Yeah, this tread should not be on soft, but since it got on, might as well make the best of it. Since actual accounts of such things will inform others.
Julius, you are very lucky you are very young when you encountered such an experience. It will be a valuable one that you will treasure for the rest of your life. Just one facet of the evil of man. I am sure you are a little more wiser from this episode.
Imagine if you are in your 40s, just got retrenched, with about $50K to your name. You are in the highest risk category. Likely you will get fleeced by these people, go broke in the end and maybe owe credit card debt in excess of $20K. Every month you need about $2K to maintain your family, housing and vehicle loan.
Just bear in mind, there is no such thing as easy money. One person loss is anothers gain.
If you can make it big in MLM or pyramid, you probably don't need to be in it to make it well. You should be well off in any sector.
It's all about the greed.