What is iCharity club – A Scam?
Is iCharity legal & legit, or just another cash gifting scheme? … Does it have anything at all to do with Charity?
So many questions! Check out this full review and see what I make of it.
What is iCharity Club & How Does It Work?
Very simply put, iCharity club involves putting money into a system, (“donating”) building multiple downlines and earning money from the people who join under you and donate money to you.
There are 10 levels you can participate in, all with an increasingly higher buy-in. The profit per level also increases.
In order to make any money here, you need to make an initial payment, (or donation using their terminology) of $20 to your upline. This will enable you to move into to level 1.
You can then recruit 5 people below you, who will all donate $20 to you. Thereby making you $100 in total, or $80 profit.
In order to move on to level 2, you’d need to put in $40.
You would need to receive 25 donations, from 2 downlines and could potentially make $1000 in total- and so it continues on.
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There are up to 10 possible levels that you can buy into, each level will require a higher donation from you to get into.
So, whereas level one entry is only $20, level 2 is $40…. level 10 entry price is $1,670.
But the idea is, you only buy into the next level once you’ve received the money for completing the previous level, so you’re buying into the next with profit already you’ve made.
You can see the potential levels laid out below in the table…
I find it surprising really that people can buy into this thinking that this sort of thing is achievable.
Sticking that ridiculously gigantic number down at the bottom there is naturally meant to entice people into the system.
However, many people would probably think, that even if they can’t make THAT sort of money, surely they can make a reasonable amount of profit.
It is true that $20 to enter into this sort of thing wouldn’t break the bank for anyone.
However, if you do choose to enter into this sort of scheme – go into it prepared that you could lose everything.
How Do You donate to icharity?
The donations can be sent by a variety of means such as Paypal, bitcoin, payza, skrill and western union – plus standard bank account transfer.
iCharity Club Explained – Video
Note – below video posted for information only, this isn’t a program I recommend.
Is icharity Club A Pyramid Scheme?
If you take a look at the writing above, which is on the iCharity website, you’ll see it says that is is, “not selling any product or service.”
But if all they are doing at iCharity club is…
- Making money via recruiting others into the program.
- Giving and receiving money.
- Offering no tangible product or services in exchange for this money….
Then this can simply be described as: a pyramid scheme.
The misleading word in that sentence is donation. A donation, by definition, is a GIFT, typically given for charitable causes, (see definition of donation).
But what is going on in iCharity, (despite the misleading name) has nothing to do with Charity, nor donations.
It’s quite ironic that they specifically state that they, “do not have any product or service” as their argument against them being a scam.
Because, the very set up they’re describing, is exactly what a pyramid scheme entails.
iCharity simply involves paying money into a scheme, with the sole intention of reaping significantly more money back in return.
By definition, a donation is given as a gift, with no intention of gaining anything back in return.
Ok, so what?
Well, the problem here is, pyramid schemes are illegal in many countries and ultimately, they are impossible to sustain.
It’s predicted that over 90%, or higher, of people who enter pyramid schemes will lose their investment.
What happens is, eventually people stop joining the program, money dries up, there aren’t enough people to pay the people in the above levels and the pyramid collapses.
Another term for this type of Pyramid scheme is a Cash Gifting Scheme.
Typically this is where giving cash is ineffectively disguised as being sent as a “gift.”
In this particular case, they try and escape being a cash gifting scheme – by claiming the money coming in are actually classed as donations instead.
But the money being exchanged here is clearly NOT a gift, nor a donation,
Legally, no one is fooled, as cash gifting schemes are also deemed pyramid schemes – and they are also illegal.
If you are actually giving someone a gift or donation towards an actual charitable cause, of course there is nothing illegal going on – but this isn’t what this is.
No one is giving out money here as a charitable cause, they’re doing it solely to make turn profit…. Or that is the intention.
If Cash Gifting programs are illegal – how do they exist?
People are under the wrong impression that if a program is up and running and thousands of people are participating, that that program must be legally sound.
Unfortunately, that’s completely untrue.
There are a huge number of illegal pyramid schemes in operation today and many could run for years without ever being shut down.
Sometimes the creator will get out of it before that ever occurs, taking a good deal of money along with them and shutting down the system.
If you take notice, you’ll find that there is no information to be found about who actually runs this program and this should always serve as a warning sign.
A legitimate business owner, will always be contactable and show their true identity.
Conclusion – What Is iCharity, A Scam?
iCharity is a cash gifting scheme and thereby, has all the traits of a pyramid scheme.
They even said themselves: There are no products, nor services on offer – there is simply money being exchanged.
Simply calling these payments donations, does not mean they ARE donations. You cannot change the actual definition of a donation, just to suit your own means.
But if you take guise of a “donation,” away, this program can’t escape being described as a cash gifting scheme – a form of Pyramid scheme.
Now, I’m not saying you cannot make money with these programs, you can make money joining Pyramid schemes, but a vast majority lose their money.
Most people will lose money and the later you come in, the higher the chances of that
As long as people go in with their eyes open, people make their own choices about what they want to do…
But sadly, too many people join these schemes out of desperation and often a lack of knowledge about these sorts of schemes.
In addition to this, since you don’t know who created this system, there is every chance they could shut it down whenever they want and if they run into any trouble legality wise and that’s very often what happens.
