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Lyoness / Lyconet / Cashback World / MyWorld / Lycloud SCAM


Many words have been written about Lyoness, and it's full history is covered in Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyoness, so I'm not going to repeat it all.
But I've been researching Lyoness for many months, and these are my findings:

Lyoness has been operating since 2003 and is successful in many ways. Not only has it raked in millions of dollars, but it's made itself Internationally known in the sporting world  through it's sponsorship of various sporting events from Golf to Motor Racing.
It also has links to many other companies, for instance:
A Company called 'Eyetime' sponsored the F1 Austrian Grand Prix.
Eyetime named Formula One Austrian Grand Prix title sponsor - SportsPro Media
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/h...rand-prix.html

'25th May 2018:
Formula 1, the pinnacle of motorsport, is pleased to announce that eyetime will be the new title sponsor for the 2018 Grosser Preis von Osterreich, which will take place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg from June 30 to July 2.
Eyetime is an innovative social life app, one of the most avant-garde communication tools currently available on the digital market. With its state-of-the-art encryption and worldwide connectivity, eyetime meets all of its users’ needs, whether in private or professional communication.
Sean Bratches, Managing Director, Commercial Operations at Formula 1 said:
“We are delighted to welcome eyetime as one of the title sponsors of a Formula 1 Grand Prix during the 2018 season. With its hi-tech and innovative approach to the world of digital communication, eyetime perfectly matches with our vision of the pinnacle of motorsport and with our aim to connect the sport with the younger generations.”
Meglena Krumova, CEO at eyetime, said:
“eyetime opens the door to a new dimension of communication and we are very happy to partner with Formula 1 on the occasion of the 2018 Grosser Preis von Osterreich. eyetime with its possibilities for communication and Formula 1 with its millions of fans are an ideal match.”.

So who is 'eyetime' - a company that Formula One trusted? 

The Director is listed as: Christopher Norman Thomson
Another Director is listed as Meglena Krumova - who is listed as 'resigned'.
The Secretary is listed as HEXAGON TDS LTD which has five Solicitors listed as it's Officers.

Meglena Krumova  is also listed as an Officer for:
MYWORLD ALPHABET LIMITED (11380259)
Correspondence address: 10 Finsbury Square, London, United Kingdom, EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS and KRUMOVA, Meglena

And Christopher Norman Thomson is listed on all of these companies as well:

MEDIAWORLD INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (11393512)
Correspondence address : 10 Finsbury Square, London, United Kingdom, EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS and THOMSON, Christopher Norman
EVENTWORLD INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (11366440)
Correspondence address 10 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS, THOMSON Christopher Norman, *LENA Alexander and *STAMPFER Markus
MYWORLD MEDIA GROUP LIMITED (11358567)
Correspondence address: 10 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS, THOMSON Christopher Norman, and RIEGER Bettina.
MYWORLD ENTERPRISE LIMITED (11334767)
Correspondence address 10 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS and THOMSON Christopher Norman,
LYCONET INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (11157485)
Correspondence address 5th Floor, 10 Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS, KAPUN Mario and THOMSON Christopher Norman.
MYWORLD HOLDINGS LIMITED (11138560)
Correspondence address 5th Floor, 10, Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS, SEDOVNIK Marko and THOMSON Christopher Norman.
EYETIME INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (11138453)
Correspondence address 5th Floor, 10, Finsbury Square, London,EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS, and THOMSON Christopher Norman.
MYWORLD LOGISTICS LIMITED (11138126)
Correspondence address 5th Floor, 10, Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AF
HEXAGON TDS, PSONDER Bernhard Dr and THOMSON Christopher Norman.
MYWORLD NATURAL GROUP LIMITED (11138058)
Correspondence address 5th Floor, 10, Finsbury Square, London, EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS, HASSLER Andreas and THOMSON Christopher Norman.
MYWORLD REAL ESTATE LIMITED (11137987)
Correspondence address 5th Floor, 10, Finsbury Square, London EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS and THOMSON Christopher Norman.
MYWORLD INTERNATIONAL LIMITED (10776184)
Correspondence address 10 Finsbury Square, London, United Kingdom, EC2A 1AF
OFFICERS: HEXAGON TDS, SEDOVNIK Marko, GRAVE SILVA Fernando, PIETA Rafal Wojciech and THOMSON Christopher Norman.
SPORTS WORLD MARKETING LTD
Correspondence address Part Floor 3, 40 Bank Street, Canary Wharf, London, E14 5NR
OFFICERS: THOMSON Christopher Norman, *LENA Alexander and *STAMPFER Markus
POLINAR LIMITED (10260623)
Correspondence address: 47 York Street, London, United Kingdom, W1H 1PW
OFFICERS: THOMSON Christopher Norman,
PROCESSION TECHNOLOGY LTD (SC456311)
Correspondence address: 47 York Street, London, England, W1H 1PW
OFFICERS: THOMSON Christopher Norman,
47 YORK STREET LIMITED (01556934)
Correspondence address: 47 York Street, London, W1H 1PW
OFFICERS: THOMSON Christopher Norman,

And (finally) we have this one:

MYWORLD RETAIL SERVICES UK LIMITED (06932198)
Correspondence address: 47 York Street, London, W1H 1PW
Which is otherwise known as 'CASHBACK WORLD'.



So as you can see, this is not a small time operation, which is why it's so dangerous. And why it's proving so hard to convince the people that matter that this company has got 'SCAM' written all over it.

Countries all around the world either have investigated Lyoness and closed them down, or are currently in the process of doing so - Italy for instance has just announced an investigation*:

(*Italy have now BANNED Lyoness from operating)

but all of these countries are working independently of the other and despite the numerous court cases, Lyoness is getting away with blatant theft and easily found out lies.The CEO of Lyoness is Hubert Freidl. Here he is in a recent You Tube video taken from a German TV programme explaining why (Cashback World) has nothing to do with retail and everything to do with 'positions, positions, positions!'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tia2qvq7OWE


How It Works:

In simple terms, it has two distinct commercial areas:

A shopping company - Cashback World.

And an 'investment' company - Lyconet.



Cashback World:
This page has all my research on Cashback World:
but again, in simple terms, this is what they're doing:

Cashback World bulk buys discounted giftcards from National Retailers like Tesco and Love2Shop. Then they resell those giftcards back to their members at full price and give them back a small amount of cashback in return.

But there are two problems with this:

 1/ This is against the Terms and Conditions of the retailers, which forbid resale. 

 2/  Because they can brand these cards with the Cashback Logo, it makes it seem like these companies are merchants - but they definitely are not!

This is what Tesco has to say about Cashback World: 


 'Hi Tara,

Thank you for taking the time to make us aware of this.

To call us a merchant of theirs however could be deemed misleading – as we are not a merchant but an issuer of Tesco gift cards in the relationship.

This will be picked up with them and we'll request that they stop referring to Tesco in that way.

Thanks

Cassandra - Customer Care'



Cashback World have put numerous National retailers on their website and add in direct links so it looks like they are affiliated to the retailers sites - but again, 99% of the National Retailers listed have ZERO affiliation with Cashback World. All of these retailers have been personally contacted and ALL of them deny being Cashback World Merchants:
Harrods,JohnLewis,Marks&Spencer,EBAY,Boots,
Costa Coffee,Tesco,B&Q, Morrisons,Nike,Adobe,
PCWorld/Curry's...

But because they're listed on the Cashback World website the Small and Medium size businesses (SME's) believe that these big Retailers really are merchants of Cashback World and pay hundreds/thousands of pounds to join, pay up to 11% commission on every sale and on top of that, have to pay monthly fees to rent the terminals that accept the Cashback World cards. 

And because members genuinely do get a little cashback if they spend money on the Retailer Giftcards, this scam is going on and on unchecked.'Commission changed to businesses on the program is between 5-11% Customers receive an average of 1-3% back on the average cash back deal and *** shopping points that cannot be used. There are a few businesses that do give cash back up to 5%, however their percentage is much higher to pay to Lyoness as well.'

Added to which, the 'shopping points' are useless. Every review I've ever read says that they're worthless and can't be used for anything - so what's the point of having them?
The point is, it makes it seem like your getting something, but in fact, your getting absolutely nothing.
This is my full page of research into the retailers:
 https://taratalkstoday.blogspot.com/2018/04/lyoness-cashback-world-falsely-claiming.html

It's fair to point out at this stage that there are National retailers who have joined Cashback World. At the time of writing, ARGOS is still a partner, so are Banana Republic. 
And shockingly, Woking Council is letting Lyoness run it's Cashback World Loyalty Card Scheme and continues to do so despite being told countless times, in countless ways, to numerous people - including the local MP and the local paper! 
https://taratalkstoday.blogspot.co.uk/2018/04/lyoness-loyalty-card-accepted-at-woking.html

https://taratalkstoday.blogspot.co.uk/2018/05/woking-council-why-are-they-still.html


The other part of the Lyoness Scam is Lyconet:
Lyconet, in simple terms, sells you packages of 'units' that can earn you commission if you refer others to join, and they, in turn, also refer others. So the more 'positions' you have, the more (in theory) you earn.
The new 'units' launched in April 2018 tie up your money for eight years, instead of the previous four, which guarantees money stays in the Lyconet system for as long as possible.
It's a classic Ponzi model and I've no idea why it hasn't had a world wide ban by now, but part of the reason I suspect, is the deliberately complicated format for buying these units and the even more complicated system they use to keep money inside Lyconet for as long as possible.
For example, take this extraordinary exchange from a Lyconet members Facebook group. I've read it many times, and still don't understand it...

