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Scratchindia.com Closed & Owners Nowhere to Be Found

This time www.scratchindia.com scamed people in the name of Nano cars. scratchindia.com was run by Prime Advertising & Entertainment. There were giving Tata Nano, Indica Vista, Tata Manza and Tata Aria to people on first come first serve bases.

Recently www.scratchindia.com got burst when the new joining rate hit the dead-end rode. Company started their fraud operation from Gujarat. Lot of people invested in this company to get nano car worth of 1,40,000/- by just investing 62000/-.

scratchindia.com collected crores of rupees from the guliable people from all over India.

They were collecting money in the name of Prime Advertising & Entertainment with PAN No. :BGVPA2271B

Bank Name	A/C No.	A/C Type	Branch	IFSC Code
State Bank Of India	32981586806	Current	Silvassa	SBIN0006586
Punjab National Bank	7169002100000749	Current	Silvassa	PUNB0716900
Union Bank Of India	557101010050650	Current	Silvassa	UBIN0555711
ICICI Bank	655405600018	Current	Silvassa	ICIC0006554
HDFC Bank	23557610000057	Current	Silvassa	HDFC0002355
AXIS Bank	913020021626484	Current	Silvassa	UTIB0000768
Bank Of Baroda	26140200001798	Current	Silvassa	BARB0SILVAS
Indusind Bank	200999079883	Current	Silvassa	INDB0000206
Kotak Mahindra Bank	5411305089	Current	Silvassa	KKBK0000823

The only contact information given in the site was.

Contact Person :- Mr. Mohit Bhansali, E-Mail ID :- [email protected]

The Whois detail is :

Registrant Contact Details:
Prime Advertisement And Entertainment
Ram Agrawal ([email protected])
1st FLOOR,
SILVASSA
Dadra and Nagar Haveli,396230
Tel. +91.022123456

Beware of such MLM companies.

Kerala Police have arrested two persons in connection with a forex racket

Kerala Police have arrested two persons in connection with a forex racket which has duped over 60 investors of several crores of rupees, while, at the same time, employees in Chennai have escaped

While the rupee has been grabbing headlines of late, what is little known or reported is that a multi-level marketing (MLM) company under the guise of foreign exchange trading, Wismore Trading and Investment Consultancy Pvt Ltd (Wismore Trading), has defrauded more than 60 hapless investors of several crores of rupees, by promising them lavish returns, since 2011. The company’s officials, Antony Devassia and K Jaikuttan, have been arrested by the Kerala police, according to The Asian Age, which reported the news. It is also reported, by Manorama News, that Wismore International India Pvt Ltd (Wismore International) has closed down and the employees escaped upon hearing the news of the arrests. These two episodes clearly show regulation, or lack of it, has once again failed to protect Indian investors and savers, and that smaller companies that fly under the radar are capable of robbing investors and savers of their hard-earned money.

According to the Asian Age, the Kerala police acted when it received two complaints from investors who had collectively lost Rs110 crore investing in Wismore Trading. The company’s modus operandi is similar to that of most MLMs and companies, which give ‘guaranteed’ returns. It supposedly, promised investors lucrative returns, of as much as 10%-15%, in exchange of large investments. It even paid initial investors regularly for at least three months to attract more savers. The money collected was deposited in another firm Wismore Trading FZC operating out of Ajman Free Zone in Dubai on the basis of fluctuations in currency value, reports The Asian Age.

What is more shocking is that the Tamil Nadu police have not taken any action because no official complaint has been filed in the state yet, even though they are aware of what happened. According to Manorama News, it is believed that employees of Wismore International escaped in three cars.

It is also interesting to note that the hoarding at the Wismore International office in Chennai has “Nirmal Bang” written in a larger typeface than Wismore. Moneylife wrote to Nirmal Bang seeking confirmation of whether the broker was indeed connected to Wismore International, in any capacity. We have not received any reply so far.

Apparently, according to Wismore International website, it is a ‘registered’ forex trading company based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI), a well known offshore country where millionaires and crooks stash their money. No legal details could be found though.
According to the Wismore International website, the company has two branches, one in Dubai and one in Chennai. However, according to Times of India, a preliminary police probe has revealed that the Wismore International had operations in various parts of the country under different brand names. Wismore Trading is one such entity that could be related to Wismore International.

