Me2Everyone: Viral Marketing of Virtually Nothing

Hear, hear!

I believe that your comments are misleading and without substance. I think that getting shares to recommend others to increase the population which will then create a virtual village for us all is genius. Anyway most people have an email they can change so actually are members’ addresses worth anything really anyway. It’s being launched at the end of March so one of us may be eating humble pie! I personally am prepared to gain extra shares by recommending friends which i can trade later, keep or sell. Worst case scenario I’ve lost a bit of my time! What if it does work? Wouldn’t you have loved the chance to get shares in Google, Facebook, MSN, 2nd life, etc during its embriotic stage?

I agree with the second comment. They aren’t getting any information that will hurt anything, so what the heck? If it’s free, ther’e’s not much risk, even if they go flop! All I’d be losing is some uselesss stocks that I didn’t pay for anyway. On the other hand, if they do get huge, those stocks will be worth some good money, money which again I didn’t have to pay squat to get.

A good scam starts by getting people psychologically ‘invested’ first then looking for ways to make money later. “It’s free!” and “No risk” are part of the opening play of every good pyramid scheme and me2everyone has done it brilliantly.

“There’s no free lunch”

Google et al. have something to offer (search engine, email service,…), but what is the value of me2everyone? And, increasing the number of shares while the value (=0) remains the same, means decreasing the value of single share. So it is zero divided by infinity what you get.
You Americans have mastered making nothing out of thin air, and that is coming back to you (with this crisis), and unfortunately to the rest of the world.

Good grief, doesn’t matter what the subject is, someone always has to take a stab at “you Americans”. Give it a rest.

I notice “you foreigners” are ready to jump on anything “us Americans” come up with if you think you can make a dime like everyone else.

And aside from that, if you had a brain you would know that virtually all scams on the net come from outside the US. Probably many from your country.

Get a life.

OK, simple “whois” says they are UK-based. My bad. I’m sorry to offend all of the American people. I know there are every kind of people in all countries, and it is (generally bad to generalize… but still… Just look at this crisis, look at this hype about Obama. People around the world (here in Serbia, too) are becoming so prone to marketing. It’s creating their opinion, their life… Like “Obama is something new”… yeah, right… He’s just a new evil… Just like M$ Vista.
I’ve got the “invitation” mail from couple of people and all of them are from Serbia, but this is so pathetic country that can just “copy+paste” bad things from the West (and luckily not from the East, except for the cheap Chinese merchandise , and “cut+waste” all the good things.
I have a life, believe me, but I just can’t ignore these sporadic annoyances.

What’s this got to do with viruses. Maybe stick to what you know Mary. (Isn’t this article kind of like er, slander..? Hope you can back up your claims)

I find it amazing that whenever someone comes up with a new innovative idea you are always going to get the the doom-and-gloom prophets such as the author of this article. Maybe a bit of jealousy there? Did not think of it first did you? O or maybe even did not have the resources/ability/guts to get it up and running anyway.

I urge everyone to go and read Facebook’s terms and conditions. Whenever you click the “Allow->” button and add an application, what are you actually allowing? What are you agreeing to? Who owns what after that?

Now go and read me2everyone’s terms and conditions. Now, who would you REALLY want to do business with? Facebook or me2everyone?

…and Facebook is currently worth how much and how much of it do YOU own?

Really Mary – go look after your your lamb rather.

Look, if this is a load of garbage, at the end of the day you are getting something for nothing no matter which way you look at it.
For a start, you have a topic of conversation! Priceless!

Mainly though….
IF they finally list on a stock exchange – no matter what the value of these shares they are issuing now will be, you can always sign them over to a CHARITY of your choice!! I’m sure they’d be more than happy to accept??!

I just referenced this article on wikipedia article about me2everyone.com

Me2everyone offering shares to it’s members is highly questionable. As a UK Private Limited Company, it cannot “offer” shares to the public – it would have to be a Public Company. Yet, it is “offering” shares to (public) members signing up at its website.

Now let’s say that through some quirkiness of British law, the company IS allowed to offer the shares as they are doing now. The Terms & Conditions at the Me2everyone.com website has an important part regarding the shares (quoted directly):

“We confirm that me2everyone or one of our connected partner will pay the par value on each of these shares and that you will not be liable for any payment for the shares.”

