Cab driver scammers

[Ilovemywhippet]

Over the past week I have had to get 3 cabs from my home in Gipsy Hill area to Dulwich and Croydon destinations.

I used the same cab service, they work everywhere so im sure many people in ED use them too.

During EVERY journey a conversation was struck with the cab driver who goes on to tell me about this "new business venture".

Its called banner brokers and is along the lines of signing up to this brokers, investing however much you want, then watching the money grow over weeks and months for renting out banners/ advertising space or something like this, obviously theres more to it.

If I wasn't so suspicious I may have been interested in it, I know scams seem obvious but A LOT of people believe this stuff and I want to warn others. The cab drivers are clearly behind this in some way but after looking into it the scam is huge, what their role is an an individual I do not know but they are trying to talk innocent passengers into the scam.

I am a bit worried that these people then have your address, name and telephone number and if they are in the business of scamming, it worries me that they have this information, albeit not exactly sensitive information. In addition, this particular cab company offers the option to pay by card and its the driver that takes the details, if a number of their drivers are out scamming and get hold of this information, I wouldn't like to think what they would do with it.

Has anyone else come across this getting cabs in or out of the area??

[Cora]

Let the local safer neighbourhood police know.

[LadyDeliah]

Maybe it's operated on some kind of referral fee basis, so they'd get paid for signing people up.

[DJKillaQueen]

Yeah I'm thinking the same, maybe there is commission on offer. Otherwise what evidence is there of a scam? None whatsoever. In fact, a simple google search tells you all about 'Banner Brokers'...........seems like a bona fide investment opportunity.

[Huguenot]

It's a scam.

The 'value' of your advertising inventory only goes up because other brokers come in and buy it in order to sell to other brokers who buy it in order to sell to other brokers. There is no money entering this system from advertising because it's too expensive. When the brokers stop joining, the new money coming in stops, the value collapses and all the money disappears.

I've been in senior roles in the digital media industry for more than 10 years, so I hope that gives me sufficient credibility?

In detail, the advertising business relies upon an exchange of value between a publisher (providing access to a customer) and an advertiser (who will allocate part of the value of a sale as a 'fee' to the publisher for providing them).

For example, when you buy an air ticket for ?150, this won't just be the cost of flying you to your destination, but also the cost of advertising to you, and administrating the ticket.

A typical 'cost per acquisition' of an airline ticket in the UK might be ?25 for each ?150 ticket sold. This is what they can spend on advertising.

However that ?25 can't be given out in one chunk, because the advertising is often seen by people who don't click, and the people that click don't always reserve a ticket, and the people that reserve a ticket don't always finish the transaction.

When the maths is all done, this means that the 'value' of online advertising is defined by the economics of the whole chain.

Typically this means that an advertiser might be able to pay approximately, for example, 50p per thousand viewings. They might pay more for 'famous' sites that build their brand, but it means that they've got to pay even less for the shitty sites.

The problem is that this banners broker system starts pricing at ?15 per thousand including all the fees, and most of the sites are compete and utter rubbish.

So in this banners broker system, the value is set by selling your 'packages' to brokers who then sell it to other brokers. The price is already more than an advertiser will pay for it. Hence there is no value in the system - only the desperate need for new brokers to keep coming in to feed early investors.

[LadyDeliah]

There always seem to be different versions of the same types of pyramid schemes popping up, especillay in an economic downturn.

Fool and money springs to mind.

[Sue]

LadyDeliah Wrote:

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> There always seem to be different versions of the

> same types of pyramid schemes popping up,

> especillay in an economic downturn.

>

> Fool and money springs to mind.

xxxxxx

Yep, it's same old same old.

The thing is bound to collapse because it's totally unsustainable, and anybody coming to it late loses all their money.

ETA: I did think at least some of these schemes had been made illegal in this country? Perhaps there are some subtle differences between different types of scheme.

[Penguin68]

A Ponzi scheme as described is not just 'a scam' but actively illegal.

[Huguenot]

Well yes Penguin68, but I'm not sure.

I don't think they are either, that's why their website is written in broken English, claiming to be a Canadian entity, but with a URL registered to a Las Vegas hotel suite and have training videos in Polish.

There'll never be a verdict in a British court.

[DJKillaQueen]

Then is the scheme that's a scam, not the taxi drivers that have fallen for it (which is the thrust of the OP's post). I too thought Ponzi/ Pyramid schemes had been curtailed.

[Huguenot]

419 scams are just as illegal, but just as difficult to nail down.

In the end you can only control something within your jurisdiction.

This one is fiendish, presenting itself as buying and selling ad space - which it does - but then autodebiting your credit card every month to continually top up your account and ensure you hit your 'cap' requirements.

It has a full range of fake 'strategies' that 'experienced' players employ to get rich, implying that if you fail you need to spend more money to learn more...

You are expected to 'sponsor' new players, and pressure is imposed to bring in family and friends.

[DJKillaQueen]

And that pressure then translates into taxi drivers trying to recruit their customers. Hmmmm.......maybe the taxi company itself could have a view on this and tell drivers to cease trying to sell this scheme to customers.

Of course, why would a company selling ad banner space need investment? Either it's a profitable business, or it isn't.

[Ilovemywhippet]

Hi All,

Regardless or scam/ ponzi scheme its wrong for Taxi driver to be trying to persuade people to part with cash to do this considering the amount of vulnerable people traveling with them.

