Tag: ponzi

Beware Of New Ponzi Schemes In Singapore!

Hi,

I am writing to you in the hope that you will do a good deed and inform fellow Singaporeans not to fall victim to further ponzi schemes, following the high profile cases of Sunshine Empire, Profitable Plots, Geneva Gold, SureWin4U and the more recent Orchard Road Property scam, where the founder has reportedly gone missing with $60 million.

There are currently at least a few more potential scams that are brewing in Singapore, one of which has already blown up in Taiwan but has somewhat successfully insulated the news from its Singapore members.

Below are their descriptions in brief.

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NUMBER ONE – MAXIM TRADER (http://www.maximtrader.com/)

They claim to be a group made up of expert Forex traders and analysts with many years of experience. The CEO is a Singaporean called Andrew Lim. Since a few years back, they have been going around Singapore, Malaysia, Hongkong, China and Taiwan to offer investment packages to the public which promise generous returns of up to 8% per month. The condition is that the investors must have their funds locked up for a minimum period. They have managed to grow extremely fast through a generous commission system they offer to existing clients to get in new clients.

What’s Fishy about Maxim

First, Forex trading is a very volatile ‘business’. It is not only illegal in various countries, but also nearly impossible to offer ‘guaranteed’ returns due to the volatile nature of foreign exchange fluctuations.

Secondly, if Maxim Trader is handling large amounts of investments, it is going to have problems filling orders on a timely manner. Due to this, they should rationally offer a lower rate of returns (due to lower trading volumes) to be conservative and responsible to their clients if they are really trading.

Thirdly, Maxim Trader is trading through its own brokerage firm – Maxim Capital. This means that any funds remitted to Maxim Capital can be manipulated to show false trading results. Even if a client is seeing trading results through a 3rd party software, this can be easily manipulated on the brokerage firm’s side.

Fourthly, on it’s own website, Maxim Trader’s mother company – Maxim Capital – claims to be a listed company. Sure, it seems to be listed. But try to find more substantial information like its cash flow, financial statements, business prospectus, etc and you will find that you cannot find any. Now, even if they are really listed, so what? Remember the biggest Ponzi scheme ever that was a big listed company – Enron?

Fifth, Maxim Capital was founded by a Singaporean called Andrew Lim –https://www.linkedin.com/pub/andrew-lim/26/793/5aa. Yet there are conflicting reports on other sites that Maxim Capital is actually owned by Royale Globe Holding Inc. This is confusing because this particular company is actually a ‘shell’ company with no business operations, and the president is a 25 year old Thai guy called Yupa Sathapornjariya. So this means that a 25 year old Thai guy owns a shell company called Royale Globe which owns Maxim Capital, both ‘listed’ companies with no visible business operations, models and financial statements.

Now Here’s the Big One

A few days ago, the Taiwan authorities officially arrested the founders of Maxim Trader Taiwan on suspicion of operating a ponzi scheme. They found wads of loose cash lying about, folded into flower bouquets and stuffed into suitcases.

Below is a news article on the case.

http://www.wantchinatimes.com/news-subclass-cnt.aspx?id=20150529000097&c…

Below is a Taiwanese TV news report on the case.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-3pElYfTOU

Conclusion

Strangely, the news does not seem to have reached Singapore, and life is going on as usual over here.

This may be due to the fact that the Taiwanese authorities are not communicating with Singapore’s CAD, and that their news are mostly in Chinese.

But one thing is clear; the shit is going to hit the fan big time very very soon.

If you have money in Maxim Trader, get it out now! If they refuse, report to CAD immediately on grounds that they have already gotten in trouble in Taiwan.

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NUMBER TWO – ONE LIGHTINING (http://one-lightningcorp.com/)

One Lightning is a MLM group from the Philippines offering monthly returns on your investments. Although they offer a range of products, it is not necessary to keep purchasing these products or introduce other people in order to get these monthly returns.

What’s Fishy about One Lightning

All legitimate MLM companies need to keep selling products in order to stay afloat and profitable. They charge a premium for their products, and give a generous commission to their affiliates to re-sell their products, in the process saving up on advertising and generating good income for everybody who sells their products. To sell products continuously, most good MLM companies focus on developing good products that people would want to use for the long term.

Strangely, One Lightning is not product centric.

Instead, when they first started out, they offered only ‘investment’ schemes that allowed investors to put in various sums of money for monthly returns based on what they put in. Although anyone who put in money does get some products, the company is not focused on selling the products and does not require their members to do that. These products are also poorly packaged and seem to be pretty generic products.