A quick read and your first thoughts might be “Oh, I don’t have to pay for these. Cool!”. HOWEVER, it states “me2everyone or…” and “will pay…”. It does not state anywhere that the shares are already paid for, just that they WILL be paid for (somewhere in the future) by someone me2everyone is not even sure of yet.

So what does that mean to you? It means that as long as you are the owner of these shares and they are NOT paid for, YOU will be liable for paying for them. Simply put: they’re a liability, not an asset.

For example, let’s say you have earned yourself a million of these £0.001-valued shares, and a week later me2everyone goes into debt. As the shares are not paid up, you will be asked to pay for the shares you are holding (it’s one of the first things debtors will go for to reclaim their losses).

Given that, one million x £0.001 is a thousand UK Pounds. For many average people, this is quite a lot of money. Do this x-times me2everyone’s allotted shares (18 billion), and they can rake in at least 18 million UK Pounds.

Like Greg commented, it’s a brilliant scam.

Thank you for this blog. I heard about this from a posting on LinkedIn and thought I had nothing to lose and signed up. I emailed the link to one of my co-workers and asked him what he thought about the whole thing. He researched it and found this blog. Really glad I read it. Pays to research. There are very different points of view on this matter, but I always say, “better safe than sorry”.

I came across (link removed/see comments 27/28 for explanation) which details some interesting stuff about me2everyone. Maybe the readers would be interested to see this…

Whatever the outcome of this, anyone can go and create 100 e-mail accounts and register on some site (eg. me2everyone.com) and in the end no owner will be found as an “accountable” person to pay the “shares”. All of the people mentioned on the me2everyone board have quite an interesting history but none of them seem to be very successful business people. They seem to have had some bad luck in their careers. One thing about a successful businessman (and so they all will say) is that you first have to fail a few times before you finally reach the stars. I say, I have nothing to lose, so that is why I signed up. But if this “scheme” works, then a lot of people will be smiling!!

It states that once me2everyone goes live you will have to register futher with more details in order to qualify for shares. You address, ID numbers etc… Exactly so that nobody can open 100 email accounts to claim shares. Only accounts that are confirmed after the launch of the site will receive their shares.

My feeling is that it is a scam as well.
I guess we will only know when they launch or do not launch.

I have seen many of these before, they attract millions of people on a promise. They either offer free shares or they offer “virtual money” which will be converted to real money once they launch. And then one day they are gone.

I will eat my hat if this one is for real

Two words:

Identity theft

They just ask for an email address now, but later, when they ask for more…

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is…

I agree fully with comment #8 (Baz)!
Thanks Baz!

errrr, why has no one yet commented on the page design!? It transcends parody. It is comically awful. And th concept! All your social networking are belong to us. I found me2 everyone form a forum post, and it was the design that had me running to google, typing in “me2everyone scam?” “me2everyone snopes” etc. And landed here

I’d just like to say that this is on their website and I think it speaks for itself…

Basically we wont get the shares until the website has been launched then we can see how good it’s going to be… we can’t be liable at the moment because all they have is out name and email.

I am looking forward myself to seeing it happen… if it doesn’t I am sure there is some way to get out of it.

There are always sceptics out there… being a bit of an business woman myself, I think it’s a bloody fantastic idea!!

ARE WE AT RISK?
Date : 8th March, 2009

Chatter on the web continues and new blogs appear. Some are positive and others spread the seeds of doubt. There’s one that we read that suggests shareholders of me2everyone are liable for the debts of me2everyone. We want to dispel this myth right now:

1) You have registered to me2everyone’s prelaunch website and given us your name and email. This is not enough information to register any allotted shares and therefore you have zero liability.

2) When the Beta website arrives you will be invited to register for your shares in me2everyone PLC. There will be zero to pay on these shares as payment will have already been made. This matter is being conducted via our solicitors to ensure that purchase of the shares is completely legal and transparent.

3) When the shares are made available to you, they will be fully paid up. If me2everyone PLC creates any debt, you are not responsible for that debt. me2everyone PLC (when formed) will be run by honest business people with decades of experience and a desire to build a fantastic business for all concerned.

