Consumers harmed by pyramid scheme have until March 30 to file claim for repayment Consumers harmed by a pyramid-scheme scam at SkyBiz.com have until the end of March to file claims through a settlement with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, the agency announced.In a settlement reached with the FTC in January 2003, SkyBiz.com provided $20 million to repay affected consumers. Under the redress program, consumers from the U.S. and elsewhere can receive repayments equal to the cost of their $125 SkyBiz purchase, minus any commissions they received.Consumers who want to file a claim must do so by March 30, the FTC said in a press release. Victims will be able to file claims on a Web site, at Skybiz-redress.com, available in several languages. Final payments will be made by May 21, likely in the form of a debit-type card that can be used in the U.S. and other countries, the FTC said. In May 2001, the FTC filed suit in U.S. district court in Tulsa, Oklahoma, against SkyBiz, alleging it had promoted a pyramid scheme with claims of quick riches.The complaint alleged the defendants used sales presentations, seminars, teleconferences and its Web site to tout the opportunity to earn thousands of dollars a week by recruiting new associates into the program. The $125 cost to join the SkyBiz program was supposedly to pay for an “e-Commerce Web Pak.”Touting “huge amounts of money” participants could earn, SkyBiz encouraged participants to buy more than one Web Pak at a time. The plan was a classic pyramid scheme, promoted by fraudulent earnings claims, the FTC alleged. The case was scheduled to go to trial in January 2003. By then, the FTC also had pursued the case in the courts of Ireland and Bermuda, and received assistance from law enforcers in numerous countries including Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and Canada.Before the trial, SkyBiz.com agreed to the settlement. SecurityTechnology IndustryCareersSocial Engineering