Who is Charles Ponzi? What is a Titan or Ponzi scheme?

Ponzi ponzi ponzi ponzi

He is very much in the news these days.

My first meeting with Mr. Ponzi coincided with the Kuleli years.

I don't remember the details now, how it happened, who introduced me. 

But somehow someone wanted to include me in such a system in those years.

I'm talking about the 1980s, I don't remember the exact year, but I think I was in my second year at Kuleli, maybe 1984.

I remember envelopes with a pre-printed address on them. I think they gave you three or five envelopes, I don't remember how much it was, but you put a certain amount of money in one of them. You also wrote your own information on a pre-printed piece of paper that you put in the envelope. And I think you also wrote the name of whoever you received the envelope from. Maybe you also wrote down whoever you distributed envelopes to. I told you, I don't remember much.

Then you put a stamp on the envelope and sent it to the address written on the envelope. 

Stamps were affixed to envelopes back then.

I also had a stamp collection. But I didn't show my stamp collection to anyone, as the saying goes.

Anyway, whoever you distributed the other envelopes to, they had to write your name on their envelopes, of course.

Then I think they would send you an amount of money according to how many people accumulated under you.

I said, "No way!" and threw away the envelopes given to me. 

Or I probably gave them back to whoever gave them to me. 

***

After all, I'm good at math, I knew from the beginning that this was not going to end well. 

Don't die, don't die, someone will distribute the envelopes to someone else, they will send money, it will end up with you and you will start earning more money than you put in.

Although I remember that the money you had to send wasn't that much to begin with. 

If I had extra money, and if I had found someone who would write my name on their envelopes, maybe I would have joined the system.

After all, in those years you didn't know that you could be scammed with something like this. People were much more gullible then.

I am not very persuasive in such things. Moreover, it wasn't in my character to try to convince someone else in such a system when I didn't even believe in it myself.

Then I forgot about that incident.

***

Years have passed and it's still the same story.

Look where we have come from, and of course one thinks of one's own experiences.

At the time, I didn't understand that it was a scam, but the system didn't make sense to me, I thought it couldn't be done.

Today I can see that it's a complete scam.

After all, if it's just a system of collecting money from some people and distributing dividends to others, then it's definitely a scam.

But if it's a way of collecting money and doing big things with the big money, then I don't know. 

It depends on what is being invested.

If unimaginable returns are promised, then you have to be careful.

Of course, there is also the issue of trust, we need to look at what kind of investment is being made.

For example, if something like this is done with a state guarantee, I guess there is no reason not to trust it.

But if it is investing in imaginary chickens and cows like Farmlik Bank, then it is not impossible to be crippled. Even if there is state support, in cases where some state officials, important artists, etc. support it, I don't know, when it is openly advertised on television, I guess there is no reason for people not to believe.

So what happened to the tosuncu? Isn't he still in jail?

Did they touch anyone else?

For example, what happened to those who aired his advertisement? What happened to those who received support from state leaders?

I think all the blame was put on him and that was that. I don't know anyone else accused.

I swear he ate the money very well. Luxury cars, villas. So much fun.

But he used it up quickly. 

I think if he had been a little more frugal, it would have lasted a long time.

It would have been forgotten in time.

Shame on him, he should have been frugal instead of showing off. Then maybe he could have really fallen off the agenda.

Did you see that? He didn't have a strong back then. 

And now look at him in jail. 

Who knows what they did to him there?

Maybe when he gets out, if he can come up with new projects, he will find someone who can drag him along. There have been people who could do that in this country. 

Our people love those who swindle them, cherish them.

Yes, he will not stay in prison forever, he will be released one day.

Others will be released too, don't worry, they have been in jail for a long time for fraud.

Are we in the old times, they will cut off your arm and leg, maybe they will shoot your neck.

They won't be in jail for long. They will all get out after some time.

***

This Mr. Ponzi also has a practice among housewives. 

Actually, it would be more accurate to say that it is a marketing method.

This method was once very popular among housewives. I don't know if it exists now.

Whatever a company sells trinkets from a company, lipstick, mascara, mostly women's make-up or fragrance, perfume...

