When I first reviewed EPX Body back in March of 2012, the company appeared to have an unofficial connection with Xooma Worldwide through its apparent owner, Dan Putnam.

Some months ago EPX Body appears to have gone through a reboot, with the company dropping the “EPX” portion of its name in favor of “One80”. On the domain “epx180.com” however, an image in the footer advises that One80 is “powered by” EPX Body.

Absent on the One80 website is any information on who is running the company. The website does feature an “About 180” link, however clicking it only brings up the following vague marketing copy:

One80 was started by a group of very successful businessmen with over 100 years of combined experience; they have created an opportunity to help you understand the exact steps you need to take in order to be successful and provide the tools to succeed and take advantage of all the benefits that are available for starting a business.

The EPX Body website domain is still registered to Dan Putnam (right), so he’s evidently still running things. There’s no mention of Xooma Worldwide on the site though.

I’ve had a few requests from readers claiming that EPX Body has mixed things up with the release of One80 now, and today I finally got around to taking a look at what’s changed.

Read on for a full review of the One80 MLM business opportunity. [Continue reading…]

LyfeStart International launched in mid 2014 and are based out of California in the US.

Heading up LyfeStart is Co-founder and CEO, Christopher Pair Garza.

Garza is refreshingly candid about his MLM history, with his LyfeStart bio acknowledging that he is a

former CEO and President of Herbalife (and) former Vice Chairman of the Direct Selling Association.

According to his LinkedIn profile, Garza’s association with Herbalife began in 1985 and continued on till 2001. During this time (1990-2002) he also served as a “Director” at the DSA.

In 2002 Garza (right) became the President and CEO of Cynergy Partners Inc., who are described on a LyfeStart investment brief as being

an investment and consulting firm basedin Beverly Hills with a focus on consumer products, network marketing and international expansion.

The brief expands on Garza’s LyfeStart corporate bio, crediting him as the

Director of Neways during its successful sale to a Private Investment Fund for 400mm +.

Mr. Pair served as the Vice Chairman of the DirectSelling Association, and the Boards of the Consumer Health Products Association and the Nutritional Products Association.

He received his BA as well as his MBA from the University of Redland; and also served as a reserve in the OC California Sheriff’s Office.

I’m not entirely sure why LyfeStart credits him as “Mr. Pair” instead of “Mr. Garza” in the brief.

The brief is actually quite an interesting read, as it goes over the starting up of the company and reason LyfeStart were seeking investors:

The Company seeks an investment of $3,000,000, with funds to be used for marketing and sales, inventory, product development and operating capital (the “Offering”).

Upon completion of the Offering, LyfeStart anticipates that it will commercially launch with sales of its four core products in the first quarter of 2014.

Also of note is that the brief reveals Lyfestart is a “Delaware Corp”, meaning they are actually registered in Delaware, not in California where they are based.

In any event, read on for a full review of the LyfeStart International MLM business opportunity. [Continue reading…]

Less than 24 hours after indictments were handed down against owners Carlos Wanzeler and James Merrill, Brazilian federal police have launched a new operation against TelexFree.

Codenamed operation Orion, supposedly because the constellation Orion aligns with “the three largest pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex” in Egypt (Wikipedia), the operation has thus far resulted in nine search warrants. [Continue reading…]

Filed on the 23rd of July, a grand jury has indicted James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler on eight counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Reading like a BehindMLM review, the grand jury described TelexFree as a pyramid/Ponzi hybrid: [Continue reading…]

Social Free Life launched in early 2014 and provide two addresses on their website, “legal” and “operative”, both in Malta.

The company names Virgilio Degiovanni as a Founder on their website, along with an anonymous group of individuals

who had the unique vision to start it in the first place. Industry investors with business acumen to support the relentless drive led Virgilio Degiovanni to bring Social Free Life Sharing to success.

No specific information (MLM or otherwise) on Degiovanni or his group of investors is provided.

Degiovanni (right) is quite active on the internet, with his Twitter account revealing that he is based out of Milano in Italy. Given this, it would appear the Maltese addresses provided on the Social Free Life website are virtual mailing addresses.

I’ve seen Malta pop up as a preferred business registration for a number of dubious European-based MLM companies recently, so make of that what you will.

On his Facebook page, Degiovanni associates himself with “Virgilio Degiovanni Communication”:

Degiovanni claims the company

provides training for companies and individuals, with a ‘multimedia offer: live events; programs on the web; webinars; podcasts; video.

Meanwhile Degiovanni would appear to be quite well known in Italy, warranting his own Wikipedia entry.

On it, Degiovanni is credited with launching something called “The Millionaire Network” in 1994. It seems to have been some sort of card discount scheme, not unlike what we still see floating around today (charging a fee for access to third-party discounts).

In 1996 Degiovanni expanded The Millionaire Network to encompass the Millionaire’s Market. Auto-translate is a bit iffy, but it seems this company was an attempt to offer retail product discounts through the company.

