Think Energy fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Think Energy’s website domain (“thinkenergy.plus”), was privately registered on November 18th, 2022.

Further research reveals Think Energy marketing material citing Michael Fallquist as founder and CEO of the company.

Why this information isn’t provided on Think+’s website is unclear.

BehindMLM first came across Fallquist (right) as founder of Viridian and Crius Energy.

Viridian was a utilities services MLM. Crius Energy was cited as a “strategic partner”. Whereas Fallquist ran Crius as CEO, Viridian Energy was headed up by CEO Paul Booth.

In 2015 Connecticut’s Public Utilities Regulatory authority announced it was reviewing Viridian’s contracts, contract renewal, customer notification and enrollment procedures.

That same a year a consumer class-action was also filed against Viridian and Crius Energy in Maryland.

Viridian and Crius were accused of charging customers “four or five times the underlying market rate”.

Towards the end of 2017, Viridian announced it was abandoning its MLM operations by March 2018.

In March 2018 Viridian settled “deceptive marketing & sales tactics” allegations, brought forward by the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office, for $5 million.

In June 2018, Viridian settled the previously referenced consumer class-action for $18.5 million.

Following job cuts, Crius Energy was sold off to Vistra in early 2019.

In December 2020, Fallquist returned to the uiltilites MLM niche as CEO of Griddy Pro.

Griddy Pro targeted Texas consumers and promised savings through a variable rate. The catch was consumers had to keep track of the rate.

In February 2021 Griddy Pro began to fall apart, amidst claims of “unbelievable electricity bills“.

Later that same month the Electric Reliability Council of Texas ‘revoked Griddy’s rights to enter the state’s electricity market’.

Around the same time a proposed billion dollar class-action lawsuit was also filed against Griddy Pro.

Griddy Pro and parent company Griddy went on to declare bankruptcy a month later in March 2021.

Fallquist appears to have launched Think+ on or around December 2022.

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

NovaTech FX has received a securities fraud warning from Quebec’s Autorite des Marches Financiers.

NovaTech LTD was added to the AMF’s investor warnings list on February 3rd, 2023. [Continue reading…]

We Got Friends fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

A corporate address in Carson City, Nevada for We Got Friends LLC is provided.

This address belongs to Eazy Bit Start LLC. Eazy Biz Start sells LLC formation services to “protect yourself from liability”.

We Got Friends marketing videos are hosted by David Dubbs and Val Smyth. The pair appear to be running the company.

Smyth first popped up on BehindMLM’s radar in 2015 as co-admin of Total Takeover.

Total Takeover was a relatively short-lived recruitment scheme. A few months after launch Total Takeover collapsed.

Later in the year Smyth returned with The Elite Networker, another recruitment-driven opportunity.

In 2016 Smyth launched Mentoring Millionaires, a combination pyramid gifting scheme.

Smyth’s last BehindMLM appearance was Legends VIP Network in August 2019.

Legends VIP Network was a pyramid scheme built around pirated stream content. From what I’ve been able to piece together, Legends VIP Network collapsed sometime in 2022.

David Dubbs (right) made a name for himself in Bellamora.

Bellamora shut down in 2011, prompting Dubbs to continue on as a marketer focused on lead generation.

This primarily takes place via The Conversion Pros, of which Dubbs is the Chief Marketing Officer.

The Conversion Pros provided leads for MLM scams, culminating in owner Ron Pope being part of the CashFX Group Ponzi launch team in 2019.

Pope’s role within CashFX Group has never been publicly clarified. He’s widely seen as a co-founder of the company, extending as far as a silent owner/executive.

The Ponzi side of CashFX Group collapsed in November 2021. The pyramid side of the scam continued into early 2022 but by mid year had also collapsed.

Through The Conversion Pros, Dubbs ran marketing training for CashFX Group Ponzi recruiters.

I thought this ended in January 2022. Turns out Dubbs was still coaching CashFX Group Ponzi scammers into mid 2022, the videos have just been deleted.

Whether Dubbs himself participated in CashFX Group as an investor is unclear. Given his close proximity to Ron Pope, it’s highly likely.

As opposed to pretending We Got Friends is based out Nevada, Val Smyth and David Dubbs operate from Canada and Nashville, Tennessee respectively.

