Hundreds of women across the UK are still putting money into dodgy investment schemes, despite warnings that they could lose it all.

Called Women Empowering Women or sometimes known as heart charts, the schemes attract people with promises of quick and easy money.

They rely on an inverse pyramid of members that funnel money to the person at the base, who in theory will receive as much as �24,000.

Each new recruit must pay �3,000 to take part in the scheme.

They in turn must recruit more women to move them into position for a payout.

Collapsed

But although schemes around the country collapsed as they ran out of new recruits, women are still being persuaded to part with their money.

People have been promised money back and they haven't got it.

Gloria Stretten

One Working Lunch viewer wrote to say his wife was being pressured to join by her friends, anxious not to lose their own investments.

In places like east Yorkshire, so many people have had their fingers burnt that support groups are thriving.

Promises

Gloria Stretten from Hull has spoken to dozens of investors who've lost money.

Some had borrowed to get the money; in some cases several members of a family had invested.

"People have been promised money back and they haven't got it," she says.

"They've been advised at meetings to borrow money on their Visa cards.

"People have also paid the money to their friends and family and now they're trying to get the money back. It's broken families up."

Court case

Gloria is taking the organiser of her chart to the small claims court, claiming she was told she was guaranteed to at least get her money back.

She is confident of a success that could pave the way for other people to take legal action.

"If I'd thought I was going to lose my money there's no way I would have gone in."

Not illegal

Women Empowering Women has been running for many years in the United States. It's not illegal like pyramid selling because no products or services are involved.

The investments are treated as gifts, so payouts are not liable to tax.

Problems in the UK first came to light last year on the Isle of Wight, where banks had cash shortages as people rushed to join.

The scheme collapsed and many people then set up another to try to recoup their money.

That scenario has since been repeated all over the country.

Faith in the scheme

A group of women in Hull, however, believe the scheme can work if it's run properly.

Trina Waudby and Fran Taylor faced losing their own investments unless they took over the running of their chart.

Fran Taylor says her plan is not a pyramid scheme

They analysed what went wrong with the schemes and came up with a system that they think will succeed.

They call it the Circle of Life and say it has some key differences:

Investors can pay in as little as �100

They have to reinvest some of their returns to keep money going in

The organisers keep control of the whole scheme rather than leaving people to run charts on their own

They insist it's not a race to get a big payout but a long-term investment that is properly administered

Fran says: "It's not a pyramid because every body is going back in. They initially put half of the return back in." "They're helping other people so it's not a pyramid because the people at the bottom are not getting all the money.

"And we are looking at small amounts rather than bigger amounts that they can't afford to be paying."

"The advice is simple - don't do it," says Rod Kitching of Trading Standards

Circle of Life

The Circle of Life currently has more than 130 members.

Fran and Trina says that since it began six months ago it has worked successfully despite bad publicity surrounding such schemes.

"If someone says they're not sure whether to join, I tell them not to do it," says Trina.

"I'd rather they were comfortable with how it works than just jumping in hoping to make some money."

Don't do it

That echoes the sentiments of trading standards officers around the country.

"The advice is simple - don't do it," says Rod Kitching, head of Hull trading standards.

"There is no guarantee with this scheme apart from the fact that there will be a lot of losers."

The government is expected to propose regulations to govern such schemes later this year.

But for the women who have lost their money, that will be too late.