There is no information on the 4x-Lines website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The 4x-Lines website domain (“4x-lines.com”) was registered on the 10th of March 2015, with an “Eric Caballero” listed as the owner. An incomplete address in Coclé, Panama is also provided.

Possibly due to language-barrier issues, I was unable to find any further information on Caballero.

Given the incomplete address provided in the 4x-Lines domain registration, I’d suggest the company has no actual physical presence there.

Rather 4x-Lines is likely being operated from one of its four main sources of traffic. As per Alexa’s estimates at the time of publication, these are Spain (38.1%), Mexico (14.7%), Argentina (14.6%) and Colombia (12.9%).

Read on for a full review of the 4x-Lines MLM business opportunity. [Continue reading…]

As per the Extreme Profit Machine homepage, the company is ‘developed and maintained by B Thune Networks LLC‘.

A photo of Ben Thune appears above the message, with Thune presumed to be running Extreme Profit Machine.

Further research reveals the “Ben Thune” photo present on the Extreme Profit Machine website is actually that of Joseph Richards:

Richards is a Project Manager of RJ Childs Contracting INC., a commercial project contracting firm based out of Cartersville, Georgia.

Ben Thune and Ben Thune Networks LLC, as represented on the Extreme Profit Machine website do not exist.

The Extreme Profit Machine website domain meanwhile was registered on the 27th of September 2014, 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…]

Other than an address in Hong Kong, China, there is no information on the Ennovx website indicating who owns or runs the business.

Further research reveals the supplied Hong Kong address to belong to Regus, who rent out virtual office space.

As such it appears Ennovx have no actual physical presence in Hong Kong, with the company existing there in name only.

The Ennovx website domain (“ennovx.com”) was registered on the 4th of June 2015, however the domain registration is set to private.

Of note is that the Ennovx website domain uses the name-servers of “mlminfopages.com”.

The MLM InfoPages website domain was registered on the 11th of June 2010, with an “Abdu Gafoor KV” listed as the domain owner. An address in Kerala, India is also provided.

For the Ennovx website domain to be using the MLM Infopages name-servers, Gafoor KV must have admin rights to both domains.

Thus it follows that Abdu Gafoor KV owns both domains and is likely involved in the running of Ennovx from India.

Possibly due to language barriers, I was unable to find any additional information on Gafoor KV’s involvement in the MLM industry.

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…]

Global Connection Network operate in the cell service MLM niche and, as per the company’s Terms Of Use, appear to be based out of Tennessee:

This site (excluding third party linked sites) is controlled by the Company from its offices within the State of Tennessee, U.S. of America.

Note that no specific corporate address is provided for Global Connection Network on their website. Nor is one provided in the Global Connection Network website domain registration, which is set to private.

Identified as CEO of Global Connection Network on the company website is Gary Cochran.

As per Cochran’s Global Connection Network corporate bio;

Having built many successful businesses, Gary is a long-term enthusiast of the entrepreneurial spirit.

After completing a three-year tour of military service in the United States Marine Corps, Gary returned to the University for post-graduate work.

He then went on to develop a successful career in marketing and sales. He helped found and develop several direct sales companies doing tens of millions of dollars of sales a year.

Gary Cochran is recognized as a marketing expert in the direct sales industry. Gary is constantly sought after for help in adapting the latest marketing strategies to the emerging technological opportunities.

Further research reveals Global Connection Network corporate marketing material identifying Kirby Cochran as CEO (right).

No idea what the story is there.

The advertised event there on the right is for the 12th of September, which is of course current.

Why Gary Cochran is presented as the CEO on the GCN website and Kirby Cochran as CEO in their marketing materials is a complete mystery to me.

In any event, Kirby Cochran is probably best known in the MLM industry for his role as CEO of WakeUpNow (2011 to late 2014).

WakeUpNow primarily functioned as a product-based pyramid scheme, with little to no retail activity taking place.

The scheme collapsed earlier this year, with former management primarily blaming Kirby Cochran for WakeUpNow’s demise.

Nowhere are the allegations against Kirby and Gary Cochran (who are brothers) better explaned, than in the $70 million USD lawsuit WakeUpNow filed against them.

Of note is that Global Connection Network is named in that lawsuit. Both as a standalone entity and with both Kirby and Gary Cochran named as defendants “doing business as Global Connection Network”.

