Pyramid Schemes Unveiled: A Multi-Level Marketing Cautionary Tale
Pyramid schemes, often masquerading as legitimate multi-level marketing (MLM) opportunities, lure individuals with the promise of easy profits through recruitment. This video delves into the mechanics and consequences of these schemes, highlighting the fine line between legal MLM businesses and illegal pyramid operations. Through the example of a company offering financial freedom for minimal work, it reveals the harsh reality of participants bearing financial losses.
Key Vocabulary:
1. Opportunity (noun)
- Definition: A chance for something better to happen.
- Synonym: Possibility
2. Income (noun)
- Definition: Money received, especially on a regular basis, for work or through investments.
- Synonym: Earnings
3. Recruit (verb)
- Definition: To persuade someone to join an organization.
- Synonym: Enlist
4. Global (adjective)
- Definition: Relating to the whole world.
- Synonym: Worldwide
5. Revenue (noun)
- Definition: The income that a government or company receives regularly.
- Synonym: Income
6. Scheme (noun)
- Definition: An organized plan for doing something, especially something dishonest or illegal.
- Synonym: Plan
7. Fraud (noun)
- Definition: The crime of getting money by deceiving people.
- Synonym: Scam
8. Investment (noun)
- Definition: The act of putting money, effort, time, etc. into something to make a profit or get an advantage.
- Synonym: Contribution
9. Promote (verb)
- Definition: To support or actively encourage.
- Synonym: Encourage
10. Profit (noun)
- Definition: Money that is earned in trade or business after paying the costs of producing and selling goods and services.
- Synonym: Gain
11. Participant (noun)
- Definition: A person who takes part in or becomes involved in a particular activity.
- Synonym: Attendee
12. Illegal (adjective)
- Definition: Not allowed by law.
- Synonym: Unlawful
13. Detect (verb)
- Definition: To discover or notice the presence of something that is not easy to see, hear, etc.
- Synonym: Discover
14. Victim (noun)
- Definition: A person who has been harmed, injured, or killed as the result of a crime.
- Synonym: Sufferer
15. Empowerment (noun)
- Definition: The process of gaining freedom and power to do what you want or to control what happens to you.
- Synonym: Liberation
These key words and phrases enrich the understanding of pyramid schemes, providing the necessary vocabulary for engaging in comprehensive discussions about these fraudulent practices.
10 Engaging Conversation Questions:
1. What do you understand by the term "pyramid scheme"?
2. Can you explain the difference between a pyramid scheme and a multi-level marketing (MLM) business?
3. Why do you think people are attracted to join pyramid schemes?
4. What are some signs that an opportunity might be a pyramid scheme?
5. How do pyramid schemes affect individuals and communities?
6. Discuss why pyramid schemes are illegal in most countries.
7. How can people protect themselves from becoming victims of pyramid schemes?
8. Why might someone find it difficult to recognise a pyramid scheme?
9. What role do trust and social networks play in the spread of pyramid schemes?
10. Share your opinion on whether all multi-level marketing businesses are harmful or if some can be beneficial.
These questions are designed to foster engaging conversations among B1 level English students, encouraging them to use their language skills to discuss and critically think about the topic of pyramid schemes and related practices.