C12V2 fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

C12V2’s website domain (“c12v2.net”), was registered with bogus information on May 8th, 2024.

C12V2’s marketing cites “the illustrious Carnelian gemstone”;

This ties into C12V2 being stylized after Carnelian12:

Carnelian12, or C12 as it was known, was an NFT ruse MLM crypto Ponzi pitching 12% a day.

Launched in March 2023, Carnelian12 went on to promptly collapse a few months later in May.

Whether C12V2 is being run by the same scammers behind Carnelian12 is unclear. Clearly however C12V2 has been designed as a reboot with the exact same pitch.

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…]

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

In fact as I write this, GSTAIQ’s homepage is an affiliate login/sign up form, or funnel to its app (which must be sideloaded).

GSTAIQ’s website domain (“gstaiq.com”), was privately registered on April 25th, 2024.

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…]

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

GoldXCapital’s website domain (“goldxcapital.org”), was privately registered on December 16th, 2023.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, GoldXCapital provides a Montana shell company certificate for Gold X Capital LLC.

GoldXCapital’s Montana shell company certificate is attached to a seemingly random address in Montana. A FinCEN MSB registration number is also provided.

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.

FinCEN isn’t a financial regulator. Needless to say, for the purposes of MLM due-diligence, registering a shell company with FinCen is also meaningless.

Over on YouTube we find GoldXCapital marketing videos hosted by “Jake”.

Jake is a Fiverr actor who goes by “jakex22”.

Coinciding with him becoming the face of GoldXCapital marketing, Jakex22 recently deactivated his Fiverr profile.

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…]

Four years after Mirror Trading International collapsed, South African authorities have confirmed an ongoing criminal investigation. [Continue reading…]

Aegis AI fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Aegis AI’s website domain (“aegisai.online”), was privately registered on March 28th, 2024.

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…]

WellNetIQ is a German MLM company and operates in the nutritional supplement MLM niche.

Heading up WellNetIQ we have Executive Director Tilman Spangenberg (right).

As per Spangenberg’s WellNetIQ corporate bio;

Tilman Spangenberg began his career by studying economics and business administration with a focus on strategic planning and corporate management.

With his thesis on practical aspects of early recognition of opportunities and risks in the corporate environment, he earned a doctorate in economics.

In 2003 he entered business and became a professional in financial consulting and direct sales.

Spangenberg’s LinkedIn profile doesn’t reference any MLM companies. From 2006 to signing on with WellNetIQ in October 2022, Spangenberg worked at a chemical manufacturer, pharmaceutical company, heater manufacturer and CannaCare

CannaCare is a German manufacturer of “high qualify CBD products”. An August 2023 press-release from Carlsquare cites Frank Otto as “the single largest shareholder” in CannaCare.

This leads us to a June 2023 article from Direct Selling Magazine, citing Otto and Michael Oplesch as founders of WellNetIQ.

“Our cold pre-launch phase is coming to an end. “All the foundations have now been created to be able to offer potential sales partners an all-round optimal business model,” sums up CEO Dr. Tilman Spangenberg.

“The hot pre-launch of WellNetIQ is scheduled to begin in October 2023.”

The previously linked Carsquare press-release above covers Otto’s August 2023 investment into SynBiotic SE.

Serial entrepreneur Frank Otto has invested in SynBiotic SE (“SynBiotic”), one of Germany’s leading listed CBD specialists.

Frank Otto’s investment comes as the SynBiotic group merges with CBD specialist CannaCare Health GmbH, where Frank Otto is the single largest shareholder today.

As part of his investment, Frank Otto will become a major shareholder in SynBiotic, reflecting his confidence that SynBiotic will secure a pre-eminent position in the booming market for hemp products.

Another August 2023 press-release from SynBiotic SE references WellNetIQ as a “marketing subsidiary” of CannaCare.

Putting all of this together, we have Frank Otto as the effective owner of CannaCare and SymBiotic SE, whose products are marketed and sold through the MLM company WellNetIQ.

Presently WellNetIQ appears to only be active in Austria. As of April 2024, SimilarWeb attributed 100% of WellNetIQ’s ~416 monthly website visits to Austria.

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

Blink Charging fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

Blink Charging’s website domain (“blink-charging.cc”), was privately registered on May 8th, 2024.

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

In an attempt to appear legitimate, Blink Charging offers up a bogus FINTRAC certificate:

The certificate is meaningless, primarily for it being an obvious fake. Notwithstanding, FINTRAC is not a regulator and registration only applies to Canada.

And if that wasn’t idiotic enough for you, Blink Charging also tries to pass off several companies as fake regulators:

• Deutsche Bank is a German bank
• Pictet is a Swiss bank
• Coutts is a UK bank
• JP Morgan is a US finance company
• Lurpak is a butter brand owned by a Danish company

The FMA is New Zealand’s financial regulator but Blink Charging isn’t registered with them. Like the named companies, Blink Charging has just cobbled together random entities to put on their website.

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…]

CyroFX fails to provide verifiable ownership or executive information on its website.

CyroFX does provide executive information on its website, but the individuals don’t exist and are represented by AI generated avatars.

Over on CyroFX’s official YouTube channel we have actors in rented offices with eastern European accents.

CyroFX’s website domain (“cyrofx.com”), was privately registered on August 30th, 2022.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, CyroFX provides corporate addresses in the US, Hong Kong and New Zealand on its website.

The US address belongs to a shell company merchant. The Hong Kong address belongs to a software firm. The New Zealand address is a random office building that has nothing to do with CyroFX.

Corresponding with its purported US and Hong Kong corporate addresses are associated CyroFX shell company certificates.

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.

It is unlikely CyroFX has any actual ties to the US, Hong Kong or New Zealand.

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…]

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

TRC Trade’s website domain (“trctrade.net”), was privately registered on April 14th, 2024.

Despite only existing for about a month, on its website TRC Trade falsely claims it has been around “since 1989”.

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…]

Purvii, pronounced “pure-vee”, operates in the nutritional supplements MLM niche.

The company is based out of Indiana and is headed up by Tony and Jenny Lusby.

On LinkedIn, Jenny Lusby (right with Tony) cites herself as Purvii’s CEO and founder.

On FaceBook Tony Lusby also cites himself as Purvii’s CEO and founder. For some reason these roles are not acknowledged on Purvii’s website.

Derrick DeSilva also features in the “about us” section of Purvii’s website. DeSilva’s role within Purvii is also not disclosed.

Between the two of them the Lusby’s have promoted Monavie, FGXpress and Zilis. In Zilis the Lusby’s reached Black Diamond Elite, one of the highest distributor ranks.

When the Lusby’s left Zilis is unclear but it seems to have been around late 2021, possibly early 2022. Why the Lusby’s left their top distributor position in Zilis is also unclear.

After the Lusbys left Zilis, Tony seems to have succumbed to COVID-19 social media brainrot:

After Tony recovered Purvii’s website domain was registered on March 29th, 2023. Purvii would go on to launch a few months later in June 2023.

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