The driver may actually believe hes on to something OR hes in with it. To me it doesn't matter, it shouldn't be allowed, they are there to provide a service not aid people in losing their money in some scam.

As for doing a quick Google search to see they are legit, goggle search revealed they are anything but??? I regard anything like this as a scam, innocent people are conned, the management highly unprofessional = scamming. In fact, one of the CEOs were banned from trading for a huge scam back in 2009.

[woodrot]

I have never heard of this particular scam, but yes, it is blates a ponzi and there is no value created anywhere down the line from what I can see - also mentioned above. The banner brokers site is dead, but found this elsewhere:

The following information outlines the

Banners Broker Compensation Plan

How can you make money in this Banner marketplace?

Well first you BUY, and then you SELL. The selling is optional, and if you choose to sell, it happens automatically, so no need to worry about whether or not your Panels will be sold!

The Selling happens flawlessly because you are in the World's First Straightline Cycler Doubler!

What on earth is a Straightline Cycler Doubler?

1) You are in a Straightline Downline, so your Ad Spots are SOLD to the next set of people who buy. There is only ONE Company Straighline Downline, so every sale is time-stamped and goes into the Straightline. So the automatic sale will occur very quickly!

2) This is also a Cycler because once you SELL, you are automatically re-entered! 50% of the sale re-enters you, and rolls you up to buy the higher Panel when you have enough. This all happens automatically, so it is really "set it and forget it"! When you re-enter, this count as another SALE to your referrer!

3) This is a Doubler because you are able to SELL your Ad Spots for DOUBLE what you paid for in the Marketplace. So you get a chance to DOUBLE your money! The perfect question now is: How many times can I double my money? It is endless doubling! You don't need to refer anyone for the first two doubles, and for every double after that, you need to have two Banner Panel Sales at the level in which you are Doubling. So to double at Panel 1, you need two Panel 1 sales (after your first two doubles).

IMPORTANT: You get the first two doubles without the need for any sales!! So why would you choose to only double at the smaller Panels? Start at a package that is right for you and make sure you are doubling quickly without the needed sales. For example, if you start at the Professional Package, you are doubling ALL of Panel 1, Panel 2, Panel 3 and Panel 4... TWICE before you need any sales!

:I have a bit of exposure to complex financials, but if anyone could help me and explain the the above C&P in EZ language, It would be appreciated.

[Annette Curtain]

Sounds a bit like the old "hearts" women empowering women scam, from back in 2001.

[Ilovemywhippet]

I have notified the cab company who are calling the drivers into their office and may suspend. As far as telling me, my partner or any of my friends, it doesn't really matter because I know we would never dream of getting into something like that after a cab driver has tried to persuade us to part with our cash but its the more gullible and vulnerable people that I am worried about and its probably those people that get targeted the most. As im small, blonde and young, people always assume I am really "soft", stupid or quite simple so I guess I was a good target too! I wonder how many of his customers went home and decided to go for an investment. To make it worse, when you sign up someone calls you to explain it all and help you pay, this is where the convincing and pressure is really laid on!

[woodrot]

Pyramid schemes need new blood to keep them going innit, it gets a bit frantic towards the end of the scam when latecomers realise the utter insanity of their investment and their chance of a return diminish. There was a biggie a couple of years ago when the Oirish town of Kells made headline news as it seemed that everyone was involved and people lost shitloads of money.I have had to look into the risk of these " opportunities" on a professional basis in the past and it scared the bejesus out of me when I realsied that serious intelligent people were considering pumping money into them- promised returns of 25% per day ensure a mad scramble to get in at the start - quite fascinating but so very very fundamentally wrong.

the old adage of looking/ smelling/ feeling like a dog shite usually means it is a dog shite

[Jocasta22]

Well, there are many scammers around us. We just need to be aware of the things happening around us. They are very fast and intelligent in their approach. They can be drivers, watchmen, salesmen etc. It's not safe to share our personal stuff or information with the strangers. They can do some frauds or something like that. They can also sell your information just for the sake of money or utility benefits. Reporting the taxi cab service is good but it is not a permanent solution. They are everywhere around us. Maybe they are working in companies or groups.

[Lowlander]

Report to the Police - link below to the fraud protection unit - in addition to posting here

It's a crime to sell investments if you're not FSA regulated (and if you were, you'd be unlikely to be a minicab driver).

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud_protection/pyramid_schemes

[Mick Mac]

Woodrot. Very good posts. Good explanation of the banner sales. Ta.

Interesting that your second post reference to Ireland made me think of the Irish residential property market. Which obviously crashed eventually when the number of buyers dried up.

[Voyageur]

Interesting. Have posted a link to this thread on Virtual Norwood which covers Gipsy Hill.

[woodrot]

Mick Mac Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Woodrot. Very good posts. Good explanation of the

> banner sales. Ta.

>

> Interesting that your second post reference to

> Ireland made me think of the Irish residential

> property market. Which obviously crashed

> eventually when the number of buyers dried up.

innit

If you have no life whatsoever, then spend half an hour skimming this site

http://www.talkgold.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=261

its a forum for pyramid scheme tips

truly scares me

[woodrot]

apols for the bumpo, but heres an interesting little money maker

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/25/china-prisoners-internet-gaming-scam

North Korea are also involved in generating like real money via World of Warcraft and its ilk

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/b07957e4-bf70-11e0-898c-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2HzPNXHJj

If you can get yer head around gaming = real money, its a fascinating area of scamming