In response to the WakeUpNow litigation, Kirby Cochran (as “Kirby David Cocharan”) filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy earlier this year on the 4th of February:

In his application, Cochran (right) claims he has between 1 to 49 creditors, assets at between $0 to $50,000 and estimated liabilities at between $100 to $500 million dollars.

As part of Cochran’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy proceedings, on the 22nd of June a settlement agreement with WakeUpNow was reached:

On January 27, 2015, WUN Parties filed a lawsuit against the GCN Parties in the Fourth Judicial District Court, Utah County, State of Utah, alleging breach of contract and other claims against the GCN Parties.

The GCN Parties also have indicated, by and through counsel, that they were going to file counterclaims and third party claims against the WUN Parties in the Lawsuit.

The WUN Parties and the GCN Parties have investigated potential claims that they may have against the other Parties, and each of them, and their potential ability to collect any judgment that any of them may obtain.

The Parties have entered into arms-length and good-faith negotiations to avoid the costs, expenses and uncertainty of litigation and collection, and without admitting liability or any wrong doing by any Party, the Parties have agreed to resolve and compromise the claims and disputes which may exist between them, whether known or unknown, pursuant to the terms and conditions more fully set forth in the Settlement Agreement.

Because it contains a carefully negotiated confidentiality provision, a copy of the agreement is being filed with the court under seal, available for inspection only by court order.

The settlement agreement is essentially a walk away type of agreement where the primary consideration exchanged between the parties is a mutual release of all claims and commitment not to say or do things that would cast a negative light on the other parties.

The parties also terminate their relationships. No party admits wrong doing.

The mutual release provisions release any claims the Wake Up Now parties may have had against Mr. Cochran’s bankruptcy estate.

Upon court approval of the Settlement Agreement the Lawsuit will be dismissed with prejudice.

The terms of the agreement are to be kept confidential except as it may be necessary to disclose them pursuant to court order.

On the 23rd of July the Utah District Court approved the settlement agreement.

As above, unfortunately the settlement agreement between WakeUpNow and Cochran is confidential, so what terms were agreed upon is unknown.

Cochran’s Chapter 7 proceedings meanwhile continue in spite of the WakeUpNow settlement, with a series of objections filed by creditors throughout August.

As of the 8th of September, at least one creditor has requested an extension of time to file their objection.

What impact Kirby Cochran’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy might have on Global Connection Network’s ongoing business operations is unclear.

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

MoneyBox TV operate in the streambox MLM niche and provide an address in Malta on their website.

Identified as CEO of the company is Simone Di Sabato, who according to his Facebook profile is based out of Italy – suggesting MoneyBox TV exists in Malta in name only.

MoneyBoxTV is Rake Business Ltd’s trademark and project, a start-up created by a young entrepreneurs team with a proven experience in selling, advertising, business training and marketing, united with enthusiasm in order to create and develop MoneyBoxTV project.

Prior to launching MoneyBox TV Di Sabato (right) was an affiliate with NutryNet (January 2015), an Italian wellness MLM that launched late last year and appears to have stalled. He was also an affiliate with VitaDaTrader (November 2014), which appears to have been some sort of forex scheme.

Late last year Di Sabato was also promoting iFreeX, run by Sann Rodrigues of TelexFree fame.

Despite iFreeX being a blatant TelexFree reload Ponzi scheme, Di Sabato figured joining it and investing was a good idea (and worthy of a thumbs up).

Other questionable schemes Di Sabato promoted in 2014 include GoldAdMatrix (recruitment-driven pyramid scheme), Zona Network ($25 to $3500 Ponzi scheme), One Thor (another TelexFree Ponzi clone), Unetenet (a €50 million EUR Ponzi investment scheme)

Di Sabato’s MLM history has a pretty broad selection of fraudulent MLM schemes targeting the European region these last few years. Is MoneyBox TV the next chapter?

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

There is no information on the Global Trust One website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The Global Trust One website domain (“g-trust1.com”) was registered on the 19th of March 2015, however the domain registration is set to private.

The Global Trust One website does have an “about us” page, but only the following vague marketing spiel is provided:

Global Trust One online business which was founded and supervised by Global Trust One Group in United States of America is now being fully managed by Dot Capital Limited, a registered offshore company in Republic of Seychelles.

A “Certificate of Incorporation” for Seychelles is provided on the Global Trust One website, but means little seeing as Seychelles is a known tax-haven with little to no MLM compliance regulation.

At the time of publication, Alexa estimate that Luxembourg provides 71% of all traffic to the Global Trust One domain. This strongly suggests that Luxembourg (another offshore tax-haven), is where Global Trust One is being operated from.