Following the launch of the Millionaire’s Market, ‘the project ran out in a matter of a couple of years.‘

In 1998 Degiovanni got involved in telecommunications and online ventures, going on to launch something called “Freedomland” in 2000.

Freedomland was founded in 2000 and owned by the same Degiovanni, is publicly traded on the New Market [9] . However, the stock market does not believe in Freedomland , and the stock falls to € 99.18 on the first day of listing 105.

Within a few months, the stock lose 90% of its value. For supporters of Degiovanni, it is the result of an act hostile speculative. To detractors, however, the share price Freedomland is too high. In fact, Freedomland is the first publicly traded company to mark the collapse of the New Market.

This led to charges being filed against Diogiovanni, which appear to have resulted in a conviction and jail time:

In 2001 Degiovanni is accused of illegal financial and false prospectus. According to the indictment, the actions Freedomland have been placed on the market at an artificially high price, € 105, due to a false prospectus, in which the number of subscribers was “inflated” were shown tens of thousands of subscriptions that reality had not yet been signed. In July 2001, the stock price had fallen to about 16 Euros.

The Court of Milan (sentenced) Degiovanni to ten months’ imprisonment, a negotiated sentence for the forgery of the listing prospectus of Freedomland . Thirty thousand investors have lost 92% of their investment, for a total of 315 million.

A whole bunch of non-MLM related stuff happened after that, with Degiovanni launching his Virgilio Degiovanni Communication company in 2010.

At some point he seems to have gotten involved in Xango, with his name being mentioned in an article covering the 2011 shutdown of Xango in Italy.

Degiovanni is cited as the “President” of FreedomLand and “among the first guru(s) of Multilevel Market(ing)” in Italy.

On January 3rd, Xango was shutdown by “the Italian AntiTrust organization” for fraudulent health claims and operating a compensation plan that focused on the recruitment of new affiliates. What Degiovanni’s specific role was within the company (affiliate or executive) was not clarified.

In any event, now in 2014 Degiovanni appears to be making a comeback in the MLM industry by way of Social Free Life.

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

It’s almost unfathomable, that the top net-winners in a global $800M Ponzi scheme would dare to ask for more – but here we are.

In a last-ditch attempt to intimidate the Receivership charged with recovering the money they stole, Jerry Napier, Darren Miller and Trudy Gilmond are collectively demanding the Receivership pay them $947,000.

The trio, who are represented by the law firm Nexsen Pruett, have filed counterclaims against the Receiver alleging a breach of contract.

Napier, Miller and Gilmond contend that they “completely performed all of their responsibilities and obligations to RVG under the contract”. That contract in question being the investment of money and then advertised ROI Zeek promised them. [Continue reading…]

There is no information on the Integrity Assets Group website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The company does have an “About US” page on their website, however only the following vague marketing copy is provided:

We are a group with a vision, with major projects, and founded in the land of opportunity, “The United States of America”. We truly believe in making a difference in the world.

The company mentions South America frequently on the same page, indicating possible ownership from within:

Integrity Assets Group, Inc. was founded in 2012 in California. We now hold Multi-million contracts by supplying and distributing products and services worldwide. We are associated with well-known partners and companies from Latin America and Japan.

Our distribution to Latin America is about 350,000 tires for automobiles and large trucks. In addition, Home Appliances are also distributed to our partners in Latin America.

We also count on Strategic Divisions for the exploration and extraction of precious metals like Gold and Silver.

Our Business Warranties are completely solid and secure. We have contracts with companies who buy our products and will continue doing it for the decades to come. Such contracts are secured by a in $300 million bond.

Make of that what you will, keeping in mind that no further specifics are provided on any claims made by the company.

Meanwhile the Integrity Assets Group website domain (“integrityassetsgroup.us”) was registered on January 14th 2014. This throws into question the company’s claims they were founded in 2012, and naturally casts a shadow of doubt over the rest of the company’s claims.

The domain registration itself reveals little about company ownership, simply listing “Integrity Assets Group, Inc” as the owner with an address in California.

The mention of California matches the company’s claim they were founded there, however the specific address provided, 1901 Avenue of the Stars in Los Angeles, is owned by Regus.

The lack of a specific office number would indicate Integrity Assets Group are simply buying virtual office space (a mailing address) from Regus at $139 a month.

Two additional addresses appear on the Integrity Assets website, one in New York (14 Wall St New York, NY 10005) and one in California (100 N Barranca St #870 West Covina, CA 91791).

The New York address is yet another virtual mailbox service provided by Regus. The California address is a building owned by Wells Fargo. It might be legit but given the other two addresses are virtual, I’m not about to give Integrity Assets Group the benefit of the doubt.

As such, whether or not Integrity Assets Group has a physical presence in California or elsewhere in the US remains unclear.

