From what you are probably aware of; there are a lot of HYIP opportunities that can be considered good and bad. What you are probably wondering or not aware of, are ways to evaluate them before you go out and lose a lot of money on them. Everyone is probably aware that any type of hi yield investing poses risks, and these risks are always there.
Any type of HYIP will contain characteristics that will slant them in one direction or another. It is by evaluating those characteristics that are able to sort them out. Keep in mind that the HYIP proponents are keen to confuse and issue, and deflect attention, but you can dig through most of that if you know what you're looking for. Below, you find some examples that you will assist you in your decisions and research.
- Games of chance v investments: There are hundreds of games sites on the internet, many of which cost money to enjoy. While there is certainly nothing wrong with that, they obviously have no place in our consideration of hi yield type investments. They should be identified, and thrown out whenever they seep in. - Recyclers' v generators: A lot of HYIP out there like to invest in the same thing. While this may be ok, there are a lot of traps; especially if this is hidden, or denied, and the expected results are overstated. - Short term v long term: All HYIP's that offer excessively fast returns are almost always doomed. Because of this, you should beware of the excessively fast money merchants. - Real v virtual money: A lot of the HYIP's pay your returns into their own accounts, and tell you that the money is there, often with restrictions on how you can get access to it. This method is very widespread, and is usually ok, but still needs to be tested before you invest a lot of money into it. - Fixed interest v variable return: As you probably know already, fixed interest looks nice. Although it's usually not consistent with actual earning rates, it still raises a conflict and sometimes complete failure. A lot of the best HYIP's deal with the problem simply by offering low quotations of minimum return, although its better to be dealing with someone who meets those standards, than someone who repeatedly defaults on more optimistic targets.
With any type of HYIP, you should always consider them to be bad until you have proof that states otherwise. Don't get the wrong idea; there are a lot of these out there that can be very beneficial. Before you invest your money, you should make sure you know what a good and bad HYIP really is.

Even a bad HYIP can be a good HYIP if you join it at the right time
The worst kind of HYIP would have to be the ones that don't pay anyone at all, although a ponzi is just as bad and serves only to redistribute e-gold between investors and the HYIP admin.