MMM Global Republic of BTC - Sergei Mavrodi ponzi scheme! Stay away

[lemipawa]

Above a certain level, that's probably true, but at the bottom of the pyramid most are firmly in denial, having drunk heavily of the Kool Aid.
On social media, the South African scheme for example, first time 'investors' are sharing their dreams of new furniture/cars/houses and attack anyone who queries it.
Among people who see little future for themselves and their families because of a corrupt financial system, Mavrodi's message is a genius piece of button pressing.

The MLM style pyramid is just a plus, meaning you can earn more if you have recruits but you can earn even without recruits which makes it more questionable as to where do they get the interest that they will pay you... answer is obvious 

[Vandroiy]

Even being known as an anti-ponzi fanatic, I don't quite see how this is a scam.

What exactly is Mavrodi claiming that distinguishes this from gambling? He seems to be sprinkling jealousy triggers over his site, but that's not fraudulent in itself, is it? Yes, there is some pretty crazy stuff on the site, but still, read this quote:

All transferred BITCOINS to another participants are your help given by your own good will to another one, absolutely gratis. If you are completely confident and certain in your actions and make your mind to participate, we kindly ask you to study carefully all warnings and instructions first.

And another, REALLY standing out

WARNING!

There are no guarantees and promises! Neither explicit nor implicit.

I don't think Mavrodi will have a hard time sleeping at night if he takes money from people who project their greed onto this kind of thing. This is NOT the same as a typical, criminal Ponzi. At first glance, I'm not quite sure why it should be categorized as a scam instead of gambling.

[tmfp]

Gambling, in its classic sense, has odds which can be calculated by reference to the rules of the game.
All factors regarding your gamble are disclosed and you know that it's statistically likely that you will lose in the long term, if only because of house edge, but you bet because it's fun or because you think you'll be the One.

Mavrodi is an intelligent man, he knows he can't pitch a sustainable 100% increase per month scheme to people who have a basic grasp of finance.
He knows he can pitch it to two groups of people
Those who see the potential to jump in and out before it implodes
Those who want it to work because it's their quick road to riches.

He also knows that those in both groups will ignore any disclaimers.
Where or how he sleeps is unknown, probably upside down in a closet.

[tmfp]

Somebody had to, sooner or later.
On the South African Facebook site, among all the posts of new cars and furniture that "Help Providers" were gleefully accumulating thanks to the Saviour Mavrodi, it was only a matter of time till someone had to ask THE QUESTION

 

Suggestions came fast and some, furious:

Computer programing

  I dnt even wana knw as long it pays me am ok with it

You mean the interest?....same place where creator of facebook and Microsoft get money...Data Usage

It's like the insurance companies, when we are paying our premiums, they pay claims with the money we pay.

the money comes from host engines, big data, blockchain tech, bitcoin and bitcoin mining

I for one i think they get it from trading.

this is funny i told ppl about mmm and they said its satanism lol, awu when banks are eating your money its not satanism?

One or two got closer to the truth (didn't get any likes tho)

MMM does not invest that's the problem, the source of the money is members qha so if the system losses membership then....,....!

truth is the power is in new members without them there is no payout

But, everyone's misgivings were put to rest when Teko Joseph De-huis turned up and explained it all carefully

Guys, i've been reading your comments. Now, let me tell you where the money comes from. Our system is automated and programmed to trade one currency versus another currency. MMM is trading a Rand versus a Dollar just like Kipi is trading a Rand versus a Euro. Ok? One rand is weaker than these two currencies, so that is how we make our profits. With one rand you make fifteen rand, but now to keep the system going, some of the money remain in the system. Ok. The system is our own transparent broker.

He didn't convince everyone tho

Money laundering.

[alani123]

MMM is indeed the social virus it claims to be. In order for depositors to reach the 100% returns they have to complete promotional web-tasks that will rake them an additional return percentage. One of the tasts is (or at least used to be) to create a bitcointalk account advertising MMM, perhaps that's why there was such a huge influx of new accounts.

