Over 59,000 Jordanian families invested $680m in Jordanian capital employment companies

Atotal of 4.4% invested money in Jordanian and non-Jordanian capital employment companies.

The survey revealed that total funds invested exceed $680m. The survey further revealed that there are close to 70,000 FOREX traders in Jordan with a trading portfolio of close to $787m.

A new major survey of the Internet users in Jordan was concluded by the Arab Advisors Group on November 8th 2008. The survey report, Jordan Internet Users and E-commerce Survey 2008 was released on November 30th 2008 and provides the results of a major comprehensive online survey of Internet users in Jordan.

The survey covered Internet, cellular and Pay TV usage, e-commerce and personal investments of the online community in Jordan. The survey's online field work was conducted between October 12th and November 5th 2008.

Respondents were randomly targeted by receiving an email shot in their inbox to ask them to fill the survey in cooperation with major online players in Jordan. The survey results encompass answers from 931 respondents that passed rigorous quality control checks.

Quality control was conducted by Arab Advisors Group's team. The survey was conducted on the general Internet population that is above 18 years of age. The online survey yields a confidence level of 99% with a margin of error of less than 4%.

The survey revealed that a majority of 74.7% do not invest in stocks, FOREX or the recent fad of 'Jordanian capital employment companies'. Still the survey revealed that some 4.4% of Jordanian adult Internet users invested capital in capital employment companies.

The Arab Advisors Group estimates Jordan Internet market to have 968,800 users by end of September 2008. This translates into an Internet user penetration rate of around 16.7%. Assuming that 30% of Internet users are below 18 years old, results in a total of 678,160 of adult Internet users in Jordan. As such, 29,865 Jordanian Internet users have money invested in the capital employment companies in Jordan and abroad (more that 90% of whom invested funds in Jordanian companies).

Moreover, Arab Advisors Group estimates that for every Internet user who invested in these capital employment companies another non-Internet user did the same. This brings the total to 59,730 Jordanian families with money invested in the fad of capital employment companies that promised monthly returns of 15% or more based on FOREX and other 'investments'.

Most experts believe that these capital employment companies were pyramid schemes preying on the gullible investors lured by the promise of high returns.