Wednesday, July 22, 2009

What Is A high-yield investment program (HYIP)

A high-yield investment program (HYIP) is a type of Ponzi Scheme, which is an investment scam that promises an unsustainably high return on investment by paying previous investors with the money invested by newcomers.

HYIP operators generally set up a website offering an "investment program" with returns as high as 45% per month or 6% a day that discloses little or no detail about the underlying management, location, or other aspects of how money is to be invested because no money is invested. They often use vague explanations, asserting little more than that they do different types of trading on various stock markets or exchanges to generate the returns they purport. The SEC has said the following on the matter: "These fraudulent schemes involve the purported issuance, trading, or use of so-called 'prime' bank, 'prime' European bank or 'prime' world bank financial instruments, or other 'high yield investment programs.' ('HYIP's) The fraud artists... seek to mislead investors by suggesting that well regarded and financially sound institutions participate in these bogus programs."

HYIPs collect large sums of money for the operators by using the classic Ponzi Scheme method of using second- and third-tier investments to pay principal and interest back to the first-tier investors. This is continued for the first several tiers, generating positive word-of-mouth advertising for the scheme using a variety of dedicated forums. HYIPs may also mirror Pyramid Schemes by offering current investors incentive commissions, for example 9% of current investment, to recruit new investors. Some HYIP promoters, aware of the negative connotations of the term, have begun to use other terms such as "HYIP game" or "HYROL" (High Yield Return On Loan) as well.

The introduction of e-currencies in the late 1990s made it easier for HYIPs to operate on the Internet and across international boundaries, and to accept large numbers of small payments. HYIPs usually accept payments only by digital currency.

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