Although it is also not necessary for existing members to introduce new investors, One Lightning gives out generous commissions to members for doing that.

Due to the generous commissions for introducing friends, the monthly returns without the need to sell products, One Lightning has managed to grow very fast within a few months of inception in the Philippines and has even infiltrated other countries like Malaysia and Singapore.

Question – how can One Lightning be sustainable if it is –

– Not researching and developing good products that people want to buy and use for the long term

– Offering monthly returns to its members without requiring them to sell products or introducing new members (note however that its members want to introduce new members for the generous commissions)

Where is One Lightning’s money coming from in order to pay off the monthly returns to its investors if it does not have a sustainable business model built around its products? The later investors of course! Classic ponzi scheme style.

Now Here’s the Big One

In March 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Philippines officially published notices that they have served a Cease and Desist order on One Lightning for offering authorized investment schemes.http://www.sec.gov.ph/notices/advisory/2015AdvisoryNo2_One_Lightning_Cor…

There are also many articles on One Lightning’s illicit activities that can found through typing in ‘one lightning sec’ or ‘one lightning scam’ in Google.

As of last check, this Cease and Desist order has not been lifted. This means that it is officially illegal in the Philippines to be introducing One Lightning to anyone.

Yet, in Singapore, it seems that the group has been actively looking for new members, probably because it is not banned in Singapore yet.

Conclusion

If you are invited to a One Lightning event, don’t go. Report the event to the CAD for them to carry out a thorough investigation. Warn your friends.

If you are already caught in a One Lightning investment scheme (scam), try asking for your money back or report them to the CAD if you are refused.

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NUMBER THREE – SINGLIWORLD (http://singliforex.com/)

SingliWorld smells just like Maxim Trader and operates almost in the same fashion, except on a smaller scale.

What’s Fishy about SingliWorld

Besides all the similarities it bears to Maxim Trader, the biggest alarm is that SingliWorld seems to prefer trading exclusively through a newly established Forex brokerage firm called TFX Global – http://tfxglobal.com/about-us

Question – If SingliWorld is a legitimate Forex trading company, why is it not using an established and reputable Forex broker like FXPrimus or Forex.com? Why work with a new company with no track records and may potentially screw up their trading or even run away with their money?

Answer- Maybe they belong to the same owner(s)?

There is an excellent article on SingliWorld here which discusses the ownership very clearly. Do read it and form your own opinion.

http://behindmlm.com/mlm-reviews/singliworld-review-forex-investment-thr…

Now Here’s the Big One

Both Singliworld and TFX Global are on MAS’s Investor’s Watchlist.http://www.mas.gov.sg/IAL.aspx?sc_p=T

If they are indeed legitimate, why not clear it up with the MAS?

Disclaimer –

This article does not in any way confirm that SingliWorld is a scam, but whatever is presented here can be researched off the internet, and you are free to form your own opinion on the company.

Conclusion

Before the shit hits the fan and they reveal their true colours as a ponzi scheme, withdraw whatever you can and run, or report to the CAD if you have trouble withdrawing your money.

Tan
A.S.S. Contributor

Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

June 2, 2015
BEWARE: Someone Told My Family I Was Kidnapped, Asked For Money

People please share this. This is quoted from a friend. This is serious!

“I received a call from someone claiming that he was from my mobile Service provider and he asked me to shutdown my phone for 2 hours for 3G update to take place. As I was rushing for a meeting,
I did not question, but just shut down my cell phone.

After 45 minutes I felt very suspicious since the caller did not even introduce his name.
I quickly turned on my cell phone and saw several missed calls from my family members and the others were from the number that had called me earlier –
I called my parents and I was shocked that they sounded very worried asking me whether I am safe.
My parents told me that they had received a call from someone claiming that they had me with them and asking for money to let me free. The call was so real and my parents even heard ‘my voice’ crying out loud asking for help.

My father was at the bank waiting for next call to proceed for money transfer.
I told my parents that I am safe and asked them to lodge a police report.

Right after that I received another call from the guy asking me to shutdown my cell phone for another 1 hour which I refused to do and hung up.

They kept calling my cell phone until the battery had run down. I myself
lodged a police report and I was informed by the officer that there were many such scams reported. MOST of the cases reported that the victim had already
transferred the money! And it is impossible to get back the money. Be
careful as this kind of scam might happen to any of us!!!

Those guys are so professional and very convincing during calls. If you are asked to shut down your cell phone for updates by the service provider, ASK AROUND!

Your family or friends might receive the same call. ”

Be Safe and Stay Alert!

