this post was submitted on 25 Aug 2023
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My coworker recently told me he moonlights doing an online job while working our normal job. I asked him what he does and he said that it's hard to explain but there's a powerpoint that explains when i get hired. He said it's all legal and we get paid $10 an hour and pay goes out every week. He showed me he's made an extra $250 this week on an excel spreadsheet. I think it sounds like a great opportunity/s

Anyway what flavor of scam do you think this guy is part of? I'm thinking mlm because he's trying to bring others into the fold, but I heard him tell someone else theres a fee to join, and that screams pyramid scheme.

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[–] all-knight-party@kbin.cafe 119 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He'll only tell you what the job duties are AFTER you're hired and YOU have to pay to be hired? For $10/hr? Even if that wasn't a straight up scam I wouldn't invest time, money, and effort into signing up and doing onboarding if I didn't know what the hell I was doing.

Hard to say exactly what's going on there with that little info, though.

[–] sparky678348@lemm.ee 7 points 1 year ago

Exactly we need much more to go on

[–] ptz@dubvee.org 85 points 1 year ago

You lost me after "it's hard to explain but there's a powerpoint presentation". I would pass.

[–] PonyOfWar@pawb.social 60 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Sounds like MLM bullshit at best, or something illegal like being a money mule at worst.

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

My moneys on answering capchas.

[–] VerPoilu@sopuli.xyz 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Answering captchas pays much much less than that.

[–] Luci@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Are you calculating for inflation?

[–] VerPoilu@sopuli.xyz 4 points 1 year ago

Even with inflation. Answering captchas for 8 hours a day will get you maybe 100$ a month.

Those "jobs" are meant for third world countries. Even then it's a pretty low pay.

https://thebestbusinessadvice.com/captcha-typing-jobs/#h-how-much-can-you-earn-from-captcha-typing-jobs

[–] HellAwaits@lemm.ee 52 points 1 year ago

If someone has to say it's all legal, do you honestly think that isn't a red flag?

[–] xtremeownage@lemmyonline.com 38 points 1 year ago

He said it’s all legal

I mean, if I were trying to recruit people into an illegal pyramid scheme, that is what I would say too.

If he has to explain that it's legal, and refuses to tell you what it is until you get hired, it's a scam. Probably an MLM he got sucked into.

[–] FiskFisk33@lemmy.one 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

you already know this, but if you need to hear it, this is a scam.

anything you describe by "its all legal", is illegal, guaranteed. And don't get me started on the fee to join, it's not even a good ponzi, how is $10 an hour supposed to interest anyone?!

your "friend" sounds like this guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEsm7vDl3zU but aimed for less rich people.

[–] Flyberius@hexbear.net 2 points 1 year ago

That dragons den clip was hilarious. It wasn't even his pyramid scheme!!

[–] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Depends on locatio; in other parts of the developing world, $10 USD/hr wouldn't be too shabby.

[–] DrQuint@lemm.ee 27 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it's all legal

Ultra gigantic red flag.

[–] jasparagus@lemmy.today 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

For sure. I think it violates Grice's maxim of quantity - I've never seen a legitimate job posting where they felt the need to tell me how legal the job is. That call-out being in there is decidedly worrisome haha.

An entertaining video on the maxims from Tom Scott: https://youtu.be/IJEaMtNN_dM?si=GxmkO8Is3B9EaibZ

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[–] vinceman@lemmy.blahaj.zone 26 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I once had a customer tell "I know it sounds like a pyramid scheme, but it's not" which all but confirms something is a pyramid scheme. I'm gonna assume "it's definitely legal" is actually code for it's completely illegal.

[–] averagedrunk@lemmy.ml 5 points 1 year ago

It's a reverse funnel system.

[–] dandroid@dandroid.app 24 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I agree, it sounds like an MLM, pyramid scheme, or some type of reverse funnel system.

[–] scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I like to call it the one sided diamond

[–] bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

A semi-octahedron

[–] adj16@lemmy.world 20 points 1 year ago

I like how you can tell who didn’t read your whole post by them giving you real advice about not taking this job

[–] AcesFullOfKings@feddit.uk 17 points 1 year ago

but it's totally legal

🚩🚩🚩

[–] Squirrel@thelemmy.club 16 points 1 year ago

If there's a fee to join, it's a scam. You don't pay for your job.

[–] speaker_hat@lemmy.one 14 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Join fee + weird recruiting = Fonzie scheme.

[–] gnutrino@programming.dev 12 points 1 year ago

Fonzie scheme.

Ayyy!

Ayy

[–] DirigibleProtein@aussie.zone 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it's hard to explain but there's a powerpoint that explains when i get hired

If they can’t give you a job description until after you’re hired, how do you know if you’re qualified? If they hire just anyone, then it’s a low skill job and might be too boring for you

there’s a fee to join

Another red flag. My guess is some kind of MLM or crypto.

$10 an hour

Is that acceptable where you are? Minimum wage is $20 here. Does the wage depend on how much you sell or how many people you bring in? How much does the wage vary each week? At $10 an hour, how long will it take to recover the entry fee?

Not enough information on what the job is, evasive about what the job is, and the entry fee, all combine to sound dodgy to me; even if he says it’s legal, is it fair and moral?

Personally I’d give it a miss. Only you can decide how urgently you need the money and how far you are willing to go to earn it.

Good luck, and please come back and let us know how it goes!

[–] Dinodicchellathicc@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 year ago

After many hours of deliberation and a long tearful phonecall with my mother, I've decided to pass on the opportunity.

[–] BillDaCatt@kbin.social 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A FUCKING FEE for a $10 an hour job? WTF? Nope!

Lol wild right. I think the big selling point was that i could work 2 jobs at once.

[–] 8BitRoadTrip@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago

Definitely a scam.

[–] GarbageShoot@hexbear.net 9 points 1 year ago

Absolutely an MLM or similar bullshit

[–] zerbey@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Sounds like a scam, but hey hear him out it may be legit. Don't draft that resignation letter just yet. I can tell you, with almost complete certainty, that it's an MLM scheme and you should just walk away.

[–] mayo_cider@hexbear.net 8 points 1 year ago

I'd be more inclined to join if they started with "it's a bit illegal"

[–] cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Even after what everyone else here has said, I won't get out of bed for an extra 10$ an hour.

I make $20 at my regular job. His big pitch was that he does both at once

[–] Dave@artemis.camp 1 points 1 year ago

The fee to join makes this absolutely a scam, but everything else reminds me of trying to explain my work for Appen. They do extremely strict NDAs and pay similarly, it's legit but it also kinda sucks, or at least all the projects I was on sucked.

[–] vzq@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 1 year ago

How much is the β€œsign up fee”? Because, ngl, I’m really curries about that PowerPoint now.

It's a scam.

[–] Bishma@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 1 year ago

Def a scam. If it's offering hourly income (rather than strictly commissions) I'm guessing it's crypto, but I think Primemerica (sp?) started offering an hourly pay option so I may be wrong

[–] Phantom_Engineer@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

Yeah, hard to say the exact nature of the scam. It could be some kind of ponzi, paying out the teeny "wage" from the fees coming in from new recruits.

Depends on whether or not you're okay with an MLM gig

[–] Chainweasel@lemmy.world 0 points 1 year ago

I had a similar experience and it turned out a be a MLM scheme, If you're not going to be given any details on the job before you take the job then I definitely wouldn't take it.

You’re joking right? You’re smarter than this.

…Right?