pyramid schemes
THE Gisborne Budget Advisory Service is warning people to be wary of signing up to dodgy get-rich-quick-schemes, after some local people were conned into laundering money.
“The general advice is if it looks too good to be true, then it probably is”, said GBAS manager Lynda Markie.
Be suspicious of get rich quick promises and don’t rush into anything. Take time to check things out thoroughly before handing over any personal information or money. Talk to family and friends, do some online checks to make sure the company is legitimate and get some independent advice before committing.
Ms Markie said the service saw regular evidence of people being drawn into “dodgy activities”.
“We have seen clients get into trouble after providing their bank details to receive a deposit of funds into their accounts. They are told to forward the funds to another specified account keeping some back for themselves as payment. Unfortunately this is money laundering and banks freeze accounts when noticing unusual activity and notify the police.”
“What we see at the service is that people in desperate situations turning to high risk activities. When incomes have been so low over an extended period that only the very basics are covered people become desperate for necessities of life that are out of their reach. This makes them vulnerable to door knockers, loan sharks and dodgy pyramid schemes.
“Ultimately these things put them in a worse financial position, but the immediate relief or hope that they promise can be a powerful hook.”
Ms Markie said people should make online checks to ensure any entity promising quick returns was a legitimate company.
GBAS budget advisors would be happy to perform those checks for residents, she said.
Ms Markie added that the Cobden Street-based service provided free advice to people on a confidential an non-judgmental basis and urged anyone in financial difficulty to contact GBAS.
In the latest marketing scam targeting Gisborne, a sponsored Facebook post claimed a Gisborne man named Jack Williams had taken advantage of a so-called “secret formula” revealed to him by Richard Branson, to make thousands of dollars of money by trading binary options.
However, the scheme requires a $250 deposit from those that sign up, and an internet search revealed the picture used to depict the man had also previously appeared labelling him as hailing from several different cities in New Zealand, Australia and the United States.