SIM free mobiles for £20
09 February 2004, 08:42 AM
#1
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 3,229
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
SIM free mobiles for £20
Don't know if this has been done already
I was browsing around E-Bay on Friday looking for a new mobile and I wondered how come there were so many brand new SIM free mboiles still boxed for sale - how were people getting hold of them?
After looking around I found a website that claims to give you a new SIM free mobile of your choice for £20.
Sort of like a pyramid scheme but they call it a 'matrix' scheme. It basically works like this:
I chose a Sony Ericsson T630 - brand new handset which is about £350 to buy in the shops. If they buy in bulk then they'll abviously get them for cheaper than that.
Once you order your CD for £20 then you go on the list for your particular handset - for the T630 everytime 18 people sign up then the name at the top of the list receives their phone. So they will be receivng £360 for each handset they send out.
Each time you get a referrral then you leapfrog up the list by 1 place.
I signed up for the T630 so if it is a scam then I'll lose £20 - willing to take the risk as the handsets are going for £200+ on E-Bay so it will be nice to sell.
Take a look at the website and if you decide to give it a go then please put my referral ID of
12000177
and I'll let you all know if I receive my handset or get scammed
http://www.mobiles4all.com
I was browsing around E-Bay on Friday looking for a new mobile and I wondered how come there were so many brand new SIM free mboiles still boxed for sale - how were people getting hold of them?
After looking around I found a website that claims to give you a new SIM free mobile of your choice for £20.
Sort of like a pyramid scheme but they call it a 'matrix' scheme. It basically works like this:
I chose a Sony Ericsson T630 - brand new handset which is about £350 to buy in the shops. If they buy in bulk then they'll abviously get them for cheaper than that.
Once you order your CD for £20 then you go on the list for your particular handset - for the T630 everytime 18 people sign up then the name at the top of the list receives their phone. So they will be receivng £360 for each handset they send out.
Each time you get a referrral then you leapfrog up the list by 1 place.
I signed up for the T630 so if it is a scam then I'll lose £20 - willing to take the risk as the handsets are going for £200+ on E-Bay so it will be nice to sell.
Take a look at the website and if you decide to give it a go then please put my referral ID of
12000177
and I'll let you all know if I receive my handset or get scammed
http://www.mobiles4all.com
09 February 2004, 08:57 AM
#2
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Plymouth
Posts: 3,079
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This? http://www.thephonematrix.co.uk/ Yep looks like a pyramid scheme to me. Hope you're at the top....
09 February 2004, 09:43 AM
#4
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Derbyshire
Posts: 12,304
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
So you pay £20, then have to find another 18 people to pay £20 towards your phone. Then each of them need to find 18 people, hmmm pyramid!!
Do the maths, by the time you get to the 3rd or 4th level you need the entire population of the world to have signed up stand a chance of getting a phone!
Do the maths, by the time you get to the 3rd or 4th level you need the entire population of the world to have signed up stand a chance of getting a phone!
09 February 2004, 11:22 AM
#6
Scooby Regular
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Nott'm Home of the Reds
Posts: 6,431
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Take a look at the website and if you decide to give it a go then please put my referral ID of 12000177
09 February 2004, 12:57 PM
#7
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 3,229
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
If you don't try you don't get
Besides, if it's a scam then I'll lose £20 and I'll deserve it for trying my luck to get a cheap phone
If I get it then it'll go on E-bay
Besides, if it's a scam then I'll lose £20 and I'll deserve it for trying my luck to get a cheap phone
If I get it then it'll go on E-bay
Trending Topics
09 February 2004, 02:07 PM
#9
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Staffs.
Posts: 1,273
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
OK. Here is a genuine way to get a mobile for £20.
My missus is an Avon representative, their next book has an offer that allows you to get a Siemens mobile on Orange totally FREE when you spend £20 on certain products.
My missus is an Avon representative, their next book has an offer that allows you to get a Siemens mobile on Orange totally FREE when you spend £20 on certain products.
09 February 2004, 04:59 PM
#10
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 3,229
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
fatherpierre
You don't have to find the other 18 people to sign up before you get your phone.
You don't have to get anyone else to sign up, you can sit there and as other people sign up you will move up the list, but for every other person that you recommend you leapfrog the person above you on the list.
The onus is not on you to go out and actively seek 18 other people - it just speeds up the process that's all.
I've signed up and now I'll sit and wait and see if it arrives, if it does, cool, if it doesn't my missus will hit me across the head with a stick
You don't have to find the other 18 people to sign up before you get your phone.
You don't have to get anyone else to sign up, you can sit there and as other people sign up you will move up the list, but for every other person that you recommend you leapfrog the person above you on the list.
The onus is not on you to go out and actively seek 18 other people - it just speeds up the process that's all.
I've signed up and now I'll sit and wait and see if it arrives, if it does, cool, if it doesn't my missus will hit me across the head with a stick
09 February 2004, 05:37 PM
#13
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 3,229
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
fatherpierre
Look at http://www.mobiles4all.com
Remember if you sign up to use my referral ID which is 12000177
Look at http://www.mobiles4all.com
Remember if you sign up to use my referral ID which is 12000177
09 February 2004, 05:54 PM
#16
Scooby Regular
at the end of the day if it is a con you have only lost £20 , i'll let you know how i get on as well !! and those of you who think we are mugs ,fair enough ! but if it is true , we get a phone for £20 quid which i could sell on ebay for £250 profit !! the people that annoy me are the ones on ebay selling info for the link , bloody leeches !
Last edited by scoobydooooo; 09 February 2004 at 05:56 PM.
09 February 2004, 09:17 PM
#17
Scooby Regular
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Liverpool
Posts: 3,229
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
My thoughts exactly
I decided to take the risk so if I get ripped then it's my problem.
I only decided to post it so that other Scoobynet members could look at the website, make their own judgements and sign up if they wanted to.
Like you say, if I get a phone then it'll go on E-Bay
I decided to take the risk so if I get ripped then it's my problem.
I only decided to post it so that other Scoobynet members could look at the website, make their own judgements and sign up if they wanted to.
Like you say, if I get a phone then it'll go on E-Bay
09 February 2004, 10:32 PM
#19
Scooby Regular
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Swilling coffee at my lab bench
Posts: 9,096
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Muppets. If it takes 18 other people to sign up before you get a phone, then only 1 in 19 people who ever sign up will get one. 19x£20 is £380, which pays for one phone plus a nice, healthy profit for the scam organisers. As with any pyramid scheme - and this isn't very different - only the few people near the top ever make anything. The vast majority of people involved get nothing. Do the maths.
Last edited by AndyC_772; 09 February 2004 at 10:35 PM. Reason: Actually this is even better than a pyramid scam, since the same organisers make money out of everyone involved. Genius!
10 February 2004, 08:00 AM
#21
Scooby Regular
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Swilling coffee at my lab bench
Posts: 9,096
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
So I did - but not very wrong Certainly not wrong enough to miss the point, which (I'm afraid) you seem to have done...
1st person signs up. Now 18 more sign up, so #1 gets a phone (total sign-ups = 19).
18 more order their CD. Now #2 gets a phone. Total CDs sent out = 37.
Now 18 more order theirs, so #3 gets a phone. The list now numbers 55, out of which 52 have gained nothing and have lost their £20. That's about 95%.
Having worked this out, many of these people are now starting to worry - they're a long way down the list and looking like losing their £20. So, they try to jump the queue by getting referrals, and they do this by spamming the 'net trying to get others to sign up. It's at this phase that most people (you and me included) first get to hear about the scam. Yet, the more likely you are to have heard of the scam, the less likely it is that you'll actually profit from it. The 5% of 'winners' aren't random - they're all at the top of the pyramid. You're at the bottom.
Can you find out where you are in the list? Work out how many need to sign up (and bear in mind that it'll get harder to find new people as time goes on - you need to find people who can't do simple arithmetic, and not many of those can operate a computer). Work out how many 'net users there are, how many of those might be looking for a new phone, and how many might possibly ever sign up for such a scheme instead of simply buying one (or getting it free with a contract).
Certainly not wrong enough to miss the point, which (I'm afraid) you seem to have done...1st person signs up. Now 18 more sign up, so #1 gets a phone (total sign-ups = 19).