The nature of these blogs and forums is to get to the heart of me2everyone. They also want to protect you in case m2e decides to steal your ID or create fraud in your name. Nothing could be further from the truth. In the Beta version there will be a “Meet the Team” button where you read our profiles, understand our business skills, even see where we failed in the past. Then fully armed with real facts you can make up your own mind.

Oh yes – one last thing… Do you think we should have our own official m2e forum? If yes, where would you like it placed – in the Members’ Area or in the Public Area? Let us know….

Remember this is an organisation being built for you. So get involved and let us know what you really think.

Thanks

Try their adress in Google Earth.

Me2Everyone
Adress:
5 Windmill Close
Bridge
Canterbury
Kent
CT4 5LY

HA-HA. It’s HUUGE.

I am an IT security consultant. I deal on a daily basis with Identity Theft, online fraud, attempted hacking etc. Qualified email addreses, i.e. the email address you will have provided, along with your name, are valuable to those involved in identity theft. They are also valuable 419 scammers, as they doubly qualified as both genuine email addresses, and the owner is looking for get rich quick schemes, pyramid schemes etc.

As a general rule, if something sounds too good to be true, or is promising something for nothing, then it isn’t real, it is a scam or con. You may not understand how the scam works, but you should know that no one ever gives you something for nothing. Remember, an honest man never gets conned. A guilable / greedy person will be conned and scammed all day long. Incidentally, you may like to do some research into the types of shares that companies can issue, what they actually mean, what liabilities etc they come with, and most importantly, how a company qualifies as a PLC, and why companies become PLC’s.

Not for anything, but this is the exact same model that Travelzoo used when they launched. I signed up and I do own shares of Travelzoo now. I don’t see the harm in it at all. If it takes off, so be it. People are far too paranoid these days. Maybe they’ll create something really cool.

OH MY GOD!! DOES THIS SITE POSE ANY HARM TO MY LAPTOP?????????!!!!!!!

I can only assume that the person who posted this article has not actually done any research into me2everyone.

If they had, they would know exactly what it is all about because the people behind me2everyone are not scammers but highly professional people who have been very open and honest about their intentions.

I’m not saying it’s guaranteed to succeed, nothing is, but it stands a very good chance in my opinion so let’s not assume it’s a scam for no good reason!

I just noticed that Mike wrote a comment (post 12) and then on post 14 said “I came across this blog” . It turns out that the blog he “came across” is his own.

I feel that transparency is akin to trust. While this does not relate to me2everyone I do feel that it is necessary to be honest about what you post and your comments. This should be made clear to readers.

Kelly, thank you for pointing that out. I agree with your transparency concern and appreciate the heads up. This deceptive link description is particularly ironic given the nature of the topic. I have removed the link and referenced your post and this one by way of explanation.

How can all of you intelligent people believe in everything you hear and read? Before believing you have to be rational enough to investigate. Virtual Shares in virtual paper full of virtual promisses… I’m almost tempted on giving you all a virtual slap!

Good marketing campaign but nothing new…

I did a more detailed write up of why I think this is an mlm kind of scam here:
http://www.socialtech.biz/blog/me2everyone

(includes some stuff from their website you might find interesting)

I found your post while writing a follow up today.

Loving the points raised in comment 12, I hadn’t considered the liability side of it.

Now you have me worried. As being a Global Executive, I was sent a brochure with the opportunity to pay to purchase a package to become a GE-Enhanced member. This package has many different levels depending on how many people you want to manage and of course, how much money you want to spend. So “YES” there is money involved. Plus you are told to keep it quite and that only 120 members will be given this opportunity.

How can I find out for sure if this is a SCAM or NOT?

Please help,
Grandma

I signed up for their program. Yes they may have my email address but they are a long way from me believing in them. And they are a H… of a long way from getting any of my financial account information or $$$.

Heck I buy a lottery ticket when I can even though I know it is a waste, who knows and it is free why not put my name in the pot and see what comes out.

I would imagine a few years back people said the same thing about Google; Further back whom would even imagine the Internet even existed.

Glenn Madden http://glennmadden.com

For Grandma I am also a Global Exec and if you think that me2everyone is a scam, don’t pay any money. It’s that simple really.

Also did you read the GE Agreement? You have to ask yourself if this was a scam, why would a 284 year old legal firm put its name to helping me2everyone?

