South African pastor Harry Heydon launched "5 Dollars 2 Charity" on February 24, 2017, a scheme registered under his name. The platform claims participants "donate $5 to help charities" while earning money, but internal mechanisms suggest funds primarily flow to Heydon. The website offers no clear information about its ownership, despite the domain registration listing Heydon with a Gauteng, South Africa address.
Heydon promotes himself on Facebook as a Senior Pastor and Founder of Peniel Ministries. He also describes himself as a "successful Internet entrepreneur and published author of Online income publications." This background provides a veneer of legitimacy for his online ventures.
5 Dollars 2 Charity operates without any retail products or services. Affiliates only market membership to other prospective affiliates. Membership includes access to a "Facebook Marketing Blueprint," described as an "ideal digital product," and the ability to display advertisements to other members within the platform. These offerings provide little independent value outside of the recruitment structure.
The core of 5 Dollars 2 Charity is a 2x9 matrix gifting operation. Heydon runs an identical scheme called Heydon Global, openly admitting "5 Dollars 2 Charity uses the same system." In this matrix, participants are placed at the top of their personal structure. Two positions directly below form level one. Each subsequent level doubles the number of positions, expanding to nine levels deep.
New affiliates join by gifting $5 to an existing member. This payment qualifies them to receive $5 from the first two affiliates they recruit, filling their level one. Subsequent payments are required to unlock access to higher matrix levels, allowing affiliates to receive gifts from a larger number of downline participants.
The gifting payments across the nine matrix levels escalate significantly. Participants gift $5 for Level 1, then receive $5 from two affiliates. For Level 2, they gift $7.50 and receive $7.50 from four affiliates. This continues with a $20 gift for Level 3 (receiving from eight affiliates), $80 for Level 4 (from sixteen affiliates), $300 for Level 5 (from thirty-two affiliates), $450 for Level 6 (from sixty-four affiliates), $500 for Level 7 (from one hundred and twenty-eight affiliates), $520 for Level 8 (from two hundred and fifty-six affiliates), and $550 for Level 9 (from five hundred and twelve affiliates).
While the basic entry costs $5, 5 Dollars 2 Charity also offers "Silver" and "Gold" memberships. Silver costs R1000 ZAR, and Gold costs R5000 ZAR. These higher-tier memberships immediately unlock access to more advanced matrix levels, allowing participants to potentially receive larger "gifts" sooner.
The "charity" aspect of the scheme is particularly cynical. Heydon advertises the platform with slogans like "Donate $5 to help charities around the world… and earn from your giving." This claim misrepresents the true flow of funds. The money primarily flows through the affiliate matrix to other participants, with a significant portion directed to Heydon himself. He uses his position as a pastor to promote what appears to be a fraudulent setup.
Heydon secures a disproportionate share of the gifted funds through preloaded administrator positions. He occupies the top spots within the company-wide matrix. This setup ensures that the higher, more lucrative levels of his personal matrix unlock first, funneling the bulk of the larger gifting amounts directly into his accounts.
Heydon attempts to justify his earnings by claiming an investment of R400,000 to establish 5 Dollars 2 Charity. He states, "Admin and owners DO also receive donations as they also operate a matrix group. Some people get offended that we also earn money but the owners did after all invest the R400,000 plus to set up these websites." R400,000 ZAR translates to approximately $28,000 USD at the time of Heydon's statement.
This claimed setup cost is highly questionable. The 5 Dollars 2 Charity website is hosted on HostDime. While HostDime offers dedicated servers for up to $1199 per month, the website itself runs on a free "YourFreeWorld" scam script. It is unlikely that Heydon pays for expensive dedicated hosting for a free script. He most likely uses one of HostDime's cheaper shared hosting plans. Even factoring in domain registration, which typically costs under $100 annually, the $28,000 figure for setting up both his gifting scam websites appears to be a gross exaggeration.
Gifting schemes like 5 Dollars 2 Charity rely entirely on continuous affiliate recruitment. When this recruitment slows or stops, the flow of new gifting payments dries up. Payments to existing participants cease, leading to the inevitable collapse of the scheme. These models are mathematically designed to ensure that the vast majority of participants lose money.
Individuals who believe they have been defrauded by 5 Dollars 2 Charity can report their experiences to the South African Police Service's Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks.