MONEY COMMENT
'Hearts' Scam To Be Outlawed

By Jane Mack (TMFJane)
June 17, 2003

The Government is to outlaw the pyramid 'gifting' schemes that are thought to have caught out up to a million women in the UK.

Under plans to be announced towards the end of the week, anyone who makes money out of such a scheme - known as 'Hearts' or 'Women Empowering Women' – will be liable for prosecution and could face up to six months in prison and a fine of up to £5,000.

Under the Hearts scheme victims are persuaded to 'gift' £3,000 with the promise of a £24,000 payout if they are able to persuade eight of their friends to sign up. Inevitably, it proves impossible to keep recruiting new members and most women lose their money.

As we wrote in a recent article on the subject, the 'gifters' don't seem to realise is that in order for the scheme to work and for each one to receive the maximum amount, each layer of the pyramid must increase by a factor of 8. If 8 people are to make £24,000 then they must recruit 64 others. If those 64 are to get the payout then they must recruit 512, and so it continues.

It's about time this scheme was made a crime. Only last week a friend of mine was invited to a little gathering where she and other members of her little village community were to be asked to buy in to the scam. Fortunately, she was suspicious enough to ask me what I thought about it so she didn't go.

The thing that surprises her the most is that the friend who tried to recruit her is a highly intelligent woman who you'd have thought wouldn't have fallen for the con. And she didn't even check it out before handing over her money. How hard is it to use a search engine to find out more?

Apparently her soiree last week was poorly attended and she didn't manage to persuade anyone to sign up anyway. They all want to wait to see if she makes any money out of it. And, of course, she won't.

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