Making easy money looked good to Tsetseg, who saw an advertisement telling her that she could receive four times her deposit by investing in a money making venture. A phone call made to the salesman who placed the advertisement made it sound even more interesting, and she was convinced that it would be a good investment. She decided to meet the architect of the venture face to face. What business was he in? It was a pyramid scheme. He advises people to buy a specific crypto currency. When he first talks to people, he promises them a flexible way to join the pyramid scheme. He takes advantage of human greed to make more money. After hearing the salesman’s pitch about his business opportunity, Tsetseg invested 140 EUR, hoping to become a rich lady. One month later, Tsetseg went to get her 560 EUR and was told that she had to get someone else to invest to be able to receive her money. She persuaded her husband, Ganselem, to invest in the scam even though she hadn’t seen any returns on her own investment. 

When she asked the salesman why she couldn’t get her money, he told her that it was only possible to receive her money in Europe and to buy what she wanted there, explaining that the business had only opened in Europe two years before and needed time to become global. He convinced her to be patient to increase her returns. Now she is waiting for her coins to become eligible for an international payment. The salesman, named Erkhes, tried to promote his business online in order to convince people to buy into his scam. His business started at the beginning of this year, and since mid-October, about 600 people have joined into the scheme.

Some of them pulled out of the business because they didn’t receive the money they expected. Some still trust him even now. Erkhes claims that if you invest at least 140 EUR to buy his digital currency, which is the minimum investment required, you will receive 560 EUR one month later. The salesman always tells his business partners that they will be as rich as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett very soon, but that they have to wait for a few years to see the coin transition from a regional payment system to global one, and that they have to get more people to invest with them. He also encourages them to invest more themselves to receive more money. He says that buying more coins and getting more people to invest contributes to the coins being global currency much sooner, encouraging investors to introduce others to the business. 

When someone doesn’t believe his sales pitch, he lies and tells them that the U.S. Congress, European Union, and Japanese Parliament have approved the use of the coin in their domestic markets soon, but this is not true. He also says that people around the world will all eventually be using the crypto coins, and banking services and paper currencies such as the USD and MNT will be not used. When someone asks him how he’s sure that he can increase the value of the coins, he says that according to the rules of the company making the coins, only 21 million coins will be made. He adds that 17 million coins have been made so far, which is why the coin’s value will always go up until 21 million is reached. Erkhes says, “Our coins are encrypted and crypto currency is so powerful that teams consisting of very experienced computer and financial experts and specialists are working to make new coins using encryption technology. This process of making digital coins is very tough, because it uses comprehensive methods

and supercomputers. It is very hard for regular people to figure out how encrypted algorithms work.” He tricks people into joining his scheme by mentioning the U.S., the European Union, and supercomputers. These terms he uses sound nice to people, and they trust him. He may go to jail someday if somebody sues or calls the police on him. In fact, other scammers easily trick people by taking advantage of their greed

and their gullibility, so the public needs to learn about the realities of investment and these proposals. People don’t help others to become wealthy, and people need to know about the reasoning behind these schemes and the use of fraudulent advertising in television commercials, because people watch them and feel pressured to buy junk products because of a desire to find quick fixes to their problems. Scammers are people who are twofaced, selfish, and use people only to

serve their own interests, only to turn their backs on investors or customers during profitless times. When people speak to scammers face to face, they have many good things to say about their businesses, but as soon as they leave, they get stabbed in the back. Captain Yo.Lkhagvasuren of the National Policy Agency of Mongolia stated that there were 1,260 cases of fraud reported in Mongolia from January to September. He noted that the police are working hard to protect the Mongolian public from fraud, and over the last three years, occurrences of fraud have been reduced considerably. He stated that there have been 13 cases of pyramid schemes in the past three years, and all the perpetrators in these cases were arrested. Most of them are in prison, and the rest are being investigated to pay damages to victims. Captain Lkhagvasuren added that pyramid schemes had not been introduced to Mongolians until now. He said, “Many people know that unless you work, you won’t earn money, but cheaters trick them. On the other hand, scammers aren’t afraid of serving long-term prison sentences. Fortunately, almost all scammers spend a long time in jail, as fraud is a criminal offense.”

The Captain noted that police are now working hard to protect the public against many types of fraud, such as sending employees and students overseas, the selling of some cosmetic and herbal products, and healthcare fraud. Captain Lkhagvasuren added that police have also collaborated with the media to warn people to be careful about fraud, and to let them know that Mongolian police are investigating cases, especially fraud and criminal offenses, quickly. As a result, Captain Lkhagvasuren hopes that scamming people will be a not be a good business in upcoming years.