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

The Start Options website domain (“startoptions.com”) was initially registered in December, 2005. The domain registration details were recently updated on December 18th, 2017.

A residential condo address in Manilla, Philippines is provided on the Start Options website.

An official Start Options business presentation provides a corporate address in Auckland, New Zealand.

Further research however reveals this address actually belongs to a cafe.

As far as I can tell Start Options has no physical presence in either the Philippines or New Zealand.

The Start Options support email address contains the name “William Adelbert”.

No information about this individual exists in connection with Start Options, so it’s assumed to be a pseudonym.

Start Options current incarnation appears to have surfaced on or around May, 2017.

As of mid 2016, Start Options was a binary options investment scheme:

That opportunity appears to have collapsed around late October, 2016.

When the current Start Options website surfaced, the admin email was named “Marcello Flaviano”. A corresponding Twitter account was created on or around June, 2017.

Also featured on the original website was the following message on the website footer:

Start Option is a regulated investment services firm authorised in the conduct of its activities by the New Zealand Securities and authorities under FSP number FSP1623

The quoted FSP number corresponds to the 2005 incorporation of City Forex.

Corporate records reveal City Forex is owned by Sunil Kumar Cheruvattath.

Cheruvattath personally filed City Forex’s last Annual Confirmation FSP filing back in July, 2017.

Outside of a few additional New Zealand incorporations (City New Zealand Limited and Indokiwi Ventures Limited), I was unable to find anything further on Cheruvattath.

Either way, it appears Cheruvattath owns and operates Start Options.

The name sounds very Indian, however Cheruvattath could be operating from anywhere (likely Oceania or South East Asia).

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…]

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

The DavorCoin website domain (“davor.io”) was privately registered on October 18th, 2017.

French and English are the primary languages used on the DavorCoin website, suggesting whoever is running the company is based out of Europe.

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…]

Another day, another regulatory condemnation of USI-Tech’s Ponzi scheme.

The latest warning is from the Canadian province of Novia Scotia.

On December 21st Novia Scotia’s Securities Commission published a warning cautioning investment in USI-Tech. [Continue reading…]

USI-Tech can’t seem to catch a break this week, following its third run in with securities regulators in as many days.

Hot on the heels of a similar warning issued by the British Columbia Securities Commission on December 18th, today New Brunswick’s Financial Consumer Services Commission issued their own USI-Tech investor warning. [Continue reading…]

Cleber Rene Rizerio Rocha, better known as the TelexFree mattress money mule, was busted earlier this year trying to launder $20 million in stolen Ponzi funds.

Following a guilty plea in October, Rocha was scheduled to be sentenced on December 20th.

On December 18th Rocha filed a motion requesting his sentencing hearing be continued. The motion was denied.

On December 19th Rocha filed a supplemental motion in support of his original motion, which was granted on December 20th. [Continue reading…]

The Texas Securities Board see USI-Tech as a “bitcoin promoter” offering an investment opportunity.

Following an internal investigation into USI-Tech and two US promoters, the board presented gathered evidence of securities fraud to the Securities Commissioner.

In an attempt to stop promotion of the USI-Tech Ponzi scheme throughout Texas, the Securities Commissioner issued an emergency cease and desist on December 20th. [Continue reading…]

The World Mining website domain (“world-mining.net”) was privately registered on October 23rd, 2017.

World Mining claims to be “a British company”, which is based on the October 25th incorporation of “World Mining LTD”.

The London address used to incorporate World Mining actually belongs to UK Packaging, an unrelated business.

Philip Johnson is listed as the sole Director of World Mining LTD. On the World Mining website he’s credited as the company’s CEO.

The name is suitably generic and no information about Johnson in connection to World Mining outside of the incorporation is available.

This raises the strong possibility that World Mining’s “Philip Johnson” doesn’t exist.

Images used to represent World Mining’s executive team on their website are stock images:

This means that in addition to Philip Johnson, none of the”powerful team of professionals, experts in their field” World Mining claims to have actually exist.

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…]

Xtreme Pro System initially launched in late 2014, as a Ponzi feeder for scams admin Johnny Ganoza was promoting at the time.

By March 2015 the scheme had collapsed, with Ganoza ditching the original Ponzi cycler for a single-level commission model.

That didn’t go down too well with Xtreme Pro System’s Ponzi investors, which prompted a hasty collapse.

A few days ago Xtreme Pro System 2.0 popped up, claiming to have ‘a new admin and a new complan‘.

There is no information on the Xtreme Pro System 2.0 website indicating who the “new admin” is.

The Xtreme Pro System 2.0 website domain (“xtremeprosystem.info”) was privately registered on July 11th, 2017.

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…]

Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection, more commonly known as UOKiK, has issued scam warnings against OneCoin (OneLife), NetLeaders (DasCoin), FutureNet (FutureAdPro), Questra World (Atlantic Global Asset Management) and Lyoness.

The December 18th warning, published by UOKiK President Marek Niechciala, appears to be an end-of-year recap of regulatory actions taken by the watchdog. [Continue reading…]

Mintage Mining popped up on my radar a few weeks ago as part of Nui.

According to the Mintage Mining website, the company is

a collaborative crypto mining platform that brings cryptocurrency enthusiasts together to mine the most current and profitable coin available each week.

Mintage Mining provide no information on their website about who owns or runs the company.

The website domain itself (“mintagemining.com”) was privately registered on October 24th, 2017.

Although the gist of Mintage Mining’s compensation plan has been published by Nui affiliates promoting it, Nui published complete compensation documentation a few days ago.

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