JamesBux Review: $1 micro Ponzi
There is no information on the JamesBux website indicating who owns or runs the business.
As per the JamesBux FAQ, only the following vague marketing pitch is given:
Who we are?
We are a group of experts in revenue sharing programs. We put all our efforts because you have good results with us.
We learn of Tony Robbins, Robert Kiyosaki and Jim Rohn. We want that you can live internet lifestyle.
The JamesBux website domain (“jamesbux.com”) was registered on the 25th of April 2016, however the domain registration is set to private.
At the time of publication Alexa estimate that 47.3% of traffic to the JamesBux website originates out of Spain. This strongly suggests that the JamesBux admin is also likely based out of Spain too.
Of note is that the JamesBux website is hosted on a private server. This server was also used to host SureAdsPay.
SureAdsPay offered affiliates 160% returns on their investment. Launched on or around February 5th, by February 18th SureAdsPay had collapsed.
In social media marketing material for the scheme, an individual named “Shon Chris” claims to be the SureAdsPay admin. I did try to source additional information on Chris but came up short.
There are a few loose end leads however nothing concrete to link Shon to JamesBux.
In any event, the collapse of SureAdsPay is likely the reason JamesBux is now launching. It’s essentially a reboot of the earlier failed scheme.
Read on for a full review of the JamesBux MLM opportunity.
The JamesBux Product Line
JamesBux has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market JamesBux affiliate membership itself.
Once signed up, JamesBux affiliates can invest in $1 “ad packs”. Bundled with each ad pack investment are a series of advertising credits, which can be used to display advertising on the JamesBux website.
The JamesBux Compensation Plan
The JamesBux compensation plan sees affiliates invest $1 on the promise of an advertised $1.24 ROI.
Note that 50% of all ROI payouts must be reinvested back into the company.
Referral commissions are paid out on downline investment, paid out via a unilevel compensation structure.
A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):
If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.
If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.
JamesBux cap payable unilevel levels at ten, with commissions paid out as a percentage of each $1 invested:
- level 1 (personally recruited affiliates) – 10%
- level 2 – 5%
- level 3 – 2%
- levels 4 to 8 – 1%
- level 9 – 3%
- level 10 – 5%
Joining JamesBux
Affiliate membership with JamesBux free, however affiliates must invest at least $1 in order to participate in the income opportunity.
Conclusion
With one failed Ponzi already under his belt, Shon Chris didn’t waste any time setting up another one.
The curiously named JamesBux has no retailable products or services, with 100% of revenue entering the company sourced from affiliates.
Thus ROI payouts are also affiliate funds, with the use of newly invested funds to pay off existing investors making JamesBux a Ponzi scheme.
Bundled advertising credits are neither here nor there, serving only as a paper-thin attempt at pseudo-compliance.
It is on this pseudo-compliance that JamesBux claims its legitimacy:
Is JamesBux.com legal?
YES it is legal. In order for any program to be legal, it is required to supply a service and/or product to you.
If advertising was indeed being sold by JamesBux, logic would dictate that unused ad credits would be refundable.
Instead, as per JamesBux’s refund policy:
All purchases are final and no refunds can be given under any circumstances.
The reason JamesBux can’t offer refunds, is because they use newly invested funds to pay off existing investors. The ad credits exist solely as a ruse to facilitate financial fraud.
As with all Ponzi schemes, once new affiliate recruitment dies out so too will new funds entering the scheme.
This will see JamesBux unable to meet its advertised ROI obligations, with the scheme collapsing once withdrawals exhaust invested reserves.
The math behind a Ponzi scheme guarantees Shon Chris and some early investors will make money, at the expense of the majority of the JamesBux affiliate-base.