CryptoNode provides no information on its website about who owns or runs the company.

CryptoNode’s website domain (“cryptonode.ltd”) was first registered in June 2019. The private domain registration was last updated on July 2nd, 2020.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, CryptoNode provides a UK incorporation certificate on their website.

The certificate corresponds to Crypto Node LTD, incorporated in June 2019. The company appears to have been abandoned, as there’s an confirmation statement overdue notice on Companies House.

Crypto Node LTD’s confirmation statement (annual report) was due by July 29th.

In any event, UK incorporation is dirt cheap and effectively unregulated. It is a favored jurisdiction for scammers looking to incorporate dodgy companies.

For the purpose of performing MLM due-diligence, UK incorporation 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…]

Richway GAM provides no information on its website about who owns or runs the company.

Richway GAM’s website domain (“richwaygam.com”) was privately registered on October 11th, 2019.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, Richway GAM provides a UK corporate address and incorporation number on their website.

The incorporation number corresponds with “Richway Global Asset Management”, which was incorporated on May 12th, 2020.

UK incorporation is dirt cheap and effectively unregulated. It is a favored jurisdiction for scammers looking to incorporate dodgy companies.

For the purpose of performing MLM due-diligence, UK incorporation is meaningless.

At the time of publication Alexa ranks the US as the top source of traffic to Richway GAM’s website (62%).

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…]

I’ve had a few requests to review Vitae, be it Vitae Coin or Vitae Token.

The scheme is spearheaded by serial scammer Michael Weber a few years ago and primarily targets the third-world.

What was missing however was an MLM component, and hence there hasn’t been a Vitae review here on BehindMLM.

That changes with Vitae Rain Chat, which sees Weber return to his Ponzi roots.

Michael Weber operates out of Colorado in the US. His last appearance on BehindMLM was in connection to the BitConnect Ponzi scheme.

Weber (right) first appeared on BehindMLM in 2015 as admin of the X100K pyramid scheme.

After collapsing a number of times X100K was abandoned in early 2016. Weber (right) returned later in the year with PIF2Cash, a Ponzi cycler.

On or around May 2017 Weber launched Coin Nuggets, a matrix-based Ponzi cycler.

After Coin Nuggets came BitConnect. BitConnect collapsed in January 2018. Vitae Token launched on or around June 2018.

Vitae Rain Chat is part of Vitae Token (which I’ll refer to as “Vitae” from here on out). Previously Vitae affiliates had been using Discord as a messaging platform.

On or around June 2020 Vitae’s operations on Discord were shut down. This prompted the launch of Vitae Rain Chat, an in-house messaging platform.

Vitae Rain Chat’s launch was accompanied by a somewhat… disturbing marketing video.

In June 2020 Vietnam issued a fraud warning against Vitae.

As estimated by Alexa, the majority of traffic to Vitae’s primary website (“vitae.co”) originates out of India (34%) and Vietnam (14%).

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

OmegaPro has been added to the Autorité des Marchés Financiers’ fraud blacklist.

The AMF is France’s top financial regulator. Their blacklist features companies unauthorized to offer securities. [Continue reading…]

In an email sent out to affiliate investors, Mirror Trading International has announced it’s dropping non-existent forex trading for non-existent crypto trading. [Continue reading…]

Earlier today I published an article covering a civil fraud case filed by the SEC. The case was filed against two AirBit Club promoters.

That was good to hear but it left me wondering why the the SEC hadn’t pursued the Ponzi scheme’s creators, Renato Rodriguez and Gutemberg Dos Santos.

Turns out the DOJ is handling that side of things, as revealed in fraud and money laundering indictments unsealed today. [Continue reading…]

Two promoters of the AirBit Club Ponzi scheme have been sued by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

The SEC’s lawsuit was filed on August 18th and identifies AirBit Club as an “investment club” that is ‘not organized in any jurisdiction and has no formal legal existence.’ [Continue reading…]

South Africa has issued a securities fraud warning against Mirror Trading International.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority claims ‘returns on the investments claimed by MTI seem far-fetched and unrealistic.’ [Continue reading…]

ArbiPayment provides no information on its website about who owns or runs the company.

Marketing videos on ArbiPayment’s official YouTube channel are a combination of Fiverr actor gigs and content re-uploads from other channels (assumed stolen).

ArbiPayment’s website domain (“arbipayment.com”) was privately registered on December 20th, 2019.

Both ArbiPayment’s official Facebook and Twitter profiles were recently purchased from their previous owners.

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-T provides no information on its website about who owns or runs the company.

Crypto-T’s website domain (“crypto-t.com”) was privately registered on December 24th, 2019.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, Crypto-T claims it’s registered in Malta.

Yes, Crypto-T is officially registered in the Malta. We are headquartered in Swatar.

Crypto-T has all the necessary permits to be engaged in international cryptocurrency trading and receive investments from our clients.

The company registration number is 0.

Apart from the red-flag registration number (looks like someone forgot to enter a bogus one), Malta is a scam-friendly jurisdiction.

For the purposes of due-diligence, regulation in Malta is practically non-existent. You should be suspicious of any MLM company representing it is based out of Malta.

Whoever is running Crypto-T, clearly English isn’t their first language.

Here’s an example from Crypto-T’s website FAQ;

We have several undisputed advantages that will make you trust us.

Our team includes only professional stuff with not less than 7 years of working experience in the cryptocurrency trading.

At the time of publication Alexa ranks Venezuela (15%), Mexico (8%) and Russia (7%) as Crypto-T’s top sources of website traffic.

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…]