Lyoness changes its name to “myWorld”, will regulators fall for it?
First there was Lyoness.
Then, during an investigation by the Norwegian Gaming Board, Lyoness split the MLM side of the business into Lyconet.
Based on a ton of marketing material and confusion Norway concluded that, while Lyoness had operated as a pyramid scheme, after splitting up the pyramid issues had been addressed.
Hardly. Through Lyconet, Lyoness continued it’s long-running accounting unit Ponzi scheme.
Amid ongoing regulatory issues across Europe, Lyoness was dropped for “Cashback World”.
Cashback World operates from the Lyoness website, however Lyoness branding has been completely removed and mention of the brand is kept to a minimum.
Lyconet still seems to be operating and continues to exist on its own domain.
Now, once again, Lyoness have changed their name from Cashback World to “myWorld”.
myWorld appears to have come about as a result of Norway’s second investigation and an attempt to expand white-label services.
After realizing Lyoness’ business model hadn’t changed, Norway’s Gaming Board opened a second investigation into the company.
That investigation lead to the banning of Lyoness in Norway.
Unfortunately, as with the first investigation, things are dragging out due to Lyoness’ name change.
In a March 23rd update, the Gaming Board writes that on February 8th they became aware ‘Lyoness has renamed (itself to) myWorld‘.
Instead of informing Lyoness that the original decision applied to myWorld because the business model is the same, the name-change resulted in new dialogue between the parties.
On February 8, 2018, the Lottery Authority noted a letter from myWorld / Lyoness with comments on the decision that was notified.
We had a new meeting with the company on 14 March 2018 where new information was submitted.
Based on this information, we have asked the company to provide further information and documentation in the matter.
The deadline is set for April 6, 2018.
No doubt the Gaming Board will receive a ton of confusing marketing material, in an attempt to convince them myWorld has nothing to do with Lyoness.
Whether they fall for it is yet to be seen.
On the myWorld website, the company advises ‘the myWorld group of companies unites different brands under one umbrella‘. This was already the case with Lyoness, but I digress.
The Lyoness brands myWorld “unites” are Cashback World, White Label Solutions and Cashback Solutions.
Cashback World (and presumably Lyconet) is a continuation of the accounting/shopping unit Ponzi scheme.
White Label Solutions makes it easier for otherwise reputable organizations to recruit their members into Lyoness.
In the past Lyoness has had difficulty when one of their affiliates pitches to an organization they’re personally involved in, typically upon said organization discovering Lyoness is a Ponzi scheme.
The generic sounding White Label Solutions is no doubt far less likely to raise suspicion.
Cashback solutions meanwhile targets “small and medium-sized enterprises”.
This is pretty much the existing Lyoness merchant network re-branded.
The merchant network is possibly the only aspect of Lyoness that isn’t fraudulent – with the exception of merchants signing up as Lyoness affiliates and trying to recruit customers into the Ponzi side of the business.
Changes to Lyoness’ corporate structure aren’t just on the front-end either.
Research by a reader reveals the company has recently incorporated myWorld Real Estate Ltd., myWorld Logistics Ltd., myWorld Holdings Ltd., myWorld International Ltd. and Lyconet International Ltd in the UK.
My guess would be Lyoness are finding it difficult to maintain open banking channels with all the regulatory heat Lyoness is taking.
Otherwise ditching an established brand makes no sense. Lyoness has after all been around since 2003.
Who knows, once the current Italian boom is over maybe Lyoness has finally run out of new markets to exploit.
A quick name change and maybe gullible investors in collapsed countries will fall for the same scam again.
Update 5th June 2018 – Lyoness’ name-change to myWorld has failed to convince the Gaming Board the company is legit.
On June 4th the Gaming Board reaffirmed its earlier decision, effectively banning Lyoness in Norway.
Update 13th February 2019 – On February 12th, 2019, the Norwegian Complaints Board announced it had rejected Lyoness’ second appeal.
