World Trade Coal Review: Coal themed Ponzi scheme

World Trade Coal fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

World Trade Coal’s official marketing videos are a combination of Fiverr actors and stock footage:

World Trade Coal’s website domain (“worldtradecoal.com”), was privately registered on August 25th, 2023.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, World Trade Coal provides shell company details for “World Trade Coal Limited”.

As per the supplied certificate above, World Trade Coal Limited was purportedly registered in Iowa on September 19th, 2023.

Attached to World Trade Coal Limited’s shell company is an address in Iowa that has nothing to do with the company.

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.

World Trade Coal also provides a FinCEN certificate and MSB registration number.

Putting aside this is tied to the aforementioned shell company, FinCEN is not a financial regulator. Like shell company certificates, for the purpose of MLM due-diligence FinCEN certificates are also 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…]


Neora denied $5.2 million in fees claimed against FTC

Neora has lost a bid to have the FTC cover $5.2 million in “attorney’s and expert fees and expenses”. [Continue reading…]


Awakend ordered to pay $33,176 in NewULife legal fees

As part of a partially successful anti-SLAPP suit brought against it, Awakend has been ordered to pay $33,176 towards NewULife’s legal costs. [Continue reading…]


NuSpira Review: Mark & Kat Sterling go mushroom coffee

NuSpira operates in the nutritional supplement MLM niche.

The company is headed up by co-founders Mark and Kat Sterling.

Mark Sterling (right with Kat), last appeared on BehindMLM as co-founder and COO of TRVL.

TRVL was a discounted travel MLM company launched in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Launched in late 2021, TRVL had collapsed by mid 2022.

Prior to TRVL Mark Sterling, was Vice President of Sales at Epic Trading, a $99 a month MLM pyramid scheme.

Going back further, circa 2019, Mark and Kat Sterling made a name for themselves as Tava distributors.

Mark and Kat Sterling are based out of Georgia in the US. In NuSpira’s Terms of Service we find a corporate address in Melissa, Texas.

This is the address of LaCore Enterprises, making NuSpira a LaCore Enterprises owned MLM company.

Note that there is no mention of reference to LaCore Enterprises or owner Terry LaCore on NuSpira’s website.

Read on for a full review of the NuSpira MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]



Bitonite Ponzi collapses, pulls “we got hacked!” exit-scam

The Bitonite Ponzi scheme has collapsed.

Following initiating of a shit token exit-scam back in early 2024, Bitonite began delaying withdrawal requests in late May.

This culminated in a second “we got hacked!” exit-scam on June 3rd. [Continue reading…]


VIP Oxy Review: Stolen identity “click a button” Ponzi

VIP Oxy fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

VIP Oxy’s website domain (“vipoxy.cc”), was registered with bogus details on May 16th, 2024.

Of note is Supercharger’s website domain being registered through the Chinese registrar Alibaba (Singapore).

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…]


Lotter Pro Review: Lottery ruse 1% a day Ponzi

Lotter Pro fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Lotter Pro’s website domain (“lotterpro.com”), was privately registered on December 29th, 2023.

Further research reveals official marketing citing “Gilberto Gomes” as Lotter Pro’s CEO.

Here’s an auto-translation of Gomes’ Lotter Pro corporate bio;

Dr. Gilberto Gomes, with decades of legal experience, has accumulated more than 8 years of experience as a lawyer, businessman and angel investor in the betting market.

Specializing in legal guidance, entrepreneurship and support for startups, he stands out for helping bettors achieve success in business.

Count on the experience and expertise of Dr. Gilberto Gomes to achieve your goals at Lotter Pro.

I was able to verify Gomes, full name Gilberto Gomes Da Silva Filho, is a lawyer based out of Pernambuco state in Brazil.

Gomes also appears to have also run for Counsilor in at least two elections. He doesn’t appear to have won.

Gomes being from Brazil syncs with SimilarWeb attributing 100% of Lotter pro’s website traffic from Brazil.

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…]



Chogan Group founders arrested for tax fraud

Chogan Group executives, including its co-founders, have been arrested for “tax fraud, money laundering and self-laundering, as well as tax and bankruptcy crimes.”

Operation “Paradise World”, an investigation initiated by Italian authorities, resulted in four arrests made earlier this week. [Continue reading…]


Beneve Review: Coffee plus with strong retail focus

Beneve is based out of Florida and operates in the nutritional supplement MLM niche.

The company is headed up by Mark and Judy Willodson.

Beneve’s website cites Judy as Beneve’s founder and CEO. Mark Willodson is Beneve’s “Chief Fun Officer”.

Willodson’s Beneve corporate bio credits him with “an illustrious career spanning three decades in the Direct Sales Industry.”

The earliest MLM company I was able to tie the Willodsons to was Send Out Cards (2008 to 2013 as per Judy’s LinkedIn profile).

That came to an end and in 2014 Mark Willodson resurfaced on the corporate team of MMO Cashout.

MMO Cashout was a pyramid scheme coated in a paper-thin gaming platform veneer.

After MMO Cashout collapsed the Willodsons next popped up in Eleprenuers circa 2017.

Elepreneurs was a reboot of Elevacity. Both nutritional supplement MLM companies were run by Robert Oblon.

Oblon was removed from Elepreneurs’ Board of Directors in 2020 for “gross financial misconduct”.

In 2021 Elepreneuers rebranded as The Happy Co. Climbing to the rank of Triple Crown Ambassador, the Willodsons continued to promote The Happy Co. until at least late 2021.

In March 2022 The Happy Co filed suit against Mark and Judy Willodson in Collin County Texas. Valentus was also a named defendant.

Unfortunately I don’t have access to The Happy Co’s Complaint so things get a bit murky.

Nonetheless, here’s what I was able to piece together;

In January 2022 Chad & Tabby Carlsen claimed they’d left The Happy Co for a “brand new opportunity“.

We have a HUGE announcement! Chad and I resigned from The Happy Co. last week…Then we JUMPED feet first in a NEW & EXCITING business >>> and you were the first person we wanted to reach out to!

Let me introduce you to the new owners of Valentus, Mark & Judy Willodson! They bought an already established company and are going to reshape the company by adding groundbreaking products.

And this is from a March 2023 10-K Annual Report, filed by The Happy Co’s parent company Sharing Services Global Corporation;

On March 31, 2022, the Company filed suit against a competitor and former distributors.

An Agreed Temporary Injunction was entered by the Court against the Willodsons in April 2022. On April 4, 2023, this legal proceeding was settled between the parties.

Valentus was owned by Dave Jordan, who went on to sell the company to Paul Pearson in February 2023.

Reading between the lines, it appears the injunction granted to The Happy Co either stopped or reversed the sale of Valentus ot the Willodsons.

In any event, the Willodsons went on to launch Beneve in May 2023.

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


Supercharger Review: Stolen identity “click a button” Ponzi

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

Supercharger’s website domain (“super-charge.cc”), was privately registered on May 19th, 2024.

Of note is Supercharger’s website domain being registered through the Chinese registrar Alibaba (Singapore).

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…]