Read on for a full review of We Got Friends’ MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

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

Doradus’ website domain (“doradus.io”), was privately registered on November 4th, 2022.

Doradus’ website cites an “official launch” date of December 5th, 2022.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, Doradus provides shell incorporation certificates for the UK and Hong Kong on its website.

Due to the ease with which scammers are able to incorporate shell companies with bogus details, for the purpose of MLM due-diligence these certificates are meaningless.

Doradus also provides a 30 million euro insurance document, purportedly from Aviva.

Again for the purpose of MLM due-diligence, whether legitimate or not, such documents are meaningless.

On December 27th, 2022, the Central Bank of Russia issued a Doradus pyramid scheme fraud warning.

This, coupled with SimilarWeb tracking Russia as the top source of traffic to Doradus’ website, strongly suggests Russians are running Doradus.

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…]

Crypto Family first popped up on BehindMLM’s radar last September. At the time Crypto Family were promoting the Ultron/Mavie Global Ponzi scheme.

A reader asked about Crypto Family, prompting me to look into a link they provided. That lead me to Dorde Petrovic, a member of Crypto Family.

Petrovic’s Crypto Family fraud journey began in July 2022. Petrovic runs the “Passive Income” FaceBook group (11 members), which he promotes Crypto Family’s various scams through.

Crypto Family is run by founder Nebojsa Katic (right).

Katic has roots in Croatia and began his MLM career with Organo Gold and the Lyoness Ponzi scheme.

Circa 2019 Katic was promoting Essens. His Crypto Family bio states Katic reinvented himself as a crypto bro in 2014.

As of November 2022, Crypto Family claims to have “around 56,000 members”.

From what I can tell, Katic was a nobody in crypto until Crypto Family and Ultron/Mavie Global (early to mid 2022).

Katic’s crypto fraud journey seems to have inevitably led him to Dubai:

In its marketing material, Crypto Family claims to be “based in Central Europe”. This contradicts Crypto Family’s website, which provides a corporate address for “H A M Auditing & Business Consultancy” in Dubai.

In June 2022 Crypto Family launched its own crypto mining Ponzi scheme.

What is Crypto Family?

Crypto Family is Mining hub that pays investors 10% daily for each mining package you buy. Each mining hub package cost $21 ….and you can buy any quantity you want up to maximum of 133 packages is allowed per person.

After buying a package, the hub will work for you from the 8th day after purchase to generate daily 10% rewards for the next 3 months.

The above is from a Crypto Family marketing video, uploaded to YouTube on August 10th, 2022.

In November 2022, Crypto Family relaunched as “Crypto Family 2.0”.

The reboot was built around NFTs and Family Token. And this is the opportunity we are reviewing today.

For reference, Crypto Family’s first Ponzi scheme ran from the domain “cryptofamily.world”. The reboot operates from “cryptofamily.love”.

Crypto Family and Katic being based out of Dubai is not a 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 how this specifically applies to Crypto Family, read on for a full review. [Continue reading…]

Fidex Corp fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Fidex Corp’s website domain (“fidexcorp.com”), was first registered in 2016. The private domain registration was last updated on May 5th, 2022.

This is likely on or around when Fidex Corp’s owners took possession of the domain.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, Fidex Corp provides two US addresses on its website; one in Texas and one in Delaware.

These appear to be random office blocks that have nothing to do with Fidex Corp.

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…]

ToucanWin operates in the penny auction MLM niche. The company doesn’t provide a corporate address on its website.

Heading up ToucanWin are co-founders Kelley Foote (CEO) and Don Fiechter.

Kelley Foote appears to have made a name for himself in Bellamora back in the day.

Bellamora shut down in 2011, after which Foote spent nearly a decade on various gaming ventures (non-gambling).

Don Fiechter doesn’t appear to have an MLM history. Instead he’s credit with a thirty-two year history in the gaming and casino industry.

ToucanWin doesn’t provide a corporate address on its website. What we do know is, based on their respective LinkedIn profiles, Foote and Fiechter are based out of Missouri and Arizona respectively.

Foote’s LinkedIn profile represents ToucanWin was founded in January 2022. The company doesn’t actually appear to have launched though until September to November 2022.

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

Apex376 Partners fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Apex376 Partners’ website domain (“apex376partners.com”), was registered on March 31st, 2022. “Apex Partners” is listed as the domain owner, through a random address in New York.