You know how ladies love to go to the days between them, on those days some housewives sell such things to those who come to the day.

Oh my lamb, with one drop, neither crow's feet nor dry skin. This formula is a miracle! I use it myself and Necla says it's very good.

Or it never comes off during the day, apply it in the morning and keep it on your lips all day.

If they could arrange for new employees who would aspire to this job through them, such employees would also get a share of the sales of those new salespeople at the bottom of the triangle.

This is also a ponzi method, but at least there is labor in this. 

You go around day after day, gossiping and earning money at the same time. It's a good job.

In the end, you get your share according to what you can sell. 

Of course, in the meantime, you give a share of what you sell to those who involve you in this business, that's the ponzi part.

But it doesn't matter, in the end, you work with the sweat of your brow, or as much as your tongue turns, and you get a little reward for your labor. 

Additional income for the family. Throwing stones and getting your hands tired!

The thing you have to be careful about here is that in some places they take the money from you from the beginning for the things you sell, then they close the company and the founders of the company disappear. And you are left with what you have. Sell if you can!

In other words, you buy all that junk with things that you actually bought above their value.

That's the fraud part of it.

If this is how they set up the system, it's best to stay away. 

Then it is obvious from the beginning that you will eventually be scammed.

Actually, the real problem is that after a while in such jobs, you start to see everyone as a customer.

After a while, it doesn't matter if it's this person, that person, relative, relative, neighbor, friend. 

Everyone becomes a potential customer for you.

That's why I have always been distant from these jobs. 

Such jobs do not leave a friendship relationship.

Naturally, you have to keep a certain distance from the friends who are engaged in these businesses.

Every word they say usually starts with "what a beautiful product".

***

The real ponzi system results in those who set up the system collecting the money and running away after a while.

I think it was in the TV series Babel, Halit Ergenç was explaining the ponzi system to his students.

He said that you distribute some of the money you collect at the beginning as a very high interest income to those who join the system and create an environment of trust for others to join the system.

When it reaches a high enough amount, you collect the money and grease the skids.

And then what?

Then what, if you've made enough money, God bless you. Go to the Hawaiian islands, or wherever you dream of living.

You can live it up. Sleep it off, Osman.

But it's a mystery whether you can make that much money without people noticing.

But why not when people are so eager to make money?

When people see a chance to make money above the market in this environment of the country, they jump on it anyway.

If they see this as an opportunity, even if it is known to be a ponzi from the beginning, there are even those who enter, thinking that if I can manage to get out in time, I will take the money.

Why wouldn't you join such a system if it really makes money, right?

If you put the money in the bank at interest, the interest you get won't even be enough for the principal to melt against inflation.

You have to protect your money. 

Should you invest it in interest and lose the principal?

People resort to such means when the situation in the country is like this.

So you shouldn't criticize people too much.

Shame on fate!

I chose it myself, I lost it myself, right?

And if someone offers you the chance to earn an income well above the inflation rate, enter the world of scammers. 

Let's see who swindles whom. 

And then what the state does is different? 

Isn't inflation something the state does on purpose? Aren't all these people getting poorer because of inflation?

Doesn't the state know that you and I will suffer from inflation?

If you keep your money in the bank, will you be able to protect it in this inflationary environment?

What can you do?

If you want to invest it in the stock exchange, is it any different from the gambling tables in casinos? 

The captain is the one who runs the ship. 

You will have information from above so that you can get in at the right time and get out at the right time.

If you bet everything you've got without knowing, you'll end up sitting on your buttocks. And then you'll be crying that you're bankrupt.

Leveraged transactions are already much more dangerous. 

You'd be better off playing craps. At least the dice have an equal chance of winning.

Whoever said this about leveraged trading? There goes all the money you invested. 

There's no way to stop the loss, you'll instantly reset all the money you have.

My luck is good!

Is that so? Then play craps. 

Or maybe horse racing. 

Even in horse racing, you'll be much luckier than in the forex market.

Stay away from leveraged transactions.

***

Let's put the money in gold! 

Yes, you're right. That's what many people think.

Turkey is one of the countries with the highest gold trade in the world.

