m-Commerce Pyramid Scheme?

Scheme, Scam, Spam -- they all sound the same.

I'm used to deleting spam from my public hotmail email box. But one email caught my attention:

Sender: *e** **o**
Subject: Earn W/ Your G-Cash & Smart Money Account

The subject caught my attention not because of the promise of "quick cash" but because G-Cash and Smart Money are within my field of consultancy.

I investigated further and found myself browsing through a 17 page PDF file. The "eBook" was screaming with all caps and so many exclamation points that my heartbeat went up!

I didn't have the time to read the fine print. But with all that I had seen, I still didn't find the legitimate business model.

I sent a reply and told the sender that I'm both interested and skeptical. He replied quickly (less than half an hour) saying he too was skeptical at first. But he continues to say that he started to believe when cash (G-Cash and Smart Money) was flowing into his cellphone.

I sent a second reply with excerpts copied below:

Hi *e**,
Basically, my question is: Where does the money come from?

And so far, the answer I have found is: The money comes from new members.

If you could point out otherwise, I would like to hear it.

Normally, I just trash this kind of email. But this concerns my area of
study (m-commerce, I'm sure you've found that out through my blog) and it is
coming from a fellow IT professional, thus I am not dismissing it too
easily.

My interest is to understand.

Thanks and peace,

Edwin

After around 6 hours I haven't heard from him.

If and when I do, I'll write about it.

In the meantime, I hesitantly give out their URL (http : / / mobilecashphilippines . com) . I don't want to help advertise what I perceive is a pyramid scam scheme. I do not have enough info nor time either to definitively declare this as a scam. So I am opening it up to readers who have the time to read through the get rich quick website.

I am giving my fellow IT person the benefit of the doubt. But so far, I see more to doubt than to benefit.

If I don't receive an email from this person, I feel it is safe to say that the money indeed comes from the new "members" of the pyramid scam scheme.

m-commerce users beware!

ka edong
Read: Pyramid Scam, m-commerce style
Text Scam (?) - "tonights lotto draw"