Pyramid Schemes

English Speaking Club

 Lead-in Questions
• 1. What do you know about pyramid
schemes?
• 2. Have you ever been invited to join a scheme
that seemed suspicious?
• 3. Why do you think people fall for pyramid
schemes?
 Key Vocabulary
• 1. Pyramid Scheme
• 2. Ponzi Scheme
• 3. Recruitment
• 4. Downline
• 5. Upline
• 6. Investment
• 7. Fraud
• 8. Return on Investment (ROI)
• 9. Network Marketing
 Match the Words to Their
Definitions
• 1. Pyramid Scheme: A business model that
recruits members via a promise of payments
for enrolling others into the scheme.
• 2. Ponzi Scheme: A form of fraud that lures
investors and pays profits to earlier investors
with funds from more recent investors.
• 3. Recruitment: The action of enlisting new
people in a scheme or organization.
• 4. Downline: The members recruited by a
participant in a pyramid scheme.
 Warm-up Activity
Instruction: Fill in the table with your personal answers.
Question Your Answer

Have you heard of any famous pyramid

schemes?
What would you do if a friend invited
you to join a pyramid scheme?
Why do you think pyramid schemes are
illegal?
 Examples of Pyramid Scheme
Cases
• 1. Case 1: The 1980s Ponzi Scheme
• - Description: Promised high returns with
low risk to investors.
• - Outcome: The scheme collapsed when new
recruits dried up, leaving many investors with
losses.
• 2. Case 2: The 1990s Internet Boom
• - Description: Promoted investment in
internet companies that didn't exist.
• - Outcome: Many people lost their
 Discussion Questions
• 1. What characteristics make a business a
pyramid scheme?
• 2. How do pyramid schemes differ from
legitimate multi-level marketing?
• 3. Why are pyramid schemes unsustainable in
the long term?
• 4. What motivates people to join pyramid
schemes despite the risks?
• 5. How can you identify a pyramid scheme?
• 6. What are the legal consequences of running
 Final Task
• Instruction: Pair up with a partner and create
a short role-play scenario. One person acts as
a recruiter for a pyramid scheme, and the
other person acts as someone being recruited.
The recruiter tries to convince the recruit to
join the scheme, and the recruit asks critical
questions to reveal the scheme's true nature.
Present your role-play to the group.
• Example Scenario:
• - Recruiter: Describes the 'investment
 Thank You!
• Thank you for participating! We hope you
enjoyed the discussion and learned more
about pyramid schemes.