'...1 person can buy 3 x EC1 = 4500€ 
Easy Shop Plus is not connected to EC1 this way. EC1 will not create any ESP. BUT... in order to get your portion of Shopping Points generated by EC1, ESP on your ID need to be active for at least 80% of time. So we can suppose, there will be more ESP units generated because of EC1 - people just want their money, right? :)

'ESP = easy shopping plus (50€) or do you mean EC1 = Enterprise cloud 1 (1500€ each)'
Every Marketer can install 3 units in program ESP every month. In 🇬🇧 £45 £ 45 £45 it up to you how many you want. Also you can install 8 units in National Balance in your country  (1 unit per day from BC1-BC5)'

'You can order monthly 1-2-3 ESP Units. You get them in 1-2-3 Countries NATIONAL balance program and during some years they are READY. You order 1 Unit for 50 Euro and You get at the end 510 Euro. but... you get also 4 Bonus Units too and those make you again 4 x 510 Euro!!!! Why you do not read in your weboffice at DOWNLOADS the COMPENSATION PLAN about BONUS Units and your Results. Everything is there in 20 pages. As far as I know, bonus units pay way less than 510 Euro? There is no final 450E payment? Am I missing something?'

'...you are right, Bonus Units generate you only Balance Commission in total amount of 110 Euro, plus other 4 bonus units. Normal Units gives you Balance Bonus that is 400 Euro when condition 35/35 is reached.'
'50 Euros 1-2-3 X / Month you order and your Results: 1-2-3 X 510 Euros + 4 Bonus after each ESP Unit. ...'
...but I think that's the point. Nobody seems to understand it. And when the penny does finally drop and they realise they've been scammed, they have NO way of getting a refund.

These examples of customer horror stories come from a great forum called 'Pissed Consumer':
https://lyoness.pissedconsumer.com/conned-into-so-called-investment-201806171281984.html

'Trusted a “friend “in his sales pitch for Lyoness. I put R20000.00 into the business, being told that within 5 years there was a possibility of a return of R 190000.00 During his sales pictch I asked this “friend” on numerous occasions if I wanted out, could I get my R20000.00 . He assured me that I could get it out at any stage, not in the form of cash but in the form of vouchers. When two main partners, Woolworths and Pick n Pay discontinued their partnership with Lyoness, we asked our “friend “to arranged for a payout. We were then informed that the only way we could get our money back was in “Cash Backs” or he would see if he could sell our investment on. Over three years and we are still waiting . Avoid having anything to do with Lyoness and always read any fine print.... don’t go on a “ friends” word. This “ friend is now a big shot with the organization.'

'When Lyoness started up in Bundaberg 4 or so years ago, I was talked into it by a great salesman. Well I'm out of pocket $3,600, and have regreted the day I met this husband and wife team and I feel so damm stupid...' 

'We invested money which we were told could be refunded and when we were calling to make a refund we were flatly told NOT POSSIBLE. To be able to get back $3k, we should complete the $30k then get the refund.
HA HA HA! It has been almost 5 years and they are using our hard-earned money. And of course, each time you call, they give you a round about and then you realize you are talking to 10 different people with 15 different spiels.
We just gave up. But yes, they got a total of $7.5k from us.'

'Here is my experience with lioness. In the time around five Years ago I've met lyoness lady, she were visiting my lessons of yoga.
After couple months, she offered me perfect business in lyoness. We yoga people used to trust each other so I did and invested on her recommendation over 5000 Euro in Asian Marketplace.
Till now I see no chance to get any single Euro back, because I refused connecting other people in this bs business. I'm Sorry for this kind of people who are willing to build their businesses on account of bugling their trusting Friends...'

'A Key Lyconet Leader named Chris encouraged me recently to invest $15,000 into a CLOUD BALANCE PROGRAM with a projected ROI of 100% in 2 years and I didn’t have to recruit others.
I’m now told these so-called CLOUDS are legally proven PYRAMID Schemes and I may not get a ROI for over 10 years, if ever!
I have requested that my $15,000 be returned to me, but Chris and Lyoness/ Lyconet/ Cashback World will not return my calls.'
'I called them yesterday and I spoke to a woman who sent me two attachments. She said yes you can get your money back by using it against purchases. Now, I need to put in more money to buy vouchers against what ever it is I want to buy and then the company whom I'm buying from will give 2% cashback! I said no way am I giving them a single penny, if I wasn't going to get my money I wanted to use it against buying goods from their list of clients. So still working on it I'm afraid...' 

'The shopping cash back is very low and they give us stupid shopping points which cannot be used for anything useful. Total waste of time, they charge huge fees to businesses to join and promise the world.
Then when a business joins no customers. When you complain about the lack of customers they tell you to register your own customers and give them the cashback...but why would any business shave of their profit on their existing customers?'

'You will find that contacting them is a waste of time. You will never get your money back unless you make a complaint to the REGULATORS in your country. In Australia it’s the ACCC, who are receiving many complaints each day. Now a legally proven PYRAMID Scheme in Norway, Switzerland and Austria.'

The Lyconet movement has a massive following and a cult-like status. 
But many, many people are complaining about the low returns on the Lyconet products.
So many in fact, that this Lyconet promoter has just written this post  on his Facebook page to try and quell the revolt. But all he's really done is confirm that the clouds won't pay a penny to you unless you get referrals to pump in new money. In other words, he had unwittingly described how the Lyconet Ponzi scam works; 

'Allow me to share my take on Clouds (ECs and CCs), as a possible answer to the disappointment or disillusion few of us expressed in some recent posts.
I believe what's stated below is something we should all agree with, in order to virtuously develop this company and system we were given the chance to take part in, without dissipating time and energy with convoluted and unfounded arguments.
Disclamer#1: it's a long post 😅
Disclaimer#2: I teach Strategic management and Entrepreneurship in a business school, so apologies for the reference to those fields' jargon.
If I'm not getting it wrong, few of us are expressing some sort of disappointment for how things are turning out with cloud returns.
This is sad. As many other people already explained before, this activity is not really made of passive investments, but rather enablers for the Lyconet marketers' job.
Cloud is not a wait-and-see traditional investment, in the sense that we are given the tools (and the responsibility) to make its returns grow for our community and ourselves.
If some of you were led to believe that clouds could provide you with large returns irrespectively of your active participation in network building, I may understand why you are disappointed.
These are the setbacks of an activity where much independence is given to people performing it, and a fraction of them could misinterpret of distort information (info which are often partial or transferred through word of mouth).
But that's part of this job: it's like being part of a startup that's evolving fast and in an unstructured way, and we're in team.
To make my point clearer, should all of us stop actively expanding our network and just wait for Cloud returns, such cloud returns would be probably small; on the contrary, should we all give our little contribution to develop our network in our countries, we would ensure stability and growth to the whole system, and would later benefit from it possibly forever.
And we are starting to see our Strategic vision fulfilled and our strategic objectives achieved in so many measurable and quantifiable ways.
So, when discussing Clouds, let me encourage to change your mindset.
We're not mere INVESTORS here.
We're ENTREPRENEURS, all on the same boat, all risking and gaining together.
And as I tell my teammates:"Let's now row the f#####g boat!" 😉

And finally, if you still aren't convinced that Lyoness is a scam, watch this fabulous video from Dragon's Den Canada.
A gentleman tries to get the dragons to invest in the Lyoness
'business plan' with hilarious results:


Lyconet Terms and Conditions:




12th October 2018

Many people are reporting problems topping up their Cashback World Love2shop cards.
The Financial Conduct Authority has been mentioned in a conversation with Love2shop customer services, and identity is being asked for before a top-up can happen.
Lets hope this is the beginning of the end for the Cashback World Scam.
28th October 2018


Have you lost money in Lyoness?
A firm of lawyers in Germany are starting a class action suit against them and have 1000 people signed up already.
https://www.fromhold.net/lyoness

'To Whom it May Concern,

For many years we have been seeking a way to make Lyoness meet the
promises made to us at the time when we accepted membership and made our down payment investment into the Lyoness system, unfortunately Lyoness has failed to oblige.

We are now be able to offer you a way for Lyoness members all over
the world to realize the claim of your down payment investment into Lyoness
through BE Konflict Management in Austria by completing the documents attached to this email and following the instructions provided.
BE Konflict Management will initiate legal running procedure and report
it to the prosecutor's office in Austria.
This process will apply pressure for Lyoness and initiate legal proceedings
(Cession). The process will enable international claims directly at
Lyoness!

BE Konflict Management are known to the press and is regularly reported... Lyoness knows and hates it.

Click here for more details on how to claim:
Ben Ecker’s Lyoness Blog: 
http://benecker.com/category/lyoness/

The best chance at the moment for successful claim is by directly contacting Ben Ecker of BE Konflict Management who is in direct contact with German,
Switzerland, Austrian, Norwegian, Turkish, and Polish etc. authorities.'

I don't usually advise signing up with a law firm, but at the moment, this looks like your best hope of recovering any of your money, so it might be worth a shot at least.

 3rd December 2018


This is where the money comes from to pay your CASHBACK.
Not the retailers. Not the merchants.
But people like this. And their are THOUSANDS like him, why do you think LYONESS has been banned in so many countries?




'Making money without working - the concept of Lyoness sounds tempting. But the Austrian company is massively in the criticism, in Germany, a preliminary investigation. According to insiders, there are thousands of Germans who invested their money and never got it back.
In seminars, so-called "business packages" are sold to people: anyone who invests can earn up to several thousand euros per month.
One who invested in the packages is Christoph Heitmann (28), a specialist in civil engineering from Wackerow. He paid a total of 17 100 euros to Lyoness from 2011 to 2013..'.

27th December 2018
How do you get your company into a country that's banned you?
You just change the company name!