Another possibility is Asia, as those running Global Trust One seem particularly keen to market the company in Asia:

Our management office remained in USA and we plan to set up our Marketing Office in Hong Kong or other Asian country as soon as possible after the launching of our GTO Coins in Asia.

We will focus on core markets such as South East Asian and middles East countries, beside Europe.

Despite claims to the contrary, I was unable to find any Global Trust One presence in the US.

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…]

Things continue to heat up in Arcadia, the USFIA Ponzi scheme’s home turf, with news today that City Council staff are openly requesting investors contact local police.

Seeking comment from City officials regarding the ties of one of their own to USFIA, Arcadia Weekly were told by City Manager Dominic Lazzaretto;

Anyone with specific information of criminal activity associated with this business, or any other business in the City of Arcadia, is encouraged to contact the Arcadia Police Department to file a police report so the matter can be promptly investigated.

To what extent the Arcadia Police Department are able to act on and investigate USFIA complaints is unclear, but one would imagine any complaints received would be forwarded onto the relevant authorities. [Continue reading…]

Despite having a “company” page, there is no information on the Zyndio website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The Zyndio website domain (“zyndio.com”) was registered on the 24th of October 2011, with a “Integrity Management Group” listed as the owner. An address in the US state of Arizona is also provided.

Further research reveals the email address used to register the Zyndio website domain appears to belong to Anthony Powell:

It follows that Powell (right) owns Zyndio, or at the very least is running the company. However for reasons unknown, Powell’s name does not appear anywhere on the Zyndio website.

Powell is currently heavily advertising Zyndio on Facebook, referring to it as a “a ‘Mark Hughes of Herbalife’ type of business”.

Perusal of Powell’s Zyndio marketing efforts reveal he’s primarily focused on affiliate recruitment:

Anthony Powell is best-known in MLM for his time in Herbalife.

It is believed Powell’s primary Herbalife income was generated through selling leads to recruited affiliates in his downline.

This focus on recruitment and selling of leads to recruits saw Powell mentioned in numerous FTC complaints against Herbalife.

It was my intent to recruit rather than to sell retail as I was told there was much more money to be made in recruiting.

Multiple calls by company President Anthony Powell urging me to do “whatever it takes to get to the next level”.

Herbalife cracked down on this practice in 2012, which prompted Powell to leave the company and join Vemma in January 2013.

Vemma was recently shut down by the FTC, with the regulatory accusing the company of being a $200 million plus pyramid scheme.

A court-appointed Receiver has since revealed that, through his company Global Pro Systems, Powell was mentioned in 42% of complaints about Vemma filed with the FTC.

In light of regulatory action against Vemma, Powell announced earlier today that he is ditching the company (September 6th):

And that brings us to Zyndio.

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

One of the goals of the recently appointed Vemma Receiver has been to establish

whether the company directly or indirectly represented that consumers who become Vemma Affiliates were likely to earn substantial income, which is contrary to the companies’ published 2013 and 2014 results in its disclosure statements.

Part of that journey saw the Receiver evaluate Vemma’s legal affairs and field compliance procedures, with the Receiver finding that

an in-depth review of business practices of the company, consumer complaints, marketing practices, marketing materials and disciplinary actions suggest that the company has not only failed to properly police the Affiliates, but has failed to comply with many of the anti-pyramid rules required of its own Affiliates.

With information and data sourced directly from the Receiver himself, today we take a look at just how Vemma massively failed in its anti-pyramid rules legal compliance. [Continue reading…]

Robb Evans is no stranger to pyramid schemes.

Appointed Receiver in the Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing pyramid scheme case, on August 24th Evans was also appointed temporary Receiver of Vemma.

Since his appointment, Vemma claim Evans has

• summarily terminated all of Vemma’s business operations
• summarily laid off the more than 100 Vemma employees
• failed to pay any Vemma creditors (including employees) and
• given no meaningful explanation to the thousands of Vemma affiliates and customers affected by the Receiver’s actions, or if and when operations will continue

Assert Vemma, ‘the damage being done by the actions of the FTC and the Receiver is incalculable‘.

That aside, on the 4th of September Evans, in his capacity as Vemma Receiver, filed a report of his activities dated August 24th to September 4th.

If Vemma felt in any way they’d been hard done by prior, Evan’s report is perhaps the most damning indictment against them yet. [Continue reading…]