Further to that address, Apex376 Partners stakes its legitimacy on a purported New York incorporation.

Apex 376 Partners LLC Registered In New York Under Number 5947673, In Partnership With Top-Tier Expertise Registered With The SEC In The USA.

This DOS ID corresponds to Apex 376 Partners LLC, a New York shell company incorporated back in February 2021.

Considering this predates registration of Apex376 Partners’ website domain by over a year, and that Apex 376 Partners LLC hasn’t made any filings beyond its initial incorporation, it’s highly unlikely Apex376 Partners has anything to do with the New York shell company.

It appears the scammers behind Apex376 Partners has misappropriated the name of the New York shell company.

In any event for the purpose of MLM due-diligence, shell incorporation in any jurisdiction is meaningless.

One thing that initially threw me were social media profiles created for “Aaron Joseph Ellebrecht”.

These Ellebrecht profiles have been created again to give Apex376 Partners credibility.

The profiles look convincing enough and are backdated with numerous posts and photos.

The problem is Ellebrecht doesn’t exist.

The scammers behind Apex376 Partners have stolen the identity of PM International founder and CEO Rolf Sorg.

This is probably why Ellebrecht doesn’t feature on Apex376 Partners’ website.

Coordination of Apex376 Partners affiliates appears to primarily take place on a private FaceBook group:

The group is managed through three bogus/stolen FaceBook accounts.

Through SimilarWeb, we can see that, despite Apex376 Partners being initially set up around March 2022, the company only actually launched last month:

If I had to guess, Apex376 Partners was supposed to launch on or around May 2022. That was the same month Terra and Luna collapsed, dragging down the entire crypto market with it.

Apex376 Partners was likely put on ice, only to relaunch roughly a year later.

As of January 2023, SimilarWeb tracks 100% of Apex376 Partners website traffic as originating from Malaysia.

Given this is the launch month, I’m confident in whoever is behind Apex376 Partners also being from Malaysia.

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…]

AMZDoge surfaced on or around September 2022.

The scheme operated both as AMZDoge and GeoDoge, operating from two primary domains:

• geodoge.com – private registration last updated on December 12th, 2022
• amzdoge.com –  privately registered on September 14th, 2022

Following AMZDoge’s collapse earlier this month, both previously accessible websites have since been disabled. [Continue reading…]

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

In fact, as I write this, HyperCosmos’ website is nothing more than an affiliate login or signup form.

HyperCosmos’ website domain (“hypercosmos.net”), was registered on November 8th, 2022.

Caden Li is listed as the owner, through a resort address in Dubai. The same details were used to register Hyperverse’s and HyperNation’s website domains.

Whether there’s an actual link between HyperCosmos and the previous Hyper* Ponzi schemes however is unclear. It’s entirely possible whoever is behind HyperCosmos just copy and pasted the domain registration details.

What we can confirm is HyperCosmos is intentionally targeting Hyperverse victims.

The Hyper* series of Ponzi schemes dates back to HyperCash, a collapsed Ponzi scheme launched in 2017.

HyperCash was followed by HyperCapital. HyperCapital was followed by HyperFund. And HyperFund was followed by Hyperverse.

By the time Hyperverse launched in late 2021, the Hyper* series of Ponzi schemes was beyond recovery. Simply put: There was nobody left to scam.

Despite the complete failure of Hyperverse, its collapsed still spawned off two reboots; HyperOne and HyperNation.

SimilarWeb tracks a few hundred thousand hits a month to HyperNation’s website. HyperOne is dead.

Up until HyperOne and HypverNation, the Hyper* Ponzi schemes were run by Sam Lee (Australia) and Ryan Xu (Australia/China).

Both Xu and Lee fled to Dubai in early 2021. Safe in the MLM crime capital of the world, Sam Lee has been trying to get his StableDAO Ponzi scheme off the ground.

I can’t rule out Lee’s involvement in HyperCosmos, but it seems unlikely seeing as HyperCosmos and StableDAO launched around the same time.

Ryan Xu hasn’t been seen in public since Hyperverse collapsed towards the end of 2021. Whether Xu is involved in HyperCosmos is unclear.

My gut feeling is no. HyperCosmos is probably the same group of scammers running HyperOne and/or HyperNation.

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…]