13th January 2019


E-Vouchers - the truth:
'I'm done with eVouchers. Too painful for me to waste time with it.I have a problem with orders duplicating themselves. I place an order for vouchers and it tell me there is an error to try again and I do and end up with 2 orders. I have to be very careful. Today I received an error that I had not seen before and I ended up buying an extra 5550 MKD of eVouchers. Another problem I have is that you must buy each voucher 1 at a time, and the clerk must scan them one at a time, which takes a lot of time when you make a big purchase. There is no way to see which eVouchers has been used. Not to mention holding up the line while all this scanning is going on...Another thing that makes it painful for me is there is no change given. You have to use the entire voucher and pay in cash for any amount over 50 MKD.... I have heard from some people you can use a partial voucher in some places. Perhaps that's it, the store I use don't want to enter it manually and I don't blame them. It would make it painful for the customer behind you. I like the feature you can buy the eVoucher directly from your credit card. CBW needed this for a long time. I was hoping the mastercard thing would have worked out. The eVoucher seems to be a viable alternative, but first needs to get the bugs worked out.;

16th January 2018

Two more nails in the Lyoness coffin:
Firstly, the Italians have concluded their investigation, named Lyoness a scam, BANNED them from operating and FINED them 3 million Euros!

https://behindmlm.com/companies/lyoness/lyoness-a-pyramid-scheme-in-italy-fined-3-2-million-euro/

And secondly, I received this message regarding the Cloud scam:
2 years ago affiliates from Lyoness said to me if i buy polish customer clouds(Lyconet) it would make me rich! One cloud makes 2500 euro.I bought 4 and easy shop plus what costs also about 1000 euros to me! They advertised with "business partner" like caffour or Billa! I researched the Web and now i know there are no real business partner! The clouds can not generate sales!


This is an excerpt from the Austrian Business Journal"Der Standart"


'Retail chains dissociate themselves from LyonessThe shopping community loses large draft horses in the trade. Many companies do not want to be called partners of the discount business Vienna - Money back with every purchase: shops with discounts have allowed Lyoness to grow internationally from Graz. Meanwhile, these are increasingly becoming a playground for lawyers. Until now, the renamed structural distribution of the shopping community, which was renamed Lyconet, caused legal disputes - hundreds of members feel cheated out of their money. But now it is also rumbling under the flagships of the company. Large retail partners distance themselves. Listed without knowledge Lyoness listed a number of them as deposit confirmers for coupons. Others featured prominently on the homepage of the discount group. Sometimes without them even knowing about it. What leads now to prepare some legal action against Lyoness, says the Viennese lawyer Josef Fromhold, who represents more than 700 injured. The list of well-known dealers have already noticeably lessened. Ralph Lauren is one of those who were unaware that he is a partner. Douglas emphasizes that he never worked with Lyoness. Detto Palmers - the laundry chain is keenly opposed to being associated with the discount business. One once only sold coupons to the company. This also reduces the business relationship of Lyoness with Leiner / Kika and Lidl. All three do not accept the cashback card. Just as Toys'R'Us, Delka, Salamander and Charles Vögele, as emerges from correspondence with Fromhold. On distance Tour operator Tui ended the cooperation in 2012. No advantages for Lyoness customers are provided by Booking.com. The platform, which is listed as a partner with Lyoness, states that it has no business relationship with the discount company. The same tenor at McDonald's and Landtime. Flagship OMV, in which Lyoness buys coupons on a large scale, attaches importance to appear only in this context and not as a general partner. From the beginning of each cooperation rejected corporations such as Lutz - despite repeated dedicated calls of the Lyoness employees. Fromhold considers the number of trading partners as well as those of the members to be fictitious. For him, very few companies accepted the discount card, while members were left believing that they could share in the sales of other buyers in the structure sales. Since also commissions for Lyoness were limited, it was evident to him, "that Lyoness financed only from the payments of the members". He himself is confronted with a civil suit by Lyoness. In return, he brought criminal charges for dangerous threat and fraud. Lyoness has so far dismissed all allegations surrounding the controversial structure distribution. The fact that now the front of large dealers to crumble, the Grazer also do not apply: The strategy is to dissolve partnerships based on pure coupons and instead to switch to the cashback model, says Lyoness spokeswoman Silvia Kelemen. "This is a process that takes time." "Many talks" All partners on the website are real partners. However, individuals have been deliberately informed of facts in order to discredit Lyoness. The fact that important horses were lost in the end is due to the tough economic environment. Partners like Zielpunkt and Baumax are history. The backbone of Lyoness is mainly small and medium-sized businesses. For them, you string packages. "We are in discussion with many new partners." Kelemen refers to 5.3 million registered members. Your monthly purchase in Austria is on average 230 euros. For conflict manager Ben Ecker, who represents Lyoness victims, all questions remain unanswered. "Why were partners listed who are proven to be none?" Why do you suggest shopping opportunities that are reduced to low-turnover SMEs? The structure distribution is based on revenues from shopping sales. "But how are you supposed to ever generate the projected revenues without big traders?" (Verena Kainrath, 10.8.2016)'

 ****

 ITALY HAVE BANNED LYONESS!!
# PRESS RELEASE!


PS11086 - Pyramid sale and misleading promotion, penalty of over 3 million to Lyoness

PRESS RELEASE

At the conclusion of a complex and detailed preliminary investigation procedure, at the meeting held on 19 December, the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority ascertained that the promotion system used by the company Lyoness Italia Srl to spread among consumers a formula for the purchase of goods with cashback(ie with the return of a percentage of the money spent at affiliated merchants) is incorrect because it integrates a system with pyramid characteristics, a case counted by the Consumer Code among commercial practices in any case misleading.

The promotion system, using the pretext of the described advantage of purchases with cashback, actually involves the recruitment of a large number of consumers who are required, after having assumed the role of sales manager, to pay an entry fee particularly high to access the first commission level (equal to € 2,400.00) and start the "career" as Lyconet Premium Marketer . Subsequently, they must recruit other consumers, as well as make additional payments to confirm and progress in the "career".

The preliminary investigation made it possible to ascertain that the possibility of obtaining a deferred discount on purchases in the form of cashback is in fact a secondary aspect of the economic volume generated by the Lyoness system (equal to about 1/6 of total revenues). In fact, the achievement of high levels of Shopping Points- the compensation scheme remuneration mechanism - is essentially possible only with the payment of sums of money by the participating consumers or by the subjects recruited by the latter. From what emerged, many tens of thousands of consumers have paid the aforementioned sums of money to enter, participate and remain in the system and only a very few individuals have actually managed to achieve significant positions.

The Authority also ascertained the deceptive ways in which the characteristics, terms and conditions of the Lyoness promotion system are presented, aspects not adequately clarified both on the websites and in promotional events, as well as the absence in such sites internet of certain essential information required in distance sales, such as those on how complaints are processed, on the right of withdrawal and on the competent court.

Therefore, in light of the numerous evidences gathered also thanks to the collaboration of the Special Antitrust Unit of the Guardia di Finanza, the Authority concluded the proceeding by committing a total penalty of € 3,200,000.

Rome, 14 January 2019


Lyoness: Following Norway, Italy now also prohibits Lyconet practices!
The Italian competition authority (AGCM) adopted a decision (19 December 2018) – as the Norwegian competition authority did before – showing that Lyoness/Lyconet’s business practices are wrong (incorrect/irregular) and now prohibits its dissemination and continuation. Amongst others, investigations are currently still in progress in Poland.
Page 35 of the Italian decision: (Decision Italy 19.Dec. 2018)
DELIBERA (Decision)
a) che la pratica commerciale descritta al punto II del presente provvedimento, posta in essere dalle società Lyoness Italia S.r.l., nella qualità di professionista ai sensi dell’articolo 18, comma 1, lettera b), del Codice del Consumo, costituisce, per le ragioni e nei limiti esposti in motivazione, una pratica commerciale scorretta ai sensi degli articoli 20, 21 comma 1, lettere b) e c), e 22, nonché dell’articolo 23, comma 1, lettera p), del Codice del Consumo e ne vieta la diffusione o continuazione;
  • è the practices of Lyoness Italia S.r.l. infringe Article 20,21 (and so on). Their practises are therefore wrong (uncorrect/irregular).
  • è since their practices infringe Article 23 and prohibits their dissemination and continuation.
First, a fine of 3.2 Mio € was imposed, which could be seen as a warning shot. Significantly more serious are the findings of the investigations that are similar to Norway’s findings. This is no surprise since the structure and procedures of Lyoness are the same in all countries.
After the conclusion of a long inquiry, the competition authority (AGCM) stated that:
The promotion system for the purchase model “Cashback” Lyoness Italy S.r.l. uses, is incorrect, because it is a pyramid scheme/snowball system, which the Consumer Protection Act classifies as a definitely misleading business practice.
The system revolves around a fee-based discount card with which consumers can “save money” in certain stores. Only the leaders of the Lyoness system yielded high profit rates with the members’ “careers”.
The promotion system used the advantages of the Cashback system just as a pretext and in fact, banked on the recruitment of a high number of consumers as their sales representatives. “After they have ‘joined’, a very high ‘entry fee’ is requested for reaching the first commission level and the start of their ‘career’ as Lyconet Premium Marketers. After this, the marketer has to recruit other consumers and has to make further payments for their ‘career progress’”, said a spokesperson of the authority.
Within the inquiry, it was it has been found that the Cashback system in fact has a secondary position within the economic turnover of the Lyoness system, namely 16%. The remaining 84% are achieved by the sale of Lyconet products! So much for the so-called “purchasing association”. It is only possible to reach a high level of Shopping Points (the compensation mechanism of the payment plan) if the participating consumers or persons recruited by them make further payments. As it has been noted, several ten thousand consumers made these payments to become included and to stay in the system. Only a few people were effectively able to reach relevant positions.
“The regulation authority further noted that methods with which properties, conditions and time limits of the system were presented, are misleading. The different aspects have neither been explained at events nor on the websites. Also, some necessary indication on distance selling contracts, as for example information on the right of withdrawal, the place of jurisdiction and dealing with complaints are missing on the websites.”
Lyoness Italy now has two months left for submitting a new marketing plan that has to be approved by the AGCM. Several Italian Lyconet presidents asserted that they already have implemented all points criticised by the resolution and that they “have received an ‘OK’ from the AGCM”. After consultation with the AGCM, this assertation is incorrect. The AGCM did not receive anything or authorise anything like that. Right now, purchases can still be made with the Cashback card and SMEs can still be added. But anything concerning Premium, EST, Cloud, EC1 and EC2 (the main source of income) is prohibited. (We already know all this from Norway!)
Lyoness reacts with long known “crisis wording”, the criticised Lyconet business practices are not mentioned:
“Dear Lyconet Marketer, 
In the context of the requests of the competition authority (AGCM) to Lyoness we would like to inform you, that we have heard the decision of the AGCM. We are more than surprise by this latest decision and will of course take all necessary legal measures.
We note that took suitable measures after the beginning of the AGCM inquiry in September 2018 and that we reacted to the authority’s objection immediately. We were therefore even more astounded about the latest decision, which is not plausible for us in any way, even if the changes of the system already made are being regarded. In the whole world, Lyoness is a company that meets the requirements as shown by the closing of proceedings in Austria.
Lyoness is an international purchasing association with 11 million members and more than 120,000 partner companies. In Italy, more than 1.5 million members are daily receiving benefits from more than 25,000 related companies that are feeding tens of millions of purchases back into the community of related companies every month.
As already mentioned, we will oppose this decision at the appropriate places. We can count on a team of competent lawyers and competent independents (super partes), who are supporting our view. We are confident that, like in Austria, we will reach a positive outcome. Therefore, our members will still receive benefits from their purchases and the loyalty program will still be provided to small and medium-sized enterprises.
Of course, we will keep you up-to-date.
With best regards, Lyoness Italia S.r.l.”