And for the rest who suffer from accute paranoia about getting something for nothing you all do this every single day on the web: I mean you get something for nothing. You use Google and search directories. You use Facebook or similar – all free services – all something for nothing. You join Hi5 or a dating site or subscribe to just about anything (including this blog) and you give away your personal identity all day long.

And finally does anyone remember where Hewlett Packard started from? A garage and its well celebrated on their own website. Who cares where me2everyone starts from: it’s where it finishes I’m more excited to know.

it’s unbelievable that has people who trust on this bs!That’s good just sign-up and you will receive some “shares” for a near future you can make some money without spend not even one cents.OOOOHHHH! the people who signed-up are thinking now they are investor.If you wanna be a real investor and maybe win something than study a lot and go to an agency, create an account and put your money in real deals.

This is an “antivirus software blog” right?

I changed a few words of what you said above. It goes like this…
Blog promotion – the more people demonize something, the faster the message spreads and the more new people buy into it and begin demonizing it as well. Sometimes, the message itself is so exciting, few bother to look closer to see if there’s any real facts being offered.

But it sure gets attention to your blog!

Stop fear mongering and stick to antivirus software Mary!

me2everyone = the semantics of this name = all the ‘in favour of’ me2everyone bloggers on this or other blogsites, regardless of their pseudonyms are one and the same person or at most, two persons. It is easy to be anonymous and blog as if you are an innocent, at the same time bad-mouthing the ’sceptics’. ‘Scepticism’ (from Greek root verb) refers to deep thoughtfulness…. But really, you don’t have to be that thoughtful – it makes your skin creep just to read the ‘blogs’ – offering ’shares’ – my gullible bum!

SCam , no scam or scam to be, it does not matter. People need to get eduacated to make thier own informed conclusions. I agree, you will not get something for nothing. Do your due diligence and investigate ANY business venture before you join. I am a coach/mentor and we teach people what to look for in a company so that they do not get scammed. I recently started a blog on this exact topic http://mentorangela.blogspot.com/ Follow me there for I will be adding blogs periodically.

TravelZoo.com offered free shares of stock when they first started and the website was not all that good. But, they have come a long ways and take a look at what their shares are now or have been in the past. If you don’t take a chance at something you will never go anywhere.

there will always be knockers to everything ie the are to many brainless sheep to think otherwise, history is full of them,
a person thinks of something new everyone else thinks he is mad as he dont conform with the rest, it amazing how we ever got out of the trees or stopped living in caves,
as for that fellow columbus well they should have finished the job hanging him as the whole world knows the world is flat otherwise we will all fall off, mine you why the sea dont run off is a puzzle

It makes me laugh when you read so many comments from people who either havent properly looked into what me2everyone is about or just jumping on the bandwagon. Well done to you all for being so misinformed.

If you had taken the time to speak to someboy at Me2eveyone you would realise that they have been especially careful to ensure that everything they have done has been documented and is avaliable for all to see. i was appointed as a GE 2 weeks ago and have had nothing but formalised documentation as well as my own Terms and conditions which I have to sign which explains this much more clearly than a half researched blog. YOU have to make your own mind up on this one – the delay in the launch has helped to fuel this fire but personally I am looking forward to be involved. I wont be putting any money on the table and will watch how this evolves – please though before commenting do a bit or research, apart from a couple of comments here its just opnions and they dont mean anything to me as I’ve formed my own

Why are you so worried if your not going to partake in the opportunity? Stop ranting, silly.

As dodgy as it looks, I have to say that the idea is rather nice – a giant hub for both Facebook-style social networking and internet shopping. Kind of like the PS3’s Home, but with a shopping mall…

I do not see any problem in it, go ahead and grab the opportunity and become a member and earn shares.

