Are these scams?

Mr Harriman, how can we spot scams?

My friend invited me to join Solmax saying we can make a lot of money. My other friend says I should join a scheme called Petronpay. Are these legit?

Many people have asked me about both of these schemes and my answers have always been the same. It doesn’t matter what name a scheme uses, if someone invites you to join a moneymaking scheme, there’s one simple fact you need to know. Anyone inviting you to join such a scheme wants to make money FROM you, not WITH you.

I’ve already done some research on Solmax and it’s complicated. The people recruiting others to join Solmax are actually inviting you to join a scheme called Igniter Pay, which they claim is an “internal project” of a company called Igniter 100, which then trades as Youremit, which is setting up as a money transfer service. They say that Igniter will be listing on the London Stock Exchange later in 2021 but there’s no real evidence this is true.

While recruiting people, they make claims such as “In Solmax you invest £100 Today … which can provide you with about £2000 next year same time” and that “Over 119.9 million people are into

Solmax”. They also claim that you earn a “direct bonus” of 10% of any investment made by people you recruit. So, what’s the truth? It’s a scam. Like all such scams, the people running it will make lots of money from the people they recruit. Those recruits will make the organisers rich until they’re caught and prosecuted.

Petronpay is very similar. It’s another scheme that promises enormous returns that are completely unbelievable. For instance, they claim that you can earn 2.5% return every day. Let’s do the maths. If you “invested” P1,000 on 1st January this year and earned 2.5% interest daily and reinvested that each day, by 1st January, 2022 you would have a balance of P8,207,500. Do you really think this is likely?

Like Solmax, Petronpay is a scam and is therefore illegal. Anyone promoting it, or even joining it, can face a fine of up to P100,000, five years in prison or both. Please don’t waste your time, money, energy, relationships and freedom on these scams.