17th February 2019

 Now that the Italian Authorities have stopped Lyoness operating in Italy, affiliates are demanding their money back:
https://behindmlm.com/companies/lyoness/lyoness-victims-in-italy-demand-return-of-their-losses-53-million-euro/?fbclid=IwAR1qEar_q6tyIH1l-pCcqrrJkASAbFU0zr-fSdKXvDbu2Ha_ReHar_XXlUA


Interesting exchange this morning on a Group Facebook page:

  • Gregory Green Deborah Koland I appreciate your optimism, but it's the "little bit" that concerns me. With the initial payout and if every month hereafter pays $24.48 I can expect figuring conservatively to recieve $1700.00 on a $2250.00 investment. I'm not confident I'll get the $1700 or break even. How can I with good conscience endorse Customer Clouds to the people on my team?

    • Deborah Koland Gregory, 
      Since this is your page, I figured I’d let you address that part. I picked out the small positive. I calculated $24.48 x 42 months + 856.__? and got (rounding) $1,884.00. Is that about right? Sure would have been nice to have made more than t      he outlay for the time our $$ was unavailable. We could have lost more than that in the stock market, or a casino, but we also possibly could have made more in the stock market, or even in svgs acct. So, yes, shopping and building the shopping community seems to be the surer thing, it’s what the main purpose always was. I experimented with some Clouds, hopefully Italy will be bigger, but I can’t chase each new venture. I’ll get what I can, shopping where I can, and remembering to thank the merchants who are there for us. That, I can promote! 
      Thanks for being here.
      1

    • Иле Пиле Гапко Deborah Koland there is still a problem. A lot of people bought a lot of clouds and invested from 10.000 to 100.000 $ because of the promises of the leaders. Those same leaders made a Careers out of them and were praised by the Company on the main events. Now the people are angry and sue the Company, which brought the Sentences in Norway and Italy which forbid that kind of investments. We are now officially promoting a Pyramid Scheme if we continue with such behavior. 
      And because of that, we, who do the business the right way are facing with problems, people are starting to talk about the Company as a scam which should be avoided at all costs.
      2

    • Иле Пиле Гапко There is also the problem with the new EC projects. Despite of the disaster which are the National Clouds, the company still forces this kind of investments, like it wants to take the last dollar out of naive marketers. For me, it's malicious politics.
      About the comparison with stock market: when you invest there, you receive daily reports about the movement in the market. Here, we are put in the dark, not knowing the number of cards given to the fans, the SP received in every Cloud, financial report of the money invested (business contracts with the clubs, marketing expenses etc). And we are talking about hundreds of millions of euros, so with a transparency like that, this stinks big time.
      3

    • Deborah Koland Иле Пиле Гапко 
      You make good points.
      2

    • Gregory Green Oh No Deborah Koland please always speak your mind. No censorship or or hard feelings here.

    • Gregory Green I just we shopping and spent that 24 bucks with mobile vouchers. I guess the little bit did help.

    • Gregory Green As Dick Cavett said, As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it."
      1

20th February 2019
EBAY - The latest company to 'temporarily' suspend e-vouchers. And Love2shop are taking FOUR weeks to apparently pay Cashback as well - except that neither EBAY or LOVE2SHOP are actually members of Cashback World and DON'T pay a penny in cashback to anybody.
Cashback World pay everything.
So why are CBW delaying payments to its affiliates?
Because the money is drying up.
Just like all ponzi scams do eventually.



26th February 2019
Cashback World have been lying for years about their Merchants, and claiming major retailers have joined them when they haven't!
But some of them are fighting back!
INTERSPORT Germany forbids Cashback-World the use of their logo!

3. December 2018
INTERSPORT is the biggest medium-sized mail order business group in worldwide sports retail. Under, 5800 locations in 65 countries are united under the umbrella of the IIC-Intersport International Corporation GmbH, the purchasing and management corporation of the Intersport group. In 2014 they generated a turnover of EUR 10,5 billion. With market shares of around 36% in Germany and over 20% in Europe the IIC GmbH is the world leader in sports retail.

Like numerous other renowned companies, INTERSPORT Germany was listed at Cashback World with its own company partner ID. The fact that they only were voucherpartners was hardly ever mentioned. Only a few people would recognise that this circumstance did not permit the use of the INTERSPORT logo under trade mark law.
Upon request the following was notified by the INTERSPORT headquarters:

E-Mail (recieved) from 10-01-2018

„There has never a cooperation between the INTERSPORT Germany eG and the Lyoness Europe AG. Also the Lyoness Europe AG was not authorized to use the INTERSPORT logo under trade mark law. After you pointed this out we stopped selling INTERSPORT vouchers tot he Lyoness Europe AG. Due to an injunctive relief the INTERSPORT logo is not longer displayed by Lyoness.“

Best regards from Heilbronn

INTERSPORT Deutschland eG

press officer in corporate communications






16th March 2019

More angry Marketeers on this Faacebook group:
'Great marketing moment is written here, however no one has a wright to criticize complains especially if they are with facts...now I do have all the clouds and units and passive and etc...but I do complain and I will continue as long as I see that people criticize complains instead to criticize company work on the field... 
fact1: How many shopping points are coming from ATCC, CSCC and PLCC- that is equal of the load of work done by the offices in those countries... I do not blame merchant marketers in these countries because even if they put new merchants on board there is not enough shoppers from the cloud to do shopping. So, what was done so far in these 3 countries to increase the number of shoppers? So far in last 12 months I didn't see increase in revenue at all../ They are saying it is still beginning and I am listening that in last four years and when we will see movement? / Old customer clouds revenue is the biggest problem that needs to be taken care off.. 
fact2: Since I have been on all presentations in my country as well as on the Elite marketing meetings everywhere the upper line was giving high expectations for the clouds / not the company / and they mislead people.Company should correct them at that time and work with all to give clear expectations since they have the info of the revenue monthly but they didnt... and now the marketers are guilty / people saying they spouse to work by their self to redeem the L EDV/... and I agree with this only if I see that money put in the clouds are used smartly and bring revenue - which is not the case now.... 
fact3: How many new clubs are brought on board excluding the clubs that were presented when the clouds were opened- answer ZERO.. 
fact 4: in all new presentations in last 12 months I didn't see a single word about the old clouds-Why?.. If something is successful should be presented to the new prospects.. I will stop here with the facts because I think it is enough... By the way I do have a presentation came from the top where it is saying that ATCC will be bringing 1250 SP monthly... which mislead a lot of people..and on the end .... I do like this business a lot, but I will never stay on the side listening how we are treated as prospects instead to be treated as business partners. In each business there is positive and negative results and critics.. and negative critics are to foster eliminate the problems and move forward... If nothing change with old clouds, the people that are hymn the great results now will take our place in the future and I will remind them in couple years ...'
'White Labels provide me 8 SP/month, thank you very much. There are no new white labels, and you have 14 EC - so you will receive less than euro/month, it's pure mathematics (you can ask your toddler).
2. What about Marketplace, how can EC holders benefit from it ?!? Maybe the same way as we benefit from Eyetime? It seems to me you don't know what you are talking about and just repeating what is said on presentations. Is that it, you said 100+ projects and you mentioned only 1 new (white labels are old school)?
'The more I talk to my leaders, the more money I lose. So, I'm definitely over it, hope yours are better.'

'Same leaders ...new prospects..'
'Well, I would rather say new sheep ready for harvest'
'so much anger Ile..., be careful, it is dangerous.
360lab - just remember it. I dont feel like giving more insights. Your mind is closed anyway. I hope, at least, you are using your card for your own benefits.

'If you think I'm angry, you should see the others who lost 10, 20 or even 50.000 euros. Or you should talk to some members in Norway and Italy, there is a big line of angry people demanding the company for reimbursement.
Anyway, happy 4 year waiting, hope those 100 projects make you more than 2-3 SP/month.''People tend to not follow when the first time wasn't so good. In the case of the National Clouds it's turning out to be a disaster. It doesn't matter who said what, who lied, or who failed. The bottom line is people lost money, they didn't even break even. I'm sure we all know someone, or ourselves who has put their life savings into this and are very disappointed with the outcome. Along comes the EC to fix the problem. Why should I put my money and trust in it? What guarantees do I have? I would have converted if I didn't have to drop another $4500.00 into it. Now let's look at this. 1. The National is not paying enough to break even. 2. EC will fix all of this, all you need to do is convert and drop more money into it. 3. In 4 years it will start to pay out and you will make money. 4. No guaranteed minimum payment. 5. I haven't seen one piece of evidence that EC will be successful. Here is what I WILL do. I will continue to support shopping, I'll continue to recruit and support shoppers, marketers, and SME's. I will not promote EC or recommend it. If you like it go for it will be my standard answer from now on. If EC turns out to be a big success I'll be happy for the people that converted, and gladly eat my words.'