You also do not have any idea what is going on behind the scenes, but I imagine a hefty lump of cash will be being stashed away and it won’t be going to you.
Finally, this program is attempting to disguise itself as something charitable and helpful to others – considering the reality, this is pretty low, don’t you reckon?
Legit Ways For Making Money Online
The internet is full of scams and & illegal schemes and yet in an era where you’d expect people are becoming more aware of these things, peoples desperation to make quick and easy money continues to lure them in.
It is possible to make money online, but it’s not easy and it’s rarely quick.
I review all different ways to make money online, from small income opportunities to larger scale ones.
Where I make the most money online currently is via Affiliate marketing and this is where I learnt how to do that.
Have you ever been involved in this sort of program? Leave me a comment below!
All the best… 🙂
Other posts that may interest you….
- How to make money online – for beginners
- How to make $100 a day online.
- What do you need to start an online business.
David Bokolo says
Nice knowing. I would like to subscribe into.
Nat says
Hi David – you mean to icharity club? I don’t recommend the program personally, but you can sign up directly from their website if you’re interested. You can see all my positive reviews in the review tab above or else, see my top reviewed program here. Thanks for your comment!
Shola says
Thank you Nat for your sincere review. I will go through your recommended money making programs and get back to you.
Nat says
Thank you very much Shola! Pleased to have helped, let me know how it goes for you.
Edward says
Yes, as you have laid out very clearly, it is a pyramid scheme. I was once a victim in a Forex pyramid scheme, and at some point of time it will collapse, and the owner will disappear along with the invested monies. Don’t ever get involved with pyramid schemes.
Nat says
Hey Edward, thank you for your comment. Sorry to hear you’ve been caught up in a pyramid scheme in the past too. Hopefully, if more people become aware of these schemes, they’ll think twice before signing up. Nat
Marcus says
It gets on my nerves when I see money making schemes like this where you join a downline and need to make payments to move up levels or whatever. This really does look like a classic pyramid scheme where you earn money by getting other people to join under you. But as you progress up the levels, the amount you have to donate gets absurdly high, and they predict that you can earn over 16,000,000,000 by the time you get to level 10. This is insane!
Surely this is going to collapse under its own weight soon, right?
Nat says
Hey Marcus,
Yes exactly, they will say you’ll use your profit to pay to get into the other levels – but then they’re telling you to join the next levels before you’ve got enough in your downline anyway, which would increase the risk, because you can’t be sure you’ll get those referrals. Not to mention of course, that the longer you are a part of it, the higher chance it will collapse at any time. :/ Thanks for your comment.
Aout says
hmmmmm. True.
But I still think pple should be left to decide. Some pple know how difficult it could be to make anything money from this but they still do it.
I think its about choice. Advice them, but dont condemn them
Nat says
Hi,
sure, people can do what they like, but they deserve to know what they’re getting into. Many people do not know the reality behind these schemes. What people do, is their own choice.
Aout says
Yeah Nat, you’re absolutely right.
But think about it, there really is no lie all these multilevel marketing Ponzi schemes (except maybe wrongly used “charity” and other related words.).
Look at these schemes as games. It’s “greedy people” that will want to make this their source of major income. If you make use of your spare money, it won’t really matter. What I believe some think about is “Instead of waste this cash on junks, buying CDs, games etc, why not just you it for smth that could yield more money”.
I’m not trying to convince anyone into anything, I just love seeing things from another perspective
Nat says
Hey there,
I agree there can be plenty of greed involved. But unfortunately, there are also plenty of people who really don’t know what they’re getting into with these schemes. They get in, because they’re desperate for money and end up putting in more than they can afford and then they lose it all. Those are the real losers in this game. The people who create these schemes are well aware of this and they will target people who are desperate for money. As long as people go in with their eyes open – that’s up to them. I appreciate your comment, cheers.
kelvin says
I totally agree with you Nat cos I just noticed that the icharity spamming is just allover facebook nd I’m just waiting to hear what would happen in some moments to come, I’m not totally inclined or convinced with them even though I’d just registered an account well I’ll try to find out when they actually started to know if they have good testimonies. Good review though.
Nat says
Hey Kelvin. Thanks for your comment. At least you’re going in aware of the risks. Let me know how it goes. Nat
Aout says
1st thing we have to realize is”Money isn’t everything”. It’s very necessary, but it’s not everything. I believe how we decide to make money shows the quality of each and every one of us.
Adeola says
Are you now saying that Icharity is a bad investment..
Nat says
Hi, it’s generally said that at least 90% or more of people that put their money into cash gifting schemes – lose all the money they put in. So, it’s up to you if you think that’s worth the risk. Thanks for your comment, Nat
Ejiro says
Everything in life is all about risk. it might not be legit or it could be a scam. Sooner or later, it will crash; some people will be happy and some will be sad depending if they gained or lost money during the process. Every money making business online is filled with risk and some people just take the risk. I did icharity, got money from it. if it should crash now- i wont feel sad because i knew i was taking a risk.
Nat says
Thanks for the feedback Ejiro.
Antan says
LOL…How much do you put into iCharity Club? $20 (N6,000.00) and you get it back at grade one level and never to bring in money from your pocket. So how does that affect your financials?