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Comment by ideals | Hacker News Reader

Well MLM scams are alive and well today and have been coming out of Utah for the last 20 years so I'd say fraud is pretty common. Check Craigslist for some fun frauds and scams, they're right out in the open. Social media are open markets for fraud too

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How tough is it to take down such an operation? Bill Ackman bet and lost $1B trying:

https://dealbreaker.com/2020/05/herbalife-fined-for-china-br...

My SO had an acquaintance try to convince her and her friends to join an airplane game scheme a week or two ago.

I read the google drive PDF that they use to convince people, and it's terrifying how effectively it would prey on desperate people. Also crazy: nobody in the scam checks that NOT ONE of the people in that document (who mostly have unusual names) has a meaningful presence on the internet.

What is an airplane game scheme?

Looks like a pyramid scheme:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airplane_game

I'd love to see the document on the Google drive, though! OP, can you share it somehow?

Couldn't find a more resilient/less sketchy way to rehost without breaking my half-hearted anonymization, so here's the link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UvMeetDz-uEhxolTAGBrwh2hugt...

Hope I'm not blowing anyone up (well, not really. Scammers can drown in their own sewage).

I dug around for what I could, but there are a distinct lack of identifying details. I don't think I've seen a marketing PDF in a long time that didn't contain a single link. Looks like most of their coordination is done through Telegram groups and Zoom presentations, without an actual internet footprint.

This is fascinating reading, thanks so much for sharing!

Smith, most common last name in the USA.

It's a straight up ponzi scheme.

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