Met500 operates in the MLM cryptocurrency niche. The company represents it is based out of the UK.

Met500’s website domain (“met500.com”), was privately registered on September 6th, 2022.

Met500’s official FaceBook page was created on December 29th. The company launched on January 5th.

Met500 provides bogus executive information on its website:

None of Met500’s presented executives actually exist. The photos depicting them are mock-ups created on PlaceIt:

In an attempt to appear legitimate, Met500 provides UK incorporation details for Met500 LTD.

An MLM company operating or claiming to operate out of the UK is a red flag.

UK incorporation is dirt cheap and effectively unregulated. On top of that the FCA, the UK’s top financial regulator, do not actively regulate MLM related securities fraud.

As a result the UK is a favored jurisdiction for scammers looking to incorporate, operate and promote fraudulent companies.

For the purpose of MLM due-diligence, incorporation in the UK or registration with the FCA is meaningless.

Other than the use of a UK shell company, using an actor with a British accent in their marketing videos and providing a random UKcorporate address on its website, it’s unlikely Met500 has any actual ties to the UK.

As of January 2023, SimilarWeb tracks top sources of traffic to Met500’s website as Russia (15%), Argentina (12%) and the US (9%).

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. [Continue reading…]

NewULife has filed an anti-SLAPP response to Awakend’s defamation lawsuit against them. [Continue reading…]

Fintoch operates in the MLM crypto niche and represents itself as “a Silicon Valley company from America”.

Fintoch’s website domain (“fintoch.com”), was privately registered on April 12th, 2022.

Fintoch presents its CEO as “Bobby Joe Lambert”.

Lambert doesn’t exist. He’s played by US actor Mike Provenzano.

Provenzano cites himself as a US-based actor, producer and director.

We can rule out Provenzano’s likeness being stolen by way of him appearing in multiple Fintoch marketing videos.

Most of Fintoch’s marketing videos appear to be shot in New York.

Whatever Provenzano is being paid, it’s enough to get him to commit to the role.

Early on Fintoch pitched itself as “Morgan DF Fintoch LLC”.

This tied into the marketing claim that Fintoch was owned by Morgan Stanley.

The of course was bogus, prompting Morgan Stanley’s legal department to issue an “important notice” in January 2023.

It has come to our attention that there are digital platforms impersonating Morgan Stanley, including Fintoch 分投趣 (“Fintoch”).

Please note that Fintoch is using Morgan Stanley’s trade name and/or Morgan Stanley’s trademark or a variation thereof without authorization and we do not assume any responsibility for any transactions or results that may arise from the aforesaid platforms.

Morgan Stanley does not have any affiliation or relationship with these platforms.

The notice was issued through Morgan Stanley’s Indonesian branch. This reflects Fintoch being primarily promoted across Asia.

SimilarWeb currently ranks top sources of traffic to Fintoch’s website as Cambodia (43%), China (24%), South Korea (17%), Hong Kong (7%) and Malaysia (6%).

This geo targeting strongly suggests whoever is behind Fintoch is likely based out of Asia. Boris CEO MLM companies however are typically the work of eastern European scammers (Russia/Ukraine).

While it’s impossible to verify without further information, with Fintoch we likely have:

1. Asians scamming asians;
2. eastern Europeans scamming Asians; or
3. eastern Europeans working with Asians to scam Asians.

One strong candidate is Singapore:

Beyond hiring US-based actors to play fictional executives, Fintoch doesn’t appear to have any actual ties to the US.

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. [Continue reading…]

Creedbull provides no ownership or executive information on its website.

Creedbull’s website domain (“creedbull.com”), was privately registered on November 29th, 2022.

While there’s no corporate address provided on Creedbull’s website, a fictional address in the US is provided in its marketing material:

Odd grammar choices and spelling mistakes suggest whoever is running Creedbull isn’t a native English speaker.

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. [Continue reading…]

The Mirror Trading International tax issue in South Africa is expected to drag into 2024. [Continue reading…]

Following dozens of complaints from consumers, the Norwegian Gambling Authority sent Be a warning letter last October.

The letter advised that the Gambling Authority suspected Be was an illegal pyramid scheme. [Continue reading…]

VidiLook fails to provide ownership and executive information on its website.

VidiLook’s website domain (“vidilook.io”), was privately registered on October 4th, 2022.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, VidiLook claims it’s

a blockchain media company strategically invested by Sequoia Capital and KC Company.

Founded in Silicon Valley, USA, the company is a technology-based company focusing on “blockchain + advertising new media”.

No idea what KC Company is but Sequoia Capital is an actual US venture capital firm. Not surprisingly, it has nothing to do  with VidiLook.

The only mention of Sequoia Capital investing VidiLook is in VidiLook’s own website and marketing materials.

As for VidiLook being based out of Silicion Valley in the US, VidiLook offers a mobile app on its website.

The Android app download link ties VidiLook to Dubai:

“aliyuncs.com” is a web domain owned by Alibaba. This strongly suggests whoever is running VidiLook has ties to Asia, and are possibly operating out of Dubai.

