Jason and Eungung Cardiff are challenging a previously granted preliminary injunction.

The injunction is part of the FTC’s case against Redwood Scientific Technologies, which the Cardiff’s own. [Continue reading…]

Although you won’t find press-releases from the MLM spam machine here on BehindMLM, that doesn’t mean I don’t keep an eye on things.

Earlier today a story on BusinessForHome caught my attention: Vyvo signs $88 million letter of intent with Helo Corp.

Helo Corp? Isn’t that also one of Vyvo owner Fabio Galdi’s companies? Lulwut? [Continue reading…]

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

MidasTrend’s website domain (“midastrend.com”) was privately registered in April 2019.

Further research reveals MidasTrend has strong ties to Brazil. Supporting this is MidasTrend’s website defaulting to Portuguese and use of the Brazilian real. Alexa also cites Brazil as the top source of traffic to MidasTrend’s website (99.4%).

Given this, whoever is running MidasTrend is likely based out of Brazil itself.

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…]

Veselina Valkova’s time at OneCoin no doubt taught here banks will eventually clamp down on Ponzi shenanigans.

All it takes is one or two, and from there is a cat and mouse snowball effect.

In light of this, Valkova is evidently exploring alternative banking channels for her yet to be launched Circle of Finance scheme. [Continue reading…]

Hemptonics USA operates in the CBD MLM niche.

The company is based out of Utah and headed up by CEO, President and majority owner Paul Drockton. Jacob Bowen is cited as a minority owner.

Prior to launching Hemptonic USA, Drockton (right) was a Rain International distributor.

According to Drockton’s LinkedIn profile, he’d reached the rank of Diamond Elite. Diamond Elite is the second highest rank within Rain International.

In his Hemptonics USA corporate bio Drockton doesn’t mention Rain International by name, but does state he

opened 40 countries on 4 different continents for his previous company.

In fact, he helped create a downline of over 118,000 distributors that generated over $50,000,000 in Annual Sales Revenue.

I wasn’t able to put together an MLM history for Bowen. As per his Hemptonics USA bio however, it appears he might have been part of Rain International corporate.

Jacob worked with Paul to manage logistics and operations with his previous company.

I’m not exactly sure when Drockton left Rain International, but it appears to have been on bad terms.

Drockton set up the website Utah Voice on or around November 2018. The first article published on the website is titled “UTAH MLM, RAIN INTERNATIONAL, FACING CRIMINAL FRAUD CHARGES?”

I’m not linking to Utah Voice because I don’t believe it’s a credible source. That’s not to say everything on the website is questionable, just that there’s enough that is to warrant suspicion.

For starters Utah Voice claims to perform “investigative journalism”.

Since 2002, our staff have been the first to break stories about corruption, fraud, political corruption, scams and and other issues Utah Values Most.

Utah Voice only went online in 2018. It has nothing to do with Utah beyond slagging off Rain International and the Mormon Church – both of which are based out of Utah.

The website features articles exclusively authored by “Casi Belcka” (Rain International was founded by Byron Belka). Utah Voice’s about section is a Paul Drockton sales pitch.

As a result any legitimate information on Utah Voice is undermined by its deceptive presentation.

According to a January 28th article on BusinessForHome, Drockton is now suing Rain International for $3 million.

Articles on Utah Voice suggest Rain International first sued Drockton in late 2019.

Rain International’s lawsuit (as per Utah Voice) pertains to claims made by Drockton.

Drockton’s lawsuit pertains to defamation, allegedly via libelous claims made on BusinessForHome.

I haven’t seen a copy of either complaint. They’re not available on either BusinessForHome or Utah Voice. Nor do the lawsuits appear on Pacer for me to independently track.

As far as I can tell, the beef between Drockton and Rain International pertains to marketing and sales in Africa.

Something something stolen downlines. Something something alleged racism.

As an outsider, it appears the bad blood is two companies trying to get the upper hand against each other in African markets.

This is reflective of Hemptonics USA’s website, which showcases events and top distributors exclusively from Africa.

To be honest, it’s all quite a mess. Two years in the making give or take.

Anyway, Drockton’s Hemptonics USA launch goes up against Rain International directly in Africa. They’re both targeting the same market with similar supplements.

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

The Hamburg Regional Court in Germany has banned promotion and distribution of Arego Life’s Adapt X.1 supplement.

The ban applies to a Arego Life distributor defendant, and came into effect following an injunction issued on January 21st. [Continue reading…]

FX Success provides no information on its website about who owns or runs the business.

The company does identify “Bryan Barnes” as a “founding trader”. Barnes however doesn’t appear to exist outside of FX Success’ website.

A marketing video on FX Success’ website appears to contain a Fiverr actor (or an actor from a similar service).

FX Success’ website domain (“fxsuccess.co”) was first registered in 2018. The private registration was last updated on August 7th, 2019.

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…]

Virtual Mining Farm provides no information on its website about who owns or runs the company.

Virtual Mining Farm is primarily marketed across Central and South America. Alexa currently cites Venezuela, Mexico and Cuba as the top three sources of traffic to Virtual Mining Farm’s website.

Virtual Mining Farm’s website domain (“virtualmining.farm”) was first registered in 2017. The private registration was last updated on February 12th, 2019.

Virtual Mining Farm’s website Terms and Conditions states:

This Agreement shall be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of British Virgin Islands.

The British Virgin Islands is a scam-friendly jurisdiction with little to no active regulation. It is highly unlikely Virtual Mining Farm has any actual business operations there.

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…]

Rather than front up to court and fight a lost cause, DFRF Enterprises defendant Jeffrey Feldman has settled.

Feldman, a previously convicted felon, was one of five DFRF Enterprises sued by the SEC back in 2015.

He was the front man for the company’s non-existent Ponzi insurance claims. [Continue reading…]

The earliest I recall hearing of the law firm Schulenberg & Schenk’s legal opinion on OneCoin was May 2016.

Turns out OneCoin engaged Schulenberg & Schenk to rubber stamp their Ponzi scheme a whole year earlier. [Continue reading…]