Please pass around to your family and friends !!!

People have been receiving calls from+375602605281, +37127913091 or any number starting from +375, +371 number one ring & hang up. If you call back it’s one of those Numbers that are charged $15-30 & they can copy yr contact list in 3sec & if u have bank or credit card details on your phone, they can copy that too. +375 is from Belarus From Afghanistan.. 371 is code for Lativa…

Don’t answer or call back. Please FORWARD
AND SHARE this to your friends and family

Source: Merilyn Lim

READ ON OTHER SCAMS HERE

READ NEWS ARTICLES ON PHONE SCAMS

POLICE ADVISORIES ON SCAMS

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July 1, 2014
Beware: Renovation Company Cheats Customers

REMINDER to all my FB frens…this couple still at large of cheating home owners who wants to renovate their home.

Spread this to ur love one. More n more people are being cheated week after week. Act fast!

Couple known as Roy and Sheri are the owners of New Home Reno Company

Couple known as Roy and Sheri are the owners of New Home Reno Company

Latest update from another Reno co. Giving feedback on e rascal Roy n Sherie or formerly name Azrul n Yati- New Home Reno.

Pls spread around so as not to be cheated by them.

https://www.facebook.com/NewHomeInterior

READ MORE ON SCAMS AND CHEATING COMPANIES, GRQs

EDITOR’S NOTE

Apparently, a group of customers who were cheated by New Home Renovation have reported matter to the police.

Sadly, cheating companies can continue operating and they can even turn an occasional profit.

Do a keyword search for the company and include the term “scam” and you’ll find all of the complaints about shoddy products and substandard service. And yes, those are the ones you want to avoid.

Have you been cheated by any other renovation companies? Share your encounter with us at Rilek1Corner.

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FACEBOOK: facebook.com/rilek1corner

TWITTER: twitter.com/Rilek1Corner

WEBSITE: rilek1corner.com

EMAIL: [email protected]

FEEDBACK: rilek1corner.com/hubungir1c/

June 27, 2014
How To Avoid Becoming a Victim of MLM

Blogger Shanice Lim

I am so disappointed. At how morally unsound some people can be. But putting my emotions aside, I would like to share my story on how I was a potential victim of a scheme by X.

The story goes…

I was asked out by an acquaintance for coffee last week. It was quite queer that he wanted to meet for coffee, but he told me he was involved in a travel project and wanted to get my input on it’s viability.

So well.. I said yes. I had the time to spare after work today, and it was rather near my workplace. I thought it would be nice to see an old acquaintance as well.

But for him, his intentions were different.

For all the wrong reasons.

To cut the long story short, he did not meet me with the intention to share an idea with me.

In fact, he met with me because he wanted to sell me a package. A very nicely packaged but dubious package.

I don’t blame him, because I know very well how thesePyramid/Multi-Level Marketing companies work.

They paint you a beautiful picture of how much you can earn in cash, how easy it is for you to do it part-time, how effortless it will be with their guidance, and how it is NOT their intention for you to buyANYTHING from them.

But all this. Is bullshit.

READ MORE ON SHANICE’S TRUE STORY HERE

Authored by Shanice Lim

Source: http://datblondechick.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/how-i-avoided-becoming-a-victim-of-mlm/

EDITOR’S NOTE

We are glad more and more people are coming out to share their stories on these Get-Rich-Quick schemes (GRQ). Without these brave souls, many would still believe those empty promises. We can’t thank you enough for creating this public awareness.

Stand firm. Speak up. Don’t let anyone fool you.

Are you a victim too? Share your story with us at Rilek1Corner.

June 18, 2014
Confession: Truth About Galaxy Trio Scam

Credit: Berita Harian SG

https://www.facebook.com/galaxytrioterbaik

At first when Rilek1Corner published articles on a MLM/Pyramid/Ponzi/GRQ company, I was furious becos I had just joined in and it would affect my prospecting.

True as it is, the prospects started canceling meetings and there were even people who stood me up. I just had a newborn baby and had to leave her for this meeting every night to accompany prospects to view the presentations. I took cabs there. I needed to pay for the trainings that they provided which is just to teach you how to use the website and how to persuade your family, friends and strangers to join in as well which requires you endless of postings and the annoying random tagging Facebook friends (Ya that was taught in the training).

And if you need flyers that only published some Caucasian family with USD notes in it (it was said that the company is branched out into Asia regions and the base is here so why not picture our locals and not some photo ripped off from Google) and name cards, you also need to pay for that. They are all not inclusive in their expensive membership fees. The application forms for your prospects are also DIY and you need to print them on your own. Rich company with cheap ideas.

