A preliminary injunction has been granted Ryan Maasen in the filed Kentucky BitConnect class-action lawsuit. [Continue reading…]

Mark and Tammy Smith aren’t just top earners in Nerium International, they’re the top earners.

As Master Distributors of the company, Mark and Tammy Smith were held up as posters of Nerium’s success.

As of late 2014, Ted Nuyten’s BusinessForHome clocked the Smith’s at $9 million career earnings and around $2.4 million in commissions annually.

That makes their $100 million dollar plus lawsuit against Nerium International all the more interesting. [Continue reading…]

Foru International operate in the health and nutrition MLM niche and began as GeneWize Life Sciences back in 2008.

Today the company cites a corporate address in Irving, Texas on its website. On Foru International’s Facebook page however, a different address in Orlando, Florida is provided.

Heading up Foru International are Stacey Clark and Rebecca Ortolaza, who serve as co-Presidents of the company.

As per Clark’s and Ortolaza’s respective Foru International corporate bios;

Stacey Clark has over 30 years of experience in the direct selling industry, having consulted with or worked as a senior executive with over 30 different organizations.

A finance and operations executive, Stacey is a proven expert in the areas of compensation, logistics, finance, operations and customer service.

With over 13 years experience in customer service, Rebecca Ortolaza has specialized in customer care, training and compliance.

With over eight years experience in the direct selling industry, Rebecca has worked with some very large and well-known names.

Despite claims both co-Presidents have been involved in the MLM industry for years, I was unable to tie either of them to anything prior to Foru International.

I’m not saying Clark and Ortolaza haven’t been involved in other MLM companies, just that their stated experience doesn’t appear significant enough to warrant any third-party documentation (or even first-party for that matter).

In 2012 Capsalus Corp finalized the purchase of GeneWize Life Sciences, Foru International’s parent company at the time.

Wharton Equity and Fidelity Holdings are cited as “noteworthy participants” in the acquisition, however in what capacity is unclear.

Today Foru International claims on its website that it is “financially backed” by Wharton Equity and Fidelity Investments (next to a logo for Fidelity Holdings).

In 2014 Foru International was the target of an FTC complaint over deceptive advertising practices.

Back in the day, consumers looking for a personalized product had to settle for a monogrammed hanky.

GeneLink, Inc. and foru International Corporation claimed to take personalization to a new level by testing each buyer’s DNA and formulating products to address that person’s genetic weaknesses.

But according to the FTC, the companies didn’t have sound science to support their claims.

The FTC alleged Foru International

didn’t have sound science to support that the supplements could compensate for genetic disadvantages identified in the DNA test and reduce that person’s risk of illness.

Those promises about diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, and insomnia?

Unproven, alleged the FTC.

The complaint also challenges the companies’ claim that the skin serum was scientifically proven.

Rather than provide evidence of its claims, Foru International settled the complaint.

The settlement saw Foru International agree to stop falsely representing its products

will treat, prevent, or reduce the risk of any disease (including diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, or insomnia) by modulating the effect of genes or based on a person’s customized genetic assessment.

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

When the Texas Securities Board issued USI-Tech with a cease and desist last year, one of the primary concerns was lack of disclosure.

At the time USI-Tech were claiming to generate ROI revenue through bitcoin mining. [Continue reading…]

The almost year-long feud between Valentus, Advanced Laboratories and Vitae Global has come to an end, following notice of a settlement.

For those unfamiliar with the dispute, last May Valentus’ SlimRoast coffee supplier sued the company for $3.1 million. [Continue reading…]

MineTech Farm provide no information about who owns or runs the company on their website.

The MineTech Farm website domain (“minetech.io”) was privately registered on February 13th, 2018.

MineTech Farm provide an incorporation document for “MineTech Farm LTD” on their website.

MineTech Farm LTD was incorporated in the UK on February 15th, 2018. Gregory Stones is listed as the sole Director of the company.

The only connection between Gregory Stones and MineTech Farm is the incorporation document, casting doubt on whether Stones actually exists or not.

UK incorporation is dirt cheap and for the most part unregulated. It is a favorite for scammers looking to incorporate dodgy companies.

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…]

Lendium provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

The Lendium website domain (“lendium.tech”) was privately registered on January 11th, 2018.

At the time of publication Alexa show Russia as the only significant source of traffic to the Lendium 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…]

Medium Platform Coin provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the company.

The Medium Platform Coin website domain (“mediumplatformcoin.com”) was privately registered on November 19th, 2017.

A UK incorporation certificate is provided on the Medium Platform Coin website, which corresponds to “Medium Platform Coin LTD”.

Medium Platform Coin LTD was incorporated in the UK on November 9th, 2017.

Molly Lewinson is listed as the sole Director of the company, through a serviced office address in Bristol, England.

No information is available about Lewinson’s role in Medium Platform Coin outside of the incorporation, casting doubt on whether she actually exists.

UK incorporation is dirt cheap and for the most part unregulated. It is a favorite for scammers looking to incorporate dodgy companies.

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…]

When Texas issued USI-Tech with a cease and desist and provide evidence of external ROI revenue, rather than do so the company hastily terminated operations in the US.

The problem with this decision however was that the US was by far USI-Tech’s largest source of investors, which also meant they were owed the most amount of money.

Unable to pay out their affiliates (that’s not how a Ponzi scheme works), USI-Tech has stalled on the matter since the decision to run from US regulators in early January.

This stalling saw the company hide behind the fiction that it was conducting an internal audit to root out fraud.

Perhaps the only thing more unbelievable than a Ponzi scheme supposedly auditing itself to ferret out fraud was the affiliates who went along with it.

A few weeks ago USI-Tech effectively ordered its affiliates to “shut up or else“. Hanging in the balance was the millions of dollars US affiliates are believed to have invested.

Having determined enough time has passed, USI-Tech has announced the result of their internal audit charade. [Continue reading…]

After the Waszupp Global Ponzi collapsed, Global Directors Blaine Williams and Mark Campese hitched their wagons to the Noble 7 Crowdfunding.

Officially Williams and Campese didn’t run Noble 7 but they were heavily involved in day to day management as Field Chairmen.

Noble 7 Crowdfunding was a short-lived and collapsed within a month.

But not before stiffing a bunch of affiliates who followed Williams and Campese out of $50 a pop. [Continue reading…]