Hey, look at the offer I got in my e-mail. It says that I can get rich quickly while working at home!
Do you also believe in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy?
What do you mean?
I mean that you're gullible. You shouldn't believe everything you read, especially on the Internet.
But it seems like a good idea. All I have to do is first send some money to the person who sent me the letter. After that he'll tell me how to earn much more money.
Sounds like a pyramid scheme. Have you heard of those before?
Pyramid scheme? What is that?
It's a scam 7 that's based on a hierarchy, like a pyramid. The person at the top asks the people below him for money, and then tells them to go and ask other people for money while sending some of it back to him.
Sounds good to me. The guy at the top gets money and so do the people below him.
Not exactly. The scam keeps on going, with the people at the bottom paying more and more money until they reach the very bottom.
What happens then?
Nothing. The people at the bottom give their money to the people above them, and they get nothing. They end up losing. That's why it's a scam.