What is Pyramid and Ponzi Scheme

Most MLM programs are official companies, nonetheless customers must be aware of MLM scams. A true MLM program will sell merchandise to the general public without requiring them to pay anything additional or any hidden costs. They won’t power consumers to affix the MLM system to be a distributor themselves. These kind of methods pay commissions to distributors based on actual product gross sales, not for recruiting. Nevertheless, there is a danger that any program that concentrates more on new members somewhat than product gross sales could possibly be a MLM scam.
An instance of a MLM scams is an illegal pyramid scheme. That is where a company guarantees huge income from investments into their program. The cash is actually created from drawing new individuals into the scheme relatively than precise retail gross sales of actual products. Many pyramid schemes fake to sell precise products, they actually don’t. A sign that a program is such a MLM rip-off is whenever you by no means see precise products. Merchandise constantly on backorder or orders that by no means arrive are additionally signs of a scam.
Another MLM rip-off is called a Ponzi scheme. This is very similar to a pyramid scheme, however the principle distinction is in a Ponzi scheme there is not an actual product to begin with. Additionally, no fee is paid to recruit new members. The operators make their cash off the sting by promising large, quick returns from an investment. The cash collected from new members is used to repay other members that have been in the program longer. They’re given a small return compared to the huge promises. 


Aaron Mullings

updates 2nd Oct,11

Yesterday an article published in Mumbai mirror said that SpeakAsia didn't have any client and all surveys were fake.EOW has also arrested Nayan Khandor,owner of Brand Saloon Inc.,who was responsible for preparing the surveys for SA.
Today on the official blog of speakasia a letter from the company has been put forward in which clarifications regarding the news has been given.


 Click Here To View The Newsletter


On august 11th speakasia on a non-disclosure agreement with EOW has shown there client list,and after verification it was confirmed that the clients list was genuine(click here to see the article).The recent arrest of Nayan khandor has caused discomfort among many,but the thing here is to be noticed is that  he is just an associate of speakasia working on commission basis and is responsible only for developing the language of the surveys and search engine optimization of the company's website(SEO).He had nothing to do with the client list,he just made surveys out of the materials given to him.


Further readings and clarifications on the same read ashok bahirwani's updates. 

SpeakAsia - A brief from its Origin.......