Why are people so quick to judge or write something off as a scam. People may well have an underlining fear the unknown but it’s all these people that have never really done anything. As I recline in my chair and read the myriad of remarks placed upon this page my grip tightens on my glass of Bordeaux.
Greg number (4) who thinks the company is hypnotising people by hooking them in with a free tempter. Greg this is not an opportunity for the stupid, clearly you just don’t get the concept. (Free now, free tomorrow and free forever). I hope they do find a way to make money from the members because in so doing we will all profit. I think you miss the point Greg.
Same for Mr free lunch (5) who assumes that half a million members in 4 months can’t add 0 + 0 come on lighten up. This has only just began were you not young once.
And number (12) (it’s a scam because it’s a private limited company) Get a life Mike who are you not to even do your homework, bet you were constantly embarrassed at school in class for jumping in too quickly before listening to the full sentence. Me2Everyone is a PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY and ALL the share are paid UP.
What I fail to reason with is WHY people can be so excited about something in one breath and then immediately dismiss it when they read a half witted, un researched, uninformed comment on a blog.
All the greats in history took risks to prosper, some paid off, others didn’t. This is an opportunity that costs you ZERO RISK. So why the debate, nobody has been scammed by this company and asked for Mr Identity Fraud (23) your embarrassing your trade with your scare tactics. Get involved or don’t, help shape the future or live to regret it with the other sheep its clearly up to you. I for one have made up my mind.

Lemsip (comment 33) I commend you on your sensible level-headed thinking. It is one of the most concise and clear explanations as to why people SHOULD get involved.

I, for one, would kick my butt (if I only could) for not buying into many of these new startups. (Google, Yahoo, Facebook,….. and even the mobile phone industry in Africa)

I have learned to live with my regret……. but most of all, I have leared to learn from my mistakes. I will not let this one go by. I, too, am a Global Exec. My one regret is that I heard about it so late.

This idea is not new and the last time I saw this, it was most certainly NOT a scam.

About 10 years ago a start up company by the name of TravelZoo.com did this very same thing. They offered free shares and then more shares if you had others sign up. Those shares and the company were and still are today very real.

In December 2004, TravelZoo.com (TZOO) was worth $95 USD. Not bad for some free shares in a start up company, a company that still today trades on the NASDAQ exchange.

This me2everyone concept and site is a “dead duck” and anyone that is thinking or wishing that this will ever launch is dreaming. they are completely and utterly f###ed. they have no no no no no no no future, if you have been stupid enough to have put any money or faith in this site ever being ready you are madder than the total idiots that are running it.
They are looking for people stupider than them to prop this up until the inevitable happens, they have found a number of poor sods to put in from £100 up to £8,000 “suckers” is all I can say!
For those out there that still hang their hope on me2everyone I am sorry to say you haven’t got a prayer!
Anyone want to bet that what I am saying is untrue, they are done and dusted god help them and the number of poor people that have put their money and faith in them not to mention the 510,000 members world wide
I would expect one or two thicker members to try to tell me that is not so, but they are finished completely and utterly f####d.
If you have any doubt talk to anyone on the so called “team” ask them how they feel and they will tell you they feel disillusioned and worn out (you will have to wait over three weeks before you get a reply in which time it will be closed) I wish people would get things ready before they ask people for money, if it isn’t bad enough without being ripped off by these idiots.
Before I go I would like to say “it’s a crying shame” but I am 100% right, pp

ps this is not so much of a scam, just doomed to fail

Like it or not, there will always be those that oppose and those that praise. As a GE-Mentor I have all the faith in the world in me2everyone and despite set backs and such, I know that what they are doing is just what any other start up does in their own creative way. Those that condemn me2everyone and their actions can miss out, plain and simple. They have the right to choose not to get involved. I just hate to see those that are interested, turn away out of fear that these individuals attempt to brain wash them with, when they have no facts or basis to make their claims. My advice to those that are “researching” whether or not they should try out me2everyone…follow your gut, not the lies that people who know nothing about the company are spreading.

there’s a lot of sketchy stuff about this if you don’t look into it, so I’m trying not to blog the end of the world until I learn a bit more about it. Looks like you’ve jumped to a lot of conclusions, but I’m not sure how much time you’ve put into researching this. You should probably mention that…

You could be right and I have a whole lot of questions I need answered, but imho, what can it hurt to sign up? You don’t even need to give any of your information just to sign up – if you want to redeem your shares you’ll need to provide your tax information, but sign up is free if you are just curious to what’s happening with it.

I’m going to give this a good once over before I commit to anything, but I’ve read a lot of good reviews about this website and it’s piqued my curiosity enough to look into it.

Appears to me that this article was written as an opinion piece, though, and very little to do with fact – otherwise you’d provide sources to substantiate your doubts.

I say – sign up, it can’t hurt to fill out your name and e-mail address, if it turns out to be a scam, just don’t try to collect your shares and you’ve done nothing wrong.