Maryland officials respond to complaints about pyramid schemes
After receiving more than a dozen recent complaints, Maryland officials are warning people to guard against pyramid schemes.
Since the end of October, the state has received 15 inquiries regarding a pyramid scheme targeted at deaf people. A Canadian company is soliciting residents to sell diamonds, says Kevin Enright, a spokesman for the Maryland attorney general’s office.
Pyramid schemes — mock businesses that earn money primarily from recruiting members and charging them fees rather than by selling products or services — are illegal in Maryland.
“Many people promote pyramid schemes out of ignorance and do not realize they are engaging in illegal and harmful behavior,” Attorney General J. Joseph Curran says in a news release.
Some pyramid schemes offer a product or service to disguise their true nature. The product or service may be overpriced or have a questionable value, like exotic vitamins, health tonics and gemstones of uncertain origins, a state news release says.
The state released a new investor-education brochure with tips to identifying pyramid schemes that make be masked under the name multilevel marketing plans.
The brochure is available at
Maryland Attorney General - Home Page.
Washington Business Journal - 2:29 PM EST Monday
by Stephanie Wentworth
Contributing writer
For concerned readers, you may want to read this from the state agency:
http://www.oag.state.md.us/Securities/PyramidBrochure.pdf .
If you have specific questions, please contact the same organization
securities@oag.state.md.us. elizabeth
