INCIBE (Instituto Nacional de Ciberseguridad / National Institute of Cybersecurity) alerted everyone about the viral scam making the rounds on Instant Messaging app WhatsApp: A message with a link to a video in which the user is invited to participate in an exchange of collective money.

The scam is presented as a circular economy movement, that claims that by only investing 33Euro, you can earn up to 1.848Euro in return, only 8 days after you make the first investment and inviting two others to do the same.

The link directs users to a website with a video in which a young lady explains that the whole is not a pyramid scheme, but a system of solidarity in which users gift money to other users, and everyone benefits.

What it actually promotes is a system known as “cells of abundance”, “prosperity circles” or “bubbles”, which have existed for more than a decade and, rather than disappear, just evolve. Some months ago it called itself a “dream weaver”, sporting the image of a lotus flower and spouting feminist ideas. Now it has returned to its more basic shape. However, the way it scams money out of victims remains the exact same.

The main problem? It’s literally impossible for all participants to cash in. What’s more, according to math, if the model worked perfectly and each new participant added two new ones, the system would collapse barely 32 after it begun.

The system isn’t just inviable due to the difficulties that come with trying to get so many people to participate (in order to increase your investment by 800% you would need, according to the presented structure, another 64 people to join with you) but would collapse in mere days, if it actually worked.

Given all the time this scam has made its way around the net, may experts have had the chance to analyze the system and calculate that the plan would collapse on itself after only 32 days, since it would require the participation of more people than currently exist on the planet. It would require a total of 8.589.934.591 people, while current estimates place total world population at 7.450.000.000.

This isn’t the first time a scam such as this makes rounds around WhatsApp, claims INCIBE. Because of this, users should be warned it could repeat itself in the future, wearing a different skin.

Those who have fallen for it and paid to participate should, as per INCIBE recommendation, denounce the scam with the proper authorities and archive all possible evidence, in order to present a viable case.