Nick Shanks, identified as the sole administrator of SuccessPay4u's Facebook group, appears to be operating the Ponzi cycler from Cape Town, South Africa. The operation began soliciting members following a prelaunch announcement on October 17th, after Shanks posted on October 7th seeking a co-admin for a new cycler program.
The SuccessPay4u website offers no information about its ownership. Its domain, successpay4u.com, was registered on April 3rd, 2015, but the registration details are kept private. Shanks’ Facebook activity reveals a pattern of seeking private loans and advertising investment opportunities with promises of high interest. He also advertised a "private investment" with a 40% interest rate over two months.
SuccessPay4u lacks any retailable products or services. Participants can only market affiliate memberships. The compensation plan is not detailed on the company's website, but available materials show affiliates purchase $25 positions in a three-tier cycler. Each tier requires a specific number of subsequent position purchases to earn a commission and advance.
Commissions are structured as follows: Tier 1, costing $25, pays a $25 commission and advances the position to Tier 2. Tier 2 pays a $75 commission and advances to Tier 3. Tier 3 pays a substantial $1175 commission and generates three new Tier 1 positions, restarting the cycle.
Membership in SuccessPay4u is free, but participation in the income opportunity requires purchasing at least one $25 position. The system's mathematical structure is unsustainable. For a single $25 position to complete all three tiers, 51 payments are required. When these positions cycle out of Tier 3, they create new Tier 1 positions, exponentially increasing the number of payments needed. After just three generations of positions, over 2601 payments are required, a number that rapidly balloons to over 100,000. This calculation does not account for phantom positions created by the administration for themselves or early adopters.
Victims of such schemes often find recovery difficult. Those who have lost money to SuccessPay4u or similar investment scams can report the activity to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) through their complaint center.