Hello everyone,

I've been browsing forums like MMG and TalkGold for awhile and wanted to say thanks to you all for all the valuable information I've learned from your posts. I haven't contributed to any hyip forums, but now that I'm more confident and have had consistent success investing in hyips and autosurfs, I'd like to share what I've learned, and hopefully someone will benefit from my experiences.

What the Heck’s a Ponzi and is it a Scam?

Pon‧zi - Spelled Pronunciation [pon-zee] An investment swindle in which high profits are promised from fictitious sources and early investors are paid off with funds raised from later ones.

Do I agree with this dictionary definition? Yes and No. High yield investment programs are typically associated with ponzis, and many hyips today claim that they reinvest member’s funds in forex and other commodities like oil. The truth is that only 5-10% actually reinvest while the remaining hyips simply use the investor’s funds to pay off other investors in the program. Now, some hyips, specifically state on their site that it’s a game, and that they do not reinvest member’s funds in other sources.

The problem with ponzis lies in its instability because its success depends on members continually reinvesting an ever-increasing amount into the program in order to payoff investors. Therefore, the ponzi will always collapse when it stops growing.

No, I don’t agree that the ponzi structure itself is inherently a scam. As long as you accept that the ponzi will inevitably collapse, you can make great profits if you invest early in the program. I associate ponzis with scams as the result of a ponzi/hyip administrator’s greed when deciding to close their program and keep all the investor’s funds for themselves. Many admins have the intention of scamming investors from the start while others fall prey to temptation for easy money because the protection online anonymity gives them. It’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to identify or prosecute the admin if they scam you.

So are ponzis and hyips scams? That’s for you to decide.

Mindset

Please realize that despite hundreds of people praising a hyip program, and no matter how honest and diligent the hyip administrator is, EVERY hyip will eventually go down whether its in 3 days or 3 years. Therefore, never consider a hyip as a permanent investment and never invest more than you would be comfortable losing. Also, accept that at least 80% of hyip programs are run by fraudulent admins who have intentions of disappearing with your money once their site collects a determined amount. Keep in mind that a large number of admins are young in the age group of 21-25 and may not make the time or have the organization skills to effectively manage a hyip longterm. (I’m not ragging on the dedicated, younger admins out there ) Even if a hyip is successful, once the hyip reaches a level of exposure, this sometimes attracts hackers worldwide causing the program’s demise. Therefore, realize that because of these factors, at one time or another you will be scammed no matter how careful you are.

Thankfully for us all, there is a small and treasured minority of honest admins who sincerely want to pay everyone and run a fair game. With the mindset of accepting the realities of the hyip world, using the right strategies, and learning from your own experiences investing, YOU WILL PROFIT FROM HYIPS!!!

Tools

Treat hyip investing as a business and take the time to acquire the tools below to protect against identity theft and stolen funds from your e-gold account. You need an excellent antivirus, firewall, anti-spyware, web browser and password manager if using a windows operating system. If you have a Macintosh, you’re more protected because most viruses are aimed at windows users. I recommend these free and great software programs:

Antivirus: AVG Anti-Virus or Avast Home Edition

Firewall: Zone Alarm is reliable but it uses a lot of your system resources. It runs best on a fast computer.

Anti-Spyware: You should use at least 2 different programs because there is not one program that will catch everything. Try to scan your system once a day and keep your programs updated. I use Spyware Blaster, Spy Catcher, Ad-Adware Se Personal and Spybot. (It may sound excessive, but better safe than…eh you know :-)

Browser: Mozilla Firefox is a secure internet browser that uses tabs for organizing several windows at once, which is useful for surfing several autosurf programs at once.. If possible, do not use Internet Explorer when browsing because there are security holes that hackers exploit, and IE has not addressed several of these issues. Hackers can attach Trojan viruses to autosurf programs that typically are aimed at IE users (since most people still use IE).

Password Manager: Roboform is a trusted program for automatically entering your login and password into a website without you having to manually type it in. This is important because if a keylogger is installed on your computer, it will record all your key strokes. Be sure to use Roboform when logging into your e-gold account. Avoid manually typing in your e-gold number whenever possible. Roboform can also generate a unique password for every site you register for. Use a different password for every hyip program.

Finally, download AOL Active Security Monitor. It’s a very useful program that gives an accurate analysis of the protection levels on your computer. These are all free programs that you can download from download.com They will give you a good start towards a safer online investing experience.

Security note: If you receive an email from e-gold or any hyip you have invested in requesting your login and password information for any reason, delete the email. Then go directly to the site and email their support team to confirm whether the sent email was valid.

Exchange Services

Finding a reliable company to exchange your money into gold can be a daunting task. Sending your funds to an unreliable exchange service may result in being scammed before you even begin investing. I’ve used several online exchange services and have had lukewarm experiences having to wait several weeks before I my e-gold account was funded, in one instance. For now, Icegold.com tends to be one of the more reliable third-party exchangers with low rates and fast turnaround. Please do your own extensive research before choosing a company.