As of January 26th, 2019, Lyoness has been permanently banned in Norway.
they filled for bankruptcy last week in Turkey!
Watch them sneak back in with the new name in a few months…
Do you have a source for that?
If this is true, can u provide us with a link then!
The “official” website for Turkey is still online:
NOLINK://lyoness.com/tr
The imprint – translated by Google:
NOLINK://share-your-photo.com/img/c83d15bcb4.png
They are trying to expand to Stockholm, Sweden. They contacted me and several of my contacts on Linkedin wanting to meet up and discuss how I can earn a loooot of money…
Sounded extremely suspicious, but thank you for this website! Now I know without of doubt 🙂
“Expand to Stockholm” and “they contacted”?
For your info, Cashbackworld is already in Sweden since maaaaany years! Nice try!
Who are “they”? Single persons or Cashbackworld officially?
Lyoness is technically available everywhere in the word (except Norway).
What I believe uku was referring to was Italy collapsing (Alexa) and Sweden emerging as the next market to plunder.
Italy is currently at 43.9% of provided traffic. The inevitable collapse there will be devastating without an emerging fallback.
@fw ehm? What do you mean by “nice try”..?
I have no idea what cashbackworld is. Two different people from myWorld/Lyoness contacted me on LinkedIn saying they want to expand to Stockholm. And after some research I found this site.
@oz sorry actually don’t know about Italy.
And they changed it back to Lyoness, but only in Norway.
Probably because they dont want the new name MyWorld to be associated with the closure of the Norwegian market since they have been convicted of an illegal pyramid fraud.
MyWorld (Lyoness) has appealed the decision to the Norwegian court, but so far this process follows the same footsteps as when WorldVentures was closed in Norway by the Supreme Court.
I’m italian (and in advance sorry for my poor english), I’m totally against Lyoness but unfortunattely some my friends devided to follow it.
Can you explain me better your calculation? I don’t understand the way that you reach the 43.9%.
The percentage was from Alexa. You can visit their website and search the Lyoness website domain for a more up to date percentage (currently 42.9%).
What a bullshit is this? Before you write I would suggest you get more deep information, if Lyoness would be banned in Norway how can be that It is still operative there??
Same in Turkey …Cashback website it is operative as normal…
Lyoness was ruled an illegal pyramid scheme in Norway. If they’re still running the cashback side of the business there, who cares?
Nobody is signing up for or using it, as evidenced by Norway completely dropping off the Lyoness website Alexa rankings. Same as any country Lyoness collapses in really.
I get why you’re upset though. After Lyoness shut down the Ponzi side of the business in Italy it’s once-again collapsing. Sorry for your loss.
It’s kinda funny to see all these ignorant people posting “facts” about something they know nothing about! 😀 “Oh, I read a 3 year old post about a scam” …”Oh you can earn money from your friends’ effort – must be a pyramid”
I suggest you guys at least TRY to check out the facts before you post something as a FACT! 😉
First of all, the cashback loyalty program is LEGALLY up and going 100% AND still expanding in both Norway, Turkey, Italy, Sweden, Germany etc.
Yes the gaming authorities in Norway wanted to stop it because many people beleived it was an illegal pyramid. This was based on stories from people who beleived that you can spend thousands of dollars to get rich in a few weeks or months, and when they found out that it wasn’t true, they wanted to sue the company. (In my opinion, these people should be sued for being stupid enough to beleive this crap, and not to read what they sign up to!)
But then they soon legalized the Cashback part, but want to take a closer look to the Marketer part of it, so that bit is “on hold” but not 100%. They are still allowed to register new people and expand. And in Italy they are expanding rapidly.
The same in many other countries. In one country actually the police union is a partner. I guess they have checked out what they signed up for upfront 😀 And many of Europes largest sports teams are partners. Do you think they have lawyers who check out what they sign up for?