A quick glance at Wismore International website clearly shows that the company doesn’t look genuine. It even describes itself as a consumer-friendly company. For instance, Wismore International’s vision is to “Provide Healthy Products and Services with Life Changing Results” while its mission is to “Provide a Safer Platform for Forex Trading Solutions”. The company goes a step further describing its USP by using positive adjectives: “The USPs of Wismore are Transparency, Trustworthiness, Sincerity, Integrity, Experience, Promptness and Ethical Responsibilities.” Many financially illiterate investors usually fall for rosy descriptions like the ones described above.

It doesn’t stop here. In a similar case, the Peramangalam police arrested noted Kerala industrialist MK Kuruvila of Bangalore. He was arrested following a complaint lodged by Bijeesh, a native of Aamballoor, for swindling money from him, says Indian Express in a report. According to the Peramangalam police, Kuruvila had swindled Rs45 lakh on several occasions by saying that he would return the money after doubling it through foreign exchange trade and commodity trading. However, Kuruvila’s true intention came into lime light when he did not return Bijeesh’s money on time and did not answer his calls.

Kuruvila is accused of duping several people making them deposit money in his company called Pan Asia Brokers and Consultancy Pvt Ltd, a company registered with the ministry of corporate affairs. The police said that several other cheating cases were also registered against him at various police stations in the state. Sunil, a native of Amballur in Thirssur, had filed a complaint with the Pudukkad police against Kuruvila for cheating him of Rs52.35 lakh in the same manner.

Unfortunately, the state of regulation in India is in a mess. Savers often have to rely on police complaints to take action, especially after they have lost money. This isn’t the first time the police have unilaterally taken action on the basis of complaints. Moneylife had written about how the Andhra Pradesh police took action against unsafe and shady MLMs. The story can be accessed here: MLMs to face scrutiny by FIPB following action by Andhra Police.

Reported by: Aditya Govindraj and Anishi Khetan

Source:http://www.moneylife.in/article/mlms-continue-to-dupe-investors-under-guaranteed-returns-schemes-from-forex-trade/33449.html
Two More Arrested In Connection with MMM India Scam

Mumbai: Two more are arrested in connection with MMM India scam by Mumbai City economic offences wing (EOW). They were arrested on Tuesday from Goa for their alleged mastermind planning behind MMM India.

The detained are Mikhail Glukhov (25) and Jennifer Menezes.

“The couple was managing the publicity and coordination of the MMM India through internet. We have actually just taken them into our custody from Goa and they will be brought here to Mumbai by tonight,” said a police officer.

Glukhov married Menezes just sometime back and has been working for the MMM India as a translator and motivator.

“He had in reality organized several training and motivating camps for the investors of MMM India. Whenever any Russian gone to and provided lecture, Glukhov would translate it into English and later in Hindi,” said the authorities.

The Mumbai EOW has so far frozen more than 20 bank accounts belonging to the suspects. “We are looking for out if some cash has actually been sent outside the country,” stated by a mumbai police officer.

Previously in June, the Mumbai EOW took five suspects including 2 Russians in custody. They were first detained by the Assam police for their fraud. Those arrested earlier included 2 Russians Alexei Muratov and Danis Rosaov and Dinesh Kotian, Ramesh Balan, both Mumbai based and Nabajit Das, an Assam-based representative for MMM India. The EOW registered an FIR on June 3 against 17 people. The scams mastermind, Sergei Mavrodi, a Russian national, is likewise wanted in this case. The accused were first apprehended by the Guwahati police.

After these arrests MMMIndia.in has blocked all private access to the back office, where after login, one can access every detail of thier networks. They have done same for people who are at managers level.
The Federal Trade Commission Considering tightening the ground rules on pyramid schemes

The U.S Federal Trade Commission is thinking about tightening up the guideline on pyramid schemes.

The FTC is under lot of pressure from the U.S lawmakers and consumer groups to investigate Herbalife, the $5 billion MLM company.

The FTC has actually been reluctant to pursue Herbalife, due to the cost of going up against such a big, well-financed mlm company– particularly given the vagueness of the guidelines.

The key issue here is whether sales to MLM distributors count as retail sales.

This question is crucial because earnings from retail profits have to be greater than recruiting-related sales in any mlm company to prevent a mlm company being categorized as a pyramid scheme.

