Brilliant Carbon attempt to merge the purchasing of carbon credits with MLM. The Brilliant Carbon website names Nigel Allan (below right) and Haakon Grunnan as the co-founders of the company, with Allan also serving as company President.

The formation of Brilliant Carbon, as provided on their website,  is certainly an interesting read. It begins with the launch of a similar carbon credits based MLM opportunity, Ausante.

In early 2011 Nigel was approached by Tahir Ali and Mark Chadwick to set up a new MLM company called Ausante, along with Carl Mallinson, of Ceejay Commodities Ltd from Zambia, who was going to be planting trees to back up the environmental sales.

This seemed like a noble cause and Nigel agreed to become an equal shareholder and Director of the company.

Nigel, along with Haakon Grunnan, proceeded to build a large worldwide sales network of people offsetting their carbon footprint….or so he believed.

After Tahir Ali forced Carl Mallinson out of the company in October 2011, and did not pay him for the trees he had planted, Ausante no longer had a ‘product’ backing up the sales they were making.

It became clear that the only way to become legal and transparent about what people were buying was to purchase and retire real carbon credits in customers’ names.

Unfortunately Nigel was deceived by the other directors and no carbon credits were ever purchased and retired by Ausante in the name of Ausante customers (easily provable by searching the public registries), even after millions of dollars in sales of ‘nonexistent’ credits had already been made.

Not wishing to be part of a worldwide fraud, Nigel resigned from the company in June 2012.

Nigel and Haakon then spent the next twelve months putting together the business and systems known as BrilliantCarbon.

It’s worth noting that before Allan left Ausante in June, Ali had already begun launching Ausante spinoffs. CO2 Rewards was one such spinoff, reviewed here on BehindMLM in March of 2012.

CO2 Rewards offer their members the ability to acquire customers through the company itself (whether or not they charge for this service is unclear), effectively it’s entirely possible to use CO2 Rewards as an investment program.

You purchase units, give them away to customers the company supposedly provides you and then earn a return on the money you fed into the company.

Today the Ausante website is still online, with Ali’s partner Mark Chadwick listed as CEO. CO2 Rewards on the other hand no longer exists.

On the Brilliant Carbon website Allan claims Brilliant Carbon was created because he was ‘determined to learn from Ausante’s mistakes‘.

As for where Brilliant Carbon are based out of, a “Brilliant Carbon Support” address is provided in London along with a UK-based contact number for Nigel Allan, however whether the actual business is based out of the UK is not clear.

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

Around the seventh or eighth appeal, the TelexFree legitimacy horse was bruised, bloodied and bashed to a pulp. Now after the twelfth appeal, the carcass has long since decomposed and all that’s left are some bones and entrails. And still TelexFree management rattle the debris and kick at the dirt.

Adamant that paying affiliates a guaranteed $20 a week ROI using new affiliate investor money isn’t a Ponzi scheme, TelexFree continued their crusade of appeals in the Brazilian courts with the filing of an appeal in the Superior Court.

After being denied their final interlocutory appeal in the Civil Court of Acre, the eleventh such appeal filed in relation to the business halting injunction issued against TelexFree back in June, Carlos Costa and his band of merry lawyers took their fight to the Superior Court by way of a new appeal.

…and you can probably guess how that turned out. [Continue reading…]

Amate Life operate in the health and wellness MLM niche and operate out of the US state of Maryland.

On the management side of things, Amate Life is headed up by CEO and co-founder, Kester Albo.

Prior to Amate Life I wasn’t able to find any information linking Albo the MLM industry. Back in October 2011 Albo (below right) filed a trademark for the name “Amate Life”, which was granted in June 2012.

Meanwhile on her LinkedIn profile, Kester Albo’s wife, Mileddi Albo (Amate Life’s other co-founder and President), lists involvement with Amate Life dating back to February 2011.

The lack of information available on the Albos in relation to the MLM industry would indicate that Amate Life is their first venture on the executive side of things.

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

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

The LifeProductSolutions website was registered on the 6th of August 2013, however the domain registration is set to private.

