老鼠會騙局
Ponzi Scheme is a Meeting of the Rats
November 18, 2012 06:00 AM | 7565 次 | 0 
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Since the 2008 FInancial Crisis, the unemployment in the US remains high, and many unemployed cannot find a job for a long while, and many jumped into MLM (also known as network marketing or direct selling), and thus there is an explosion of MLM companyes in recent years. Now, including Harvard, Stanford, and about 200 other higher learning schools offer MLM related courses, thus MLM is now a part of capitalist society's mainstream.
但是多層次行銷公司水準參差不齊，如果不懂得怎樣判別，很容易掉進陷阱之中。今年六月，我高中時代最要好的同學從台灣打電話來給我，要我替他查查一家名叫zeek rewards的美國多層次行銷公司。他說在台灣很多人加入，只需要每天上網點擊幾分鐘，公司就發獎金，什麼貨都不用買，他的朋友催促他趕快入會賺錢，他要我看看這公司是不是在搞騙局。
However, there is no standard of performance among MLM companies. If you do not do your own due diligence, you will fall for a scam. In June of this year, one of my high school buddies called me from Taiwan, asking me to help him look into a US MLM company called "Zeek Rewards". He said lots of people in Taiwan have joined. Just go online few minutes a day, click on something, and the company pays! You don't need to buy ANYTHING, and his friends are all asking him to join. He wants me to check if this company is a scam.
我最近這幾年為幾家多層次行銷公司提供翻譯服務，所以對這個行業有一點認識。正好這時候有一位見過兩次面的友人，要我加入zeek rewards作她的下線。我問她zeek rewards這家公司賣什麼產品，她說沒有產品，就是賣廣告，每天上網點擊，就是替公司作廣告，就靠這個公司就發獎金，她的大上線一年多來已經賺了美金十五萬以上，每次領到的支票都影印存檔，她親眼看到這份檔案，絕對不是騙人的。
I recently helped several MLM companies do translations, so I know something of this industry. I had also previously ran into an acquaintance who wanted to recruit me for Zeek Rewards, so I asked her what does Zeek Rewards sell. She said no products, just sell ads. Just go online and post and you're helping the company advertise, and the company pays you for that. Her upline in the past year earned over $150K US, and have all the cancelled checks to prove it. She saw the cancelled checks, and it definitely was not a scam.
接著我發現很多認識的人都在做zeek rewards，其中有一群不用上班的人，每天早上在一家麥當勞聚會，並且上網查看又多拿到了多少的獎金，看著獎金數目不斷增加，大家的心情都很興奮，成天笑口常開，有時甚至忘我到了旁若無人大聲喧嘩的境界。由於我和其中的一位是多年的朋友，我知道他不會跟我說謊，他確實有許多獎金在zeek rewards帳戶上，但是公司鼓勵大家不要領走現金，把獎金留在帳戶裡可以得到額外的獎勵，所以他一直沒有把錢提出來。
I checked further and many people I know are already in Zeek Rewards. Apparently a group of them who don't work just meet at a McDonalds every day, and go online to see how much they got paid daily. As the money amount keeps going up, they are all excited and happy, and often, cheering and high-fiving each other. One of them was my friend for many years, so I know he won't lie to me. His account really shows a pretty high balance, but the company recommends nobody make any withdrawals, as it will gain additional bonus if left in the account, so he never took a penny out.
我的心裡開始徬徨，我在想，一個什麼都不賣的公司，哪裡來的利潤呢？可是這些在做的人，有些真的是領到了相當多的錢。我甚至想，就放幾千塊進去吧，如果真的像他們說的不到半年就翻一倍，到時我就抽身，平白賺個幾千塊也不錯呀！
My own heart started to wonder... how can a company that doesn't sell anything earn this much profit? But these people who do "work the system" are earning money... Maybe I can put in a few thousand, get 100% profit in a few months like they said, then get out... It'd be cool to have a few thousand extra money...
所幸我的理智還是戰勝了貪欲，我寫了一封電子郵件給在台灣的友人，跟他說我確實看到了不少人已經賺到很多錢，但是這樣的空殼公司遲早會垮的，那些出了錢還沒賺回本的，將是最終的輸家，所以千萬別碰。
But my logic overruled my greed. I wrote back to my friend in Taiwan, that I saw a bunch of people earning a lot of money, but such an empty company is going to fail sooner or later, and those people who joined and did not actually earn back money they put in will end up being losers, so definitely don't touch with a ten foot pole.
此後不到一個月，有一天早上我看到電視新聞報導，zeek rewards被美國聯邦證管會SEC勒令歇業，公司被控經營龐氏騙局 （也就是俗稱的老鼠會），也就是拿新進會員投資的錢作為獎金，發給舊的會員，公司的財務狀況已經瀕臨破產，前後吸入的六億美元則所剩無多了。又過了幾天，新聞報導說，調查人員在公司創始人的家裡搜出了三百萬元的現金。
Less than a month later, one morning I saw on the TV news that Zeek Rewards was shut down by SEC as a Ponzi scheme (Chinese call it a "rat party"). Zeel took the money from the late comers and used it to pay the early birds. Company is going bankrupt. There isn't much left of the 600 million. A few days later, there was news that investigators found 3 million in cash in the founder's home.
我在洛杉磯認識的雪莉女士損失相當慘重，她原先自己以五千美元加入，眼看獎金天天節節升高，就用先生和三個孩子的社安號碼又各以五千元開了四個帳戶，連一分錢的獎金都還沒有領出，公司就倒了，所以她一共賠了兩萬五千元。我們的祖先說：天下沒有不勞而獲的事，老美的常言道：天下沒有白吃的午餐，可見古今中外都不認為有錢從天上掉下來的美事。
A Ms. Shirley I know in LA lost a lot of money. She put in 5K herself, and saw the numbers keep going up, so she put in another 20K using her husband's SSN, and that of her 3 kids. She haven't gotten a penny out, and now the company's dead. So she lost 25K. Our Ancestors said it well, there is nothing free in this world. The American version is "there ain't no free lunch". The whole world, past and present, still agree that there is no such thing as easy money.
Read more:世界新聞網-北美華文新聞、華商資訊 - 老鼠會騙局
Original URL: http://www.worldjournal.com/view/full_lit/20844640/article-%E8%80%81%E9%BC%A0%E6%9C%83%E9%A8%99%E5%B1%80?instance=lit
While there are some inaccuracies in the account, the gist is quite accurate.
Thanks KS for all your hard work re: zeek. There is a Chinese mother and son team in Brooklyn NY who took in a couple of dozens people into zeek. Now their downlines want their money back, and and mother and son have no money to give back.
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