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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 16 of 16. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by partlycloudy on July 27, 2004, at 9:01:31
I got a call last night from someone I haven't heard from in 3 years. She was all excited about a Women's Gifting Circle and emphasized that it is not a pyramid scheme. My antennae went up at that - she's done the green algae thing in the past and is under a great deal of financial pressure. She wasn't pressuring me to join but I'm afraid FOR HER. Any insights?
Thanks, everyone.
Posted by AuntieMel on July 27, 2004, at 9:20:03
In reply to Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles?, posted by partlycloudy on July 27, 2004, at 9:01:31
I don't know about this one, but anytime someone emphasizes that it's not a pyramid I am convinced that it is.
Does google show anything?
Posted by partlycloudy on July 27, 2004, at 9:25:21
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles? » partlycloudy, posted by AuntieMel on July 27, 2004, at 9:20:03
Google found articles from 2002, nothing recent. I think I already know that it's a pyramid. I'm upset that she should call me out of the blue and it turns out to be because of THIS scheme. Maybe a past friend should remain in the past :(
Posted by TexasChic on July 27, 2004, at 12:08:10
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles? » AuntieMel, posted by partlycloudy on July 27, 2004, at 9:25:21
Unfortunately it's pretty typical for people involved in a pyramid sceme to call long lost friends. I think they must incourage it or something. And anytime they tell you its not one, that's usually a big red flag that it is.
I had a guy from church (a long, long time ago) who had me meet him at a restaurant to discuss a business deal (he was truly a nice guy, not a devious bone in his body). I didn't know about pyramid scemes then, so I was listening very intently. He got up to go to the restroom, and the elderly couple at the next table immediately started talking about it to me, saying these are bad things, be very careful, and stuff like that. I didn't end up participating in his deal, but I remember the first thing he said was, "This is not a pyramid sceme." Of course my response was, "What's a pyramid sceme?"
Posted by tabitha on July 27, 2004, at 13:18:29
In reply to Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles?, posted by partlycloudy on July 27, 2004, at 9:01:31
I saw it on one of those shows like 20/20 or Dateline-- it's a pyramid scheme.
Posted by Larry Hoover on July 27, 2004, at 13:34:28
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles? » AuntieMel, posted by partlycloudy on July 27, 2004, at 9:25:21
> Google found articles from 2002, nothing recent. I think I already know that it's a pyramid. I'm upset that she should call me out of the blue and it turns out to be because of THIS scheme. Maybe a past friend should remain in the past :(
Ya, it's a pyramid. One of the techniques to draw in naive people is to convince them to make a list of names....all the people they've ever met. Then they're convinced to contact all these people, in hopes that they bring in the next level of participants, and thus, supposedly, to secure their own place in the pyramid. Meanwhile, those at the top are making LARGE.
Gotta love that radar thingie. Why on Earth would someone say, "It's not a pyramid", unless it was one?
Lar
Posted by AuntieMel on July 27, 2004, at 13:48:13
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles? » partlycloudy, posted by TexasChic on July 27, 2004, at 12:08:10
Thanks for the memory. On my first trip to Poland in Feb '93 I was sitting at a restaraunt table one day. Next to me were some recently imported from America Amway salesmen.
These friends must have been lost for a very long time.
Of course, companies like Amway aren't technically pyramids 'cause they do sell a product, but it's a heck of a way to barge in on a fledgling democracy.
Posted by Catgirl on July 27, 2004, at 20:17:49
In reply to Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles?, posted by partlycloudy on July 27, 2004, at 9:01:31
What's the green algae thing?
> I got a call last night from someone I haven't heard from in 3 years. She was all excited about a Women's Gifting Circle and emphasized that it is not a pyramid scheme. My antennae went up at that - she's done the green algae thing in the past and is under a great deal of financial pressure. She wasn't pressuring me to join but I'm afraid FOR HER. Any insights?
> Thanks, everyone.
Posted by partlycloudy on July 28, 2004, at 7:06:35
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles?, posted by Catgirl on July 27, 2004, at 20:17:49
Green algae is a nutritional supplement and my friend was sucked into a pyramid scheme where she had to invest so many thousands of dollars into the company, then recruit people to retail the supplement for her. I've never taken the stuff, but, tellingly, she no longer does and is poorer for the experience. (She's always been someone who's looking for the quick buck.)
Posted by Catgirl on July 28, 2004, at 20:06:14
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles? » Catgirl, posted by partlycloudy on July 28, 2004, at 7:06:35
> Green algae is a nutritional supplement and my friend was sucked into a pyramid scheme where she had to invest so many thousands of dollars into the company, then recruit people to retail the supplement for her. I've never taken the stuff, but, tellingly, she no longer does and is poorer for the experience. (She's always been someone who's looking for the quick buck.)
>
Quick buck people are so funny. If they would spend as much time actually working as they seem to spend trying to avoid working, they would be better off!
Posted by lonelygirl on July 30, 2004, at 4:38:23
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles?, posted by Catgirl on July 28, 2004, at 20:06:14
When I was a teenager, I was always enthralled by the "work at home" schemes. I called or sent away for information on many of them, but they were all the same: they all required paying for the materials, the instructions, or something else in advance. I'm pretty sure they were all pyramid schemes in one form or another (the most ubiquitous was “stuffing envelopes,” which I’m pretty sure consisted of mailing out the same ads for stuffing envelopes in hopes that others would fall for it too and send money). I may have been young and naive, but I wasn't that stupid -- I knew better than to send someone money to let me work at home -- but I searched for a long time for legitimate one before I realized that they were ALL scams.
I am a little embarrassed about having been a stupid teenager thinking I could actually make a quick buck like that, but it really amazes me that ADULTS fall for these things all the time. I guess my early experiences with these scams ingrained in me the idea that, if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. I have read, though, that even smart people fall for scams, in part because they think, “I have good judgment and I’m too smart to fall for something that’s a scam,” so they don’t second-guess themselves.
Posted by partlycloudy on July 30, 2004, at 7:01:17
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles?, posted by lonelygirl on July 30, 2004, at 4:38:23
My friend who had called will be 50 this year and this is the third pyramid that I know of she's participated in. The other two I know she lost a lot of money on. She lost a ton this past year on a real estate deal, has a son whose final year of tuition has to be paid for, and I think she is once again after that elusive quick buck. I did tell her "thanks of thinking of me, but no thanks". We'll see if I ever hear from her again...
Posted by Susan47 on July 31, 2004, at 10:51:23
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles?, posted by Catgirl on July 28, 2004, at 20:06:14
Catgirl,
You're so right. My brother is a quick-buck person too and he's extremely intelligent (seems like an oxymoron, doesn't it?). I've often wondered where he'd be in life if he spent his pyramid-scheme energy on something real. He's not unsuccessful in life, either; his head keeps getting turned on this stuff and it's really a shame. It just seems like he can't think for himself, anymore.
I liked what Auntie Mel had to say about Amway (it could be anyname, right?) and democracy.
Posted by celulasabundancia on January 25, 2008, at 13:55:56
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles? » partlycloudy, posted by Larry Hoover on July 27, 2004, at 13:34:28
This pyramic scheme arrived to spain at 2007 and went to chile in 2008
Tha name: celulas de la abundancia (and much more, there is an article on wikipedia.
Posted by Phillipa on January 26, 2008, at 20:04:25
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles?, posted by celulasabundancia on January 25, 2008, at 13:55:56
Hi wanted to welcome you to babble social page. This is a fairly old thread and some people may no longer post. Why not try starting a new thread? This is at the bottom of the page . Again welcome and be sure to check out some other boards too. Phillipa
Posted by Justherself54 on January 26, 2008, at 23:36:17
In reply to Re: Anyone know anything about Gifting Circles?, posted by celulasabundancia on January 25, 2008, at 13:55:56
> This pyramic scheme arrived to spain at 2007 and went to chile in 2008
> Tha name: celulas de la abundancia (and much more, there is an article on wikipedia.
>
> http://celulasabundancia.blogspot.comWelcome to Babble. I googled celulas de la abundacia and had google translate the page to English..good explanation of the pyramid scheme..hope you keep posting..
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