Social media marketing for LifeProductSolutions appears to be an in-house job, performed by a “Matt Woodhouse”, who identifies himself as the Founder of the company.

Finally although no mention of where LifeProductSolutions is based out is mentioned on the company website, the online storefront does use pounds, indicating that the company is operating out of the UK.

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

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

The PayOfRewards website domain (“payofrewards.com”) was registered on the 21st of May 2013, however the domain registration is set to private.

On the PayOfRewards website a Twitter and Facebook button can be seen and while the Facebook button goes nowehere, the Twitter button links to an account under the name of “Albert Midwall”.

No tweets have been made by the account though and Albert Midwall’s name does not appear on the internet outside of the PayOfRewards opportunity, indicating that it’s most likely not a real person.

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 1ClickDay website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The 1ClickDay website domain (“1clickday.com”) was registered on the 9th of September 2012, 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…]

Vappnet stands for “Viral App Network” and is based out of Indiana in the US.

Heading up Vaapnet is CEO Craig Haggard. In his Vappnet corporate bio Haggard (below right) is credited as a

22 year veteran of the United States Marine Corps and Indiana Air National Guard, has owned and operated two construction and real estate development companies and currently sits on multiple consulting and economic advisory boards for the state of Indiana.

On the MLM side of things Haggard is credited with having ‘over 15 years experience in the Network Marketing Industry’, however no specifics are given.

The only company I was able to link Haggard to was Organo Gold (coffee), which Haggard was an affiliate in along with Vappnet’s COO, Kevin Aders:

According to the Organo Gold University website, Craig Haggard joined the company in August of 2012.

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

DS Domination went into beta launch on August 23rd. Currently there is no information on the DS Domination website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The DS Domination “about us” page does not share information with the general public unless they join the company:

You are not allowed to view this page. This means you have not yet activated your purchase of this product.

Interestingly, the DS Domination website domain is registered to a “Kevin Hokoana” using an Army Post Office Box (APO) address in “Armed Forces Pacific”.

Despite the domain being registered to Hokoana however, DS Domination affiliates are crediting “Roger Langille” as “behind the company”, claiming he ‘ has been a top seller on EBay almost 10 year and was doing more than 7 figures a year!

A thread on the popular Warrior Forum (published on the 27th March, 2013) provides some additional information, indicating that both Kevin Hokoana and Roger Langille are seasoned affiliate marketers.

I have promoted some products for Kevin Hokoana, and made some affiliate sales, but he does not answer emails, and getting hold of the guy is next to impossible. I have even phoned him in the states, but no joy.

I work with Kevin as well and had trouble getting paid until I found out that he’s an Air Force Major and was unavailable for a few weeks straight due to the North Korea stuff. I know Roger (his partner) really well too which is how I found that out.

I already have Kevin and Roger on Skype, and the promises keep coming about payment, but so far… nothing..

I won’t be promoting anything else for them, because they are simply unreliable, and traffic is valuable, and I will be pushing the traffic to somewhere it is appreciated, and for affiliates promoters that respect their affiliates, because these two certainly don’t!

Meanwhile Roger Langille credits himself as “the eBay trainer” on his personal blog, claiming to be a “Titanium Seller”.

Currently, I am designing automated systems to allow people to monitor inventory, as well as automatically upload thousands of items in seconds. These systems will allow automation of eBay to take it to the next level and beyond.

On the executive side of things I haven’t seen anything Roger Langille has been involved in but as an affiliate I’ve seen his named pop up as an affiliate of MyShoppingGenie (now defunct recruitment-based app opportunity), Visalus (weightloss) and Sozo (coffee berry).

Finally there appears to be some ambiguity as to where DS Domination operate of. As already mentioned, the company’s domain is registered to Kevin Hokoana using an APO in what appears to be Japan. Meanwhile the company’s Terms and Conditions state:

These Terms and Conditions shall be construed in accordance with and governed by the laws of the United States and the State of California, without reference to their rules regarding conflicts of law.

You hereby irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state or federal courts in San Diego County, California, USA in all disputes arising out of or related to the use of the Site or Service.

