlike other MLM schemes, you actually earn your money from the links assigned to you on a daily basis (regardless of whether there is any value add in them), rather than trying to sell some product to someone.

Sure, you can earn more by referring people, but that is optional. And when I'm telling someone about this Website, I make it very clear that it is a risk, and I won't be responsible if it doesn't work out in the end. I do not try pressuring them, covering any facts, or give them dreams about being rich or anything.

Once I get my money back, I'll be happy with whatever I earn over and above it

Cheers

[blackasta]

I have a few stories to tell from my end w.r.t MLM:

1. During my school days (1997-98 if I recall), one of my private tutors jumped onto the Amway bandwagon. Man you should have seen the enthusiasm in that person's eyes. He coaxed us into buying sample packs (honestly do not remember how it was), delivered lectures on how a spanking new Santro (I remember the name) would be standing in front of his house in a few months, how easy was it to have downliners and get automatic money credited to your account and so on.
He left his post grad diploma to pursue Amway full time. Took about 1-2 years and 10-20k losses to shake off that ghost from his shoulders. 20 years later, we still remain friends, and he earns a honest living from teaching in an engineering college and private tuitions. And yes, last year he bought a spanking new Alto K10 with his hard earned money

2. Now the flip side - this was from 1995-96, and my recollection of this is a bit hazy, but a person in the locality of my maternal grandparents who had nothing and used to stay in his relatives place actually turned around his fortunes by solely using Amway. He bought land, built a 2 storied house with a double car garage, and bought 2 cars - one white plate for personal use and another yellow plate for business use. He was one of the earliest adopters I guess.

3. Friendship ruined - I have seen in front of my eyes how my mom lost a longtime friend of her's when she and her husband went head first into Amway. Any invitation to their house would turn out to be a marketing motivational session. So slowly all of my mom's friend circle started to avoid them. At last (and sadly) when she was diagnosed with advanced stage of oral cancer and left Amway did all her old friends reconcile. Sadly she passed away a few years back.

4. Stranger approaches you at a mall in USA=Amway.
Instance 1 in 2010 - Charlotte - I knew and actively avoided talking to strangers, especially desi ones, and sometimes feigned not knowing the language. But my gullible roommate not only spilled his number, but my number too, to a bengali guy at Walmart. The phones started, and only when I sternly stated that I do not want to get into any business did it stop.

Instance 2 in 2011 - Milwaukee - I was killing some time before a movie in a borders book store, and was a bit unmindful when I replied to that 'Hi' from a desi guy - there was it ! But this time I was prepared, and I only handed out google voice numbers :P . This guy was so desperate that he wanted to accompany me to my house. So I had to make up an imaginary girlfriend and somehow got rid of him.

Instance 3 in 2012 - Milwaukee - Fed up with the Amway gang, I only shopped at midnights in the local walmart. Guess what - a white guy caught me ! He approached me asking for directions, should have struck me there itself, but soon moved on to 'lucrative business deals' - luckily evaded him showing a passport cover I had bought and mentioned that I was flying home the following weekend.

[sajo]

To all Socialtrade "investors" :

http://www.news18.com/news/india/up-...d-1344058.html

My friends whom I tried hard to persuade are now repenting, some not even a month into their investment.

[guyfrmblr]

Originally Posted by blackasta

Stranger approaches you at a mall in USA=Amway.

These days I hate going to any supermarket near my home for this particular reason. I used to observe a particular desi couple who just roam in Walmart and Indian stores on evenings and weekends. They appear very friendly and if anyone just makes an eye contact with them, they'll befriend and try to trap them into 'lucrative business deals'. These days they have spread their wings to other supermarkets like Wegmans, Market Basket, etc. I avoid them like plague if I ever see them anywhere. There are many more like them but this particular couple just refuse to go away even if you directly tell them on their face that you are not interested in their deals . One of my friend had shared his contact number and he had to change his number to avoid their torture.

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by sajo

To all Socialtrade "investors" :

http://www.news18.com/news/india/up-...d-1344058.html

My friends whom I tried hard to persuade are now repenting, some not even a month into their investment.

I do agree. Two of my close friends burnt their fingers. They were trying to persuade others as well. I got lucky. Today I spoke to them and they have lost close to 3 lakhs. Feel sorry for them even though I had tried to tell them that its smells like a bad thing. No time to gloat and say , "I told you so" but I think it was their foolishness to think that earning money was so easy.

[glenmz]

Originally Posted by TorqueyTechie

I do agree. Two of my close friends burnt their fingers. They were trying to persuade others as well. I got lucky. Today I spoke to them and they have lost close to 3 lakhs. Feel sorry for them even though I had tried to tell them that its smells like a bad thing. No time to gloat and say , "I told you so" but I think it was their foolishness to think that earning money was so easy.

Another news in Times. The social trade guy has been arrested. Total scan size - Rs 3700 cr!

NOIDA: A 26-year-old BTech graduate tricked more than 6 lakh people into giving him their money through a Ponzi scheme that promised big returns for hitting 'likes' online. In a little over a year, Anubhav Mittal's Social Trade perpetrated a fraud of Rs 3,700 crore.
The scheme operated through a maze of dubious URLs (online links) sent to phones of subscribers that they were asked to click. Cheekily, these would sometimes be links to Facebook or Twitter profiles of other subscribers. A fake server was set up where these links would terminate.

News Link

[avisidhu]

Originally Posted by glenmz

Another news in Times. The social trade guy has been arrested. Total scan size - Rs 3700 cr!
.......

This is OT, but gotta say the story you really need to know, is yet to come. These guys will 'manage' the whole thing as long they have access to that money. Few years later, expect them to resurface in a new avatar in some other part of the country.

Know 2-3 such instances, one of whom now has a garage considered by many on Team-BHP to be among the best in India. Makes me a bit mad every time I see the posts, knowing what actually went behind the scenes.