A $5 app-based scheme known as MyFreePassiveIncome uses Square's Cash app to facilitate what appears to be a cash gifting operation, preying on individuals seeking easy money. Domain registration from May 2015 links the scheme to John Apuna of Arizona, though his digital presence is minimal.
MyFreePassiveIncome operates with a notable lack of transparency. No management team, company officers, or responsible parties are listed anywhere on its website or associated materials. John Apuna, if that is his true identity, leaves no verifiable digital footprint. His past involvement in multi-level marketing remains unknown.
The scheme exploits a genuine promotion from Square, the San Francisco-based payment company that has raised over $590 million in funding across several rounds. Square's Cash app offers a $5 referral bonus to new users who link a debit card and make a $1 transfer. MyFreePassiveIncome distorts this legitimate offer, turning it into the entry point for its gifting structure.
New members are instructed to download Square's Cash app and send $1 to another user to link their bank account. This action triggers the $5 promotional credit from Square. MyFreePassiveIncome members then send this $5 credit back to the scheme. Completing this $5 payment qualifies them for commissions.
Users who already possess a Cash app account face a different entry requirement. They do not qualify for Square's $5 promotion, so they must pay $5 from their own funds to join. The process for new users, while theoretically free, involves specific steps: emailing the company for a referral link, downloading the app, making the initial $1 transfer, receiving the $5 bonus, and then forwarding it to the scheme.
MyFreePassiveIncome offers no tangible product or service. There are no goods, no educational courses, no memberships beyond the scheme itself. Instead, the operation relies entirely on recruitment for its financial flow. Affiliates earn commissions through a unilevel structure, receiving $1 for each person they recruit down four levels. No earnings are generated from recruits beyond the fourth level.
The underlying math of the scheme makes profitability unlikely for most participants. Few members will recruit enough individuals to recover their initial $5, let alone generate a profit. For every person positioned at the top of the recruitment pyramid who makes money, many more below them will lose their funds. The scheme itself takes no financial risk, serving only to coordinate the movement of cash among participants.
This setup constitutes a cash gifting scheme, cloaked in the digital interface of Square's legitimate payment technology. It targets individuals seeking quick financial gains, making them active participants in recruiting others into the same trap. While Square's reputable platform provides a superficial layer of credibility, MyFreePassiveIncome functions solely as a redistribution mechanism, transferring money from newer entrants to those who joined earlier.
The complete lack of transparent ownership and management means no party can be held accountable when the scheme inevitably collapses. John Apuna built an operation designed for failure, leaving participants out their $5 and without the promised passive income. The Federal Trade Commission warns that cash gifting schemes are illegal pyramid schemes under federal law, regardless of the technology used to facilitate them.