Ponzi/Pyramid Schemes

Recently somehow whom i know, and who appears to have financial acumen, told me about an opportunity to augment my income. It involved placing Internet ads, which could be done through an "app." What made it more strange was the admission that selling an  actual product or service was counter-productive to making money. The best way was to enlist others to join your "organization" at almost fifteen hundred dollars a whack. The company, which has a virtual office in the US, has been outlawed in another major country, and is being investigated in others, promises to pay $100 minimum a week for one year, effectively tripling your original investment. The more people whom you sponsor, and every new person requires a sponsor, the more you can make. One person whom we know has quit their job and is making over $2,000 a week.
    Although there is a technical difference between a Ponzi scheme (named after Charles Ponzi in the beginning of the last century) and a pyramid scheme, the above description suffices. Both require an ever growing number of people willing to plunk down their  money ( in this case almost $1500)to pay the earlier entrants. Eventually there is insufficent people to do this and the whole thing collapses. Those who got in early make something while the latecomers lose all or most of their "investment."
   The sad thing is that "Christians," despite the warning of the Scriptures, get involved in this and the Name of the Lord Jesus is dishonored.
"And he (Jesus) said to them, 'Take care, and be on your guard against all kinds of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." (Luke 12:15 ESV)
"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs." ( 1 Timothy 6:9-10 ESV)
   "Aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one." ( 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 ESV)
     Ironically, what is immoral and often illegal for private citizens to do, is legal for governments, as in Social Security, where promises have been made to an ever growing number of people, which cannot possibly be met without huge amounts of inflation.