Earlier as per FTC rules, internal sales do count as retail sales but now FTC is rethinking on that.

Herbalife, which denies it is a pyramid scheme, stated that “many of our suppliers are just sale customers, and we have millions of non-distributor consumers in the United States as determined by research done by Nielsen.”.

Recently FTC closed down a smaller MLM company, Fortune Hi there– Tech Marketing because a bulk of its sales were not outside its distributor network.

Lot of people and activist have asked FTC to clarify their stand on the definition of ponzi scheme.

If the above rule of FTC is applied on all MLM companies then lot of big names will get into trouble. Internet Empower Network will also face the same situation, where Empower Network blog is 67% affiliates, 33% retail.
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Karma has given you a Destiny…

But your Attitude…… will Reshape your Destiny!
RBI Warning: Inspect before Depositing Cash with Financial Entities

The Reserve Bank of India has issued an advisory to the public recommending them to thoroughly evaluate their financial investment decisions, consisting of making deposit with NBFCs.

The FAQs describe in detail the numerous kinds of monetary entities and the regulations regulating them. They also have detail where members of public can lodge complaints in case some financial entity is found to be performing business unauthorisedly or does not repay the deposits.

The Frequently asked questions, for example, state that the Reserve Bank controls Non-Bank Financial Business that conduct monetary activity as their principal company; it has authorised just a few Non-bank Financial Business to accept deposits; all bundled entities should always be authorised to collect deposits either under the Reserve Bank of India Act 1934 or under the Companies Act, 1956; and it does not control chit fund activities or Collective Financial investment Schemes (CIS).

The FAQs also state that a detailed list of NBFCs authorised by the Reserve Bank to accept deposits is available on the RBI site (www.rbi.org.in? Sitemap? NBFC List? List of NBFCs Permitted to Accept Deposits) and has advised the members of public to inspect the list before placing deposits with Non-Banking Financial companies.

The Reserve Bank has actually been, on a number of events in the past, through news release and with its outreach and sensitisation programs performed by its Regional Offices, cautioning the public not to fall prey to make-believe offers promising unsustainable returns by individuals, unincorporated bodies and companies.

The RBI Frequently asked questions likewise recommend members of public to instantly register their grievances in case they notice any business accepting deposits unauthorisedly or not repaying the principal and/or interest with the local police or with the Economic Offences Wing of the State Police and in case the entity is a business, then register grievances with the Registrar of companies.

RBI Advisory on What \* to check prior to making deposits with NBFCs.

A depositor wanting to place deposit with an NBFC must guarantee that:.

The NBFC is registered with RBI and is particularly authorised to accept deposits. This can be inspected from the list of deposit taking NBFCs published on the RBI internet site – www.rbi.org.in? Sitemap? NBFC List. The depositor should examine the list of NBFCs allowed to accept public deposits as well as check that it is not appearing in the list of companies restricted from accepting deposits.

NBFCs need to conspicuously show the Certificate of Registration (CoR) released by the Reserve Bank on its site. If an NBFC is authorised to accept public deposit, the certificate mirrors that.

RBI does not assure the repayment of deposits accepted by NBFCs.

NBFCs can not use the name of the RBI in any manner while conducting their business.

Currently, the optimum interest rate that an NBFC can pay to a depositor must not exceed 12.5 %. The Reserve Bank, nevertheless, keeps altering these rate of interest relying on the macro-economic environment. The Reserve Bank releases the modification in the interest rates on www.rbi.org.in? Sitemap? NBFC List? Frequently asked questions.

The depositor must insist on a correct receipt for every time of deposit placed with the business. The receipt should be properly signed by an authorised person from the company and must mention the date of the deposit, the name of the depositor, the amount in words and figures, rate of interest payable, maturity date and amount.
Kerala police Claims: Amway sells products at higher rates

In a recent investigation done by Kerala police, they came across facts that Amway is selling their products at a very high price, that basically includes individual care and Health care products through their direct selling method.

Amway sells G & H Body Shampoo and G & H Lotion 250 ml with its ABOs (Amway Distributors) for Rs 395 each. Believe it or not, the genuine costs of these products are just Rs 51.49 and Rs 34.19 respectively.

Amway market a list of 119 products, that was taken by the Crime Branch Economic Offences Wing, during the raid at the company’s workplaces in Kochi recently, plainly exposes this.

