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An evergreen post about starting a "book exchange" is circulating on Instagram and Facebook. The post generally starts with some variation on a message that reads: "I'm looking for people to participate in a huge book exchange". It goes on to tell people that they will be asked only to buy one book, but they might receive as many as 36 in return. The post asks users to reply to the message with the word "in". If they do, they will receive instructions for how to take part, which include asking people to re-post that same image, send a book to a specific address, and then do the same thing for other people. It seems designed to lure in readers who want to share their love of writing and books with other people. But it is, sadly, a scam – although one you might not lose out from. The promise of receiving 36 books in return is somewhat similar to the even more prevalent "secret sister" scam. That makes the same pr...

Representational image | Pexels Text Size: A- A+ I s it blasphemous to imagine that books can be part of a ponzi scheme? But when text messages, social media posts and emails promise you 36 books in exchange for one, you have to wonder who or what is sitting at the top of this pyramid. The formula has remained the same over the years and so has the text of such posts/messages. They begin by saying 'I am looking for someone to participate in a huge book exchange' and then go on to give details about how one can get '36 BOOKS'.   When it first came out approximately five to six years ago, the '36 books' bit was enough to draw people in. Now, a look at comments below such posts reveal an initial excitement and chorus of multiple 'I'm in'. But later on, one can see the hesitancy creep in — "I'm in, if it's real", "hope this is not a fraud', "36 books is impossible". Fraudulent or not, these large book...

GameStop shares are on an epic roller coaster that pushed them to the stratosphere. But for how long? Getty Images Many of today's adults spent their youths in GameStop stores. They lined up for console launches. They bought and sold games there, too. Now some of those gamers are rich after  buying GameStock's stock and encouraging their friends on Reddit to buy it too . GameStop's shares rocketed higher than ever expected in the past couple weeks, and all because activity among social media investors began pushing it up. Wall Street had bet heavily that the company would fail, but as the price kept going up, investors were forced to reset their wagers. That led the stock to rocket up, and then swing wildly. And though the share price dipped on Monday, Feb. 1, by more than 30%, many Reddit users say they're buying more GameStop stock, convinced it'll rocket even higher. Jaime Rogozinski, the apparent founder of the Reddit community at the heart of all this,...

AdvoCare and its former chief executive officer agreed to pay $150 million and be banned from the multi-level marketing business to resolve Federal Trade Commission charges that the company operated an illegal pyramid scheme that deceived consumers into believing they could earn significant income as "distributors" of its health and wellness products. Two top promoters also settled charges that they promoted the illegal pyramid scheme and misled consumers about their income potential, agreeing to a multi-level marketing ban and a judgment of $4 million that will be suspended when they surrender substantial assets. Speaking from the FTC's Southwest Regional Office in Dallas, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Andrew Smith announced, "an important victory in our continuing efforts to root out pyramid schemes and protect consumers." He then announced a complaint against AdvoCare, former AdvoCare CEO Brian Connelly and four of the company's top promo...

Oct 15th 2020 A World Beneath the Sands. By Toby Wilkinson. W.W. Norton; 528 pages; $30. Picador; £25. A T THE BEGINNING of the 19th century, Egypt's wondrous heritage was neglected. Ancient mud bricks were turned into fertiliser and temple stones repurposed in factories as the country's industries developed. Within 100 years, all that had changed. Children learned about the pharaohs; politicians visited their tombs. "Our nation today does not exist independently from the nation of our past," an Egyptian journalist wrote. "The nation is a single unbroken, unbreakable whole." Listen to this story Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. As Toby Wilkinson makes clear in his fascinating new history, this transformation was riddled with ironies. For if Egyptians ultimately came to love their pharaonic past, they had often been coaxed to do so by outsiders. Finally abandoni...

Jane Musimbi who lost Sh31 million to Deci in 2007 . [David Njaaga, Standard] This was not what the veteran banker had signed up for. How could he, a veteran with 22 years' experience, be duped into surrendering all his savings and board a train that would take him to hell? From the pedestal created for him at his lofty perch at Kenya's financial capital, Nairobi, 47-year-old Elphas Kimwiyi Mwelesa had been granted the powers to receive deposits and mint millions from those who were brave enough to risk. However, within three months of his elevation Kimwiyi would hurtle down to his death from the eighth floor of Union Towers building, causing a public spectacle and triggering panic that would constrict the hearts of 94,000 people. The ripples would also be felt in Tanzania where thousands of investors would be reduced to paupers when their money went up in smoke. Read More When Kimwiyi signed up with Development Entrepreneurship Community Initiative (Deci), a vehi...

24th February, 2021 by Christian Smith John E. Fox, who admitted to running a US$45 million wine Ponzi scheme through his store, Premier Cru, is scheduled to be released from federal custody this week – a year earlier than expected. Fox was jailed for six-and-a-half years after he admitted to running the wine Ponzi scheme, pleading guilty to a charge of wire fraud. Over time, Fox is believed to have siphoned off $45m from roughly 9,000 customers according to court documents cited by local press. He is said to have used most of the funds to facilitate the running of Premier Cru, though kept a portion of the funds to finance his own lavish lifetstyle. Per court documents he purchased luxury cars including "Corvettes, Ferraris, a Maserati, and various Mercedes Benzes," as well as a home in Alamo, and two country club memberships. He also spent around $900,000 meeting women online. A news report from the time of his sentencing revealed that the then-66-year-old fou...