iJango Scam

ijango-scamI’m posting this a little early today, but it’s important. My sister called me last night to ask me about something called iJingo – The Center Of The Online Universe. Apparently, a family member has bought into this new venture and told her about the amazing opportunity she could have to get in on the ground level of the next Google. I was interested to hear what she had to say, being as I hadn’t heard anything about this “next big thing” before her call. Sadly, once she started describing it to me, I instantly recognized the ugly stain of a multilevel marketing / pyramid scheme / ponzi scheme.

Basically, iJingo is claiming to have patented an amazing new technology that will revolutionize the way we use the Internet. In reality, they’ve merely cloned iGoogle – but, to their credit, they’ve made it a little sleeker. Their tantalizing sales pitch offers you riches beyond your wildest dreams for the simple and affordable investment of $150 dollars up front, followed by a $20 monthly service fee for what they call “the back office”. How will it make you money, you ask? Simple, they reply! Every time you use the Internet, you’re making someone money. If you do a Google search, then Google gets paid. When you use Facebook, the Facebook folks are getting a few clams. When you go to YouTube, Yahoo, MySpace, etc… all of those companies are making money. iJingo, they say, will let you take a slice of that enormous, cash-filled pie!

All you have to do is join up with your $170 dollars and then set about recruiting more people to become your buzzwordy “downliners” – ie, other suckers you convince to pay into the pyramid scheme. The money, iJingo claims, comes in from you paying to use their Internet portal, which you then turn around and give it away for free on the Internet. For everyone who uses your portal to access web content, you’ll get a slice of that revenue pie. It sure sounds good, I guess. At least, it sounds great to people who aren’t very familiar with how the Internet and e-commerce work, or who simply don’t want to risk passing up a chance to get in on the ground floor of the next Internet success story. However, if it sounds too good to be true…

iJingo is a scam, pure and simple. It’s a classic scam dressed up with technobabble and jargon that makes it sound plausible. Of course companies like Google and Facebook make money from people using their free services, and everyone knows that e-commerce is HUGE. If, for example, you could get just 1% of the total revenue generated on the Internet, you’d be set for the rest of your life. It sounds like it might work. It has that common sense believability that usually gets people into trouble. The whole problem with the notion that you could somehow get paid for driving traffic to places like Google or Facebook with your iJingo portal is that it doesn’t make any real sense. Let me explain: free sites make money from ad revenue generated by the ads that line their pages. They have the massive traffic levels to drive serious income from per-view exposure and on-click units. However, they’re not gearing up to give any of it to you.

Here’s how the real game works on the real Internet: Google owns AdSense, and people opt-in to the advertising program by signing up and installing the AdSense code on their site. This allows AdSense to place advertisements on their pages, and the AdSense algorithms dynamically place context-appropriate ads. (Although, in practice, the results are sometime hilarious – but that’s a whole other topic.) Meanwhile, advertisers pay Google to run their ads. Some of the ads generate small amounts of money per-view, but most of them only pay for on-click traffic. This means that a user needs to both see the ad and click it before any money changes hands. Once an ad is clicked, Google charges the advertiser for the exposure and then takes a percentage of that revenue and deposits it into the account of the publisher hosting the ad. Google keeps the rest of the money.

With that in mind, why would Google suddenly decide to let you come between them and their money? Why do you deserve a share of a revenue stream you’re not contributing to? To extend my example, let’s use Coquetting Tarradiddles for the sake of argument. I have AdSense ads on this site. They function as described above: if someone clicks one, Google gets money from the advertiser and pays me a small percentage of that fee. Now, along comes iJingo and their “amazing” portal that will allow anyone to put my site onto their portal page. Then, somebody uses that portal to access my site, where they find an ad and click it. Somehow, iJingo has managed to convince people that I would now owe the portal user some money. Why? Because they drove traffic to my site? I didn’t ask them to. I didn’t agree to anything or opt-in to any service, and I have no obligation to divert a portion of my advertising revenue to anyone other than Google, who is the one selling the advertising units in the first place. This is the key to understanding why iJingo is a ponzi scheme. There is no revenue stream other than the money coming in from people buying into the program. Their proposed business model is no different than believing that you could sell someone your television set and somehow be paid for all of the advertisements they end up watching on it. It’s a lunatic proposal, but the bigger the lie…

iJango will be quick to point out that there are other multilevel marketing schemes that have been around for years and aren’t scams. They’ll cite Amway, Avon, and Mary Kay Cosmetics. The problem with these examples is that yes, they are MLM ventures – but they are, in fact, selling products. They’re crazy and horrible ways to invest your money, but there is the possibility of a revenue stream via the sale of merchandise. iJingo has nothing to sell, nothing to leverage, nothing to speculate, nothing to bring in any money other than the financial investments of all the poor suckers they manage to con into playing along.

