HAVE you come across an investment scheme called The Electric Money Tree? It is based on the internet, and, according to an email I have received, it costs just £16 to join, in return for which I would receive £4,000 followed by £1m. I do not believe these figures, of course, but nevertheless it does sound convincing.
K.R.T, Meols
THE Electric Money Tree sounds simple. Once you join, an un-named product will be sold on your behalf, in just the same way that you would be paying £16 for the same un-named product when you sign up. Of course, it would take more than 60,000 recruits to raise the £1m you would hope to receive!
In a nutshell, the product is almost immaterial. In a previous version of this scheme, the product was a single-sheet salad recipe! Nobody signs up for the salad - everyone joins for the prospect of £1m. And that makes it an illegal "money game", a sort of pyramid scam where every-one's profit depends on more and more people joining and forking out £16.
The people behind this are Robert and Pauline Chambers. Both have convictions for fraud, and they have run a number of easy-money schemes, all of which have collapsed. They now live in Spain, beyond the reach of the UK authorities.
IN recent months, I have applied for several credit cards which offer low interest rates. Each time I have been rejected. I was told a credit rating check had been carried out on me, but when I got a copy of my records from the credit reference agency I found nothing wrong. I have never had any bad debts.
Mrs M.K., Woolton
THERE are two possible reasons why you were turned down. The card issuers may believe you are what they call a "rate tart" - someone who switches from one credit card to another every time there is a lower rate to go after. The fact that you have made a number of applications recently might be seen as evidence of this, even though you were turned down.
And the other possible reason is that the low rate offered was a sprat to catch a mackerel. If the card firms thought you were unlikely to be a big spender in future, they might have wondered why they should offer you their low rate now.
