Avon Products, a holding company through which Avon’s non-US business operations are run, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the US.

In an August 12th press-release, Avon framed its bankruptcy as “taking steps to address debt and legacy liabilities”.

Avon’s non-legal debts sit at around $1.29 billion. Avon’s “legacy liabilities” pertain to multiple lawsuits and settlements over talc-based products causing cancer. [Continue reading…]

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

WheatLand AI’s website domain (“wheatlandai.com”), was registered with bogus details on August 4th, 2024.

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

Despite only existing for a few weeks, on its website WheatLand AI falsely claims it “established in 2021”.

This is tied to Wheatland Quantitative Trading LTD, a UK registered company that has nothing to do with WheatLand AI.

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…]

M-Power fails to provide verifiable ownership or executive information on its website.

M-Power’s website domain (“m-power.group”), was privately registered on June 26th, 2024.

Note that M-Power originally launched on “m-power.ai”, privately registered on an unknown date and abandoned for an unknown reason shortly after.

M-Power represents it was founded by “Samir M.A. Sahmound”.

Sahmoud doesn’t exist outside of M-Power’s own marketing, and even then then they can’t get the name right.

This lends itself to “Samir M.A. Sahmound/Sahmoud” being an alias.

Someone who appears to exist is M-Power’s Director of Development, Chris Gilbert.

Gilbert has ties to Russia:

M-Power’s Renat Mansurov is a “money mentor”, also with ties to Russia…

…and Dubai:

Dubai is the MLM crime capital of the world. Any MLM company with the slightest hint of ties to Dubai is an automatic show-stopper red flag.

It remains unconfirmed but “Samir M.A. Sahmound” is probably a third-world country pick-up from Dubai.

Putting all of this together M-Power is likely run by Russians hiding in Dubai.

This tracks with M-Power running a promo for an event in Thailand.

Thailand’s recent growing Russian population has attracted media attention.

Officially, M-Power represents it is based out of the UK. This is based on nothing more than the shell company registration of M-Power Business Group LTD on June 6th, 2024.

Of note is “Samir Sahmoud” listed as the sole Director of M-Power Business Group LTD, with Turkey listed as his country of residence.

Putting aside the ease of which scammers can register shell companies in the UK with bogus information, over the last few years Turkey emerged as a haven for “international criminal networks”.

This is potentially another indirect tie to Russians (Russians are typically behind “actors playing executives” Ponzi schemes hence us pointing out any direct or indirect ties).

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…]

Details of how the SEC intends to handle victim restitution have been revealed in Jean Martin Zizi’s NovaTech FX settlement. [Continue reading…]

AKK USDT fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

AKK USDT’s website domain (“akkyusdtmall.vip”), was registered with bogus details on August 8th, 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…]

MAR Mining fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

MAR Mining’s website domain (“marmining.com”), was first registered in 2018. The private registration was last updated on March 15th, 2024.

In an attempt to appear legitimate, MAR Mining provides an incorporation certificate for “Cryptocurrency International Limited” on its website.

Cryptocurrency International Limited was incorporated in the UK in 2018.

Predating it by six years, Cryptocurrency International Limited obviously has nothing to do with MAR Mining.

BehindMLM came across MAR Mining as part of our research into Cryptocurrency Enthusiasts.

It appears the same anonymous Chinese admins are behind both scams.

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…]

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

Crypto Enthusiasts’ website domain (“itenthusiasts.com”), was first registered in September 2018. The private registration was last updated on May 31st, 2024.

The Wayback Machine suggests Crypto Enthusiasts website went sometime around early June 2024.

Despite only existing for a few months, on its website Crypto Enthusiasts falsely claims it, as Cryptophiliac LLC, was “founded in 2018”.

Cryptophiliac LLC appears to be a Florida company registered in 2018. Predating Crypto Enthusiasts by six years, it obviously has nothing to do with the company.

Nevertheless, Crypto Enthusiasts again falsely cites Cryptophiliac LLC’s registered agent as its own CEO.

Driven by a shared vision to democratize blockchain technologies, Giletti, John have [sic] assembled a team of like-minded people committed to pushing the boundaries of innovation.

Grammatical errors on Crypto Enthusiasts’ website suggest the company is run by a non-native English speaker.

In Crypto Enthusiasts website source-code, we find a reference to “marmining.com”:

We also find Chinese:

Mar Mining is an MLM crypto Ponzi pitching up to $10,000 a day on $500,000 investments.

It seems Chinese scammers flogging a script backend across multiple Ponzi schemes are behind Crypto Enthusiasts.

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…]

DOI EU fails to provide ownership or executive information on its website.

DOI EU’s website domain (“doieu.com”), was first registered in 2020. The domain is currently registered with bogus details as of December 1st, 2023.

Despite only being eight or so months old at best, on its website DOI EU falsely claims to have been founded in 2020. Rented office photos are also provided:

The rented office photos tie in with DOI EU falsely claiming

The company has been operating legally since its establishment, complying with all applicable laws, regulations, and standards in the state of Washington, USA.

In an attempt to support these false claims, DOI EU provides a Colorado shell company certificate for DOI LLC. A FinCen certificate for the same shell company is also provided.

While official looking, FinCEN isn’t a financial regulator. Any company can sign up with whatever bogus details and get a certificate within a few minutes.

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 also meaningless.

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…]

Affiliate Institute operates in the marketing tools MLM niche. The company provides a corporate address in Toronto, Canada on its website.

Heading up Affiliate Institute we have founder Kameron George (right).

As per George’s Affiliate Institute corporate bio;

Over ten years ago he was an electrical apprentice when he was first exposed to the idea of digital marketing.

After years of relentlessly chasing every system, “guru”, trick and hack – he finally put the pieces together for himself and it changed his life.

The Affiliate Institute isn’t just a brand, it’s the embodiment of Kameron’s personal philosophy that anyone who is willing to learn and do the work can truly live the life of their dreams.

Circa 2013 George was heavily pushing something called iGlobalPros.

Over the years George has been heavily involved in digital marketing but, at least as far as I could see, not the MLM type.

Circa 2022 George reinvented himself as a crypto bro.

No idea what George got up to in the crypto space. Regardless since ChatGPT launched in late 2022, AI has been replacing crypto as the “grift of choice” for marketers.

This brings us to Affiliate Institute.

Affiliate Institute’s website domain (“affiliateinstitute.com”), was first registered in 2008. The private registration was last updated on December 24th, 2023.

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

The SEC has filed suit against NovaTech FX’s founders and several top promoters.

As per the federal regulator’s August 12th filed lawsuit, Cynthia and Eddie Petion ran a $650 million plus Ponzi scheme.

In addition to NovaTech FX’s Petion co-founders, the SEC has also sued promoters Martin Zizi, Dapilini Dunbar, James Corbett, Corrie Sampson, John Garofano and Marsha Hadley. [Continue reading…]