One last tip guys – it’s not illegal to think for yourselves! Don’t let Google and ignorant people think for you. Start the engine on the thing inside of your scull 😀
No it’s really not. Yet year after year Lyoness affiliates in whatever the new country they’ve migrated to continue to try to justify Ponzi fraud.
Say what you will, the fact of the matter is the Gaming Board ruled Lyoness was an illegal pyramid scheme. That decision is under review, because Lyoness changed it’s name (yes that’s as silly as it sounds).
Pending review, the Ponzi aspect of Lyoness in Norway has been halted. And cashback is dead too (Norway doesn’t appear in Alexa top 5 for the Lyoness website).
Fortunately your victim blaming doesn’t change the fact that Lyoness’ AU investment scheme is fraudulent.
That never happened. You are literally making shit up.
Italy has been milked and is now in decline (Alexa stats for Lyoness’ website). Authorities have announced an investigation and so Lyoness has halted the Ponzi side of its business there.
#RIP
You can’t legitimize Ponzi fraud through association.
Hopefully that will sink in one day. Until then we have to deal with Lyoness lemmings who bring up the same old tired arguments.
Oz, can you please explain how Lyoness works?
Rather than waste both of our time, I’ll just explain how the Ponzi aspect of it works:
1. I invest $x with Lyoness.
2. I recruit a predetermined number of Lyoness investors, they do the same etc. etc.
3. Once enough new invesmtent has been deposited with Lyoness, they pay me a ROI (originally cash, now through voucher redemption from memory).
Anything outside of that core mechanic does not justify the above and is therefore irrelevant. So please don’t waste my time crapping on about cashback shopping.
https://behindmlm.com/companies/lyoness-us-review-cashback-and-investment-returns/
https://behindmlm.com/companies/lyoness/lyconet-review-unit-commissions-that-dont-add-up/
We’ve been tracking Lyoness for years before you signed up and invested. You’ll find many of the arguments you’re likely dying to bring up already addressed in the comments of those two reviews.
Thats strange. Lyoness and now Cashback World was and is free of charge as long as I remember. There are some optional tools you can buy to use, but are not demanded or necessary.
So if you decidet to “invest” money into it, it is completely your decision, not a necessity.
Regardless of whether investment is optional or not, a Ponzi scheme is still a Ponzi scheme.
Norway is open and Myworld has been declared a completely law-abiding business. How did this happen?
Oz, you presented the “facts” here and I believed you. Now, thanks to you, I feel like a complete idiot. Or is this the world’s first legal bonzi scheme?
It didn’t – https://behindmlm.com/companies/lyoness/norwegian-police-drop-lyoness-case-due-to-lack-of-resources/
Lyoness/MyWorld/(insert all the other company names here) is still illegal in Norway, it’s just that Norwegian police aren’t going to do anything about it.
Not withstanding Lyoness being a Ponzi scheme and illegal the world over.
You can still illegally promote Lyoness in Norway. Just the same as you can go on a murder spree, despite murder being also illegal.
Having laws in place doesn’t stop you from breaking them.
You are very wrong and inaccurate in many statements. MyWorld is a group of 144 companies which includes all the other companies like Lyconet, Cashback world, Cashback world partner, Myworld.com, 360 lab, white label, Cryptix, organic+, Eventworld, Travelworld, Elite club, Sportsworld, Mediaworld, Myworld.tv and so many many other.
(Ozedit: marketing spam removed)
As for some accusations all over the world, it’s not the company’s fault but the marketers and the partners. This is a business builted by people and unfortunately there are always some people who are not doing their job the right way.
You refer to Norway, which by the way is open a long time ago and with no problems. What about all the other 50 countries? This business model is unbelievable.
Recently Moldavia opened, Belarus is on the way, so Vietnam and the list of the new countries to be opened is very long. MyWorld will be operating in more than 100 countries.
It has already the largest shopping community in the world with millions of customers and hundrends of thousands merchants. The present of this company is fantastic and the future is even more magic.
If you don’t like Myworld, no one forces you to participate. I wish you good luck with your jobs for the rest of your life.
