Recently, a money scheme called Golden Sun was exposed as a scam in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The scheme, which was marketed as an investment opportunity and online movie review website, turned out to be a pyramid scheme.
Thousands of people lost their money. This has highlighted the dangers of easy-money-making schemes online and the need for people to be aware of these scams.
So, how much did the Golden Sun money scam make?
Unsuspecting Victims of Golden Sun PNG
People in PNG paid PNGK720 for Golden Sun's D level, which is the lowest level people pay to subscribe.
This means that the scammers were making a lot of money from unsuspecting victims, and paid a little bit to a few subscribers who promote them on YouTube and Facebook.
The scheme started early in 2023 and disappeared this week (the third week of March) when many Papua New Guineans started raising questions about this scam and its business deals.
How Many People Have Fallen Victim?
Using the baseline of PNGK720 and subscribers numbers of 5,000, 10,000, 50,000, 65,000, and 100,000, we can see how much money the Golden Sun scammers were making.
Also, note that the actual number of Golden Sun victims could be more! Many Papua New Guineans are losing their money.
It makes your blood boil!
| Number of Subscribers | Amount paid (in PNGK) | Amount paid (in USD) |
|---|---|---|
| 5,000 | 3,600,000 | 1,039,293.76 |
| 10,000 | 7,200,000 | 2,078,587.52 |
| 50,000 | 36,000,000 | 10,392,937.60 |
| 65,000 | 46,800,000 | 13,518,157.44 |
| 100,000 | 72,000,000 | 20,785,875.20 |
How much Money do Scammers Make?
As the table shows, even at the lowest level of 5,000 subscribers, the scammers were able to make over a million US dollars.
At the highest level of 100,000 subscribers, they were able to make over 20 million US dollars.
This is a staggering amount of money that was taken from unsuspecting victims who believed they were making a wise investment.
The ABC article on Golden Sun highlights some of the key points of the scheme. It states that
"investors were promised high returns on their money and encouraged to recruit others to invest."
However, as with all pyramid schemes, the money was not being invested in any legitimate business, and instead was simply being used to pay off earlier investors.
The article also notes that
"the scheme is estimated to have affected up to 200,000 people in PNG."
This is a huge number of people who have been affected by this scam.
If it is true that 200,000 people are affected, the money that Golden Sun made could be doubled. That is an issue that could have raised a lot of questions in the Banking and Financial sector by now.
The magnitude of this scam cannot be underestimated.
It is important for people to be aware of these scams and to be cautious when considering investing their money in any opportunity.
Golden Sun - The Biggest Scam in PNG
The Golden Sun scam in PNG has highlighted the dangers of easy-money-making schemes online. It is easily the biggest scam in PNG given the amount of money they robbed off the poor Papua New Guinean victims.
The scammers were able to make millions of dollars by taking advantage of unsuspecting victims. It is just not fair.
Sadly, people are not aware of these scams and did not take cautionary measures when considering investing their money.
Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
DON'T BE A F*CKING VICTIM NEXT TIME!
