Looking for big money in the grey zone. Simulation of high yield investment programs strategies

High Yield Investment Programs (HYIPs) are online versions of a Ponzi scheme, a fraud that offers extremely high interest rates to attract investors – and pays them up to the moment when HYIP owner decides to run away with the money accumulated in the account. This article presents a simulation focused on the connections between investments in appealing websites, advertising, and run- away strategies to explore and describe one of the grey zone areas. The model is based to a large extent on real-life data acquired from HYIP monitors. In this paper, we have proven that advertising and layout have a great impact on an HYIP’s balance. Moreover, most HYIPs are capable of gaining similar balance; however, there are also conservative strategies that significantly reduce profits.