Ethics Information - Ethics In Business

Find it & Download it here at the Dovada Store


Click here to get The Butterfly Marketing Manuscript

Home - Create ethical multi language websites - I made $136,752 last year using a simple website! - Niche marketing - Ebook package



What is a Ponzi Scheme?


This is for those who don't believe me when I talk about the dangers of "mystery money" schemes.

The terms "pyramid scheme" and "Ponzi scheme" are used almost interchangeably. However, the scheme for which Charles Ponzi is most remembered was not a pyramid.

If you aren't aware of the story of Ponzi, you'll likely find it familiar. This man promised to double your money in 90 days, and he kept his promise -- until the day he was arrested for fraud. He had created such a personal mystique that he continued to receive money from new investors while in prison.

How could someone with so many satisfied customers end up in prison? Because fraud is fraud no matter the results. Ponzi claimed to be investing peoples' money and giving them the proceeds. What he was actually doing was giving peoples' money to people who had previously "invested" in order to make it seem like everything was OK. Meanwhile, he was living a lavish lifestyle while he was millions of dollars in debt.

He had no trouble getting the ever-increasing numbers of opportunity-seekers necessary to fund his business. He probably would have kept it up for many years if the government hadn't stepped in. Therefore, the lessons learned by those who wished (and wish) to follow in Ponzi's footsteps are...

* Hide the money trail better.

* Improve the illusion of selling a real product or service.

* Don't promise anything.

It's very difficult to prove that a chain letter originated with a certain person. Many pyramid schemes are organized in such a way as to conceal who is at the top. If there is an actual product or service being sold, it's difficult to prove that the main purpose of being in an organization is to recruit others (and their money). Finally, hype it up, but don't get too specific. You can't get sued for disappointing someone.

Are these the lessons that should be learned from Ponzi? No. If Ponzi was good at anything it was lying. A lesser con artist trying to do what he did would have been run out of town long before millionaire mode set in.

Also, things are different now. If you want to set up your own Ponzi operation, you have a lot of competition and a very savvy audience for your sales pitch if you choose to do it online. A simple Google-based investigation of your Internet trail can allow a scambuster to publish your entire history of crime on his home page for the world to see.

Also, the Internet provides ways of making Ponzi amounts of money legally and with less effort. Let's all just stop giving out money to the scammers and trying to emulate them. Make the Web a better place.

Mike Jolley is a writer and programmer who recently turned to Internet marketing and publishing full time, with a big focus on business ethics. Find him and his other articles at http://www.onlinehonesty.com


BUSINESS ETHICS

BB&T funds UCF business ethics program (Orlando Business Journal)
BB&T Corp. announced the donation of $1 million to the University of Central Florida College of Business Administration to create the BB&T program for business ethics.

Missionaries in the office (Savannah Morning News)
Many people have found religion in Danny Falligant's West McDonough Street office.

Support Local Businesses! (Berkeley Daily Planet)
We carry the largest selection of Buddhist books and spiritual goods. Your plumbing and heating system's best friend in the East Bay. Solar design & installation, Energy saving upgrades.

Aspen Institute Names Stanford Business School Professor Winner of Lifetime Achievement Award for Integrating Social ... (Centre Daily Times)
The Aspen Institute Center for Business Education has announced that Stanford Graduate School of Business professor David Baron is the winner of the 2008 Faculty Pioneer Award for Lifetime Achievement. The award was made at a November 5 reception at Ernst & Young's corporate headquarters in New York City.

Can Web 2.0 Revolutionize Corporate Responsibility? (Environmental News Network)
The question today is: Can Web 2.0 Revolutionize Corporate Responsibility, or what's sometimes known as CSR? Web 2.0 is interactive online video, it's interactive Web; it's social networking. Rather than things going linearly, they are more information and interaction coming from all directions.

'Ashes of Time Redux' (The Arizona Republic)
Like an Akira Kurosawa film processed through a kaleidoscope, Ashes of Time (1994) was Wong Kar-wai's third film, by which time it was clear that he was going to pass off hallucinations as motion pictures. ''Ashes'' was the Hong Kong director's audacious attempt to re-imagine the martial-arts epic. (R - 93 minutes) V.

Students in Free Enterprise to hold competition (NWAnews.com)
The University of Arkansas? Students In Free Enterprise will sponsor GlassCo Fiasco, a seminar for area sixthseventh- and eighthgrade students to learn business ethics on Friday. (Northwest Arkansas Times)

It is and isn't your grandfather's agriculture (AG Weekly)
Recently I was asked how I typically respond when someone says, ?It?s not your grandfather?s agriculture anymore.? This question came during a meeting of state Farm Bureau personnel, at which we traditionally conduct a segment called ?Stump Stallman.?

Alumnus invests in fair trade in sports (Baylor Lariat)
Founder and president of Fair Trade Sports, Baylor alumnus Scott James will speak on campus this Friday as part of the Dale P. Jones Business Ethics Forum.

Akridge Wins National Capital Business Ethics Award 2008 (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)
WASHINGTON----The National Capital Chapter of the Society of Financial Service Professionals announced that Akridge won the 2008 National Capital Business Ethics Award on October 23 at the Eighth Annual Gala Awards Dinner.

Home Business Plan

Peel Away Ads Marketing And Advertising without Pop-Ups, Fly-Ins or Pop-Unders

home | article site map | custom google search | website articles menu | Privacy policy
Copyright © 2008 www.dovada.net.au