Back in June the Zeek Rewards Receiver filed for Final Judgment against outstanding US net-winners. That is Zeek Rewards affiliates who, even five years after the Ponzi scheme was shut down, refuse to pay back the victims they stole from.

On August 14th Final Judgment was granted, rendering the remaining net-winner class liable for the amount they stole plus pre-judgment interest. [Continue reading…]

For all intents and purposes, Chinese regulation of MLM pyramid schemes is of the *winkwink, nudgenudge* variety.

The last major MLM pyramid scheme bust we covered was Nu Skin back in 2014.

After announcing it suspected Nu Skin was a pyramid scheme, a few months later a paltry $781,000 fine was doled out and that was the end of it.

The fraud was far more costly back home. A civil settlement pertaining to its Chinese pyramid scheme activities saw Nu Skin cough up $47 million dollars.

In what might be a sign of changes to MLM regulation going forward, earlier this week the Chinese government announced a crackdown on pyramid schemes. [Continue reading…]

NeoLife are based out of California in the US and operate in the nutritional supplement MLM niche.

Heading up NeoLife is Founder and Chairman, Jerry Brassfield (below right).

As per Brassfield’s NeoLife corporate bio;

At the age of 19, Jerry discovered Direct Sales through a company selling supplements perfectly aligning with his two passions: business & health.

He finally found a business where hard work means more income and in just four years he was worth $5 million (significantly more in today’s terms).

Then he became heart broken when the company failed due to mismanagement. This happened to him time and time again, the hardest part being the negative affect on the relationships he built with his Distributor team… his Distributor Family.

Taking matters into his own hands, Jerry started his own Direct Selling company founded on values which ensure product quality, unlimited income potential, and long-term stability for Distributors and future generations.

Along the way he acquired the NeoLife brand and merged it with his other companies, creating an international industry-leading gem.

NeoLife began as Golden Neolife Diamite International (GNLD International) back in 1954. In 2013 the company was rebranded as NeoLife.

In my research I came across both NeoLife and GNLD International interchangeably used to refer to the company.

Apart from a few recalls and minor labelling issues, to date NeoLife has not had any run ins with regulators. For an MLM company that’s 73 years old, that’s quite an achievement.

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

BC Academy surfaced last year as a reboot of the uFun Club Ponzi scheme.

Based out of Malaysia, the ruse behind BC Academy is that affiliates were investing in bookcoins, a silver-backed cryptocurrency.

Following victim complaints from investors, last week Malaysian police arrested two men running the scam. [Continue reading…]

The Health Wealth Club website names Edwin Ramos as admin of the company.

Ramos is based out of the Philippines and first popped up on BehindMLM’s radar in 2014, as admin of Blessing4All.

Blessing4All was a short-lived pyramid Ponzi hybrid.

In 2016 Ramos (right) launched Royalty Crowdfunding, a seven-tier cash gifting scheme.

Earlier this year in April Ramos was promoting My Global Negocio, which appears to be a nutrition based MLM. My Global Negocio marketing cites Edwin Ramos as co-owner of the company.

At the time of publication the My Global Negocio website is offline, suggesting the company has since collapsed.

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

Crypto Bit Trade provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the business.

Linked off the Crypto Bit Trade website is the company’s compensation plan however, which names Joe Yagudaev and Ramon Escalera as co-founders of the company.

Ramon Escalera (right) first popped up on BehindMLM’s radar last year, as admin of the 25 Dollar Legacy pyramid scheme.

After 25 Dollar Legacy collapsed, Escalera returned with Platinum World Team Build.

Platinum World Team Build is a Ponzi scheme offering a $166,800 ROI on $100 investments.

Alexa traffic estimates for the Platinum World Team Build website show s sharp decline since June, suggesting it has collapsed or is in the process of collapsing.

As I write this and somewhat curiously, a few hours ago on Facebook Escalera was promoting Nspire Network.

Joe Yagudaev (aka. Joseph Yagudaev) launched Elite Profit System about a year ago.

Elite Profit System is a pyramid scheme, through which participants gift each other $500 to $25,000.

Alexa traffic estimates for the Elite Profit System website show little to no interest throughout 2016. In 2017 there was a spark of activity in May but by mid-July Elite Profit System traffic was plummeting again.

The collapse of both Platinum World Team Build and Elite Profit System has likely prompted Escalera and Yagadaev to team up and launch Crypto Bit Trade.

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

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

The Penny Cyclers website domain (“pennycyclers.com”) was privately registered on July 25th, 2017.

The official Penny Cyclers Facebook group has one admin, Dan Haltom.

Haltom (right) is based out of the US and has been promoting MLM underbelly scams for a number of years.

In the past year alone he’s promoted the My Cycler, Unicorn Adz, Pacific Ads and Cryptocurrency Bank MLM Ponzi schemes.

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

The UK’s small claims court is available to the public for recovery of funds not exceeding £10,000 GBP ($13,000 USD).

Not willing to take the collapse of My Advertising Pays lying down, an affiliate is using the court in an attempt to recover over £4000 GBP in losses ($5200 USD). [Continue reading…]

MLM affiliates receiving giant oversized commission checks means different things to different people.

Prospective affiliates might see a window of opportunity, a chance to better themselves financially.

Existing affiliates might take it as a kick up the butt and commit to their business with newfound focus and enthusiasm.

A regulator might see income claims used to market the company and decide to investigate further.

Personally I’ve come to wonder at the stories behind the checks. Who are the people that made it possible? Were they customers? Were they affiliates?

Behind every dollar written on one of those checks is a story. But unfortunately more often than not those stories go untold.

Through a class-action lawsuit filed a few days ago against Visalus however, rare insight into how one such check receiver built their business is revealed. [Continue reading…]

When Italy’s Antitrust and Consumer Protection Authority (AGCM) banned promotion of OneCoin last year, OneCoin responded with pseudo-compliance nonsense.

Not surprisingly, the AGCM took no notice and pressed ahead with their investigation. Eventually declaring OneCoin to be a “deceitful Ponzi scheme”, banning the company outright and last week, slapping it with a €2.5 million euro fine.

Unlike Ruja Ignatova’s criminal charges in India, extensive media coverage has left OneCoin unable to ignore the AGCM’s pyramid scheme fine.

Despite the AGCM banning OneCoin showing that they weren’t interested in pseudo-compliance, OneCoin’s answer to the pyramid scheme fine is more of the same. [Continue reading…]