They have even hired moderators to review the validity of completed tasks by users. There are several tasks available to each user every 24 hours or so. Most tasks consist of facebook posts, but others include account creation and posting on social networks like tsu.co, tumblr, twitter and blogger. Here's what the task page actually looks like. Each task receives around 150k completions that are sent for approval each day. Remember that there are multiple tasks available. If the numbers are true, that means that there are close to 1m people actively using the platform on a daily basis.

[mexxer-2]

Lol I just love talking to their support guy:
Try them guys, LAMO
Edit: Forgot using the image embed link, edited

[Bought]

Seems legit this program is designed for "people to help each other" 

[alani123]

Lol I just love talking to their support guy:
Try them guys, LAMO

It's quite funny, those guys are providing people with extremely detailed guides on how to buy bitcoin only for them to use it the worst way possible, in a ponzi scheme. Millions are introduced to bitcoin this way.

[Funny]

Lol I just love talking to their support guy:
Try them guys, LAMO

Lol. I tried it as well. They copy paste everything.

[alani123]

Lol I just love talking to their support guy:
Try them guys, LAMO

Lol. I tried it as well. They copy paste everything.

In my case the guy sent me an email with step by step instructions on how to find the best bitcoin exchange to buy from, and even included directions on what to do after buying bitcoin (getting a wallet, transferring etc). For a pyramid scheme they're really organised. I speculate that the people answering in the chat aren't really paid a salary though, more like trying to get referrals. And it's most likely that they got hired for having put thousands in the system already. So it's self explanatory why the "support" sucks oftentimes. I've bothered them a couple of times after mexxer-2 did, it's kinda funny.

[tmfp]

Not looking too rosy in MMMland China. After the explosion of interest and investment late last year (that possibly helped increase Bitcoin's value), some currently unverifiable comments

jan 16, 2016:
MMMGlobal the biggest scam in the world. At the beginning you can get you money and interest but later all you have will disappear.
I am a paricipant from China and now our money is lost for good. So be careful. Take your money out as soon as possible and never do it again.

jan 16, 2016:
mmm is scam. today, in china many MMM leader has been killed. and so a lot of mmm member death from a building.

Possible trigger for the inevitable is Chinese government action, as reported on http://english.caixin.com/2016-01-19/100901352.html

tl,dr:

The January warning said MMM China is among an emerging number of unlicensed organizations that aim to attract online investors with promises of high returns while employing a business model that looks to be a Ponzi scheme...

"Such operating models present huge investment risks and their capital flows are not sustainable," the warning said. "Once the capital chain breaks, investors will face severe losses."

The dreaded "reset"

Several investors told Caixin the website closed in December, freezing their accounts without warning. A December 25 announcement on the website said investment cycles and interest payments would be calculated differently in the future, and all previous requests for withdrawals had been canceled.
Investors could still not get into their accounts as of January 19.

A google translated headline from TMTPost

"MMM hoax" looted Chinese, ten billion private assets is cleared

Meanwhile, in RSouth Africa, where MMM has both MMMRSA and MMMGlobal, socmed reports that one of South Africa's largest retail banks, Capitec, are making life difficult for large cash GH/PH movements, causing much wailing and anger amongst MMMers.
South Africa has a long history of "stokvels", localized mutual lending clubs, and many people view MMM as just a bigger and better version.
They also have a big hacker/scammer problem because of the unsophistication of the majority of their user base.
Whether this will drive more traffic to the bitcoin denominated MMMGlobal version remains to be seen, or it might signal that the authorities are finally getting their ass in gear.

[geralth]

omg, its still advertised for refs... (bitter.io)

but hey

THANKS AGAIN bitcointalk.org !!!!

Geralth/Jump
Anyone here from demoscene?

[paja93]

I LOVE MMM GLOBAL <3
You only need to learn how system work. BTC dont go on owner wallet..
member paid to member.
I get paid every day about $10 and im for now happy.
I start with only $10 invest,and every $10 when i earn i withdraw that and than put back. I have about $300 in system, but i will increase that. I work this about 2 month and i can tell you. This really work. My sponsor work two years..about $150 daily she have..

[tmfp]

I wonder where these morons think the 100% interest comes from?
I have a look at a MMM FB page and occasionally someone asked the question. They get shouted down for being "Disloyal" and "negative" most times, but when they do think about it, apparently it comes from the same Magic Money tree where Facebook and Twitter get theirs.