Further supporting this is a job posting on Naukri Gulf posted 4 days ago:

This job ad could have been posted by anyone but does suggest VidiLook is in Dubai. The ad was posted by Jovia D’souza, purportedly a VidiLook HR executive.

Whether D’souza is an actual person or not is unclear (I couldn’t verify the name).

Similar VidiLook classified have been posted to other sites:

Finally we have VidiLook’s marketing videos. There are currently two of them, featuring dubbed over stock footage.

This is typically the style of non-native English speaking company owners.

In researching VidiLook I came across multiple references to Sam Lee and his StableDAO Ponzi.

Presenters are careful not to claim Lee and StableDAO are behind VidiLook, instead presenting it as some sort of deal between Lee and KC Company.

Here are a few examples;

On a StableDAO February 17th webinar, COO Garrett Blakeslee stated;

[6:25] We are an investment platform. We are creating multiple investments for people to hop into. We’re giving some really good daily returns

[6:54] VidiLook is going to be the next opportunity that we’re launching. So anybody on this call right now is very, very early to the opportunity. We haven’t even announced partnership with VidiLook.

I’ve been working over the past month or so, to basically build the opportunity and get it basically situated so we can make huge announcements and start marketing in the StableDAO community.

[7:31] VidiLook hasn’t started marketing at all. They have started marketing to the Chinese community because they have a large network in China.

[7:55] For those of you that are not familiar with VidiLook … the platform was funded by a multi-billion dollar media company called Kitokawa (editor’s note: could be KiroKawa, this is the “KC Company” reference).

They’ve been around since 1945, so nearly 8 decades. They have a huge position in the media and advertising global markets.

We also have a partnership with a company called Detsu (?). And Detsu is a multi-billion dollar media and advertising company. They have their own ad network with over one hundred partners, including Sony, FaceBook, Amazon and Tiktok.

We basically have been allowed to tap into their ad network.

Sam Lee also appears on StableDAO VidiLook marketing webinars (I didn’t bother quoting Lee as he typically waffles on without actually saying anything).

These StableDAO/VidiLook webinars doing the rounds are hosted by “Gobi”, who claims to be a StableDAO “leader” from the UK.

As a StableDAO leader, Gobi claims he “speaks to Sam twenty times a day”.

Personally I’m not buying the charade. VidiLook is obviously part of StableDAO. That means it’s being run by Sam Lee and friends.

Whether those friends are scammers in China, who knows.

Lee’s previous HyperTech Ponzi schemes targeted China with HyperCash before spreading elsewhere in the world. It’s possible the same thing is happening again with VidiLook.

Lee’s HyperTech partner in crime, Ryan Xu, hasn’t been seen for over a year. Xu, last known to also be hiding out in Dubai, has strong ties to China.

Tying into VidiLook being operated from Dubai, Sam Lee fled to Dubai in 2021 as his HyperFund Ponzi scheme was taking off.

HyperFund collapsed in late 2021, prompting the launch of Hyperverse. Hyperverse began collapsing almost immediately after launch.

Lee went underground after HypeFund collapsed. He resurfaced publicly in late 2022 to promote his StableDAO Ponzi.

That Lee fled to and is based out of Dubai is no coincidence. Dubai is the MLM crime capital of the world.

BehindMLM’s guidelines for Dubai are:

1. If someone lives in Dubai and approaches you about an MLM opportunity, they’re trying to scam you.
2. If an MLM company is based out of or represents it has ties to Dubai, it’s a scam.

If you want to know specifically how this applies to Trust Your Universe, read on for a full review.

Read on for a full review of VidiLook’s MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

Last year StableDAO emerged as a continuation of Ponzi scamming from Sam Lee.

Lee, who also goes by Xue Lee and Samuel Lee, was co-founder of the notorious HyperTech Ponzi schemes.

These include HyperCash, HyperCapital, HyperFund and Hyperverse.

Lee, believed to be an Australian national, fled to Dubai in 2021. HyperFund collapsing in late 2021 saw Lee go further underground.

Hyperverse lasted a few months, with Lee not really visible during its run. Throughout two Hyperverse successors, HyperOne and HyperCash, Lee remained MIA.

In mid 2022 photos of Lee meeting with top HyperTech promoters in Dubai emerged. This eventually led to StableDAO’s launch in October 2022.

As part of StableDAO, a Ponzi scheme in and of itself, we now have StableOpinion.

Read on for a full review StableDAO’s StableOpinion MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

Back in the day I associated .IO domains with silly but fun web games.

These days .IO domains are synonymous with crypto fraud.

Two groups aren’t happy about that, and in 2021 they filed a lawsuit against the .IO domain operator. [Continue reading…]

NewAge has come out of bankruptcy with new ownership and a new company name; PartnerCo.

PartnerCo’s new “identity” announcement was made on February 13th…

…although plans for the rebranding appear to date back to January: [Continue reading…]