'And what about the lack of transparency? There is no information how much SP every Cloud collects, maybe it collects 50 euro and we are given 10 euro, how can we know?
If I put my money as a deposit in a bank, I return all my money and get some interest, in this system instead of earning, you lose even your invested money.'


'I think we need to stop discuss the new EC shares since that is the future based on promisses at the moment... discussion shell be based on facts.. In 4 years we can.. now we have facts for clouds and national balance... and they are disaster.. I think with discussion for EC we are de-focus from the problem we have now... All our money are in the old clouds .. let the dreamers dream their future with the fortune of their EC...like we had our dreams 4 years ago... we woke up .. they will in 4 years... I hope that they will get what they dream... we didn't..hope dies last... and our hope died with the clouds..'

'It's hard to stay in the business and not talk about the EC. Members who want careers are encouraged to sell them, it's the only way, shopping won't help you. If you want a career from shopping (the honest way), you have to build a team of at least 10.000 people just for Career Level 2, because the rate of shoppers in a team is less than 10%.'

'You are right, the worst that could happen are ruined relations with our friends, Colleagues or relatives, which already started to happen.

 2nd April 2019


Lyoness have updated their T&C.s and people are losing money by accepting them.
When a ponzi is coming to the end of its life, the company tries to reduce its liability and this is what's happening here:

Dear Lyoness Members,

I refer to the links that I sent out to a recording of a webinar that was conduct last week by a group of Lyoness members under the name “STARS”.

Today I was informed that the video of the recording was removed on both the Stars website and You Tube Channel.

We have managed to obtain a copy of the webinar that can be downloaded: https://jmp.sh/zw2nAvb

I draw your attention to the section of the webinar starting from 2.07 minutes to the 4.08 minute mark, the presenter makes the following announcements in respect to the proposed new terms and conditions:
GET TO KNOW THE CHANGES: (Transcribed from the Broadcast Presented by the Stars Mastery Presenter)
· “Before you accept the 2019 GTC’s”
· “Please understand the implications of the 2019 GTC’s”
· “What we have learnt recently is that not only are there changes and more expectations about who’s in your team and the amount of shopping that’s going on but there’s also a limitation to transferring any vouchers and I am going to share with you a very sad story”…
· “I think this person might be on but there will be no names but this person is a Platinum Elite Stars Member wanting to be part of the reverse cloud, had tens of thousands of dollars of discount vouchers and has now accepted the new GTC’s and so none of them are able to be moved out of there account”.
· “So that decision in round figures was nearly a $30,000 decision”.
· “So please understand the GTC’s because once you’ve clicked them then you cannot go back”.
Under Australian Consumer Law, a term of a ‘standard form consumer contract’ has no effect at law if the term is unfair.

Please refer to the following information available on the ACCC website:

Unconscionable Conduct:
https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/advertising-selling/advertising-and-selling-guide/other-prohibited-sales-practices/unconscionable-conduct

Unfair Contract Terms:
https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/advertising-selling/advertising-and-selling-guide/other-prohibited-sales-practices/unfair-contract-terms


7th April 2019


Norway's final judgement on Lyoness confirms it's a pyramid scam:

Lyoness – Request for a written confirmation that the infringement against the Ponzi scheme regulations of the lottery law has been remedied, cf. § 16 (4) of the lottery law
The supervisory authority for lotteries refers to the lottery committee’s resolution of 27 January 2019 in which the claim of Lyoness Europe AG and Lyoness Norway AS regarding the lottery committee’s resolution of 31 May 2018 was rejected. Further we are referring to the lottery office’s decision of 28 February 2019 not to suspend the resolution.

The lottery committee concluded that Lyoness is a trading system which is a Ponzi scheme according to § 16 (2) and has sustained the lottery supervisory authority’s resolution. The lottery committee has found no reason for giving Lyoness Europe AG and Lyoness Norway AS the possibility to remedy unlawful circumstances. The resolution has the consequence that Lyoness Europe AG and Lyoness Norway AS must stop the complete business, the participation and distribution of products of the company in Norway.

The supervisory authority for lotteries’ resolution of 31 May 2018 shows that the resolution for a suspend of Lyoness’ operations includes that all purchases and payments of Norwegian participants and Cashback-companies of Lyoness, Lyconet and Cashback World must be stopped. Further, the marketing of the enterprise, the use of bonus cards and the sale of discount vouchers, shares in customer clouds, gift cards, marketing material, seminars and the like must be stopped. Also, Lyoness is encouraged to stop any payment of discounts, bonuses and provisions to the Norwegian participants.

The supervisory authority for lotteries demands a prompt written confirmation from Lyoness Europe AG and Lyoness Norway AS for the remedy of the infringement of § 16 of the lottery law, cf. lottery law § 16 (4).

We refer to the resolution of 31 May 2018 and want to point out that the resolution of the stop of Lyoness’ business in Norway does not keep Lyoness Europe AG and Lyoness Norway AS from paying back the amounts, participants paid for the purchase of discount vouchers and shares in customer clouds before the day of the resolution and that were not paid back in the form of redeemed discount vouchers. Furthermore, Lyoness is not prevented from paying back the amounts participants have paid for marketing material and seminars before the day of the resolution. Also, Lyoness is entitled to pay out the amounts participants have compiled by purchasing from Cashback companies until the day of the resolution.

The lottery supervisory authority points out, that we are going to evaluate this issue precisely. An infringement of § 16 is to be seen as a gross infringement of the lottery law and can be avenged with penalties or prison sentences of up to three years, cf. § 17 (2) of the lottery law. Such a punishment can be inflicted on companies and persons that are founding, operating, participating or distributing a Ponzi scheme, cf. § 17 and § 16.'

27th April 2019 

Great explanation below on how the Lyoness scam works.
Many more examples are available on the 'Pissed Consumer' website:

'I am a gold member of lyoness. Lyoness is a true scam. I can responsibly tell you this. STAY AWAY FROM LYONESS. Do not ever buy gold membership. I am going to tell you why.

First of all, I just spoke with their representative on the phone. They officially confirmed to me that all the discounts that you get in a form of cash back to your account are only redeemable towards purchases through Lyoness. You will never get any real money from them. I called to find out how to withdraw the accumulations in my cash account. They said - only by purchasing vouchers. Period. This means the stories of people making large amounts of money monthly are simple lies. Anyone who states otherwise is either a dreamer or is paid by Lyoness to say so.

Secondly, if you've seen the Lyoness videos, you've noticed that there is a complicated system of units that is very hard to grasp. Why do you think these units were created? Why not just stick with good old numbers - you spend this much, you get this much in cash, this much in bonus, this much in affiliated bonus, whatever else they may offer, everything can be expressed in dollars. No! Lyoness created units for you not to think of numbers. Why? Because if you start thinking numbers, you'll be running away from Lyoness as fast as you can.

Let's translate units into dollars.

When you, being a Lyoness member, make a purchase from a Lyoness merchant, you receive a small discount (0.5% for buying from Coles Express, for example), and a larger loyalty bonus. Of course, knowing that Lyoness charges up to 10% from the merchants, no one would go for 0.5%, so they created a loyalty bonus system. tOn top of 0.5% cash (just discovered that this cash is only redeemable towards purchases from Lyoness merchants), you receive 2-3-5% of loyalty bonus that eventually forms your UNITS. Every time you loyalty bonus accumulates to $75, you get one unit of Accounting Category I (ACI). How much do you have to spend to get an ACI? If you only buy expensive things from merchants Lyoness scammed for a higher discount, you might be able to get a unit by spending $1,500.00. But if you do what Lyoness advertises – “spend money on your everyday needs, just like you always do”, the realistic number will be closer to $2,500.00 You don’t get anything by forming a unit. The first bonus of $675 Lyoness pays you is when that unit “matures”. In order to mature one unit of the Accounting Category I (ACI) and receive $675, your entire lifeline (you, people you subscribed, people they subscribed) has to make purchases for $183,750.00, provided that the your lifeline only loses 5% of the units because of the imbalances. Yes, remember that in order to mature a unit, you have to deliver 70 units under it. 35 above the centreline and 35 below. So, if you have 335 units above the line and only 34 below, your initial unit will not mature until you get one more unit below the centreline. Smart, isn’t it.

Let’s take this number for further calculations. Since you are not allowed to market Lyoness to people you don’t know, and you are only limited to your friends and acquaintances, you can organise them yourself to make large purchases collectively and realise much higher discounts without being a Lyoness member. A 10% discount on total purchases of $183,750.00, which is relatively easy to negotiate these days, is $18,375.00, not $675 generously promised to you by Lyoness.

To mature a unit of the Accounting Category II (ACII), you have to accumulate 60 units of the ACI, so multiply $183,750.00 by 60. You underline will have to spend a total of $11,025,000, to mature one ACII. All for you to receive the most generous bonus of $1,275.00 from Lyoness. When is that going to happen?

To mature an ACIII and proudly receive $2,400.00 from Lyoness. Remember, this is not real money. Only spendable within Lyoness merchant network. So, to mature an ACIII, you lifeline will have to accumulate 50 ACIIs, meaning to spend $11,025,000.00 multiplied by 50 for a total of $551,250,000.00.

To mature an ACIV, your lifeline has to accumulate 25 ACIIIs, so multiply $551,250,000.00 by 25. You lifeline will have to spend $13,781,250,000.00, and you will receive $7,200.00 from Lyoness.

Finally, to mature an ACV and receive $24,000.00 from Lyoness... Wasn't that you goal? Are you ready?... Completely ready? Sitting down, listening to the drum beat, waiting for the number?.........

To mature one ACV, your lifeline will have to accumulate 25 ACIVs, meaning they will have to spend $13,781,250.000.00 multiplied by 25 for a total of $344,531,250,000. Three Hundred Forty Four BILLION, Five Hundred and Thirty One Million, Two Hundred and Fifty thousand dollars spent by your lifeline to receive a generous bonus of $24,000. So, when do you think all your relatives and friends that are *** enough to subscribe for Lyoness membership will spend that much money if they start today?