18 more order their CD. Now #2 gets a phone. Total CDs sent out = 37.
Now 18 more order theirs, so #3 gets a phone. The list now numbers 55, out of which 52 have gained nothing and have lost their £20. That's about 95%.
Having worked this out, many of these people are now starting to worry - they're a long way down the list and looking like losing their £20. So, they try to jump the queue by getting referrals, and they do this by spamming the 'net trying to get others to sign up. It's at this phase that most people (you and me included) first get to hear about the scam. Yet, the more likely you are to have heard of the scam, the less likely it is that you'll actually profit from it. The 5% of 'winners' aren't random - they're all at the top of the pyramid. You're at the bottom.
Can you find out where you are in the list? Work out how many need to sign up (and bear in mind that it'll get harder to find new people as time goes on - you need to find people who can't do simple arithmetic, and not many of those can operate a computer). Work out how many 'net users there are, how many of those might be looking for a new phone, and how many might possibly ever sign up for such a scheme instead of simply buying one (or getting it free with a contract).
10 February 2004, 08:28 AM
#23
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: London
Posts: 4,797
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by Hanley
Andy
If you don't like it.....don't sign up!!!
If you don't like it.....don't sign up!!!
but never mind that, would you be interested in sending me £10? The way it works is that you will eventually receive back £180, so as you can see it's well worth it. If you send me £20 you will eventually receive back £360...
i don't accept cheques.
10 February 2004, 08:32 AM
#24
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Plymouth
Posts: 3,079
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
This Pyramid Scheme Scam Calculator is great. Read it before you're taken in like Hanley...
http://www.homepage.net/pyramidcalculator/
http://www.homepage.net/pyramidcalculator/
10 February 2004, 08:33 AM
#25
Scooby Regular
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Swilling coffee at my lab bench
Posts: 9,096
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Originally Posted by ProperCharlie
something tells me that he wasn't going to...
It's nothing to do with how I feel - it's just maths. You're placing a bet with the odds well stacked against you because of where you are on the list. You'd be much better off staking your £20 on a spin of a roulette wheel and buying a phone with the proceeds if you win.
10 February 2004, 08:36 AM
#26
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: London
Posts: 4,797
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
just stuck in a few conservatively estimated numbers:
i don't even know what some of those numbers are called.
LMAO
A total of 9814671360 new people will need to be recruited into the pyramid before your level is paid in full. And for all of them to be paid in their turn, the pyramid must grow by a further 40200893890560 to a total of 40210710958665 people.
LMAO
10 February 2004, 09:14 AM
#28
Scooby Regular
Join Date: Sep 1999
Location: Bedfordshire
Posts: 4,037
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
complete and utter con! The 'matrix' was running before in different guises where they were offering PS2s and other consoles for £20, after a while it just went bang and guess what happened to peoples money!
I cant believe anyone would give £20 to someone they dont know, never met and never will, you think these people have a conscience? wake up and smell the coffee FFS, you'll never see the phone or your money!
I cant believe anyone would give £20 to someone they dont know, never met and never will, you think these people have a conscience? wake up and smell the coffee FFS, you'll never see the phone or your money!
10 February 2004, 09:22 AM
#29
BANNED
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Your home is worthless.You can't afford to run your car.Your job is on the line.Schadenfreude rules.
Posts: 4,787
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
It's a total scam and rip off and was revealed as such here a few weeks ago. Anyone who does it has pi1ssed their £20 into the wind. Perhaps they'd like to contact me and I'll tell them about a great scheme I have to provide new Imprezas for only £100.
Basically you send me the money then I laugh at you for being such a mug and you never get your car- just like the phone scheme.
Basically you send me the money then I laugh at you for being such a mug and you never get your car- just like the phone scheme.
10 February 2004, 10:15 AM
#30
Scooby Regular
iTrader: (2)
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Swilling coffee at my lab bench
Posts: 9,096
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That'll be 40 trillion, 210 billion, 710 million, 958 thousand 665 people. That's about 6,700 times the population of the Earth. Time to send out space probes with little signs on them saying 'get a new phone for just £20...'