I did note the mention of an “A. Al-Ajluni.” as the CEO of Intergrity Assets Group on a press-release covering a purported sponsorship deal between the company and Bryan Herta Autosport.

Indianapolis, IN – May 9, 2014 – Indianapolis 500 winning team Bryan Herta Autosport announced today that Integrity Energee Drink will be the primary sponsor of the No. 98 BHA/BBM w/ Curb Agajanian entry driven by Jack Hawksworth in the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series.

“Integrity Assets Group was founded with a vision to supply and distribute products and services that make a real difference in the communities we serve,” said Integrity Assets Group, Inc. CEO A. Al-Ajluni.

Back in 2010, Alexander Al-Ajluni worked for Autobahn Motors in Belmont, CA as an “e-commerce sales associate”:

A cached capture of the AutoBahn Motors website at the time reveals Al-Ajluni listed as one of the dealership’s sales staff:

Today Al-Ajluni’s name does not appear on the AutoBahn Motors website, indicating he’s since stopped working there.

This would go some way to explain the seemingly random sponsorship of an Indianapolis 500 racing team (auto industry contacts), however Al-Ajluni’s MLM history remains a mystery. Ditto why no information about him is publicly disclosed on the Integrity Assets Group website.

As always, if a 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 PlanB4You website indicating who owns or runs the business.

PlanB4You does have a “who are we?” section on the site, but only the following non-specific information is provided:

We are the BVBA Create Commerce (Ltd.), trading under the name of PlanB4You.

The PlanB4You domain is registered to a “Johny Schabregs”, with an address in Belgium provided.

This matches the address provided on the PlanB4You website, with the company’s affiliates also naming Schabregs (right) as PlanB4You’s founder and owner in their marketing presentations.

Details on Schabregs’ MLM history are sketchy, despite the PlanB4You website crediting him with “years of Multi-Level Marketing experience”.

Read on for a full review of the PlanB4You MLM business opportunity. [Continue reading…]

Launched in February of 2013, Level 9 App was based on the premise of giving away a free mobile app and charging customers $7.95 a month for “extended content”.

Affiliates were charged a little bit extra on top of this for “full compensation plan benefits”.

As is common with app-based MLM companies, shortly after launch the company went into decline. There was certainly no shortage of Level 9 affiliates promoting the company, so it would seem they failed to attract retail paid users of the app.

According to the Level 9 App company website,

In Mid August, 2013, Level 9 Marketing was purchased from its founders by two of its original Brand Partners.

Now, in an announcement made a few months ago, Level 9 App are looking to rebrand themselves as “IQ Life”.

The app the company was based on?

Well, according to Level 9 it’s being abandoned for a social network:

Now is the time to strategically align with a brand new social sharing platform soon to be released. Level 9 Marketing is shifting to iQLife. Those in this movement will soon be in position to capitalize on this multi hundred billion dollar social sharing arena!

A mobile app opp that went nowhere is now entering the social network MLM niche? Hmm.

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

CyberWealth 7 went into prelaunch in mid 2013 and launched shortly thereafter in early 2014.

The company is presented as being “a division” of Cyber Wealth Alliance, both of which are based out of the US state of California.

Heading up CyberWealth 7 (and presumably Cyber Wealth Alliance) is Jeff Crane (right), who serves as company President.

In 2012 Crane launched the 4 Color Gold opportunity, which saw affiliates get paid to recruit new affiliates and earn residual commissions (paid out of affiliate membership fees) through a series of 2×3 matrices.

Being dependent on affiliate recruitment, 4 Color Gold launched January 2012 and appears to have collapsed a few months later. Today the 4 Color Gold website domain is defunct.

4 Color Gold was set up in a similar fashion to CyberWealth 7 and Cyber Wealth Alliance, only then Crane called the parent company “The Cash Flow Alliance”.

Taken from the BehindMLM 4 Color Gold review,

The Cash Flow Alliance’s previous business adventures include the ‘International Financiers Business Association’ (IFBA), which was advertised way back in 2004 as a ‘profit share’ program and appears to be now defunct.

Another failed Cash Flow Alliance opportunity includes something called ’10k21days’, which dates back to around 2009.

Why Crane renamed The Cash Flow Alliance to the Cyber Wealth Alliance is unclear.

Prior to 4 Color Gold Crane was an affiliate with Royal Cruise Matrix (2009). Royal Cruise Matrix was quite obviously the inspiration behind 4 Color Gold, with it too charging affiliates a participation fee and then relying on them filling a series of matrices (via recruitment) in order to get paid.

In the above image, Faith Sloan lists Crane as the 8th ranked affiliate in Royal Cruise Matrix.

Faith Sloan incidentally is currently facing a civil lawsuit filed by the SEC over her involvement in the Ponzi scheme TelexFree.

Read on for a full review of the CyberWealth 7 MLM business opportunity. [Continue reading…]