By Jane Friedmann

iJango, an Austin, Texas-based company has begun advertising in the Twin Cities area, and the Better Business Bureau (BBB) suspects the service they are offering is an illegal pyramid scheme. An advertisement ran recently in City Pages. As iJango describes their business, a customer pays upfront to participate. The customer is then paid for the recruitment of others who are paid for the recruitment of others. And so on. Initial fees to participants are anywhere from $50 to $149.95. Monthly "maintenance" fees are $19.95. Nationwide, the BBB says they have received hundreds of complaints about this business. The bureau has spoken with the company's CEO, Rayner Smith, and has investigated some of their claims of affiliation with online companies such as Rhapsody and Google. These companies say they are not affiliated with iJango. The BBB has given the company a rating of F, meaning there's lots of room for improvement. They recommend consumers exercise extreme caution when evaluating this or any business opportunity. Click here to view iJango's rating and profile on the BBB's website. The link also contains a thorough description of pyramid schemes.