If you’ve already plopped down your $150 + $20, then I advise you to get out now, while you can. If you can. You might have even seen a good initial return on your investment, if you’ve been busily recruiting new schmucks into the scheme. This is one of the short term benefits of a ponzi con, because some people really can make disproportionately large sums of money near the beginning of the venture. The problem is, most of this money doesn’t usually exist anywhere – and, if it does, it’s hardly liquid. Once confidence in the scheme begins to falter, if you’re able to get any of your money back at all, you’ll have to compete with the hordes of other disillusioned investors for the limited pool of cash that’s actually there. It’s kind of like having a run on the banks, where everyone finds out that there’s no money in the vault, and that the banker has skipped town to live an expatriated life of luxury in a foreign land with no extradition treaty.

So anyway, this concludes my emergency posting. If you need more convincing, try thinking a couple of things over. First, iJingo is set to have their spectacular launch event in the next few days, yet the media has absolutely no coverage of this revolutionary new technology. Second, iJingo has gone through enormous trouble to spam the search engines in an apparent attempt to stifle dissenting viewpoints to their own, although they haven’t been entirely successful. Third, remember your Internet history. Companies make it big on the Internet by coming up with a novel and marketable idea, and finding some venture capitalists to invest in its development. Then, they bring everything on-line and give it away for free. They use advertising income to generate revenue as they grow, and they eventually IPO and offer initial shares at rates reflective of their service’s popularity, after which they leave the company and either start up a new venture, or go to their high school reunions to rub their geek dollars in the jocks’ faces. Sometimes both.

What they don’t do is sell a pyramid structure of investment and ask that you then go recruit downliners that will feed you and everyone higher up on the food chain. They don’t ask that you get in early by tantalizing you with the notion that, if you invest quickly, you will occupy a powerful seat of authority and wealth along with the other early adopters, who all have an endless army of downliners constantly feeding them unearned cash. No, real companies have real strategies that don’t involve bilking investors of their cash through false promises and hollow claims. Real companies succeed or fail based on the merit and popularity of their products and services, not on a revenue stream that is dependent on the gullibility of hardluck people hoping to turn a quick buck in an increasingly stressful economic climate.

But don’t take my word for it. Go check out these links and make up your own mind. Just remember to come back here and tell me how right I was, after it all blows up in your face.

iJango’s Site:
http://www.ijango.biz/

Scam Information:
http://www.clicksniper.com/ijango-scam-cameron-sharpe/
http://www.clicksniper.com/ijango-scam-part-2/
http://ontopresultsllc.com/news/2009/07/13/ijang-the-next-localadlink/
http://www.mlmblog.net/2009/07/who-will-win-the-ijango-scam-.html

Definitions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyramid_scheme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponzi_scheme

Good luck to you. If you’re in, get out. If you’re out, don’t get in. Simple, really.




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10 Comments on “iJango Scam

  1. Oh Honey, you couldn't be more uninformed!! GOOGLE signed an agreement with ijango and agreed to pay them for driving traffic to their advertisers. There is a deal IN INK between Google and Ijango. Sorry you didn't think of it..but the financial arrangement between Google and ijango is patent pending and the law firm handling the case is none other than Nix, Patterson and Roach http://www.nixlawfirm.com! You question why Google would allow people to get in the middle of them and their ad money? A little word called LOYALTY! Ijango customers are firmly planted in the Google infrastructure and must pass over the Google backbone to go to another site. Plus ijango has direct agreements with over 500 online shopping sites including Walmart, Ebay, Best Buy, Zappos and the list goes on and on! ijango is going to surprise everyone with it's ability to pull ad revenue from clicks. Google is said to have expressed a lot of excitement about thier new unique, patent pending arrangement with ijango. And just for the record, Pyramid Schemes were outlawed over 40 years ago. Look up the definition and you will see that ijango does not fit that description. It's just a convenient word used when someone wants to initiate shock value into a conversation.

  2. Really? That's terrific news! I'm very excited now!

    I had no idea Google was so excited and eager to share their profits. If you could just go ahead and link to any of the white papers from Google or Wal-Mart, eBay or Best Buy, or Zappos or the list that's going on and on where those companies are publicizing their intentions to partner with iJango, that'd be great!

    Once I see announcements of these deals that you say are IN INK, I'll immediately recant and hop on board the iJango money train. Hurry with the links, though. I can't wait to get started!

