For over 30 years now, I've been involved in the home/entrepreneur business field. During this time, I have seen every ponzi and pyramid scheme, every gifting program, and every money transfer operation under the sun. EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE SCHEMES HAS COLLAPSED... hurting good, trusting, and yes, gullible people worldwide who "invested."

It's important that you understood how pyramid players think. They're goal is NOT to help you profit; their goal is to take as much of your money as they can as quickly as possible. THEY know they're not running a business, and so THEY never make the investments in their business that legitimate business people make. What THEY do is this: they prey on people's greed and avarice (remember, it is one of the 7 Deadly Sins) to excite people and, quite frankly, make them lose reason, perspective and common sense.

Pyramid players know that manipulating people becomes easier as the economy worsens. After all, desperate people do desperate things. That's why so many pyramid players become more visible during bad times. Bad times, desperate people, produce a superb environment for their profit -- but NOT for yours.

Face it: pyramid players (and by this I mean the organizers and promoters of pyramid schemes) are crooks, thieves, petty criminals and worse. They have mastered manipulation and con-artistry. And, yes, that is a craft, though a dark one. They learn to prey on your greed, your need for immediate money, your lack of experience. They will do and say ANYTHING to get YOU to believe that THEY are the solution to your often serious financial problems. Such people are charming, personable, plausible. It is easy to like them... and to find reasons for believing them.

But, remember. Their goal has NOTHING whatever to do with helping YOU... and EVERYTHING to do with enriching themselves. The minute you forget this, you are doomed, yet another victim of yet another practised crook.

What should you do? Avoid these folks at all cost. When you "invest" with them, you've made a fool's bargain. And, believe me, you will pay, one way or another.

There's an old saying, "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is." That's wisdom.

We are in a severe global recession. Many legitimate businesses and opportunities are losing money; the rest are making profits which may well be cut by events. THEY, however, are making every effort to improve their operations because THEY are planning on long-term futures. BUT NOT PYRAMID SCHEMES. They will be long gone before the recession ends, secure with YOUR money, while you will have nothing but good experienced gained through bad choices.

Next time you're thinking about joining one of these "wow, immediate riches" schemes, and after you're checked them out at google, yahoo, etc., read this message. Remember, real businesses act like it; they aim to keep you as a long-term customer, and work hard to make you happy. We, for I am CEO of one such business, do care about your long-term success, because we know our future is intertwined with yours. NO pyramid player anywhere on earth could say that or even understand such a goal. THEY reap... YOU never do.

Thanks for reading. And let "caveat emptor" be the order of the day.