Aurum fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Aurum’s website domain (“aurum.foundation”), was privately registered on August 1st, 2024.

Note that Aurum has disabled its website root. Access to Aurum is through a subdomain at “backoffice.aurum.foundation”.

Looking at the source-code of Aurum’s backoffice website we find Russian:

This suggests whoever is running Aurum has ties to Russia.

One name of note tied to Aurum is Sal Khan:

Khan is a serial promoter of MLM crypto Ponzi schemes. Khan is fresh off promoting TLC Trading.

TLC Trading, an MLM crypto Ponzi run by Polish and/or Russian scammers hiding in Dubai, collapsed for a second time last month.

Whereas TLC Trading was fronted by Armen Sargasyan, a Boris CEO played by Polish national Tomas Malodobry, Aurum is headed up by Jan Kroger.

Jan Kroger’s actual name is Krogan Jan-Burkhard.

Jan-Burkhard is a random crypto bro from Germany. Outside of dubious marketing claims made in various PR puff pieces, Jan-Burkhard doesn’t appear to have achieved anything significant in the crypto space.

It’s unclear whether Jan-Burkhard is a full-blown Boris CEO or is working directly with the Russians actually running Aurum.

I guess we’ll find out if Jan-Burkhard turns up in the usual rented office videos.

Other individuals featured in Aurum’s marketing material include:

  • Ahmad Zen – Marketing Director
  • Aleksei Mirko – Product Development Director
  • Ivan Marjanovic – Growth Director

Ahmad Zen has ties to Dubai…

…and is a former Earn World Ponzi promoter:

Earn World collapsed in July 2024.

Aleksei Mirko’s social media is in Russian. Mirko and Ivan Marjanovic appear to be randoms plucked from who knows where.

Given the set up, it’s highly likely the same Dubai Russian scammers behind TLC Trading are behind Aurum.

I did note the use of “Standart” in Aurum’s marketing. That could tie into Kroger’s German roots or just reflect whoever put the material together.

The “CashFX (in association with EverFX) Scam – Now What!?” FaceBook group notes serial Ponzi promoter Luigi Bruni is also pitching Aurum.

Or was. Sometime over the last few days Bruni abruptly deleted all of this Aurum marketing efforts.

As always, if an MLM company is not openly upfront about who is running or owns it, think long and hard about joining and/or handing over any money.

Aurum’s Products

Aurum has no retailable products or services.

Affiliates are only able to market Aurum affiliate membership itself.

Aurum’s Compensation Plan

Aurum affiliates invest funds on the promise of passive returns:

  • Basic – invest $100 to $249 and receive a 60% ROI share
  • Standart – invest $250 to $999 and receive an 65% ROI share
  • Comfort – invest $1000 to $2499 and receive a 70% ROI share
  • Optimal – invest $2500 to $4999 and receive a 75% ROI share
  • Business – invest $5000 to $9999 and receive an 80% ROI share
  • VIP – invest $10,000 to $24,999 and receive an 85% ROI share
  • Luxury – invest $25,000 to $49,999 and receive a 90% ROI share
  • Ultimate – invest $50,000 to $99,999 and receive a 95% ROI share

ROI range examples provided by Aurum are 9.48% to 15.01% a month.

Note that if an affiliate withdraws their initial investment within a year, Aurum steals 35% of the invested amount. A 1% withdrawal fee is charged on ROI withdrawals.

The MLM side of Aurum pays on recruitment of affiliate investors.

Aurum Affiliate Membership Ranks

There are fifteen affiliate ranks within Aurum’s compensation plan.

Along with their respective qualification criteria, they are as follows:

  1. Marketer – sign up as an Aurum affiliate and invest at least $100
  2. Jade – maintain a $100 or more investment and generate $3000 in downline investment
  3. Pearl – invest $200 or more and generate $10,000 in downline investment
  4. Sapphire – invest $500 or more and generate $25,000 in downline investment
  5. Ruby – invest $1000 or more and generate $50,000 in downline investment
  6. Emerald – invest $2000 or more and generate $100,000 in downline investment
  7. Diamond – invest $5000 or more and generate $250,000 in downline investment
  8. Double Diamond – invest $10,000 or more and generate $500,000 in downline investment
  9. Triple Diamond – invest $20,000 or more and generate $1,000,000 in downline investment
  10. Crown Diamond – invest $50,000, have two Diamond and one Emerald or higher ranked affiliates in recruitment legs (one in each) and generate $2,500,000 in downline investment
  11. Royal Crown Diamond – invest $100,000, have one Double Diamond and two Diamonds in recruitment legs (one in each) and generate $5,000,000 in downline investment
  12. Vice President – invest $200,000, have one Triple Diamond and two Double Diamonds in recruitment legs (one in each) and generate $10,000,000 in downline investment
  13. Senior Vice President – invest $500,000, have two Crown Diamonds and one Triple Diamond in recruitment legs (one in each) and generate $25,000,000 in downline investment
  14. Global President – invest $750,000, have two Royal Crown Diamonds in recruitment legs (one in each) and generate $50,000,000 in downline investment
  15. Founder – invest $1,000,000, have two Vice Presidents in recruitment legs (one in each) and generate $100,000,000 in downline investment

Note that Aurum only counts downline investment from 40% of funds invested down three levels of recruitment (i.e. 40% of funds invested across levels 1 to 3).

