Zukul launched in 2014 and is headed up by founders Jeremy Rush and Michael Bloom.

On his Facebook profile, Rush lists his location as London in the UK. I did find a LinkedIn profile for a Michael Bloom involved in “YouTube Video Production” also in the UK, however I’m not 100% sure this is Zukul’s Michael Bloom.

In any event, despite Zukul appearing to be run out of the UK, Zukul’s provided corporate address is a PO Box in British Anguilla.

Anguilla is a known tax-haven, offering little consumer protection via a lack of local regulation and strong corporate privacy.

Of the two Zukul founders, Jeremy Rush (right) is far more prominent in Zukul marketing material.

Rush operates a YouTube channel, with videos uploaded prior to Zukul’s launch marketing MMO Cashout ($10 to $99 a month recruitment scheme), Penny Matrix ($7 a month recruitment scheme), DS Domination (dropshipping), AdExperts ($400 recruitment scheme), AdHitProfits (125% ROI Ponzi scheme) and Banners Broker (Canadian Ponzi scheme).

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

There is no information on the GTI-Net website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The GTI-Net website domain (“gti-net.com”) was registered on the 15th of December 2014, with “Jhony Depresseux” of “GTI NET Limited” listed as the owner. A PO Box address in Dubai is also provided.

On his LinkedIn and Facebook profiles, Depresseux (right) lists his current location as Liège, Belgium. Why the GTI-Net domain registration lists a PO Box in Dubai is unclear.

Depresseux’s LinkdIn profile credits him with being a Herbalife affiliate circa 1989 to 1990. There’s then a decade gap until 2000, wherein Depresseux was appointed CEO of LibertyTelecom (a non-MLM telecommunications company in Belgium).

In November 2014 Depresseux signed up as an affiliate with MPT Max.

Using a matrix-based compensation plan, MPT Max saw affiliates pay €60 EUR and get paid when they recruited others who did the same.

In comments left on our MPT Max review, Depresseux attempted to justify the scheme by asserting “you do not pay if you recruit people”.

A GTI-Net business presentation also lists Sven Lefeber as a founder. Lefeber also appears to be operating out of Belgium.

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

There is no information on the Traffic Lead Income website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The Traffic Lead Income website domain (“trafficleadincome.com”) was registered on the 10th of January 2016, with Sukhminder Singh listed as the owner. An address in New Delhi, India is also provided.

Singh first popped up on BehindMLM’s radar as the owner of World Ad Pays.

World Ad Pays launched in late 2015 and saw affiliates pay $25 to qualify to earn on the recruitment of new affiliates.

Alexa traffic statistics suggest World Ad pays has since collapsed, which has likely prompted the launch of Traffic Lead Income.

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

Back in May 2015, a joint-operation between US, Spanish and Costa Rican authorities saw Liberty Reserve shut down for money laundering.

At the time, Liberty Reserve was the payment processor of choice for much of the MLM underbelly. Providing a platform for relatively anonymous money laundering, Liberty Reserve was also widely popular with criminals outside of MLM too.

Five months after the shutdown, Liberty Reserve co-founder Vladmir Kats plead guilty to money laundering.

A year later his partner in crime, fellow Liberty Reserve co-founder Arthur Budovsky Belanchuk, was extradited to the US.

There Belanchuk faced criminal charges for his role in Liberty Reserve, identified by then as a $6 billion dollar money laundering racket.

Belanchuk filed a Motion to Dismiss the case, which was denied last September.

A trial had been scheduled to kick off in early February 2015, however a few hours ago news broke that Belanchuk has now plead guilty. [Continue reading…]

Back in September 2015 we reported on South Africa’s National Consumer Commission and Specialised Commercial Crimes Unit conducting an investigation into WorldVentures.

Now, rumblings out of South Africa that the NCC have concluded their investigation – with an announcement expected early next week. [Continue reading…]

BehindMLM first reviewed Alphay International back in January of 2012.

My biggest criticisms of the Alphay opportunity at the time were the ridiculous affiliate membership costs (up to $2467), and a generally restrictive compensation plan.

It was first brought to my attention that Alphay International had made changes to their compensation plan in January of 2014.

I promptly flagged our Alphay review for an update, only to discover Alphay had ceased offering a copy of their compensation plan on their website.

Making a note of it in BehindMLM’s published review, I left it at that.

A reader informed me mid last year that Alphay were once again providing their compensation plan on their website.

Having flagged the review again for an update, I sussed out the new compensation plan and discovered it was indeed significantly changed.

Today we take a look at those changes, along with a complete review and evaluation of Alphay’s current compensation plan. [Continue reading…]

Back in March of 2014, the Swedish Gaming Board concluded an investigation into Lyoness.

Suspecting Lyoness was running a pyramid scheme, the Gaming Board forwarded their findings to police for further investigation.

That investigation has been quietly carried out for almost two years, with prosecutors deciding to drop the investigation last November.

Not because Lyoness was running a pyramid scheme, but because they felt it was “not possible to prove who” committed the crime.

That Lyoness was running a pyramid scheme in violation of Sweden’s Lotteries Act was not under contention, rather prosecutor’s didn’t know who to file charges against. [Continue reading…]

He was the poster-boy for uFun Club.

Regularly appearing in full military garb, retired Major-General Athiwaat Soonpan attended uFun Club events to lend an air of authority to the scheme.

When Thai police raided uFun Club’s office and started making arrests in April 2014, Soonpan fled to the US.

An arrest warrant was issued by Thai authorities, with Soonpan eventually apprehended in August.

It has since been revealed that Soonpan and his wife stole over a million dollars from uFun Club victims.

Despite protests to the contrary, Soonpan was by all accounts a uFun Club insider. Thai police allege he had “management authority” and ‘signed documents and contracts on behalf of the company‘.

The recommendation that Soonpan be indicted thus comes as no surprise, but is nonetheless welcomed as a sign of progress in the ongoing case. [Continue reading…]

Earlier this week Sweden’s Gaming Board announced the conclusion of an ongoing investigation into OneCoin.

For those unfamiliar with the regulatory body, Sweden’s Gaming Board are responsible for investigation violations of Sweden’s Lotteries Act.

In an official notice published on the regulator’s Lotteri Inspektionen website, the Swedish Gaming Board have declared OneCoin to be “a chain letter game or similar”.

Chain letter games are more commonly known today as pyramid schemes. [Continue reading…]

Legacy Direct operate out California and operate in the stream box MLM niche.

Launched in mid 2015, Legacy Direct is headed up by CEO Christian Rosario.

Through his company MiH Marketing, Rosario is currently a Seacret Direct affiliate. Prior to Seacret Direct, Rosario was an affiliate with Gano Excel (ganoderma coffee).

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