Automatic Passive Income Review: $50 pyramid scheme
Automatic Passive Income, or API for short, fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.
API’s website domain (“apibusiness.online”), was privately registered on January 22nd, 2023.
Of note is API’s website featuring an “imprint” section. This is mandatory for German-speaking countries.
This ties to API offering its website in English and German. API’s official FaceBook page is also managed from Switzerland:
Curiously, clicking through API’s website “imprint” link takes us to the domain “sparissimo.com”.
Bardhyl Salijaj (right) is listed as the “authorized representative” of Sparissimo’s website. Seeing as API’s website links here, presumably Salijaj represents it too.
Launched in late 2022, Sparissimo appears to be a failed ecommerce website. As of October 2024, Sparissimo’s website traffic was too low for SimilarWeb to track.
Matching API’s FaceBook page, on LinkedIn Bardhyl Salijaj represents he is based out of Switzerland.
API might also have ties to Dubai;
Due to the proliferation of scams and failure to enforce securities fraud regulation, BehindMLM ranks Dubai as the MLM crime capital of the world.
BehindMLM’s guidelines for Dubai are:
- If someone lives in Dubai and approaches you about an MLM opportunity, they’re trying to scam you.
- If an MLM company is based out of or represents it has ties to Dubai, it’s a scam.
If you want to know specifically how this applies to Automatic Passive Income, read on for a full review.
Automatic Passive Income’s Products
Automatic Passive Income has no retailable products or services.
Affiliates are only able to market Automatic Passive Income affiliate membership itself.
Automatic Passive Income’s Compensation Plan
Automatic Passive Income affiliates purchase $50 positions in a three-tier matrix cycler.
Automatic Passive Income uses 3×3 and 3×5 matrices in its cycler.
A 3×3 matrix places an affiliate on top of a matrix, with three positions directly under them:
These three positions form the first level of the matrix. The second level of the matrix is generated by splitting each of these first three positions into another three positions each (nine positions).
Level 3 of the matrix is generated in the same manner and houses twenty-seven positions.
A 5×3 matrix places an affiliate at the top of a matrix with five positions on the first level:
A 5×3 matrix houses three levels, with levels two and three being multiples of five of the previous level (as above).
Positions in each matrix tier are filled via direct and indirect recruitment.
Commissions are paid as positions are filled. And once all positions are filled, the position cycles into the next tier of the matrix.
Payments across all three tiers of Automatic Passive Income’s cycler are as follows:
- Bronze ($50 entry, 3×3 matrix) – $7.50 per position filled on the first level, $5 on the second level and $2.50 on the third level
- Silver ($100 entry, 5×3 matrix) – $15 per position filled on the first level, $10 on the second level, $5 on the third level, $200 bonus on matrix completion and generates four new Bronze tier positions
- Gold ($200 entry, 5×3 matrix) – $30 per position filled on the first level, $20 on the second level and $10 on the third level
Direct Recruitment Commission
Automatic Passive Income affiliates earn $8 per affiliate recruited.
Passive Income
Automatic Passive Income promises affiliates passive income, purportedly generated via “online shops”.
- the first passive income position is awarded on completion of the Bronze tier matrix
- the second passive income position is awarded on recruitment of fifty affiliates
- the third and fourth passive income positions are awarded on completion of the Silver tier matrix
- the fifth and sixth passive income positions are awarded on completion of the Gold tier matrix
Passive income associated with these positions is represented to be 1% of sales generated by stores featured on Sparissimo platform.
Despite the obvious variables involved, Automatic Passive Income claims this amounts to $180 to $300 a month in passive income.
Passive Income Matching Bonus
Automatic Passive Income pays a Matching Bonus on passive income positions awarded down three levels of recruitment (unilevel):
- level 1 (personally recruited affiliates) – 0.5% match
- levels 2 and 3 – 0.25% match
Joining Automatic Passive Income
Automatic Passive Income affiliate membership is tied to the purchase of at least one $50 cycler position.
Automatic Passive Income Conclusion
Automatic Passive Income affiliates pay a $50 fee. Commissions are paid when recruited affiliates do the same.
This is a simple pyramid scheme.
On top of Automatic Passive Income’s pyramid scheme is a questionable passive returns scheme.
The $180 to $300 a month Automatic Passive Income promises is purportedly derived from sales attributed to businesses on the Sparissimo platform.
My problem with this is two-fold.
First we have a securities offering whereby $180 to $300 is conditionally offered off a $50 initial investment.
Automatic Passive Income fails to provide evidence it has registered with financial regulators in any jurisdiction.
Secondly, the qualification condition has nothing to do with purported businesses generating revenue but rather recruitment of affiliate investors.
This lends itself to Automatic Passive Income running a Ponzi scheme (either in part or wholly).
Taking the regulatory side of things out of the equation, if $50 run through Automatic Passive Income and Sparissimo turns into $180 to $300 a month on a consistent basis, why does Automatic Passive Income exist?
The elephant in the room is Sparissimo is verifiably dead. Nobody is using it.
As with all MLM pyramid schemes, once affiliate recruitment dries up so too will commissions.
This will see matrices within Automatic Passive Income stall, eventually leading to a collapse.
Math guarantees that when they collapse, the majority of participants in MLM pyramid schemes lose money.