It was a requirement to have such huge capitals to join. There were small and big boards. Sound like a money game right? That is why some individuals have views that it is similar to gambling which is quite true to me now. You risk thousands of dollars in it and if your board is stuck and no one in your board recruits anyone, you will forever be at the same position you joined in and don’t get any returns at all.

The people who take photos with lots of money make it looks so easy. They are people who already have connections with people who have money. Thus they can create their own network bigger and faster than the ones who do not have connections. Sometimes it is also becos they were from a different MLM company and dragged the others to join in the new ones. It is like a fad. These group of people will keep changing their attentions and try all other platforms in MLM industry to make money out of others’ hard earned money.

This particular MLM company has their members posting that you need not sell anything when their membership is inclusive with “motivational” ebooks written by an author who is a Minister in the United States in the 16th century. They said it is not an MLM company becos it is not like other companies that requires you to sell various products with targets and the uplines profiting in your sales.

How can it be not an Multi-Level Marketing company when they have 4 levels in each board?

And in order for you to get your payout you have to be at the top and it does not matter if the vacant boxes are filled up by you or other members in the board. Once you are at the very top, and the empty boxes are filled, you get your payout.

So aren’t you profiting on other member’s efforts? If it is not pyramid scheme, why is the board in a shape of a pyramid?

A matrix board system is a modified pyramid scheme. They claimed that the company originated from Canada for 26 years but the company registry was done in 2013, also in British Virgin Islands. Contradicting isnt it? When asked where the other members in other parts of the world other than Asia, they will say we can only access the website which is only in our region. Strange isn’t it now? Members also asked who the founder in Canada is. No one has the answers and instead we were told that we are not allowed to acknowledge who the founder is becos afraid that competitor companies will spoil the market. More question marks now.

Till date, no one cld tell any truth about it. When someone tries to speak up, they will threaten you that they file a lawsuit against you for defamation. If it is legal and lawful, why is the company not registered in Singapore itself after so many commotions? They will tell you it is becos SG will tax us and we will receive low payouts. So? If anything happens, you have no one to turn to becos it is not a registered company here.

The thing is with people who are involved in MLM, they will fish you in by sweet talking, be it family members, relatives, friends or just strangers. Telling you that there are no other “good” platforms as such anywhere in the country. When you join, they leave you 100% on your own and expect you to do your work. If you don’t get to recruit anyone, they will accuse you of sleeping or not doing your work. Trust me, it had been dozens of times me going up and down their office to accompany prospects and many turned me down.

Criticisms over the social media on what I was doing. It was a waste of so much money. People joining in with hopes to get rich but in the end losing money. What the pioneers or the successful ones are doing, they just keep going and leave the unlucky ones behind. Telling you it is all rezeki/fate that you dont get your money back. If you give up, they even block you in FB becos they deem you as a negative person.

Seriously? As uplines or pioneers, you should guide and help. Not leave us. Clearly shown how people can be nice to you for money and nasty when they receive your money. Instantly you become an enemy to them. Why show others photos of the same people? How about the unsuccessful ones? They tell you 1k-2k members has gotten their payouts so why is it less than 1% of the “successful” members’ testimonials published in the website?

Learn this as a lesson and DO NOT GET DUPED!!

Authored by A

READ RELATED ARTICLES ON GALAXY TRIO AND ULTRASONIC HERE

EDITOR’S NOTE

Again Rilek1Corner would like to take this opportunity to remind dear readers about get-rich quick schemes (GRQ) and its many guises – MLM, Pyramid, Ponzi, Board, Matrix, Pigeon, etc.

Just like human beings, these GRQs come in many fancy names. But there will always be two constant characteristics: (i) the recruitment of new members, and (ii) you are required to pay some money upfront. This money can be in the form of membership fee, registration fee, or some admin charges. It is just a simple reason for them to take your hard-earned money.

Remember, your hard-earned money is your money. Learn to appreciate. Instead of giving to strangers, might as well spend it on your family and loved ones. Unless you strike a lottery, no one gets rich in an instant.

If people say they are wealth experts, why are they still staying in public housing? Why aren’t they employed as ministers and coming out with policies to help Singaporeans if they are really that great? Why aren’t they being headhunted by banks and other MNCs to help generate money?

Instead they target commoners like you and us.

Please save your money. Keep it for rainy days.

Ramadhan is approaching soon. Let’s not fool our friends, relatives and those poor elderly people who have little savings left to spend during their silver years.

June 16, 2014