However many shell companies Lyoness sets up, it’s still all Lyoness in the end.
Lyoness running a Ponzi scheme is on Lyoness.
And? Lyoness remains banned in Norway for being a pyramid scheme.
Regulators failing to shut down a pyramid scheme doesn’t make pyramid schemes legal.
Lyoness has failed in every country the investment side of the business has been shut down. For a recent example see Italy. Other examples include every major economy on the planet.
It’s the reason Lyoness has to keep jumping to more and more obscure countries, failing there too and finding even more smaller countries to migrate to.
So how many minutes ago were you recruited? It’s OK, you can put your copy of “marketing 1990s style” down.
It’s always fun to see the self aggrandizement of MLM companies at work.
If Lyoness really had “the largest shopping community in the world”, everybody would know about it. It would be one of the world’s major companies, and a housefold name. Even if one wasn’t a customer oneself, one would regularly encounter it in the media.
As it is, absolutely nobody except those peddling the Lyoness pyramid scheme has ever heard of any of the names being rattled off by John here. They subsist in the obscurity where almost all MLM activity stays, except on the rare occasions they make the news for entirely the wrong reasons.
If anyone doubts that and wants some objective metric: put a few of those Lyoness brand names in Google, then put in a few names of genuinely big companies and brands, and compare the numbers of results you get. (Of course, Lyoness knows that, and deliberately tries to muddy the waters by doing the exact opposite of what proper businesses do: mostly choose ultra-generic brand names, which yield a lot of false positives in searches.)
Not having any sense of economic proportions helps. Having only “millions of customers” wouldn’t put anyone anywhere near being “the largest shopping community in the world”.
Shop or supermarket chains, or online retailers, that operate exclusively in one or a few fairly small countries, but are a big player there, easily have millions of customers, while being completely insignificant on a world scale.
Hi! I’m from Russia. Today my friend invited me to join to myworld, spoke very strangely (like a zombie) gave me the link (Ozedit: Russian language YT video link removed) and promised great prospects!
After reading the reviews and the article, I realized that this is a lie. P.S. sorry for my English.
Lyoness is trying to break into Russia now?
Yes… in Moscow.
Guess central Europe didn’t pan out then.
Hi my name is RD,
I have just come off the phone with someone who was trying to get me to invest/join the ‘my world’ company, also saying it’s free.
The person doing the presentation seemed very kind, legit and genuine? But obviously I was a bit sceptical, especially when I seen the video I was sent to watch. It was all singing and dancing and looked the part if truth be told, but still it left questions; hence why I’m here.
I have read all matters above and strong arguments were put across.
I will speak to the person again tomorrow as I am of the belief that they don’t understand it maybe a Ponzi scheme/pyramid scheme.
I am from the uk and I will be back to see what answer is returned here tomorrow.
Thank you for your time and that was certainly, if anything, a great debating read that you all have provided
Please get back to me to let me know if “these are now legit or full of shit??????”?
Lyoness is the same Ponzi scheme it’s always been.
You get recruited and invest in units/vouchers/credits or whatever they’re calling them now. Your someone gets closer to their ROI.
Then you have to convince people to invest to get closer to your ROI. Throw in a bit of pretending Lyoness has anything to do with shopping etc.
Hi I’m in the UK and I have been approached by a representative of My World after being recommended by friends.
As of yet there has been no suggestion of any investment and defiantly no pyramid scheme. That was one of the first questions I had.
I will get more details tonight but I was wondering if there was anyone else that has already started with them and what their thoughts were?
Lyoness has been trying to break into the UK for years.
https://behindmlm.com/companies/lyoness/uk-politician-wants-whole-town-signed-up-as-lyoness-affiliates/
https://behindmlm.com/companies/lyoness/woking-council-pushing-lyoness-ponzi-onto-unsuspecting-residents/
It’s been two years. Maybe give Woking Council a call and ask how them trying to rope constituents into a Ponzi scheme went?