•  February/March 2010 Speakasia online Pte. Ltd. (SAOL) a company registered in Singapore starts its operation in India.Basically Speak Asia registration in Singapore With Number of 200618809D.
• Speak Asia Online Line (SAOL) starts their operation as a Paid Surveys Provider company, in its first or its launch phase, and its tag line was “We Value your Opinion”. As When People Joined and Answers the Surveys they get Paid .
•  Because of the unique idea combined with aggressive field support from the company, SAOL grew at a phenomenon speed and in short time of less than a year SAOL panel size grew to a whopping 20 lakh panelists.
•  The huge size of the SAOL family along with a pan India presence spread over every demographic possible made it the biggest provider of survey panels on the international panel exchanges.
• All the panelists have always been paid promptly and regularly by the company till the 12th May, 2011, But on 11th May A news Channel Named "Star News" show a news Star News Exposes Speak Asia and and Some of the Politicians such as Kirit Somaya as Letter by Dr. Kirit Somaiya Against Speak Asia on 18 May 2011 .On 16th We ( SAOL ) arrange speak asia press conference where all our Speak Asia Management Including Mr. Manoj Kumar CEO , Tarak Bajpai ( COO ) , Narayanan Rajagopalan , Mr. Vivek Gautam ( Chief Marketing Officer ) , Sanjeev Mehta ( Country Head Sales ) and Sanjeev Dwived. In This Press Conference Mr . Narayanan Rajagopalan Speak Asia Explained About Paid Surveys and try to Understand the Speak Asia Business Model But after that the bank accounts were closed by the company bankers.
• M/s United Overseas Bank, Singapore, on 27th May, 2011 probably due to the cautionary circular sent out by the RBI vied circular No. DBS.CO.PPD No.16237/11.01.005/2010-11 dated 23rd May, 2011.
• SAOL has been approaching the RBI and various other appropriate agencies to seek permission for establishing their permanent establishment and for restarting the operations and restarting the payments to their panelists (us).
• An Individual not connected to SAOL filed a criminal PIL in the Mumbai high court against the Government of Maharashtra, seeking directions to the police to set up a suitable mechanism to avoid any sort of internet fraud to safeguard gullible small time investors.
• The Hon. High Court presided by her ladyship Justice Ranjana Desai was pleased to instruct the EOW to file their affidavit on the mechanism in place to safeguard the investors. She had made some observations which were prime facie observations not in any way pointing to the SAOL.
• The EOW erred in their interpretation of the Hon. Ladyship and started investigating SAOL with a vengeance. The investigation arises out of a FIR filed by one Mr. Khosla, who has been a panelist of the company and has been regularly getting paid by the company till the bank accounts were closed in May, 2011.
• Some FIRs have been filed by few aggrieved panelists all over the country. It is not the case of any complainant that they have not received payments before the bank account was unfortunately closed down.
• SAOL is on record and are committed to restart the payments as soon as the banking channels are restored.
• This sudden stoppage of operations and stoppage of payments of SAOL has adversely affected us the 20 lakh Indians who are the panelists of the company.
• All the 20 lakh Panelists had joined the business module to enhance their earnings and see a positive change in their living standards and until May 2011 have experienced the fruits of this association many of whom have experienced a total positive change in their life style.
• It has been almost three months since the monies have freezed up and still all the panelists (barring a few who have complained) are patiently waiting and support the company’s endeavor to get out of the problems and restart the operations.
• The present Association is formed, based and arising, out of support E mails received from all over the country.
• Speak Asia Association has filed a Speak Asia PIL before the Hon. High Court at Mumbai. Which is now posted for 7th September, 2011, When the Government of Maharashtra is to file its reply.
• Some of the panelists have independently moved the Supreme court and are in the process of filing a PIL before the Hon. Supreme Court asking for ad interim relief and prayed that the monies which are seized by the authorities in India be brought under the custody of the Supreme court and under its supervision be distributed among the panelists.
• Important to note here that between Genx Bazaar GOA 9 - 11 May 2011organized one of the biggest consumer gathering under the name and style of Gen X held in Baga, Goa.
• Gen X saw various reputed brands like, Provouge, Reebok, Gitanjali jewellery, American Tourister,Samsonite, IFB Electronics, Flying Machine, TVC skyshop, and Skoda Automobiles to name a few,display their wares for the Speakasians to purchase. A whopping over Rs. 4 to 5 crores were transacted in one day of shopping making it a record single day shopping record.
• The end of Gen X was to usher in the company’s ambitious second phase and the tag line now is “Consumer empowerment”
• The company has grown from being a survey based company and is now into as they call the 5th ‘P’ of marketing i.e. PRECISION MASS MARKETING.
• This second phase was to unleash a revolutionary phase where the company was planning to use this humongous size of its panelists and use their purchasing power to provide the panelists with international quality of products at prizes which were half of what these products are presently available at.
• We the Panelists feel that because of the unprecedented success of the company and its unveiling of its revolutionary new product based platform, has sent jitters in the trade in general and caught the envy of the company’s competitors.
• This unknown enemy of the company is presently orchestrating and unleashing a vicious and malicious negative campaign against the company.
• The Architect of the campaign against the company has unknowingly harmed the interest of 20 lakh Indians and has affected Lakhs of marginal players whose kitchen fires were being run on the earnings they received from SAOL.
• The stoppage of the legitimate operations of SAOL has in fact violated the basic fundamental right of each individual “The right to livelihood”

Who is Sucheta Dalal

Sucheta Dalal is presently the Managing Editor of Moneylife Magazine, which is a personal finance fortnightly. Earlier, she was a columnist for the Indian Express and Consulting Editor for The Financial Express. She has previously written for the Business Standard and The Economic Times, and in the 1990s was Financial Editor of The Times of India. She is a Founder Trustee of Moneylife Foundation, a not-for-profit which is spearheading the effort to spread financial literacy in India.
Since 2000, Dalal was a serving member of the 'Investor Protection and Education Fund' for six years, this fund was established by the Government of India's Department of Company Affairs. She was a member of the 'Narayana Murthy Committee on Corporate Governance' think tank instituted by the Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and was also on SEBI's Primary Market Advisory Committee. She is on Bank of Baroda's services committee and a Trustee of the Consumer Education & Research Centre, Ahmedabad.
In 1992, Dalal was awarded the Femina Woman of Substance award. The same year, the Media Foundation awarded her the Chameli Devi Award for excellence in journalism.
In 2006, Dalal was awarded the Government of India's prestigious Padma Shri in recognition of her journalistic contributions.
Dalal is the co-author of The Scam: Who Won, who Lost, who Got Away, which investigates the role of several figures in the April 1992 crash of the Indian Stock Exchange. The book was written together with her (now) husband, Debasis Basu, who is also a journalist by profession but a Chartered Accountant by training. As of 2007, The Scam is in its seventh print run and fourth extended edition.
Her more recent book, A. D. Shroff: Titan of Finance and Free Enterprise is a biography of Ardeshir Darabshaw Shroff commissioned by the 'Forum of Free Enterprise which Shroff had co-founded in 1956. The book "draws upon the personal papers of A.D. Shroff, the Tata Central Archives, the papers and libraries of the Bank of India, HDFC, and several other institutions with which [Shroff] was associated."
Dalal has a bachelor's degree in statistics from Karnatak University and a bachelor's degree and a Masters degree in law from the University of Mumbai .