Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, more commonly known as UOKiK, has issued scam warnings against OneCoin (OneLife), NetLeaders (DasCoin), FutureNet (FutureAdPro), Questra World (Atlantic Global Asset Management) and Lyoness.

The December 18th warning, published by UOKiK President Marek Niechciala, appears to be an end-of-year recap of regulatory actions taken by the watchdog.

OneCoin and OneLife

One Life Network from Belize – encourages you to buy an “education package” OneLife or OneAcademy, promises the opportunity to receive material benefits for introducing other people to the system.

Following an internal investigation, On October 31st UOKiK ‘notified the District Prosecutor’s Office in Warsaw (about) the possibility of (OneCoin) committing a crime‘.

BehindMLM reviewed OneCoin in September, 2014 and identified it as a Ponzi scheme.

Net Leaders and DasCoin

NetLeaders encourage investment which provides a license to manufacture DasCoin.

They promise quick profits. They also encourage people who have invested in DasCoin to encourage others and thus earn a living.

The cryptocurrency DasCoin does not exist , the organizers are just promising to start its “extraction”.

You really do not know what DasCoin is, so consumers are paying money for something they do not have.

UOKiK received a warning from Poland’s Financial Supervision Authority (KNF) about Net Leaders in February, 2017.

Following an internal investigation, UOKiK notified public prosecutors of Net Leaders committing possible crime on June 28th.

Net Leaders initially launched as Coin Leaders in late 2016.

BehindMLM reviewed Coin Leaders in October, 2016 and concluded DasCoin is a clone of the OneCoin Ponzi scheme.

FutureNet and FutureAdPro

These are portals offering, in exchange for a fee, the purchase of advertising packages.

According to the information on the company’s website, you must buy the package and persuade other people to participate.

The KNF warned UOKiK back in February that FutureNet and FutureAdPro were likely operating as pyramid schemes.

Following an internal investigation, UOKiK notified public prosecutors on June 28th of the possibility FutureNet and FutureAdPro were committing crime.

BehindMLM reviewed FutureNet in 2014 and concluded it was a six-tier matrix Ponzi cycler.

FutureNet launched FutureAdPro, an adpack “revshare” Ponzi spinoff, in early 2016.

Last we heard FutureNet were trying to launch their own pump and dump Ponzi ICO.

Questra World and Atlantic Global Asset Management

Questra World and Atlantic Global Asset Management offer purchase of investment packages, promise high profits and the opportunity to “earn” from selling companies and persuading other people (to join and invest).

Complaints received by UOKiK in February and May suggest both companies ‘carry the hallmarks of a financial pyramid scheme‘.

BehindMLM reviewed Questra World in late 2016 and concluded it was a Ponzi scheme.

Atlantic Global Asset Management appears to be a sister scam run by the same people.

After launching two unsuccessful spinoff Ponzi scams, Questra World collapsed last month.

Lyoness

Lyoness offers material benefits that depend on introducing other people to the program.

Earlier, the participant pays in advance for the purchase of vouchers or gift cards or makes purchases from business partners.

BehindMLM reviewed Lyoness all the way back in 2012.

Throughout its various incarnations (Lyconet and more recently Cashback World), Lyoness has maintained its accounting unit Ponzi scheme.

Affiliates invest in units (or vouchers), which promise a ROI once enough new units or vouchers have been invested in by other Lyoness affiliates.

At the time of publication Lyoness appears to be thriving in Italy, with Alexa estimating the country makes up a third of traffic to the Lyoness website.

Alexa cite Poland as the second largest source, coming in at 5.6%.

Recyclix

To join the system, the customer had to buy from Recyclix at least 100 kg of waste that the company was supposed to send for recycling, and the profit to divide between consumers.

Recyclix also offered money to persuade other people to participate in this transaction.

Following an internal investigation, Warsaw Public Prosecutors initiating proceedings against Recyclix in May, 2017.

BehindMLM reviewed Recyclix in early 2016 and concluded it was a Ponzi scheme.

In March 2017 Recyclix collapsed and stopped paying investors.

 

In relation to regulation of MLM Ponzi and pyramid schemes in Poland, Marek Nichciala warns

proceedings conducted by law enforcement authorities and the President of UOKiK may result in criminal charges or the issuing of decisions regarding infringement of collective consumer interests.

A pyramid scheme is as follows: you deposit money and recruit other people for which you are paid.

Payment comes from the payments of people you directly recruited and people who they further recruit.

In this way, you fund the pyramid and finance the person who recruited you.

However, after some time the system falls, because the funds you deposit are not invested in any assets and do not generate profits.

The funds are paid out to people in higher positions in the pyramid chain.

This system works as long as more money is paid in than is paid out, but for this to happen, the number of people participating in the pyramid must constantly and rapidly grow – and this is not possible.

Your money is gone. Contact with the owners is lost. You’ve lost.

UOKiK recommend anyone in Poland who suspects an MLM company might be a Ponzi or pyramid to file a fraud report with local law enforcement.

 

Update 13th February 2020 – On December 30th, 2019, UOKiK ruled Lyoness is a pyramid scheme.