15 Be Club promoters in Norway sent fraud warning

Be Club promoters in Norway have been sent a fraud warning from the Norwegian Consumer Authority, the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority and the Norwegian Anti-Corruption Authority.

The warning, sent to fifteen Norwegian Be Club promoters reiterates a Be Club, SageMaster and Deepsage fraud warning issued in March. The Financial Supervision Authority also issued an earlier Be Club investment fraud warning in 2023.

Specific to the fifteen unidentified Be Club promoters, promoting fraud is also illegal act in Norway.

Per the letter Norwegian authorities sent out on May 19th;

The Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet) and the Norwegian Consumer Authority (Forbrukertilsynet) have noted that you are marketing BE (Better Experience) on social media.

Through BE, access is provided to services including SageMaster and DeepSage. In your marketing, you have highlighted, among other things, opportunities for significant financial gains, participation in events, and exclusive trips.

This letter and its attachment are intended as guidance and a warning regarding the rules for marketing investment services and the prohibition of pyramid schemes.

The Consumer Authority believes that BE has clear similarities to a pyramid scheme. It is prohibited to establish, market, or participate in pyramid schemes. It is also illegal to advertise for and recruit people into pyramid schemes.

If it is a pyramid scheme, positive coverage on social media could also be considered marketing.

The content you share on social media emphasizes, among other things, the potential for high income, success stories, and access to various tools and systems for trading.

At the same time, it is unclear how one actually makes money, what risks are associated with the offer, and who is behind the solutions.

Sharing such content gives your followers a misleading picture. Consequently, they may make risky investments and lose money.

Even if this is referred to as courses or training, how the services are actually used and marketed is what is decisive, not what they are called.

Therefore, the Financial Supervisory Authority considers that BE may act as a gateway to illegal investment services.

BE, SageMaster, and DeepSage do not have authorization to offer investment services in Norway. The Consumer Authority [also] believes that BE bears clear resemblances to a pyramid scheme.

If you market BE, you must be able to document all claims regarding income, returns, or results. You also have a duty to provide clear and accurate information about risks, costs, terms, and how money is actually made.

You are personally responsible for all the content you publish, even when sharing other people’s posts.

The fraud warning serves as the first step towards targeting promoters of Be Club in Norway. Should the promoters ignore the message and continue to illegally promote Be Club in Norway, The Consumer Authority and Financial Supervisory Authority may escalate to

• prohibition and/or enforcement orders;
• monetary fines;
• reporting of ongoing illegal activities to police

Criminal charges would be brought by Økokrim, the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime.

Økokrim (The Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime) is also seeing that Norwegian citizens are losing money on investments marketed through social media.

If the loss-making investment occurs based on incorrect or misleading information, it may constitute investment fraud punishable under the Penal Code.

Relaying information that one understands may be incorrect or misleading, with the intention that someone will make investments based on that information, can constitute complicity in fraud.

Økokrim highly prioritizes the fight against fraud, and will continuously consider investigating and prosecuting fraud and complicity in fraud. This includes individuals who in various ways contribute to the sharing of such information.

Be Club is the latest iteration of a long-running scam run by by co-founders Monir, Moynul (Moyn) and Ehsaan Islam.

Despite making up the majority of Be Club and SageMaster website traffic, Italian authorities have yet to address promotion of the scam nationally.