In yet another blow to merchants who facilitate the operation of MLM Ponzi schemes, a criminal charge has been filed against the owner of one of Zeek Rewards’ payment processors. [Continue reading…]

There is no information on the Leased Ad Space website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The Leased Ad Space website domain (“leasedadspace.com”) was registered on the 1st of September 2015, with Richard Weberg listed as the owner. An address in the US state of Minnesota is also provided.

Weberg (right) first appeared on BehindMLM’s radar as a co-founder of Green Label Network. Despite prominently featuring in Green Label Network marketing videos, Weberg later disowned the company (see update on our review).

Under the guise of reselling WordPress (a free blogging platform), Green Label Network saw affiliates gift eachother $25 a month. Launched in 2013, the scheme never really took off.

Weberg is a GVO affiliate, with marketing material on the internet linking him to GotBackup? and Pure Leverage. Leased Ad Space’s website domain is also registered through GVO.

Last year Weberg launched Your Eight Steps, a $14.95 a month feeder into Weberg’s Pure Leverage downline.

Read on for a full review of the Leased Ad Space MLM business opportunity. [Continue reading…]

AdGainBucks recently launched and operate in the ad-credit MLM niche.

The company provides no contact details on its website, however it does name Gennaro Avitabile as a major shareholder, Director and CEO.

Avitabile (right) claims to be originally from Italy, but has “lived several years in United Kingdom”. The UK is presumably where AdGainBucks is being operated from.

Possibly due to language barriers, I was unable to source an MLM history on Avitabile.

Avitabile does mention however that he didn’t want AdGainBucks to be ‘a cheap copycat like most of the revenue share company out there‘. This suggests some familiarity with the MLM revenue sharing niche, which is typically populated with Ponzi schemes.

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

The Reddit Bitcoin subreddit has 173,813 subscribers. It’s a hub of activity for all things bitcoin, with ten or more topics published every hour.

Up for discussion is of course bitcoin, along with the technology behind it.

/r/bitcoin is a subreddit devoted to new information and discussion about Bitcoin and its ecosystem.

What I’m getting at is it’s not unreasonable to suggest that collectively, the Bitcoin subreddit subscriber base knows a thing or two about cryptocurrencies.

Prompted by recruitment pitches from friends, yesterday a member of the BitCoin subreddit community started a discussion about OneCoin.

Here’s how the members of Reddit reacted to it… [Continue reading…]

Free Mart operate in the supplement MLM niche. The company does not provide corporate address details on its website.

The Free Mart website domain registration lists a residential address in the US state of Utah, which is likely where Free Mart is being operated from.

Listed as co-founders of Free Mart on their website are David Crookston and John Austin (left and right respectively).

As per their respective Free Mart corporate bios;

David was introduced to network marketing at the age of 17.

After 40 years of working programs that do not work for most people, he decided to start his own company based upon the principles of honesty and integrity.

John began his network marketing career in 1964 at the age of 14.  During his 51 years in the industry he has been Master Distributor of two companies and top money earner and recruiter in others.

He was co-owner of a company in the mid-nineties and has been a Consultant to the industry for the past 16 years.

For someone who claims to have “worked programs for 40 years”, there is a remarkable lack of information about Crookston’s MLM history available.

A Google search for “David Crookston mlm” returns seven results.

One of the result returned lists Crookston as a “leadership member” of Engage Global. Engage Global launched in 2014 and market a “Military Micronutrient Formula” supplement they claim “provides proven benefits”.

On his LinkedIn profile John Austin claims to be a “certified nutritionist, health researcher and author”.

MLM companies John Austin has been an affiliate of include Joy to Live (caterpillar corpse coffee) and Global Currency Reserve (failed cryptocurrency).

On the Free Mart website, David Crookston laments that after

having earned top positions in different companies, he learned that most compensation plans are not distributor friendly.

Whether or not he’s referring to Engage Global is unclear.

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

Last December the SEC filed a complaint against TeamVinh, alleging it was a $3 million dollar Ponzi scheme.

Also named in the complaint as a defendant was owner Vu H. Le (aka Vinh H. Le), who along with TeamVinh initially failed to respond to the SEC’s lawsuit.

That saw the SEC file a motion for default judgement on January 8th. Default judgement was granted on January 11th, however it was later vacated following the appearance of a lawyer for Vinh and Le on February 1st.

TeamVinh and Le claimed that [Continue reading…]

The Portuguese Consumer Protection Association, otherwise known as DECO, is

is an independent non-profit association with charity status.

It is the largest consumer association in Portugal and possesses a ‘Public Utility’ status.

Following a series of complaints by Lyoness investors, DECO recently issued a warning against participation in the scheme. [Continue reading…]

Can a leopard change its spots?

If Alex Morton’s recently published blueprint for his Jeunesse business is anything to go by, the answer is a blunt “no”. [Continue reading…]

In late January news broke that the Swedish Gaming Board had finished their investigation into OneCoin.

The regulator found OneCoin to be ““a chain letter game or similar”, and promptly reported the scheme to police.

Upon consideration of the Gaming Board’s findings these last two months, now news that Swedish police have launched a preliminary investigation into OneCoin. [Continue reading…]

On their website, Growing Circle claim they’re ‘not like other network marketing companies‘.

We’re committed to having the best compensation plan, affordable and effective services, systems that keep our customers coming back, and the best culture of any company.

When you join growing circle, you get much more than our outstanding services. You’ll experience our culture of fun, family, success, growth, passion, and integrity that will bring out the best in you and inspire you to help bring out the best in others.

In addition to providing a corporate address in Colorado, US (a residential property), Growing Circle International also provide addresses for offices in Nigeria and Ghana.

Heading up the company is Ben Mueller (right), who serves as Growing Circle International’s CEO.

On his YouTube channel, Mueller has been promoting Fuxion, a health and wellness MLM opportunity.

The last Fuxion video uploaded to his channel was three days ago, suggesting Mueller is still active in the company.

Prior to Fuxion Mueller was an affiliate with LifeForce International, a nutritional MLM company.

Over the past four years Mueller has been uploaded internet marketing training videos to his YouTube channel. He doesn’t seem to have much of a following however, with most videos having a viewcount under thirty.

Growing Circle International would appear to be Mueller’s first MLM venture as an executive.

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