Last month OmegaPro revealed the end of its Ponzi exit-scam; Broker Group.

If we look at the source-code for Broker-Group’s website, we notice something strange:

There are fifty-three references to the domain “evolve.markets”.

Evolve Markets is a cryptocurrency trading platform that seemingly has nothing to do with OmegaPro or Broker Group.

A BehindMLM reader contacted Evolve Markets, who confirmed as much via email. [Continue reading…]

Bank of America has secured an $831,505.83 default judgment against Tori Belle.

BoA’s lawsuit was filed in September 2022. In their complaint, BoA alleged non-payment of a $500,000 credit debt. [Continue reading…]

Back in September Plaintiff Suhanna Jens was awarded an individual $10,000 judgment. It appeared at the time that her intended class-action was off the table.

Since then a class has been certified and, more recently, Jens won summary judgment against Tori Belle with respect to additional damages. [Continue reading…]

Awakend has announced it will ship out replacement Zenith after identifying solubility issues with its capsules. [Continue reading…]

Bulgarian authorities have raided the offices of the Nexo crypto Ponzi scheme.

That itself is just another day in crypto but authorities are apparently alleging Nexo’s founders had ties to OneCoin. [Continue reading…]

800 victims of the BitConnect Ponzi scheme are set to receive a share in $17 million recovered through restitution. [Continue reading…]

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

eSelfie’s website domain (“eselfie.co.za”), was registered in January 2021. The private registration was last updated on December 18th, 2022.

Tying in with eSelfie’s South African domain is a provided corporate address in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Update 13th Janaury 2023 – Corporate records from South Africa’s Companies and Intellectual Properties Commission reveal Edward Carney Thwaits is a director of eSelfie (click to enlarge):

eSelfie was incorporate in South Africa in February 2022.

Beyond this corporate record, confirming Thwaits is in South Africa, I wasn’t able to pull up any further information. /end update

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…]

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

In fact, as I write this, SuperAventure’s website is nothing more than an affiliate login form:

SuperAventure’s website defaults to French, thus appearing to target French speaking regions.

SuperAventure’s website domain (“superventure.xyz”), was privately registered on June 30th, 2022.

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…]

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

CoinMarketBull operates from two known website domains:

• coinmarketbull.co.uk – privately registered on December 4th, 2022
• cmbbackoffice.co – privately registered on December 10th, 2022

This is slightly odd, seeing as the only video on CoinMarketBull’s official YouTube channel was uploaded a month earlier on November 3rd.

The video is your typical script-generated hype affair, regurgitating the information available on CoinMarketBull’s website.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, CoinMarketBull provides a virtual office address in Hungary.

While you don’t have to be in the UK to register a .co.uk domain, representing you’re based out of Hungary with one is again odd.

For December 2022, SimilarWeb tracked 100% of CoinMarketBull’s website traffic from South Africa.

This strongly suggests whoever is running CoinMarketBull is based out of South Africa.

Update 18th January 2023 – A Canadian national has emerged as the face of CoinMarketBull.

Jan Gregory Cerato (aka Jan Strzepka), has appeared in multiple CoinMarketBull marketing videos.

In these videos Cerato refers to CoinMarketBull in the possessive. Cerato’s Zoom name also suggests he appears on behalf of CoinMarketBull.

One possible reason Cerato (right) doesn’t disclose he is likely running CoinMarketBull, pertains to a 2020 regulatory investigation in Canada.

In March 2020 the Alberta Securities Commission announced an investigation into “Whale Club”.

The Alberta Securities Commission (ASC) says Jan Gregory Cerato, also known as Jan Strzepka, convinced others to pool their money together and invest in Bitcoins in order to return a profit.

Cerato’s fund, known as the “Whale Club”, began soliciting for investments in December 2017 and raised at least $190,000.

The notice of hearing states he told investors to transfer funds to him by:

-Depositing funds into the bank account of Stylewerx Communications Inc.

-Depositing funds into the bank account of 2095912 Alberta Inc.

-Depositing Bitcoin into a virtual wallet controlled by Cerato

According to the notice, Cerato did not give any documents or receipts to buyers as part of the sale, something that is required by Alberta securities laws.

In September 2022 the ASC confirmed its findings and fined Cerato $40,000 for fraud.

Cerato raised at least $200,000 by entering into investment contracts with at least 16 investors, who paid a minimum of $10,000 or the equivalent in Bitcoin.

While investors understood that their funds would be used to trade cryptocurrencies and they would be repaid their principal along with a share of profits, Cerato failed to explain the associated risks to them and instead focused on the potential returns.

Ultimately, the trading did not generate any profits and investors received only a small portion of their initial investment, resulting in the loss of thousands of dollars.

Cerato was further ordered to pay $125,000 in legal costs and “subject to certain market-access bans for at least eight years”.

The panel considered that Cerato poses a significant risk to investors and the capital market, and stated in its decision that he “accepted little or no responsibility or regret and instead blamed others and exhibited contempt towards those who were harmed by his actions.”

After Whale Club collapsed, Cerato threatened victims speaking up with lawsuits. Cerato told one victim he’d passed on their details to “dangerous people”.

I know you’re a rat and so do a lot of very dangerous people; enjoy.

In addition to running his own scams, Cerato is also a serial promoter of MLM Ponzi schemes.

EmpiresX was a Ponzi scheme that collapsed in December 2021. Its founders have since been indicted and sued by the SEC and CFTC.

Although he’s from Canada, Cerato appears to currently be travelling through south-east Asia. /end update

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…]

LimeLife by Alcone fails to disclose executive information on its website.

A photo of the co-founders is provided without any additional information.

LimeLife by Alcone started off as Alcone in 1952. So the story goes;

Our family-owned company was founded in 1952, selling stage makeup to starlets out of a small store in New York City.

We got to know some of the top artists in theater and film, bonding over our shared pride in our work.

In early 2013, Alcone launched its MLM division under the name Alcone at Home. In 2015 Alcone at Home rebranded as LimeLight by Alcone.

Then in 2018, purportedly due to international trademark issues, LimeLight by Alcone rebranded to LimeLife by Alcone.

While Alcone is a family-owned company, the current owners aren’t the original owners.

Alcone was conceived by pharmacist Alvin Cohen. In 2013 NewsTimes interviewed Michele Gay, cited as LimeLife by Alcone’s co-founder and co-CEO.

Her father, Vincent Mallardi, bought Alcone Co. from a pharmacist in 1980, she said.

“The previous owner started it in 1950. Back then he had just a few shelves at a pharmacy in Times Square with cosmetics that he sold to show girls.”

Gay’s sister, former company president, and brother, vice president, are presently growing the customer base and expanding inventory, she said.

The other founder and co-CEO of LimeLife by Alcone is Madison Mallardi. I originally figured Madison was Michele Gay’s sister, but she’s actually her niece.

Michele Gay has a background in teaching prior to signing on as CEO of the family business in 2011. While Gay is still co-CEO of LimeLife by Alcone, she resigned as CEO of the Alcone Company in 2016.

Madison Mallardi’s LinkedIn profile cites a brief history in fashion magazines between 2011 and 2014. In 2010 Mallardi signed on for “Marketing and Sales” at Alcone, which carried over into Alcone at Home.

Both the Alcone Company and LimeLife by Alcone are based out of New York. The Alcone Company continues to run a retail store in Long Island.

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