This weekend, hundreds of young people will travel to Hungary for an event organized by the controversial American company IM Academy. Omroep Brabant previously reported about the company, which was convicted in Belgium for organizing a pyramid scheme, but can continue as usual in the Netherlands. If you are a member of IM Academy, you could become rich very quickly. Young people recruit new members with videos featuring expensive cars and beautiful holiday destinations. Omroep Brabant has received several concerned messages from family and friends of members in recent weeks: “How can I help him get out of this sect?”
IM Academy offers online courses on, among other things, cryptocurrency trading, but you can also earn money by recruiting new members. When recruiting members is more important than the product being sold, in this case the course, it may be a pyramid scheme.
In a pyramid scheme, people who have been involved for a while earn money off the backs of new members. Ultimately, most participants lose their money. Research by Omroep Brabant shows that IM Academy’s practices strongly resemble a pyramid scheme. That is prohibited in the Netherlands.
“I no longer have contact with my brother.”
Omroep Brabant received concerned messages, including from Merel*. “My brother has recently joined IM Academy and has been completely brainwashed. How can I help him get out of this sect?” She explains why she is worried. “My brother said that he had come into contact with someone from IM Academy via TikTok. He could quickly make a lot of money. It sounded too good to be true.”
Her brother then attended all kinds of meetings and, according to Merel, he believes everything they say there. “He said that only bluebottles, like me, continue to work for a boss. He is so influenced by those people around him.”
He told Merel that he would soon go to a meeting in Budapest. She tried to talk him out of it in many ways. “I now have no contact with my brother due to all the hassle. I heard through my family that he no longer travels to Budapest because it is too expensive.”
“What your parents tell you is not always the truth.”
The event in the László Papp Budapest Sports Arena, which can accommodate 12,500 visitors, is grandly announced with a flashy video. A ticket costs 259 euros. Hundreds of young people will come together this weekend to attend presentations by people who talk about their luxurious lives that they say they owe to IM Academy.
The controversial American millionaire Alex Morton also gives a presentation. Last year he also spoke at a meeting in the Chassé Theater in Breda, which attracted about 1,500 young people.
22-year-old Luuk Brands from Waalwijk will also speak in Budapest. He continues to climb higher in the organization, because he has more and more members under him, who also have new members among them. He is almost at the top of the Dutch branch of IM Academy.
Last year in Breda, Brands said: “What your parents tell you is not always the truth. Everything we have learned, we have learned at school. Think for yourself.” According to researcher Jelle van Buuren, that statement leans heavily towards conspiracy theories.
“Success is not a choice, as they say.”
According to him, the effect of such meetings can differ per person. “If you get completely sucked into this, there is little point in following another education. Ultimately, you may be left empty-handed. It is not the case that everyone will get rich quickly if you just get some useful tips.”
Conversations with former members show that young people are seduced by the beautiful stories and completely immerse themselves in IM Academy. When they decide to stop because it costs them more money than it earns them, they discover that they have lost friends and family around them. Some even dropped out of their education.
“It’s really a long-term thing.”
Assistant professor Claudia Gross has been researching pyramid schemes for years and is committed to new legislation. “It’s really a long-term thing.” According to her, it is important that victims of pyramid schemes or people who are concerned about others report to, for example, the police, Gaming Authority or Fraud Help Desk. “Something is really done with a report like this.”
* These are not the real names, names are known to the editors.
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Omroep Brabant itself became a member of IM Academy and spoke to young people who left the organization. You can see that in this episode of HOE..?
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