LifeWealth8

This company is currently based in Malta Maylasia, or the British Virgin Islands. It reportedly originated in Australia in December of 2002, and operates a simulated stock game which allows participants, who are known as "members" or "licensees," to trade "fantasy stocks," 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the "LifeWealth8 Private Stock Market." Members are encouraged to recruit additional participants to invest additional amounts in fantasy stocks in order to drive up their prices. Participants are promised "extraordinary income potential with no limits." Since its inception in December of 2002, members invested their money in a fantasy stock called "International Technologies." In March of 2003, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission issued an investor warning that LifeWealth8 could be an illegal pyramid scheme. In May of 2003, the company began operations in North America. They are currently in the process of setting up a second fantasy stock offer called "DataCom Limited." With an illegal pyramid, the recruits on the bottom level pay money to a few people at the top. They advertise and promise easy money, preying on people's greed and fear of missing out on a good deal. Some pyramids are easily recognizable and are as simple as a chain letter. Others are very sophisticated, and disguised to look like legitimate multi-level marketing, or investment opportunities to fool investors and law enforcement. In realtity, the real money comes from recruiting and not from marketing the products, or in this company's case, buying and selling stock. Recruits themselves can run a significant risk of arrest and fines by authorities for participation.