Pyramid Pirates: a FOX56 News Special Report

(WOLF) -- Pyramid and Ponzi schemes attract people by offering them easy, fast cash just for recruiting other people to join or invest into the program -- and now they’re getting a reboot on social media.

Schemes called “money trees” or “blessing looms” have been popping up on sites like Facebook and Snapchat.

Friends and family members recruit others to pitch in a certain amount of cash.

Its all put into a pot on a mobile payment services like Venmo, PayPal, or CashApp.

Then, the person at the top gets to cash out.

But experts say don’t be so quick to fall for so-called “easy” money.

“If the emphasis is on recruiting, again that’s not going to be a true investment. The recruiting emphasis really shows that it falls into that pyramid scheme, you know, try to get more people involved to make more money. But again a true investment would come through a bank, a stock broker, or a trader. Someone who can be trusted.”

FOX56’s Jade Jarvis has more information on how to spot one of these schemes in action, and how to safely invest your money in a special report Monday night at 10.