Chile Forum

Interesting story-thanks for sharing!

Yea, I believe I seen the report in the news in Chile last year some time.

It always irritates me to watch Chilean relatives answer the phone for some telemarketing scam, and just talk and talk and talk to who ever calls for whatever reason. They are trying to be polite, and I am trying to tell them that just by getting you talking they are succeeding in hooking you. Hanging up is the only protection. So much of Latin America I have seen is just so vulnerable to even the simplest scams. They are just not that many here.

On the other hand, I was on a bus in Las Vegas years ago and some poor sap got on and was trying to run some super simple scam. He obviously had just fallen off the turnip truck in the middle of Las Vegas. The whole bus started laughing at the guy, and little old ladies where telling him for his own safety he should likely move out of Vegas before one of the real las vegas con artist found him.

"So much of Latin America I have seen is just so vulnerable to even the simplest scams."

So you mean I can sell Ab-Rockers in Chile?

I've got a few questions related to something that seems like a Ponzi scheme and was wondering if anyone had any advice.

Basically my wife comes to me the other day and tells me about this great investment which her family and friends had told her about. They offer a "risk free" return of 10-30% monthly. So annually you can end up with 300% to 2330% of your invested amount - the thieves at Santander don't even make that much off me and my credit card!!! The people telling her about this have already had monthly returns of 22% for a couple of months. It's a gold mine in Nicaragua that they are investing in apparently. I need to admit that I'm clueless about these things, but surely this is ridiculous? It's got the smell of Ponzi all over it. Furthermore there are rules about not getting your original investment back for 3 months etc... There is a maximum investment amount.

Anyway, assuming that I'm right and it is a Ponzi scheme of sorts, what I can do to stop these Chileans getting, what I perceive to be, extorted? I tried my hardest the other evening to convince them that it was potentially very dangerous. But unfortunately in their case, seeing is believing and whilst a high monthly return keeps appearing in a ChileExpress/WesternUnion slip, they can't understand how he could possibly be bad.

It's based in Nicaragua and transfers are done via ChileExpress or WesternUnion transfer of some kind or something similar.

Does anybody know if Ponzi schemes are illegal in Nicaragua? Who can I speak to? Can anybody in Chile deal with this? I'm not sure how tax works here exactly - but by not declaring this extra incoming are they avoiding tax or perhaps not declaring importation of something or something along those lines? Maybe there should be a related payment in Nicaragua?

Does anybody have any ideas how to get extended family and friends weaned off this?

Obviously if you think I'm wrong then please let me know too, but surely not?

ingrambr wrote:I've got a few questions related to something that seems like a Ponzi scheme and was wondering if anyone had any advice.

Basically my wife comes to me the other day and tells me about this great investment which her family and friends had told her about. They offer a "risk free" return of 10-30% monthly. So annually you can end up with 300% to 2330% of your invested amount - the thieves at Santander don't even make that much off me and my credit card!!! The people telling her about this have already had monthly returns of 22% for a couple of months. It's a gold mine in Nicaragua that they are investing in apparently. I need to admit that I'm clueless about these things, but surely this is ridiculous? It's got the smell of Ponzi all over it. Furthermore there are rules about not getting your original investment back for 3 months etc... There is a maximum investment amount.

Anyway, assuming that I'm right and it is a Ponzi scheme of sorts, what I can do to stop these Chileans getting, what I perceive to be, extorted? I tried my hardest the other evening to convince them that it was potentially very dangerous. But unfortunately in their case, seeing is believing and whilst a high monthly return keeps appearing in a ChileExpress/WesternUnion slip, they can't understand how he could possibly be bad.

It's based in Nicaragua and transfers are done via ChileExpress or WesternUnion transfer of some kind or something similar.

Does anybody know if Ponzi schemes are illegal in Nicaragua? Who can I speak to? Can anybody in Chile deal with this? I'm not sure how tax works here exactly - but by not declaring this extra incoming are they avoiding tax or perhaps not declaring importation of something or something along those lines? Maybe there should be a related payment in Nicaragua?

Does anybody have any ideas how to get extended family and friends weaned off this?

Obviously if you think I'm wrong then please let me know too, but surely not?

The hit come when they make a few bucks then ramp it up to real money invested (real money=max you can get your hands on).

It doesn’t translate but "if it looks..........”

Nobody make more than 25-30% a year mining unless you own the mine and don’t have any investors.

seriously, Nicaragua?

have you ever heard of anyone getting rich from an investment in Nicaragua that did not involve selling drugs, guns, or bannas?

It is a scam but you are going to have a hard job convincing anyone willing to invest. I doubt the law can do anything about it until a lot of people lose their money and even then it would probably be impossible to do anything as it is based outside Chile. Con games always require a certain amount of greed on the part of the victim. There was a famous case here a few years ago along very similar lines run by a French woman, Madame Gil:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estafa_de_ ... itos#Chile