By Prudence Minayo
Pyramid schemes have been in existence for a long time only mutating to continue milking the gullible. Over the years, many individuals have been swindled out of their hard earned money thanks to these schemes. What is so saddening is people still enter these schemes, whether literate or illiterate, and it seems more will continue to join them.
People enter into this schemes for various reasons. Some because of lack of knowledge, others want to get rich quick and we have the lot that is just curious while for most people the deal is just so good and those advertising it are experts at enticing them.
This article takes a look at the latest scheme known as Crowd 1. The scheme took the African content like a storm. Many were encouraged to join by friends, family and acquaintances who were already in it. The leaders claim that the scheme is targeted at helping out those riddled in poverty by empowering them, but is this true?
According to a media report carried out in South Africa by BBC, the founders of the company are from Sweden. The report also shows that some of the top officials at the company have been previously involved in other ponzi schemes. These scenes have scammed a lot of people.
Crowd1 Founder
Crowd1 was founded by Lars Johan Magnus Staël von Holstein, a Swedish entrepreneur involved in other con schemes. The 57 year old-who is also a venture capitalist and author- was behind other companies in Sweden like Icon Medialab and LetsBuyIt.
About Crowd 1
Founded in 2019, crowd 1 describes themselves as an established online networking and marketing company with intentions of giving members all over the world the unique opportunity to take part in the gig economy, quality education, international networking, and to contribute to achieving better digital equality in the world.
According to their website, the organization has millions of members and are looking to seek partnerships and collaborations from bigger organizations. They claim to have endless opportunities, more performance, more pro, more power, products, tools, and bonus plan.
They also claim to have launched a number of products to enable them make a profit and share it with members. MyGrithhub is the education program, AffilGo focuses on-online gambling and betting while Miggster is an online gaming platform. While all these seem to be very alluring, none of them have gone past the pre-launching stage. In fact, no games can be played but they are rather just generic description of games gotten from the internet. Their education package also seems to just be a copy cat of what can be found online. Even the magazines that are supposed to generate income for members are not available for sale and they seem to be just a way of advertising more of the company founders and their flamboyant lifestyle. (Source: BBC Africa)
Marketing
The company uses over the top marketing strategies. The marketing and advertising plan has definitely been well thought out. The videos that market the organization are lively, fun, colorful, over the top and entertaining. In a nut shell, the marketing is very enticing.
The organization also focuses mainly on African countries. They have identified Africa as their money making continent and have lured thousands if not millions of Africans to join them. This does not mean they do not focus on a few other countries outside Africa.
Packages
If you think of the joining the organization is free of charge, then think again. Like many such organizations, one has to pay in order to get the chance to join them. They offer packages depending on which level one wishes to join under.
The packages are:
White package at €99 – 100 shares.
Black package at €299 – 300 shares.
Gold package at €799 – 1,000 shares.
Titanium package at €2499 – 3,500 share.
The bigger the package, the more the education material.
The more people you register, the highest the chances of earning, according to Crowd 1.
Is it a scam?
There is a very big difference between multi level marketing and a pyramid scheme. In multi level marketing, recruited distributors gain money from product sales whereas in a pyramid scheme, one gets money from recruiting others and there are no products being sold.
Despite all the promises offered by crowd 1, people are not making any money out of it. The only people benefiting are those at the top of the organization. As the pyramid grows, those at the bottom end up losing rather than gaining anything. It is as if they are throwing their money in a bottomless pit.
The Covid-19 pandemic made crowd 1 popular among many Africans. The world was at a standstill, many lost their jobs and wondered how to ensure their savings lasts them through this period. When others were told about crowd 1, they thought it was a wonderful way to earn while staying at home during the lockdown period.
A report by BBC Africa, showed how some people lured into the scheme lost thousands with no hope of ever recovering their money. This provided a glimpse into how a lot of people around Africa have been deceived and lost money.
Various authorities around Africa have issued a warning to their people not to invest in Crowd 1.
The common market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) has warned many about pyramid schemes and gave crowd 1 as an example. Kenya’s six financial regulators warned about these schemes but did not mention any names.
The consumer alert by Comesa’s Competition Commission showed that crowd 1 has either been banned or is under investigation in various countries including Namibia, Philippines, Mauritius and New Zealand. (Source: The Standard on 10th September 2020).
Conclusion
The surest way to make money is through legitimate hard work and determination. Forget about the get-rich-quick schemes as there is no easy way to make money. Most organizations that ask you to invest with them and get rich within a short period of time are scams. The only people benefiting from your money are top level officials.
Crowd 1 has been described as a scam by many yet others still believe it is an honest platform to make money. This belief is further ingrained through their colorful advertisements and how enticing the top level management markets the opportunity. However, people should be wary of such schemes. The all time saying always warns that “if the deal is too good, think twice.”
Pyramid schemes have always been there and they will always be there. Most modern ones are marketed as online marketing or multi level marketing, but watch out lest you end up losing all your hard earned money.
