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submitted 2 years ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

My coworker recently told me he moonlights doing an online job while working our normal job. I asked him what he does and he said that it's hard to explain but there's a powerpoint that explains when i get hired. He said it's all legal and we get paid $10 an hour and pay goes out every week. He showed me he's made an extra $250 this week on an excel spreadsheet. I think it sounds like a great opportunity/s

Anyway what flavor of scam do you think this guy is part of? I'm thinking mlm because he's trying to bring others into the fold, but I heard him tell someone else theres a fee to join, and that screams pyramid scheme.

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[-] [email protected] 192 points 2 years ago

He'll only tell you what the job duties are AFTER you're hired and YOU have to pay to be hired? For $10/hr? Even if that wasn't a straight up scam I wouldn't invest time, money, and effort into signing up and doing onboarding if I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

Hard to say exactly what's going on there with that little info, though.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

Exactly we need much more to go on

[-] [email protected] 127 points 2 years ago

You lost me after "it's hard to explain but there's a powerpoint presentation". I would pass.

[-] [email protected] 95 points 2 years ago

Sounds like MLM bullshit at best, or something illegal like being a money mule at worst.

[-] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago

My moneys on answering capchas.

[-] [email protected] 16 points 2 years ago

Answering captchas pays much much less than that.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Are you calculating for inflation?

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Even with inflation. Answering captchas for 8 hours a day will get you maybe 100$ a month.

Those "jobs" are meant for third world countries. Even then it's a pretty low pay.

https://thebestbusinessadvice.com/captcha-typing-jobs/#h-how-much-can-you-earn-from-captcha-typing-jobs

[-] [email protected] 83 points 2 years ago

If someone has to say it's all legal, do you honestly think that isn't a red flag?

[-] [email protected] 30 points 2 years ago

"it's all legal" is usually followed by "trust me bro" and then you get to learn about RICO

[-] [email protected] 53 points 2 years ago

If he has to explain that it's legal, and refuses to tell you what it is until you get hired, it's a scam. Probably an MLM he got sucked into.

[-] [email protected] 49 points 2 years ago

He said it’s all legal

I mean, if I were trying to recruit people into an illegal pyramid scheme, that is what I would say too.

[-] [email protected] 41 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

you already know this, but if you need to hear it, this is a scam.

anything you describe by "its all legal", is illegal, guaranteed. And don't get me started on the fee to join, it's not even a good ponzi, how is $10 an hour supposed to interest anyone?! my guess is that secret powerpoint will tell you to recruit people for a reward.

your "friend" sounds like this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEsm7vDl3zU but aimed for less rich people.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Depends on locatio; in other parts of the developing world, $10 USD/hr wouldn't be too shabby.

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[-] [email protected] 38 points 2 years ago

I once had a customer tell "I know it sounds like a pyramid scheme, but it's not" which all but confirms something is a pyramid scheme. I'm gonna assume "it's definitely legal" is actually code for it's completely illegal.

[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

It's a reverse funnel system.

[-] [email protected] 37 points 2 years ago

I agree, it sounds like an MLM, pyramid scheme, or some type of reverse funnel system.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

I like to call it the one sided diamond

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

A semi-octahedron

[-] [email protected] 36 points 2 years ago

but it's totally legal

🚩🚩🚩

[-] [email protected] 34 points 2 years ago

it's all legal

Ultra gigantic red flag.

[-] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

For sure. I think it violates Grice's maxim of quantity - I've never seen a legitimate job posting where they felt the need to tell me how legal the job is. That call-out being in there is decidedly worrisome haha.

An entertaining video on the maxims from Tom Scott: https://youtu.be/IJEaMtNN_dM?si=GxmkO8Is3B9EaibZ

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Here is an alternative Piped link(s): https://piped.video/IJEaMtNN_dM?si=GxmkO8Is3B9EaibZ

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source, check me out at GitHub.

[-] [email protected] 30 points 2 years ago

I like how you can tell who didn’t read your whole post by them giving you real advice about not taking this job

[-] [email protected] 8 points 2 years ago

Or they missed the /s after the bit about it being a great opportunity.

[-] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Even if you miss the /s, the second paragraph makes it pretty clear that was sarcasm. Unless you know people who think getting scammed is a great opportunity.

[-] [email protected] 22 points 2 years ago

it's hard to explain but there's a powerpoint that explains when i get hired

If they can’t give you a job description until after you’re hired, how do you know if you’re qualified? If they hire just anyone, then it’s a low skill job and might be too boring for you

there’s a fee to join

Another red flag. My guess is some kind of MLM or crypto.

$10 an hour

Is that acceptable where you are? Minimum wage is $20 here. Does the wage depend on how much you sell or how many people you bring in? How much does the wage vary each week? At $10 an hour, how long will it take to recover the entry fee?

Not enough information on what the job is, evasive about what the job is, and the entry fee, all combine to sound dodgy to me; even if he says it’s legal, is it fair and moral?

Personally I’d give it a miss. Only you can decide how urgently you need the money and how far you are willing to go to earn it.

Good luck, and please come back and let us know how it goes!

[-] [email protected] 20 points 2 years ago

After many hours of deliberation and a long tearful phonecall with my mother, I've decided to pass on the opportunity.

[-] [email protected] 21 points 2 years ago

Join fee + weird recruiting = Fonzie scheme.

[-] [email protected] 23 points 2 years ago

Fonzie scheme.

Ayyy!

Ayy

[-] Squirrel 20 points 2 years ago

If there's a fee to join, it's a scam. You don't pay for your job.

[-] [email protected] 18 points 2 years ago

A FUCKING FEE for a $10 an hour job? WTF? Nope!

[-] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago

Lol wild right. I think the big selling point was that i could work 2 jobs at once.

[-] [email protected] 17 points 2 years ago

Definitely a scam.

[-] [email protected] 14 points 2 years ago

The fee to join makes this absolutely a scam, but everything else reminds me of trying to explain my work for Appen. They do extremely strict NDAs and pay similarly, it's legit but it also kinda sucks, or at least all the projects I was on sucked.

[-] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Even after what everyone else here has said, I won't get out of bed for 10$ an hour.

[-] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

I make $20 at my regular job. His big pitch was that he does both at once

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[-] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago

How much is the “sign up fee”? Because, ngl, I’m really curries about that PowerPoint now.

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[-] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Sounds like a scam, but hey hear him out it may be legit. Don't draft that resignation letter just yet. I can tell you, with almost complete certainty, that it's an MLM scheme and you should just walk away.

[-] [email protected] 11 points 2 years ago

I'd be more inclined to join if they started with "it's a bit illegal"

[-] [email protected] 10 points 2 years ago

Absolutely an MLM or similar bullshit

[-] [email protected] 7 points 2 years ago

100% a scam and your coworker is either naive and needs someone to tell him that too or is an asshole who's trying to get out of the hole he's put himself in by recruiting other people

[-] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago

It's a scam.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

It's definitely sex work. Don't do it.

[-] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Def a scam. If it's offering hourly income (rather than strictly commissions) I'm guessing it's crypto, but I think Primemerica (sp?) started offering an hourly pay option so I may be wrong

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this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
195 points (97.1% liked)

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