RT Article
T1 Non-Ideal Victims or Offenders? The Curious Case of Pyramid Scheme Participants
JF Victims & offenders
VO 18
IS 7
SP 1311
OP 1334
A1 Hock, Branislav
A2 Button, Mark 1969-
LA English
YR 2023
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1868665690
AB Pyramid schemes, including their various forms such as chain letters and illegal forms of multi-level marketing, harm people that are often far from ideal victims. While many lose cash and suffer emotional, health, and other harms; victims also facilitate pyramids by actively recruiting new victims and turning them into more recruiters ad nauseam. Research in this area is, however, small. This paper seeks to add to this small body of research by constructing a typology of actors in pyramid schemes being inspired by concepts of ideal victim and non-ideal victim and building upon the characteristics of pyramid schemes. It provides a unique insight into a complex network of relationships featured by pyramid schemes and contentious areas between victims and perpetrators of economically motivated crimes and wrongs. The paper presents policy implications and argues more research is needed on this group and their needs as they are often neglected by the criminal justice systems.
K1 economic crime
K1 Offenders
K1 ideal victim
K1 Pyramid schemes
DO 10.1080/15564886.2023.2186996