The list comprises the product code, name, real rate and asking price of items.

What’s even more unexpected is that only a few of the items marketed by Amway are brought from abroad. “Many of the items are outsourced from various Indian companies consisting of Sarvotham Care and Naiza Laboratories in Himachal Pradesh, Soft Gel Healthcare – Chennai, Aura Personal Products – Uttaranchal, Aero Pharma – Mumbai, Fiabila Limited – Raigarh, Avalon Cosmetics – Mumbai and the KLF Nirmal coconut oil based at Irinjalakuda.

In a Simply language, Amway procures products from domestic companies and sells them at six to ten-fold costs,” stated Dy SP P.P Sadanandan, who has done considerable research into money chain scams in the country.

Authorities said the generation strategy being followed by Amway is the most hazardous of all the multi-level marketing plans in regards to the percentage of individuals losing money in the scheme.

Anybody can sponsor any number of individuals as his direct down line. The endless assistance of enrolment and staircase commission structure makes the plan arithmetically infeasible.

It is true that lot of people in the direct selling market felt these items can get at a really low rate when compare to Amway rates. Amway preparing to bring even more products.

However after these cases, can Amway offer the items at normal rates or higher rates? Amway suppliers can state anything but the fact is, these products are expense when compare to standard market.
MLM companies plans agitation against “police harassment”

Affirming police harassment, MLM companies like Amway on Tuesday said they are planning country- broad agitations if the Government fails to suppress their mistreatment within 45 days.

The Forum for Direct Selling Companies & Consumers of India (FDCI) said planning agitations is the “only choice left for over 7 crore Indian distributors under given desperate situations”.

The agitations will be arranged along with Confederation of Direct Selling Distributors Association of India (CDSDAI) – a trade union and an offshoot of the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), FDCI said in a statement.

It might be remembered that USA-based direct selling office Amway’s India MD & CEO William S Pinckney and two supervisors were arrested by Kerala Police in May. Later on, there were released on bail.

As there is no proper regulation in place specific to this industry, authorities in numerous states have been attempting to put this business model into the purview of the Prize Chits & Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978 (PCMC Act) and register criminal cases against business and its suppliers, FDCI affirmed.

“The vagueness in this sector is being exploited by the police officers to amass cash from suppliers and companies making use of underhanded means,” it alleged.

“More than 7 crore people in India who are making a living through multi-level marketing (MLM) are going through a never ever before threat and unpredictability as the authorities in numerous states have actually begun catching these business and their distributors into criminal cases stating that all MLM business models are unlawful as per PCMC Act,” P A Joseph, General Secretary of FDCI and CDSDAI, stated.

According to FDCI statement, genuine multi-level Marketing companies use the MLM model to offer or disperse their items. In authentic MLM companies independent suppliers buy products at wholesale rates and offer them at market price and this way they make an earnings, it included.

“In illegal pyramid schemes there are no genuine products and people sign up with the model to make fast money by sponsoring more people. Police authorities are not attempting to separate in between the genuine business models and unlawful pyramid schemes and this has affected operations of many excellent business,” it said.

“Multinational companies which have actually invested millions of United States dollars in India are planning to end up their businesses because of such harassments. Unfortunately all this has finally afflicted crores of individuals in India who rely on this sector for their livelihood.”
IDSA Demands for direct selling law; Global MLM CEOs to visit India

In order to promote a separate legislation for the direct selling market in India, top global executives of such mlm companies would be visiting India later on this year.

“The CEO council of World Federation of Direct Selling Associations (WFDSA) would be involving India for the first time.

“This is to go over road map of direct selling industry in India as well as to meet various stakeholders to set up a case for a separate legislation for the mlm market,” Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) secretary-general, Chavi Hemanth said.

She included that the CEO Council members would be meeting various ministry officials, consisting of those from finance and consumer affairs, throughout their India visit.

Founded in 1978, WFDSA has around 60 members, consisting of Avon, Amway and Herbalife and the CEO Council is the main governing body of the federation. IDSA is also a member of the WFDSA.

“We expect around 10 CEOs out from a total of 30 council members to come to India to attend the WFDSA meeting,” Hemanth said.

IDSA has actually been seeking a separate regulatory structure for the mlm sector in order not distinguish from any fraudulent pyramid and ponzi schemes.