And then a third address pops up on DS Domination’s Privacy Policy Page –

This site is owned and operated by
DS Domination
15201 Mason Rd. Ste 1000 #145
Cypress, TX 77433

Whether DS Domination is based out of Texas, California or Japan is unclear.

Read on for a full review of the DS Domination Beta Launch MLM opportunity. [Continue reading…]

International Markets Live (more commonly referred to as iMarketsLive), is headed up by President and CEO Christopher Terry and based out of New York in the US.

Describing how iMarketsLive came about, the company claims that

after years in the financial markets, a group of traders have come together with a group of marketers to create what is a perfect marriage for people who are looking for a way to create real wealth in their lives.

In a rather spammy interview conducted by Denise A. Martino (who was in the same MLM company as Terry at the time), Terry (right) reveals

I was dating a girl and she was bragging about how her boss was making $5,000 a month in some business and that I should talk to him, so I did.

He signed me up, and then my girlfriend, the very one who told me to speak to him, wanted me to quit because it was Amway! I told my sponsor that I had some problems and I had to quit. He told me, “Get rid of the problems.”

So, I broke up with my girlfriend and built Amway.

I was actually in Amway for several years in the 1990s. I was fortunate to hit levels of success here in the United States in that company. I then went overseas as Amway opened up new markets, which gave me the opportunity to have an international business.

The interview is dated August 2012 and in it Terry states that other
than the company he and Martino were in at the time (Martino was recruited into Terry’s downline), he has not joined any other MLM opportunities.

Unfortunately the company he and Martino were in is not mentioned by name, however Terry does mention that

I have no products to carry around, no juices or vitamins to purchase or sell, I did not have to sneak up on my family and friends, and I do not have to sell expensive products that I can buy in the store cheaper. We get paid to advertise. Period.

I have been approached by other network marketing companies that involve selling legal insurance, utility companies, juice companies, vitamin companies, weight loss companies, you name it! I have found that ours is so simple; our work is to advertise and it takes no more than two minutes per day.

In my experience of reviewing hundreds of MLM opportunities, nothing legitimate has ever come out of the marriage of “we get paid to advertise” and an MLM business opportunity.

One possibility is Zeek Rewards, who were the grand daddy of “get paid to advertise” at the time. If it is Zeek Rewards Martino and Terry are talking about, that would be somewhat ironic seeing as the spammy interview was uploaded on August 13th, just five days before the SEC filed charges against the company.

Note that the above is just a possibility and is not confirmed, I was unable to link either Terry or Martino to Zeek Rewards.

I did however find this tweet from the 5th of October 2012 in which Martino is promoting Wealth Creation Alliance:

At the time, Wealth Creation Alliance was a popular reload scam (micro-Ponzi) for ex-Zeek Rewards affiliates.

Other than Amway and the mystery “passive earning” “we get paid to advertise” business mentioned in the Martino interview, I don’t believe Terry has been involved in MLM. On the executive side of things, iMarketsLive would appear to be his first venture.

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

Genesis Pure launched in late 2009 and is based out of the US state of Utah.

Heading up Genesis Pure is Chairman and CEO, Dr. Lindsay Duncan (below right), with the company crediting its existence to Duncan’s ‘many years of hard-won wisdom and expertise in the natural health field‘.

On the executive side of things, Genesis Pure appears to be Duncan’s first MLM venture, with his corporate bio focusing on a career as a “naturopathic doctor” and formulator of “nutritional formulations” for his company “4 Health Inc”.

More recently, Genesis Pure appears to have acquired the MLM company LifeMax, with a 7th of August announcement on Genesis Pure’s Facebook page stating

Our Chairman & CEO Dr. Lindsey Duncan ND, CN recently shared with us some amazing news! Genesis PURE has partnered with Lifemax, a respected network marketing company who is the creator of a top-notch Chia product, Mila.

The exact nature of the “partnership” has not been disclosed at the time of publication, however the LifeMax website is down (redirecting to a currently empty subdomain on the main Genesis Pure domain):

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