This is 0.00000007% of a discount. Imagine yourself walking to a local retailer and asking for a 0.00000007% discount on your purchase. (Especially if the purchase is for one third of a trillion dollars) There is no way for you to get that discount without Lyoness, of course.

As internet marketers say, BUT WAIT! THERE IS MORE!

So, if Lyoness negotiates a discount of 10% with the merchants, and you only get 0.00000007%, where does the difference go? Oh, yes, you get a regular discount of about 2% that is given to you in a form of cashback and is, by the way, taxable. We are still missing about 8%. Let’s not count 0.00000007% anymore. You’ve got to be Lyoness to call it money. So, on a $344 billion dollar purchase, Lyoness pockets about 8%, which is somewhere in the vicinity of $30 billion dollars. Not that it’s going to happen. All I’m trying to illustrate is that Lyoness gets you to run around subscribing people for 0,00000007% savings (not real money) and they get 8%. Isn’t it a little bit too fat? And if you have so much free time, wouldn’t you be better off just visiting your local stationary wholesaler, buying $10,000 worth of stationary from him at a 20% discount and selling it to the same relatives and friends? You’d make a solid $2000 profit over a school season, and your relatives and friends wouldn’t call you a scammer.

Another thing Lyoness doesn't tell you is that to use their system, you, all the people you refer and all the people they refer will have to permanently change their shopping habits. Have you seen many people happily changing their good lifelong habits over a 2% discount? Well, these are the people you will have to find and subscribe to earn your pennies from Lyoness. Now, if you want to make a little more pennies from Lyoness, these people will have not only change their shopping habits, they will have to be actively running around finding others alike and subscribing them to Lyoness. What a job! What a pay!

Do you buy from Woolworth? Well, forget it. With Lyoness you only earn your bonuses if you purchase from Coles. You probably know, that in most cases you have to purchase vouchers and gift cards of the merchants you want to use before you can get any benefit from Lyoness. That means, you buy a $300 gift card from Coles, wait for a week or two for it to arrive in the mail, and then, every time you walk by your favourite produce shop that's not a part of Lyoness, you have a dilemma. You can go and buy low priced quality produce from your favourite shop or you can buy Coles *** for about 50% more, but you'll get a 2.5% discount. And you will go and buy from Coles because you've already spent this money. That's right. You've already bought the gift card. Whether you use it or not, it is your problem now. Lyoness has already made their money and Coles too.

One of the few freedoms we have left in the modern society is the freedom to buy what you want and to spend your hard earned money the way you want. You don’t vote for the Prime Minister of this country. You don’t vote on carbon tax, bank deposit levy or cigarette tax. You don’t have those freedoms. Yet you still have a freedom to vote for your favourite shop by going there and spending your money. Lyoness takes this freedom away from you. From the moment you join Lyoness, you'll be buying from merchants that pay Lyoness to be in the system. You will have one freedom less. Form many people this is their last freedom.

This all means that you will be running with your tongue on your shoulder subscribing other people (paying $1.5 for each subscription from your pocket, by the way), convincing your friends and relatives to join Lyoness in a hope to get some retirement passive income for yourself, and at the end your entire lifeline, including yourself, will realise that the system is a pure scam. It takes your freedom away; it pays pennies for major inconveniences; and a little bit more pennies for hard work of selling memberships.'

 28th April 2019

 This is interesting.
Woolworths in Australia have banned Lyoness from buying their gift vouchers.
Oh, how I wish, the UK retailers would do the same!

Name: cbw aus snip.JPG Views: 0 Size: 29.0 KB
Also, we have this:

'I Called Lyconet Customer Service on Friday (April 25, 2019) And Got The Following Reply:

Due To Fraud, All New Cashback World Shoppers Using The Cashback App Must Have The Credit Card Option activated by The Gift card Department.

The Marketer or Sponsor of The New Cashback World Shopper Can e-Mail Cashback World Customer Service The Name And ID Number of The New Cashback World Customer That Need Their Cashback App Credit Card Option Activated. Multiple Requests Can Be Included in One e-mail.

This Request Can Also Be Called in, But They Prefer e-mail To Keep From Being Bomb With Lots of Phone Calls.

Plan B:

You Can Ask Your New Cashback World Customers To e-mail or Call In Their Own Request To Activate The Cashback App Credit Card Option. But, You Might Lose A New Cashback World Customer With This Plan B!

I Thought This Was A Non-iPhone Issue, But It is Not. It’s A New Cashback World Customer Issue.'

10th May 2019 

The Managing Director of 'Lyoness Australia' and 'myWorld America' (Jef ) sent out an email to his Lyoness affiliates claiming that a number of sites/forums/blogs - including my own - are all carrying fake stories and lies about Lyoness and are not to be believed.
I'm not quiet sure who he thinks he's fooling but I can only conclude that the gravity of the situation facing Lyoness at the moment is finally dawning on him and telling lies is the only action he can take to stem the tide.

He says:
'Our legal team in Graz have confirmed that there are no legal investigations in Europe, but to provide some further advise:
'After the Public Prosecutor’s office had lodged an appeal against this decision, the Higher Regional Court Vienna has, in its decision dating from 12.04.2016, confirmed the decision made by the Regional Court for Criminal Matters in Vienna and has subsequently declined the accusations made by the WKStA.'

This was dated 12th April 2016. Fair enough. But it's now 2019 and this is the Austrian  judgement now:

Aug 01, 2017
The Supreme Court in Vienna has rejected the appeal On the 18th of May 2017, the Austrian Supreme Court in Vienna delivered a long overdue, 53-pages-long verdict (Verdict Supreme Court General T&Cs, Ref. no.
'The judge Mathilde Beranek from the Commercial Court in Vienna, Legal Department 58.1 Vienna, convicted Lyoness as a snowball system and declared the company’s General T&Cs to be null and void (Case No. 581 Cg 44/16y-11).

And ITALY/Norway:

First, a fine of 3.2 Mio € was imposed, which could be seen as a warning shot. Significantly more serious are the findings of the investigations that are similar to Norway’s findings. This is no surprise since the structure and procedures of Lyoness are the same in all countries.
After the conclusion of a long inquiry, the competition authority (AGCM) stated that:
The promotion system for the purchase model “Cashback” Lyoness Italy S.r.l. uses, is incorrect, because it is a pyramid scheme/snowball system, which the Consumer Protection Act classifies as a definitely misleading business practice.
The system revolves around a fee-based discount card with which consumers can “save money” in certain stores. Only the leaders of the Lyoness system yielded high profit rates with the members’ “careers”.
Looks like legal action to me Jef. And don't forget the 3.2 Million €  fine!

Jef is also denying that lawyers in Germany have managed to secure refunds for Lyoness customers. But the cases/refunds are documented legally and can not be faked.

 This You Tube video is a great source of information:

https://youtu.be/x6JXcPaSXAE

But then, Jef is hardly likely to confirm this is true, since thousands of customers who have lost life savings could then legally use this route to get back the money Lyoness stole.

And what of the criticism directed at me? Jef says this of me:

'Tara’s Blog for instance takes the incorrect view that the company is fraudulency claiming Tesco is loyalty merchant when the case is they are a gift voucher merchant- like eBay, like booking.com. etc.'

My view is not incorrect Jef. You state over and over again that dozens of National Retailers are 'LOYALTY MERCHANTS' of yours , not 'gift-voucher merchants', 'LOYALTY MERCHANTS'. 
They do NOT give Cashback.
They do NOT give shopping points.
They are NOT Cashback World members.
They simply sell you gift vouchers. That's it. But by calling them 'merchants' of Cashback World you are implying that these Retailers are connected to you in some way, which they definitely are not! 
This is the reply I got from TESCO's when I warned them about Cashback Worlds practices:
 'Hi Tara,
Thank you for taking the time to make us aware of this.
To call us a merchant of theirs however could be deemed misleading – as we are not a merchant but an issuer of Tesco gift cards in the relationship.
This will be picked up with them and we'll request that they stop referring to Tesco in that way.
Thanks
Cassandra - Customer Care'
Jef is asking people to report us to this link:
Which is a government site to report SPAM.

But we'd advise you to report Jef and Lyoness to this link:
Which is a government site for reporting SCAMS.

 14th May 2019

 A post on the Pissed Consumers website;
https://lyoness.pissedconsumer.com/lyconet-marketer-gets-full-refund-201904231520674.html
claims to be taking Jef Rowlison, MD of Lyoness Australia, to court:

'Our letter to the Lyoness Managing Director! 
Dear Mr.Rowlison, 
we have been informed about your appeal to the Australian members. The allegations in your mail were written in the typical Lyoness wording and wrong. With your appeal you encourage your members to commit a crime to the detriment of BE Conflict Management Inc., BE Konfliktmanagement Europe and to my own. We are therefore going to bring an action for an injunction against you personally.

BE Conflict Management Inc. did not at any time claim that Lyoness Australia Ltd. has made any payments. Every individual who follows your call will be held liable immediately and without warning and we will hereto pursue every possible avenue.

Today there are international companies that are specifically buying claims against Lyoness which should be of concern to you and which reflects the ruined reputation of Lyoness/Lyconet. It is a fact that Lyoness/Lyconet has been convicted for being a snowball system by final judgements in Austria and Switzerland. The Norwegian supervisory authorities already have prohibited Lyoness, besides to a penalty fee of EUR 3.2 million ($ 5.1 million) the Italian authorities have ruled that the existent sales practises must be discontinued etc. These are documented facts and not made up ideas as Lyoness suggests to its members.

Do Australian members know that the head office in Switzerland (see Attachement) is an office only has three rooms with three to four employees? For a company with a turnover of approx. EUR 1.5 billion this quite poor and above all very questionable. The myWorld business group now has been located in England, probably to complicate legal tangibility.