    *sigh*

    Kristian
    Coquetting Tarradiddles

  3. @chefchick
    I wonder what kind of bones you're sucking on at night, is it Cameron Sharpe's, better be careful 'cause he's HIV+!
    Show us the agreement between the Ijango pyramid scheme scam and Google the legit and supreme internet giant!
    There isn't any.
    That is just a big-O blatant lie!
    Also, no patent has been filed with US Patents and Trademarks Office, see this link:
    http://is.gd/1TF0Q
    Something else, Wikipedia has removed the only reference they had about iJango (a one line, insignificant paragraph), do you wonder why?
    It's because it knows that iJango is a scam and wants nothing on its reputable site that smacks of iJango false advertising: quote from their site: "was blatant advertising, used only to promote someone or something", see link:
    http://is.gd/1RQq3
    The thing that is suppose to revolutionize the internet like the mouse has revolutionized the computing?
    iJango?
    There is absolutely no news in the mass media about iJango!
    Over 650 domain names registered in China alone (for the purpose of spamming all of web search engines), link farming, this is the iJango scam Modus Operandi!
    You must think people are stupid, don't you?
    Well, we ain't, the stupid ones are those falling for the scam, like you, for example.
    And the sad thing it's not the fact that a lot of desperate, yet greedy people are losing $410/year, oh no, the sad thing is that they are making scumbag con artists like Cameron Sharpe et Co rich by doing so.
    I got a feeling that this kitchen is too hot for you.
    Get out or get burned!

    "Noscamdamus"

  4. Great posting. You're 100% right and have said better than I. Oh and chefchick.. there is no deal with Google. Another issue with iJango are is the misinformation they're putting in their sales info. Like patented technology, they haven't filed any, or Google on board. This is a pure play pyramid scam. Thanks for helping to expose it.

    One note, the folks involved are sounding more and more like cult members as they defend this thing.

  5. wow! chefchick's comment shows you how brainwashed and demented people that fall for iJango are.

    how in the hell are ijango users firmly planted in the Google infrastructure, when they HAVE NOTHING to use yet?

    I've already seen and analyzed the platform, check it out for yourself:
    http://george.ijango.com

    api search serves irrelevant ADSENSE ads, and the shopping portal is so 1995. People don't shop by store on the internet any more! It's all about PRODUCT SEARCH!

  6. I urge you not to overlook the fact that iJango has gone out and registered ijangoscam.net and ijangoscam.blog.com in an attempt (mercifully, a failed one) to ensure they are the top Google result when someone searches on "iJango scam".

    Anyone who would do that deserves to be looked at with an extra degree of skepticism.

    I'll believe this isn't a scam when Google announces the (non-existent) on Google's own website. Which will never happen, because…

    This is a scam.

  7. I sent an e-mail to Google which reads : I am trying to determine if Google is officially affiliated with iJango in any capacity. Please advise.

    Thank you.

    Shawn

    I took out last name for obvious reasons.
    Reply : Hi Shawn,

    No, Google is not in any way affiliated with iJango.

    All the best,

    Jay

    If you don't believe here is the contact info : Jay Nancarrow | Google Global Communications & Public Affairs jaynancarrow@google.com

  8. Hilarious about this ijango scam. I went to one of the presentations about a week ago. The one question on my mind at first was, they keep mentioning how I'd receive a percentage of profits for someone clicking on links.(ROFLMA0) After no clear answer, I press a few reps and they are saying things like a percentage of the click money and I point out. Ok, lets say you click on something, they receive .10 cents(but wait, thats divided amongst who?) So ultimately a rep will earn 0 – 5 cents or something. Then they think for some strange reason, that 5 cents adds up and think they will have 1000's of people clicking on ads on their (ijango, non portal site) NON PORTAL SITE… you have to log into ijango to have a portal. Its NOTHING LIKE GOOGLE/MSN/YAHOO, where a person can simply type in those names and be at their portal sites. I'll repeat, you can't go to ijango.com and its a portal, YOU MUST LOGIN and if I HAVE TO LOGIN, then how can I send people to my portal? People, Ijango may not be a scam, but it darn sure can't work in the long run, or short run… EXCEPT for the $150/yr and $20/month sustainability FEE, lol… If you seriously think you will make money from this ill conceived setup, you deserve what you will receive after wasting your valuable time…. BTW, who pays $20/month anymore for online services, such as cutting a check for commissions and tracking? I can see it now, my affiliate companies sending me a notice to charge me a monthly fee for tracking my customers and sending me a check… WAKE UP! OH and how can I forget the priceless marketing method of, if I send another person your way and they want to help promote your company, they too can pay a $150 fee for the priveledge… PLEASE WAKE UP! Alright, now that you are finally awake. Has anybody received a notice from Google or any other party confirming that Ijango has an agreement or business relationship with them to receive commission money????? Have your attention yet? Let's recap…

    1. Ijango IS NOT A PORTAL
    You can't go to ijango.com and use it like google/yahoo or any other search engine… Unless you have an account and can login….

    2. Have to pay $150 to signup, $20 month for????

    3. Google, Itunes, Rhapsody, anybody confirm independently about an agreement with Ijango? BBB has asked questions… lmao…

    4. Good Luck if you decide to join…