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

Tradevest originally operated from the website domain “tradevest.cc”, privately registered on January 29th, 2023.

On or around June 30th, Tradevest switched to the domain “tradevest.biz”. Tradevest’s second website domain was privately registered on June 21st.

The reason for Tradevest switching domains is not clear.

Of note is the reference to “24stockoptionstrades.com” in Tradevest’s website source-code:

I believe 24StockOptionsTrade also used the domain “24stockoptionstrade.com”.

24StockOptionsTrade was a Ponzi scheme that launched in late 2021.

In June 2022, the BC Securities Commission in Canada issued a 24StockOptionsTrade securities fraud warning.

If it hadn’t collapsed already, 24StockOptionsTrade appears to have collapsed shortly thereafter.

The takeaway is same scammers behind 24StockOptionsTrade are likely also behind Tradevest.

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…]

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

Betatraders’ website domain (“betatraders.net”), was privately registered on December 28th, 2022.

If we look at the source-code of Betatraders’ website, we can see it is copied from the domain “betatradersai.com”.

This website domain is currently disabled, but a few weeks ago it was operational as Betatraders’ original website domain:

From this we can conclude the original iteration of Betatraders already collapsed.

It’s worth noting that Betatraders’ website meta keywords targets Nigeria and South Africa.

This suggests Betatraders has ties to Africa but isn’t definitive.

Betatraders has an official YouTube channel, on which it has one video featuring a Fiverr actor:

In an attempt to appear legitimate, Betatraders provides incorporation details for Beta Traders Limited.

Beta Traders Limited is purportedly incorporated in the UK.

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.

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…]

Keep It 100 fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Keep It 100’s website domain (“k-100.net”), was registered on March 29th, 2023.

One name we can tie to Keep It 100 is Terrence Pounds Sr.:

The registered owner of Keep It 100’s domain is “Keep It 100”, through an address in Toledo, Ohio.

The same address was used to register the business “Vapor World & CBD 4 Real”.

BBB records reveal Pounds is the owner of Vapor World & CBD 4 Real:

The same address is also tied to Truth Ministries Global:

Truth Ministries Global’s FaceBook page links to the YouTube channel “Money, Ministry and Motivation Passive Income”…

…which features videos narrated by Pounds.

While Money, Ministry & Motivation might have its origins in religion, these days Pounds uses it exclusively to promote Ponzi schemes:

As per his personal FaceBook page, Terrence Pounds is based out of Toledo, Ohio.

Putting all of this together, we have Terrence Pounds Sr. running Keep It 100 from Toledo, Ohio.

Update 23rd July 2023 – Unknown to me at the time of publication is Pounds was also indicted for COVID-19 loan fraud in 2021.

Pounds pled guilty to fourteen counts of criminal activity related to fraudulently obtaining EIDL and PPP loans.

Pounds appears to have launched Keep It 100 while out on bond awaiting sentencing. /end update

Update 25th July 2023 – Terrence Pounds now claims he isn’t running Keep It 100. /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…]

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

Taygeta’s original website domain (“taygeta.tech”), was privately registered on April 24th, 2023.

Taygeta abandoned its original .TECH domain after the Central Bank of Russia issued a Taygeta fraud warning on June 20th.

Taygeta now operates from the domain “taygeta.pro”, privately registered on June 27th, 2023.

As to who’s running Taygeta, no idea but they’re obviously Russian:

Over on Taygeta’s official YouTube channel, Artur Andreevich (Артур Андреевич) is presented as Taygeta’s CEO.

Other than confirming Andreevich’s association with Russia (the obvious), I wasn’t able to ascertain whether he’s a Boris CEO.

While Russian scammers are notorious for using actors to front their scams, use of a Boris CEO to target Russian-speakers is unusual.

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…]

Following regulatory fraud warnings from Canada and California, Ed Zimbardi has rebooted his CryptoProgram Ponzi scheme as Amsys. [Continue reading…]

Earlier today a reader reached out with an interesting find:

What you’re looking at are Bulgarian singers Alisia & Тoni Storaro, promoting their new single “Полудях”.

The music video for Полудях was uploaded to YouTube on July 7th…

…and it was shot at Ruja Ignatova’s Sozopol mansion. [Continue reading…]

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

Quantixus’ website domain (“quantixus.com”), was privately registered on April 20th, 2023.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, Quantixus provides incorporation details for Quantixus Limited.

Quantixus Limited was incorporated in the UK on April 24th, 2023.

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.

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…]

William Hill Football Club fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

William Hill Football Club’s website domain (“unddata.com”), was privately registered on March 1st, 2023.

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…]

GPBots fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website. GPBot’s marketing videos feature badly animated AI avatars.

GPBots’ operates from two known website domains:

1. gpbots.com – privately registered on May 27th, 2023
2. gpbots.app – privately registered on June 3rd, 2023

Of note is GPBots’ use of DefiCode’s Arbot:

Arbot is a  “drag and drop” tool used to create smart-contract Ponzi schemes.

Earlier this week BehindMLM noted Arbot’s use in the StakeMine Ponzi scheme. Due to its use of Portuguese, StakeMine is believed to be run by scammers in and/or from Brazil.

Although it’s presented in English, GPBots’ native website language code is also Portuguese:

This probably isn’t a coincidence. StakeMine and GPBots are likely run by the same group of scammers.

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…]

One of the architects behind Generation Zoe’s metaverse ruse has been arrested in Argentina.

Giovanni Tomás David Caroglio was arrested following “a wave of raids” in Mendoza on July 7th. [Continue reading…]