At the international level the brand name Lyoness/Lyconet has been ruined for a long time and is further on being perverted by Cashback World/Cashback Solution as its new company name. Amongst others, Supreme Courts in Austria and Switzerland state, “[…] that not only single parts of the Lyoness/Lyconet agreement for marketers but the complete agreement which consists of an unlawful snowball system, is unfair. This leads to invalidity of the whole contract due to immorality. It also states that the business model is about the redistribution of funds from the pyramid’s basis up to its top which is coupled with and camouflaged by a specific distribution of goods and services.

Considering the low discounts, the Cashback system is also negligible and economically irrelevant, even if Lyoness/Lyconet understandably enough likes to depict this differently. In fact, the purchasing group is only a façade for a hidden investment model which is being disseminated through a snowball system. The snowball system is cleverly disguised as a purchasing group by being linked to an apparent distribution of goods or services.

In this way, it is feigned to the public that members are just making purchases with the possibility to earn extended membership benefits through the purchasing group. (For example Swiss verdict of the canton of Zug EV 2016 42) kind regards Ben Ecker BE Conflict Management Inc.'

 15th May 2019

Lyoness aren't having a good year so far are they🙂
First Italy declares them to be a ponzi scam and bans them.🍾
Then Ben Ecker manages to get lots of people refunds and then...they have a very public termination to deal with.
So is it any wonder they're panicking a bit and writing 💩 like this:

Sent to members from Lyoness, on Wednesday, 15 May 2019
Subject: Important Information from Lyconet CEO
Asia-Pacific: Chris T

Hi everyone,
Have you been getting rogue emails, texts and FAKE NEWS recently?
IMPORTANT CALL!
You are invited to a Zoom meeting so that you can have your questions answered in regards to the recent controversies over terminations and a widespread scam that might have already affected you.
Our CEO of Asia-Pacific, Chris T will be on the call to respond on behalf of Lyconet.
Time: THURSDAY May 16, 2019 6:30 PM AEST

How exactly can getting a refund from Lyoness be labelled a scam? Lyoness is giving the refunds after all!

 26th May 2019
The Australians have a cracking Lyoness Ponzi recipe to sling on the BBQ!
Put a few Accusations, an abundance of Lies, a pinch of Slander and a whole heap of emails into the Australian Melting Pot and what do you get?
A meal you can dine out for weeks on!

Just look at this little lot:
First we have Jef, the Australian MD who has got himself in a right pickle!

https://taratalkstoday.blogspot.com/2019/05/lyoness-australian-md-jef-rowlison.html


And then we have uproar over the new T&C's that the Merchants (the real ones that is!) are fuming about!

Dear Mr eVoucher merchant.
We are part of a group of merchants that are interested in taking Lyoness/ Cashback World/ Lyconet to court over the recent set up of a cartel.
As such we have some questions we would like to put to the company representative who may be able to answer the question about the involvement your company has in this structure.
Are you aware that Lyoness/ Cashback World/ Lyconet merchants and members are required to indemnify the company against all 3rd party claims?
We are aware of some eVoucher merchants who have withdrawn from the program when they discovered the nature of the cartel they were involved in.

We are also looking to evaluate the level of involvement that the eVoucher merchants had in the setup of this cartel. We suspect that you have been seriously misled in what you were joining.
As a “Loyalty Merchant” in the Lyoness program, you are advertised on their website as such and promoted as a cornerstone of their business.
This activity is being used by Lyoness to try and avoid further prosecution from national governments for being an illegal pyramid.
In the event that you doubt the veracity of our claims, you may want to check out the court cases online that explain the number of cases currently finalised and others that are pending.

We would like to give you the opportunity to assist us in exposing this insidious company and the criminals behind it.

In the event that you choose not to communicate with us, we will understand but please appreciate that we are attempting to get to the bottom of an illegal cartel.'


10th July 2019
If you're paying Lyoness $50 /euros a month in fees, STOP!
It's throwing good money after bad!
Far better to try and claim a refund of the whole amount you paid before it's too late:


28th July 2019

There is lots of activity now regarding complaints from SME's.
Legal proceedings that I've been made aware of have just begun in Australia and the following attachments are self explanatory:

 LYONESS CARTEL OVERVIEW
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ig7_e_dZExMl2Ip0iB2Tu9gRgvYZmJMM/view?usp=sharing

 LYONESS SME COMPLAINT

https://drive.google.com/file/d/11zO__4s-DE9iS9tNlwr7g5n2K__5YAkz/view?usp=sharing


7th August 2019


Damning Swiss Court Judgement on the whole rotten Lyoness system:

…..In summary, the business model of the defendant (Lyoness) is an unfair snowball system, pyramid scheme or Ponzi scheme according to Art. 3 (1) lit. R. UWG…..

….. Contracts closed on the basis of an unfair snowball system are ethically unacceptable…..
http://www.bekm.us/new-swiss-judgement-of-4-june-2019-legal-disaster-for-lyoness/

29th August 2019


This months CC payment is around 10 euros and the sheep are saying 'wow!'. 😀
Well, most of them are anyway:

'Nobody is leaving nothing of course. But it seems to me that a lot of people forget that we put 1500 euro many years ago for every CC, so they are in fact returning our own money which they used as they pleased.
36 months x 10 euro = 360 euro + 670 euro on the first month = 1030 euro. We lose 500 euro per cloud. If you have 10 clouds, say goodbye to your hardly earned 5000 euros.'


Cashback World have been using the CC cash cow to pay the cashback on the so called 'merchants' that supposedly pay out cash when the majority of them don't even belong to the Cashback World Programme.
And as this chap so deftly puts it. the CC clouds will NEVER pay out any kind of profit.
You'd have made more money keeping it all under your mattress.

 9th October 2019

 Reports are surfacing in many Facebook groups that vouchers for Morrisons, Tesco and Costa are no longer available. 
24th October 2019

Great news tonight confirmed by Lyconet - Evouchers in the UK are mostly unavailable.

'Got this from the head office following a little complaint:
“We are aware of how vital the eVouchers are for our business, and even though we still do not have a date for when this issue will be solved let me assure you we are working really hard to get them back.
We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.”


21st November 2019
Ben Ecker has managed to get back more than a million dollars from Lyoness to pay back the money they stole from members.
He's managed to do this without spending one minute in court, so Lyoness aren't contesting any refund requests, they are just handing back the money - which looks like an admission of guilt to me.

Video testimonials have been released on You Tube from various successful claimants and Lyoness are so unhappy they've threatened to cancel those members accounts:

Dear XXXXXX,
Lyoness Member IDs : XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX

I refer to the attached video clip in which you allege that Mr B Ecker, with the help of Mr Wotton, has “recovered money for you that you invested in Lyoness some years ago”.
https://www.youtube.com/xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


I beg to advise that Lyoness has no record whatsoever of a claim made by you or Mr Ecker relating to any money that you have paid to Lyoness.


Unless you can provide incontrovertible documentary evidence of a claim made to Lyoness and of a refund made payable to you, I shall have no alternative to regard the statements made by you as untrue.


I request that you provide such documentary evidence within 7 days, otherwise the company will terminate your membership of Lyoness with immediate effect for good cause.

Yours sincerely

C N Thomson
Chief Executive Officer
Lyoness Asia-Pacific Limited
Suite 3101-02, 31st Floor,
Tower 6, The Gateway,
Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong
e. : chris.thomson@lyoness.asia
t. : +852 3977 4000
m. : +852 6625 2817
m. : +44 7803 396991
Lyoness are terrified that the thousands of people they've stolen money from will flood them with refund requests that they are unable to fight in court for fear that the details of their shabby ponzi scam will be exposed in court - so they make up lies instead to try and put others off from claiming.

Don't fall for it folks! Make that claim before it's too late!
29th May 2020
Lovely to see people getting their money back!
https://youtu.be/2B9-rf4sXws
6th June 2020
If you ran a legitimate company, with a legitimate product, why would you refuse to answer questions about it?
http://www.bekm.eu/lyconet-21-seitiges-gutachten-gerichtl…/…
5th September 2020
Hubert has changed the name of his scam again  - LYCLOUD.



22nd November 2020
Great news to share today!
Lyoness Kart Hizmetleri Ltd. has been banned in Turkey for operating a pyramid scheme and is now going through bankruptcy proceedings. Lyoness is also facing criminal charges for tax evasion!
“To the responsible authority,
The business operations of Lyoness Kart Hizmetleri Ticaret Ltd. Şti. have been terminated due to tax debts to the tax office in Mecidiyeköy and bankruptcy proceedings are currently continuing.
After the bankruptcy decision concerning this company, LYONESS HOLDING EUROPE Ltd. will be registered as bankrupt according to the Trade, Enforcement and Competition Law of the Turkish Republic. Furthermore, Lyoness Kart Hizmetleri Ticaret Ltd. Şti. will be registered as bankrupt. It will not be possible for these bankrupt companies to resume trading activities in Turkey. If LYONESS HOLDING EUROPE AG. founds another company in Turkey or becomes a partner in another company, its liability for the public debt before bankruptcy will continue.
For these reasons, it is not commercially possible for these companies to establish companies in Turkey or become shareholders in other companies.”

14th December 2020
On 30th August, 2019 the biggest recruiter of Lyoness in the USA replied to an email from a concerned Lyoness member who was trying to tell him that Lyoness was a scam:
'Mr. Little Dickhead,
Dont you think it is enough of your shit? Just remeber you are very small piece of shit which can stink for awhile....but everything has end !!! Im sure you understand'
And...
'As I said, you have no balls....and such pervert little dickheads who are jerking off on child porno are always hiding....but you are on the list 😉'
And...
'Do not be such bad example to those kids.....you want them to remember you for something good.....so, my suggestion is if you have such huge problem with our business, company etc to simple communicate because only this way we can find solution. All other options will be painfull....Think about it'
What a charmimg man!
Well now he seems to have changed his tune and decided that Lyoness is indeed a scam and has delivered this devastating interview:
In my opinion, people who send disgusting emails like this are only looking after No.1 and have only ONE reason for being a turncoat: To Save Himself! 🤮🤮🤮
More to follow, watch this space...

