"Toothpick Earth" is considered a pyramid scheme and fraudulent activity. This activity usually encourages people to pay a certain amount of money and develop a downline to join in the name of entrepreneurship, investment and financial management. The so-called "toothpick prying the earth" is based on a virtual project, claiming to realize cross-border integration through big data, cloud computing and other technologies, so as to obtain high returns.

People who participate in pyramid schemes often suffer financial or psychological losses, and in some countries, face legal penalties.