Also note that required recruited affiliates of rank can be higher than the rank specified.

Residual Commissions

Aurum pays residual commissions via a unilevel compensation structure.

A unilevel compensation structure places an affiliate at the top of a unilevel team, with every personally recruited affiliate placed directly under them (level 1):

If any level 1 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 2 of the original affiliate’s unilevel team.

If any level 2 affiliates recruit new affiliates, they are placed on level 3 and so on and so forth down a theoretical infinite number of levels.

Residual commissions are paid as 18.5% of funds invested in Auratus.

The catch is individual commission rates are tied to affiliate rank:

  • Marketers earn a 3% residual commission rate
  • Jades earn a 5% residual commission rate
  • Pearls earn a 7% residual commission rate
  • Sapphires earn a 9% residual commission rate
  • Rubys earn a 10.5% residual commission rate
  • Emeralds earn a 12% residual commission rate
  • Diamonds earn a 13.5% residual commission rate
  • Double Diamonds earn a 14.5% residual commission rate
  • Triple Diamonds earn a 15.5% residual commission rate
  • Crown Diamonds earn a 16.5% residual commission rate
  • Royal Crown Diamonds earn a 17% residual commission rate
  • Vice Presidents earn a 17.5% residual commission rate
  • Senior Vice Presidents earn an 18% residual commission rate
  • Global Presidents earn an 18.25% residual commission rate
  • Founders earn an 18.5% residual commission rate

Residual commission rates are coded, meaning higher ranked affiliates earn the percentage difference on residual commission earned by downline lower ranked affiliates.

E.g. You are a Diamond and recruit a new investor. You are paid your 13.5% residual commission rate, still leaving 5% to pay out (18.5% minus 13.5%).

Aurum searches upline for a Double Diamond or higher ranked affiliate to pay the remaining 5% out to. Based on whatever ranks is found first, they are paid the difference between their rank and the Diamond 13.5% rate.

Note that if a Founder is found first, they receive the full 5% and nothing is left to pass up.

Matching Bonus

Jade and higher ranked Aurum affiliates earn a Matching Bonus on residual commissions earned by personally recruited affiliates.

  • Jades earn a 5% Matching Bonus
  • Pearls earn a 7.5% Matching Bonus
  • Sapphires earn a 10% Matching Bonus
  • Rubys earn a 12.5% Matching Bonus
  • Emeralds earn a 15% Matching Bonus
  • Diamonds earn a 17.5% Matching Bonus
  • Double Diamonds earn a 19% Matching Bonus
  • Triple Diamonds earn a 20.5% Matching Bonus
  • Crown Diamonds earn a 22% Matching Bonus
  • Royal Crown Diamonds earn a 23.5% Matching Bonus
  • Vice Presidents earn a 25% Matching Bonus
  • Senior Vice Presidents earn a 26.5% Matching Bonus
  • Global Presidents earn a 28% Matching Bonus
  • Founders earn a 30% Matching Bonus

Rank Achievement Bonus

Aurum rewards affiliates for qualifying at Jade and higher with the following one-time Rank Achievement Bonuses:

  • qualify at Jade and receive $100
  • qualify at Pearl and receive $500
  • qualify at Sapphire and receive $1000
  • qualify at Ruby and receive $2000
  • qualify at Emerald and receive $5000
  • qualify at Diamond and receive $10,000
  • qualify at Double Diamond and receive $20,000
  • qualify at Triple Diamond and receive $50,000
  • qualify at Crown Diamond and receive $100,000
  • qualify at Royal Crown Diamond and receive $150,000
  • qualify at Vice President and receive $500,000
  • qualify at Senior Vice President and receive $1,000,000
  • qualify at Global President and receive $2,000,000
  • qualify at Founder and receive $3,000,000

Joining Aurum

Aurum affiliate membership is free.

Full participation in the attached income opportunity requires a minimum $100 investment.

Aurum is believed to solicit investment in various cryptocurrencies.

Aurum Conclusion

Like TLC Trading, Aurum represents external revenue is generated via various trading ruses:

Aurum fails to provide verifiable evidence it generates external revenue from any source.

Furthermore, Aurum’s business model fails the Ponzi logic test.

If Aurum is already capable of generating up to 15.01% a month, firstly why are they providing randoms over the internet access at no cost? And secondly, why does Aurum need your money?

Surely it’d be far more profitable to just run the trading for themselves instead of creating an MLM company and fronting it with puppet executives?

As it stands, the only verifiable source of revenue entering Aurum is new investment.

Using new investment to pay ROI withdrawals would make Aurum a Ponzi scheme. Additional tells include:

  • Aurum heavily penalizing anyone who tries to withdraw their investment within a year (neither TLC Trading or its predecessor Trade Like Crazy lasted a year); and
  • Aurum’s rank investment requirements steadily chipping away at ROI profits generating between each rank

Additionally with nothing marketed or sold to retail customers, the MLM side of Aurum functions a a pyramid scheme.

As with all MLM Ponzi schemes, once affiliate recruitment dries up so too will new investment.

This will starve Aurum of ROI revenue, eventually prompting a collapse.

The math behind Ponzi schemes guarantees that when they collapse, the majority of participants lose money.