Strategies

Whew, now that you made it this far and have the right mindset, the security tools and have funded your e-gold account, you need a strategy for consistently profiting in hyips.

1. Read postings from TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup and other major hyip forums.
The advice offered within forum discussions is completely invaluable. I have learned so much by reading through their posts, and you will too. The more posts you read, the faster you’ll find who the trusted members and admins are. Find out which programs the senior members are investing in and why they chose that particular program. If you are just getting into hyips, I would highly recommend observing hyip programs and reading posts pertaining to all hyip subjects for at least 1 week before investing. Compare different hyip forums when deciding on a hyip in order to get different viewpoints. Be wary of hyip “cheerleaders” who write great reviews about a program but are in reality may be the dishonest admin’s team in disguise. Some admins will pay certain members of forums to promote their hyip. In time, you’ll be able to see through it.

2. Hyip monitors are helpful in initially discovering new hyips to invest in, but view the rating information with a grain of salt. The monitors who invest their own money into the rated hyips are reliable indicators of how a hyip is doing. However, do not put your complete faith in them because after awhile, scamming hyip admins will sometimes pay only the hyip monitors while leaving out the rest of the investors. By doing this, new members will continue to invest with the fraudulent hyip because the monitor says they’re paying. Also, once a program is listed as #1 on a major hyip monitor, trouble is usually soon to follow. Many programs begin a decline once they reach this status because an overflow of members and its appeal to hackers worldwide. You can still invest in these programs but it might be wiser to invest in the programs listed as #4 and below.

3. Diversify the hyips you invest in. No matter how a great a hyip seems, make sure you Diversify your funds in at least 5 good programs to start with. Try investing in as many as you can without losing track of your withdrawal and payment records. I personally invest in 10-13 hyips and autosurf programs at a time. Using this strategy, even if a hyip turns out to be a scam, profits from the other hyips will minimize the damage. Diversifying in autosurfs can backfire because many of the smaller autosurf programs reinvest their funds into established autosurfs. For instance, a small autosurf offering 11% in 12 days will oftentimes invest in an autosurf leader offering 12% in 12 days and profit off the difference. If the autosurf leader closes down, the entire house of cards will follow. The domino effect of autosurf programs closing down after 12dailypro's downfall is an example. Invest in the autosurf leaders for long-term profits.

4. Due your own due diligence. Do a whois search and find out who the hyips domain is registered to using betterwhois.com You’ll be able to find out the country of origin, if they are using free or shared hosting (avoid) and if a free email address is registered to the domain(also avoid). The information is not always accurate or useful, but it gives you a better idea of the person you’re dealing with. For one hyip I was interested in, I did a domain check and found that they had 5 other hyips registered on the same i.p. address indicating obvious fraud. Many scammers use a hacked, old version of Gold Coder script with a cookie-cutter template design. After awhile, you’ll be able to spot it right away. Hyips with a custom designed script demonstrates that the admin has put in the time and money which provides increased security from hackers exploiting Gold Coder backdoors and bugs. Indicators of bad things to come are sites written in broken English and a generic frequently asked questions page. In a rush to scam members and setup one of their many hyips, some admins will forget to change the website name on their faq page!

Edit: Spam

6. Check stats on the hyip sites regularly and look for constant growth. View main hyip forums discussing the hyip you invested in for constant feedback. When the withdrawal is equal to 50% of the deposits, keep a close eye on things.

7. Don’t be greedy :-) Fight the temptation to leave your money in the program once you have made profits. Take out your initial principal and reinvest only the profits you have made. Although this is a conservative approach and I don’t always follow it, you’ll make more profits in the long run.

8. When you withdraw your funds from a hyip, reinvest a portion of your earnings if you want the site to continue going strong. Many hyips run by honest admins have closed down because of “hit and runners”. This term applies to investors who deposit large sums of money and then never reinvest after withdrawing. I understand the reasons behind not reinvesting and have been guilty of it myself, but the site’s success depends on consistent and constant reinvestment by the members. We’re all in this together so let’s support and continue reinvesting with the honest, dedicated admins out there!

9. And finally, Vote! When you are paid, remember to give a positive vote for your hyip monitor and forums. Your vote makes a difference and a small ripple can either prolong a good hyip as more investors are persuaded to invest or can close a program when a bad vote causes a panic resulting in many people withdrawing at once. If you run into any problems with the hyip you invested in, first email the admin directly and also ask a question in the forum where he or she frequents. If the problem is not resolved, then please vote in the hyip monitors and let us know on the forums.

The End!!! Edit: Spam

Kind Regards,

Ron

Excellent article. A lot of useful information!

Thanks, appreciate it

Good article, you must be a pro in Hyip and autosurf

read this guide on talkgold, very useful.

Very well put together information .... now I am off to make a large deposit into a sure scam program ... ha ha ... just joking.

Very useful info. Saved to read later.

Thank you.

thanx for sharing the info
i think it's really helpful

Great article Ronman

Cayman