From Wikipedia: A confidence trick, confidence game, also known as a con, scam, grift or flim flam, is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person or persons (known as the "mark") usually with the goal of financial or other gain.
So, here is the part that everyone must understand: there are several words in here such as "intentionally" "mislead" "finanacial gain" etc... that make this a toss up... Of course someone who operates a HYIP wants to achieve "financial gain", but on the other hand do they "intentionally" or for that matter unintentionally "mislead" the people who invest? Yes & No...
Of course you will always have your bottom of the earth losers such as goldengyrl@gmail.com (this person tried to hack into my email account & actually got in but now it is secured, so if you want shoot an email to this person....).....these people will always be around and not just in one place such as running HYIPs. They are on ebay, work for ebay for that matter, run "brick & mortar" type of stores & on-line businesses. They are everywhere, so you can not just identify them with these programs...
Now there does come a time for some programs to make a tough decision or decisions as to where their fate is leading, and this is where it's confusing.... If the administration of a HYIP see a for definate downfall in their company/site, what are they going to do? Well, some just shut the doors & the next day, hour, even minute the site is gone- for example 2 of these were http://www.elderhyip.com & http://www.time-invest.net , however within both of these programs people DID make money. So, i would have to say that they did not go into it with the sole purpose of "stealing" anyone's money, but they did make the decision to just drop their program and go...
Where there are some very honorable admin. that see the same downfall heading their way & instead of just running away they make adjustments to their program to slow the bleeding in hopes of salvaging their web-site. It is unfortunate but true that many of these programs can not survive, especially at some of the rate of returns that they advertise. However, the key is not if they make it, but the key for you, as the investor, is can you make money? AND THE ANSWER IS??..
YES
Anyone can make money at these programs, you just have to be disciplined!!!
Even if the program goes out of business if you follow a few guidelines & resist temptation (atleast most of the time) then you can & will make money... Now I am assuming that they are going to not make it for the long haul, and in some cases even the short run, but some do & those are the winners for the "long-term" category. But most people are looking for the winner of a "short-term" race, because all the hype today is about how easy it is to make XXXX and start today!!.. If it was as easy as all these infomercials, web-sites, and other media state the world would be full of millionaires, billionaires, and i guess a handfull of googlezillionaires.... But it is not true & you do have to work for it, no matter if it is working mentally or physically, almost everyone works for it, even with HYIPs!!!!
WE will continue to dive into the world of HYIPs & other media as we go, and please remember the first rule is to never go out & just start throwing your money into programs... THis is why so many people get burned...
Until next time... Be safe & comments/suggestions/questions are very welcome...
