Despite the SEC’s case against him and Traffic Monsoon being civil in nature, Charles Scoville has hired a criminal defense attorney.

According to a 15th of August filing, Scoville is now represented by Edwin S. Wall. [Continue reading…]

There is no information on the MMM United website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The owner(s) of MMM United however do claim to be “a team of MMM participants”:

We are no other than a team of MMM participants from our respective national structures of MMM.

“MMM” refers to MMM Global, a bitcoin-based Ponzi scheme that collapsed earlier this year.

Alexa currently estimate that 84.8% of traffic to the MMM United website originates out of India. This strongly suggests that whoever is running MMM United is based out of India itself.

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…]

There is no information on the Easy 1up website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The Easy 1up website domain (“easy1up.com”) was first registered on the 8th of June 2007.

The domain registration was recently updated on June 9th, 2016. The current registration details are set to private.

Further research reveals affiliate naming Peter Wolfing (right) as the owner of Easy 1up. This can be confirmed by way of the Easy 1up website being hosted on the same private server as Ultimate Cycler.

Ultimate Cycler is a matrix cycler Ponzi launched by Wolfing back in 2014.

Other MLM underbelly schemes launched by Wolfing over the years include Turbo Cycler (cash gifting), Business Toolbox (chain-recruitment), Infinity 100 (cash gifting), National Wealth Center (cash gifting) and Pay Me Forward (cash gifting).

Read on for a full review of the Easy 1up MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

Finanztest is a monthly finance niche magazine published by Stiftung Warentest, a German consumer organization.

In the September issue of the magazine, Stiftung Warentest has published a warning against investment in OneCoin and SwissCoin. [Continue reading…]

There is no information on the Easycoins website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The EasyCoins website domain was registered on the 1st of May 2016, however the domain registration is set to private.

Alexa currently estimate that 54.2% of traffic to the EasyCoins domain originates out of Colombia, strongly suggesting that this is where the company is likely being operated from.

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…]

Evo Binary operate in the forex MLM niche and provide a corporate PO Box address in Dubai.

A certificate of incorporation issued by the Dubai Aviation City Corporation is also provided.

So the story goes;

Two CEOs of companies focused on technology and financial market areas decided to join their know­how and develop a super product, able to forever change not only their lives but those of everyone who acquire this fantastic robot.

One of those CEOs is identified as Ramon Alcantara (right). The other CEO is not identified.

Alcantara serves as CEO of Evo Binary. Whether he himself is based out of Dubai is unclear.

Despite Evo Binary’s claim that Alcantara was previously the CEO of a company, I was unable to find any information on his MLM history.

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

There is no information on the Team Plutus website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The Team Plutus website domain (“team-plutus.com”) was registered on the 3rd of March 2016, however the domain registration is set to private.

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…]

There is no information on the RevCoin website indicating who owns or runs the business.

A UK Companies House registration is provided on the RevCoin website, citing an incorporation date for RevCoin Limited on June 22nd, 2016.

The address provided on the corresponding private limited company registration in a residential area in Hertfordshire, England.

Carlo Trabattoni is listed as the sole “Marketing Manager” on the registration. Social media accounts bearing Carlo Trabattoni’s name were only created in the past few weeks, suggesting Trabattoni doesn’t 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…]

One80 began life as a spinoff from EPX180, a weight-loss MLM opportunity launched by Dan Putnam in late 2011.

Whereas EPX Body was a legitimate MLM opportunity with a retailable product, One80 marked Putnam’s transition towards online marketing tools.

One80 flopped and a year later was followed up by Let Us Close, a short-lived recruitment scheme tied to an “advanced marketing system”.

A few months after launch Let Us Close was hitched to The Elite Networker, another monthly-fee based recruitment scheme.

The Elite Networker also flopped and was abandoned shortly after launch.

Now Putnam (above right) has resurrected the One80 website domain, with what appears to be an adcredit Ponzi scheme. [Continue reading…]

Goodlife USA operate in the travel MLM niche and are based out of Florida in the US.

Mark Seyforth and Edward Dovner are credited as founders of the company on the Goodlife USA website, serving as CEO and “Partner” respectively.

Mark Seyforth started off in MLM back in 1975 with ‘Seyforth Laboratories’ who marketed a diet shake.

In 1980 Seyforth (right) aligned with Herbalife. He designed their compensation plan and manufactured the company’s product line through ‘Seyforth Manufacturing’.

One24 was an autoship recruitment opportunity that experimented with a queue based system to sign up new affiliates through.

In 2013, with One24 still operating, Seyforth launched Day 1.

From our BehindMLM review of Day 1;

Typically in MLM we see compensation plans built around products. With Day 1, after analysing the company it very much feels as if they’ve created a compensation plan around whatever products they were able to cobble together.

Like One24, retail sales were an afterthought in Day 1. Instead the focus was on recruiting affiliates and getting paid when they purchased products.

Today neither One24 or Day 1 are in business.

Edward Dovner’s MLM history is less clear. According to Dovner’s Goodlife USA corporate bio he’s a “Founder, Inventor and CEO”.

Ed Dovner started cultivating his entrepreneurial spirit at the tender age of 21 when he became an acclaimed sales agent at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

He then successfully created a niche market company within gourmet coffee industry and sold his business for a substantial profit.

In 1993, Ed launched First Choice Armor & Equipment and grew the company to over $90 million in sales. Again Ed sold the company for a substantial profit in 2010.

To what extent any of that pertains to MLM is unclear.

Of note is Dovner and his company First Choice Armor & Equipment were sued by the Department of Justice in 2009.

The United States has filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against First Choice Armor & Equipment Inc. and its founder, Edward Dovner, for submitting false claims for bullet-proof vests purchased by the United States for federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies.

First Choice, which manufactured and sold bullet-proof vests containing Zylon fiber from 2000- 2005, marketed its vests to law enforcement agencies as a thinner and more lightweight alternative to other bullet-proof vests.

The United States alleges that at the same time First Choice was selling its Zylon bullet-proof vests, the company and its founder knew of significant manufacturing and degradation problems in the Zylon fiber that rendered the material unsafe for ballistic use.

In fact, when the Justice Department’s National Institute of Justice tested eight of First Choice’s bullet-proof vests in 2005, all failed.

The United States has also sued Mr. Dovner and Karen Herman, Mr. Dovner’s wife and First Choice’s president, for a fraudulent conveyance – a transfer of property that is made to swindle, hinder or delay a creditor, or to put such property beyond his or her reach – in violation of the Federal Debt Collection Procedures Act.

The government alleges that after learning of the investigation into Zylon bullet-proof vests, Mr. Dovner and Ms. Herman removed more than $5 million from First Choice. Mr. Dovner then purchased a Ferrari, a Maserati and a private jet through various shell companies.

As per his Goodlife USA corporate bio, a year later Dovner sold First Choice for a “substantial profit”.

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