In my opinion, gold is just a piece of metal. Gold is really no different from iron or nickel. It is also a metal.

It shines a little bit, that's all.

For some reason, just as crows are attracted to shiny things, people are attracted to the shine of gold. 

For some reason, gold has always been important to mankind throughout history.

However, it is always those who buy and sell, that is, the jewelers, those who trade in this business, who earn from gold.

But I'm not talking about town jewelers. 

Town jewelers invested everything they had in that bracelet, ring, earring. 

Once every forty years someone will come and buy gold. And you will make money.

If it goes out of fashion or something, you'll have to deal with it later. 

If he tries to dispose of it himself, the jeweler in the big city will have to sell it for less than the price he bought it for, and he will make a total loss.

Moreover, there is also the risk of being robbed by all those horsemen when you become a town jeweler.

Jewelry is a risky profession indeed.

But if the shop is in a place where this business is intensively practiced, then of course it makes a difference in terms of making money. 

The buying and selling scissors are quite open in gold. 

If you are investing in gold as a simple citizen, you will wait and wait, first your loss from the buying and selling difference will be covered, then, well, the value of gold that you can sell will rise and you will be able to protect the main money you invested, maybe you will make a little profit on top of it.

In other words, it is the jewelers who make the real money in gold, who are constantly buying and selling. He gets his commission when he buys from you and when he sells.

***

So what should we do if not gold? 

Should we invest in crypto?

I don't want to get into crypto at all. Those who hit the money in crypto hit the money in the past, and many of those who bought it later on went bankrupt. 

I don't know how the market is these days, but I've never been involved in crypto.

I don't have any money to invest here and there anyway.

***

So what are we going to do?

I swear, I don't know either. The bald man's medicine is for his own head.

Buy the lottery, maybe you'll get lucky and hit the jackpot. 

If you're hoping for the lottery, don't forget to visit places where pigeons are plentiful.

Make your own luck. Maybe they will bring you luck if they shit on you. So go to Eminönü, the Spice Bazaar, or Beyazıt Square, I guess you can go there.

I wonder if there are still many pigeons around here? 

I remember these places used to have a lot of pigeons.

Who knows how many years it has been. I haven't even been to Istanbul for a long time. And when I did, I never made my way here like I used to.

I hope the pigeons are still there.

***

And if you win the lottery, don't lose the ticket, hide it in a good place, in such a place that the lady can't find it. 

Who knows? Maybe the lottery will really hit and you will seize this opportunity and change everything in your life.

But don't rely on such things like ponzis and monzis, you will eventually get scammed. 

This is for sure.

***

You have money, you have a problem, brother. 

The best thing is to give more to those in need, at least you will get their blessings.

Isn't that what our faith requires? Share the surplus, isn't that what our holy book says?

That is the religiously prescribed filter, zakat, you know the rates, I'm talking about the amounts determined every year by the diocese, those rates are the minimum of what you should distribute. 

You give more, the reward will be more. 

This world is ultimately our temporary residence, there is no pocket for the shroud, brother, you can't take it to the other side anyway.

Is it worth all this greed for money? 

Ponzi monzi! 

Either this way or that way, they're hitting you. 

Give away what you have like a gentleman. At least you'll be of some use to the poor.

The income from those businesses is not a religious sin, it's a profit partnership.

Look, look, look, look, look how they've done it.

What can I say, then it is fitting that you should be defrauded. 

Go on, if there are many people who are eager to be swindled, there will be plenty of swindlers.

***

So, you made a headline about Charles Ponzi? 

You didn't mention him?

Is it necessary? 

We are all Ponzi these days, what more Charles Ponzi do you want? 

An Italian born in 1882 and died in 1949. 

I don't know if he was the first to think of it or the first to implement it, but this Ponzi scheme is named after him. 

I wish he was known for something better, Mr. Ponzi.

Those who are curious can look him up on the internet, they have written his whole life on the internet, I don't think I need to write it again here.

I wish you all Ponzi-free days, we really have become ponzi inside and out. Look, there is now Mine.

Let me tell you to be careful. If you have any savings, don't lose them here and there. There are a lot of scammers out there. I'm telling you.

Love and respect to everyone from Moscow.