32 comments:

  1. Anonymous5 December 2018 at 13:56

    Hello,

    Thank you for all information. Do you maybe know what is the role of their crypto currency E-credit in their system?
    Best regards!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TARA6 December 2018 at 15:31

      Not specifically, no. But you can bet it's just another layer of ponzi, so don't buy any is my advice.

      Delete
    2. Soldier of justice9 February 2020 at 20:50

      E-credit is just new way to keep marketers believing and injecting money more and more. Vision is that their currency becomes widely used and every transaction in their world is instant, done in seconds for only 0.15 unlike banking provisions that take some time and cost more if you want to transfer more. They say it's going to be mindblowing when people hear about it and it hits the market. None is going to use the bank cards but instead switch on their cashback cards and eWallet. It's currency that you can only buy using bitcoin and for that you have to exchange real money of € and transfer it into $ to buy e-Credit. They talk about investing as much before the currency goes to market so that they can profit more and sell it for more than 1€. haha "Government of EU supports their project because they are working on stability of Euro." Assholes are now buying banks in EU countries and plan to rebrand them as their own legitimate banks for that currency where you pay no commission for anything if you are a member.
      Anyway, when the wait period is over for the marketers they are going to be paid out in this currency and get their money + more money+ more money. It's amazing that people believe it and use encrypted ways of payment for something so clean and 'legit'. Also, their leaders communicate only in telegraf app (drug dealers use that app, come on, think what serious profitable business works like that). Also, you get daily infos in telegraf about your eCredits investment profit. 100$ invested- 17$ monthly profit (visible there in that little app to make you feel like you have more money when you don't even have the 100 you begin with).

      Delete
  2. Anonymous3 January 2019 at 14:09

    Why are there a lot of big company's partners at cashback world?
    I dont undarstand why you sould burn youre good name at a piramide scam........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TARA3 January 2019 at 16:30

      There are NO big company partners at Cashback World. And if you don't believe me, simply phone up the retailer head offices and ask them. It's a very easy thing to check.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4 January 2019 at 04:38

      But when i look up the loyalty partners at cashback world in the Netherlands i see big names like bol.com and booking.com.
      When i have a big company like they have and i would not be a loyalty partner with cashback i would ask them to remove my name of there website.

      Don't get me wrong, i am not a cashback member or antything i yust think it is fascinating a company like Lyoness can pull a piramide scame out of there big had and get away with is in so many country's..........

      Delete
    3. TARA4 January 2019 at 10:35

      You would think so wouldn't you? But no, they can't be bothered or just don't care. I really don't understand it either. The only company who has asked them to cease is Tesco's. And yet Tescos STILL sell them gift vouchers!

      Delete
    4. TARA26 November 2019 at 22:48

      Update 27th November 2019: Tescos and other National Retailers have now ceased selling CBW gift vouchers. My enormous thanks to all of them.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous6 June 2019 at 07:21

    It is indeed fascinating that a company like this has been able to continue these practises for so many years. There is "no way" the large companies which are being mentioned by the Lyoness "marketeers/followers" are working with Lyoness. If they had, it would hav ebeen mentioned on their websites (at the very least).

    About 8 years ago, I was asked to accompany a Lyoness "investor/marketeer/seller" (whatever you name it) to one of their meetings. I already was sceptical, so I just went along with it to get a closer look. In these meetings you are being indoctrinated by flashy presentations, sales pitches, and talks about making fast money, good returns, etc. At the end I was even more convinced this was at the very least a clever MLM scheme or more likely a Pyramid scheme.

    It holds all the marks of a pyramid scheme, right down to the huge, agressive group of believers who drop on you like flies the moment you call it what it is, a pyramid scheme where only the top of the pyramid earns money and the ever growing bottom is scraping by, possibly not seeing any returns.

    This is 8 years ago, and this person I know is still "hard at work". I find it incredible how people can fall for something like this, and continue to promote it for over 8 years without making a decent buck.

    About e-credit... i'm going to have a look into that, as that is the first time i read about this crypto currency.

    Keep up the good work Tara, i've bookmarked your article.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11 June 2019 at 09:57

    Hello Tara and thank you for all.

    I am a marketer for less than a year, I started in this company and I ask myself questions, of course.

    I will try to remain objective.

    When I was told about the Lyconet company, I was told about their partnership with INTER DE MILAN, AS ROME and other big names in Football, but also Formula 1, Moto GP etc. ..

    How could you explain that these big brands, which must have full of lawyers can "dirty" their reputation with a so-called "piramidal enterprise" ???

    I agree with you with a lot of things "not very clear"; Cloud, Easyshop, wait 4 years for compensation etc ...

    I thank you in advance for the attention you will give to my comment ... I hope you can enlighten me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TARA11 June 2019 at 11:49

      I have no words of explanation for the involvement of F1 and Red Bull. I don't understand how they can take money from scams. Their day of reckoning will come one day.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous8 July 2019 at 03:09

      All those sponsorships mean nothing, they are just tricks to build fake credibility in the eyes of gullible investors. Sports clubs in Europe are one of the most corrupt and money hungry organisations, Lyoness just pays sponsorships to corrupt sports clubs to feature their brand, again as established many times hiding behind the cashback portion of the business which is perfectly legal, albeit a flawed business model, the problem is and has always been the "clouds" bogus investment scheme that functions as a pyramid scheme, providing returns to old investors from the "investments" of new investors.

      Delete
  5. Alfredo Rodrigues18 September 2019 at 07:56

    this is a bunch o crap, given by someone faceless. I wonder why blogs like yours exist, and have an kind o credibility, when you hide yourself, and never asked to analyse the operations with the owners.
    Its a cowardness way of acting.
    To start, companies vouchers have their own logo, not the cashback logo as you stated.
    I am not going to spend an more time with a coward who does not give his/her face.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TARA18 September 2019 at 12:36

      Company vouchers that Cashback World buy, do indeed have that companies logo. I have not stated otherwise. The CBW logo is, however, on the 'Love2shop' giftcards. So what other statement in my blog do you think is untrue Alfredo?

      Delete
  6. sweetnothings13 October 2019 at 14:06

    Wow, thank you for your in depth research on this and huge efforts to help and deter others from making the same mistake!

    About 9 years ago I had a good friend con me into joining a business called "World Wide Dream Builders". He knew I was looking for a job and tried to act like it was a formal interview. I was young and naive and it sounded like a good business idea. I went to several meetings that eventually explained what it was. World Wide Dream Builders was a company that sold "tools" motivational books & audio on how to be the best sales person & build your business, but the company whose products we were selling was none other than Amway.

    I had never heard of Amway prior to starting this and once I was more invested into it and told family and co-workers they immediately pointed out that it was a pyramid scheme. Of course, I didn't want to listen and kept doing it for almost a year. I probably spent between $1,000 to $1,500 by the end and it wasn't until I realized that I wasn't making any money before I finally got out. Some of the meetings I when to were crazy. The meetings were held at a "Diamond" member's house (made at least $100k) and we were told we should be spending at least $300 a month on products and we didn't need to shop at grocery stores, etc. The conferences were worse, the speakers would tell us we shouldn't be wasting time getting a college degree, working for a company, or spending our free time watching TV or going on Facebook.

    Anyway, I think there should be a required finance class in high school that teaches personal finance and what to watch out for (high rate credit cards, interest only loans, pyramid schemes, etc.).

    ReplyDelete
  7. Bruno Marques26 November 2019 at 07:22

    Hi Tara,

    First let me inform you that I'm "new" here. I am not involved in this business nor do I intend to do. I'm here because I have some friends that are "in" and they started talking me about this. I´ve been reading and searching a lot to fully understand what is going on.
    In relation to the advertising that we are seeing in F1, MotoGP, Roma (Associazione Sportiva Roma), Inter Milan, etc.. Why did these big reputable brands join CBW? I imagine that if this were indeed a "financial scheme" these marks would not ally with Lyoness/Lyconet/CBW. Who do you explain that?

    Thank you very much!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TARA26 November 2019 at 22:44

      Hi Bruno,
      The big sporting associations are not members of CBW, they just accept dirty money from them in sponsorship. If you believe they are merchants and give cashback, simply phone them and ask for yourself.

      Delete
  8. Bruno Marques27 November 2019 at 01:43

    Hi Tara,
    Yes, you're totally right. I've just call F1 general support number and they confirmed me that they are not merchants and they don´t give cashback. Also, they are not listed on the partners page:

    https://www.formula1.com/en/toolbar/partners.html

    So yes, the only thing I can see here is that they are only receiving money from MyWorld/CBW/Lyoness/Lyconet/etc..

    Thank you!
    Regards,
    Bruno Marques


    ReplyDelete
  9. Anonymous9 January 2020 at 04:06

    Any updates on the topic? I heard they have problems wuth issuing e-vouchers in some of the countries? And that they temporary lowered the standards of achiving career levels. Probably to maintain the flow of new customers?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TARA11 January 2020 at 02:39

      Lyoness have a court date in February where they have to prove they aren't a ponzi scheme...watch this space.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous2 March 2020 at 09:50

      Summary of the court proceedings from 25th February would be appreciated.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous6 March 2020 at 12:38

    What is happening now? Is there some signs of downturn of the company? I know that e-vouchers are not availible in the UK anymore and Clouds are paying almost nothing, so their marketers are getting annoyed...

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous14 March 2020 at 12:08

    Is Norway "open" again? They are still recruiting merchants over there.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Unknown16 April 2020 at 09:23

    Thanks for the post, has a lot of information!
    I invested a lot of money and, even worse, make other people invest because i truly believed it was a good investment.
    Its incredible how easy is to be manipulated and not realizing it..
    Now i know the clouds pay almost nothing. How do you think i could get my (and the people I talked to) money back? Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous17 April 2020 at 16:24

    this will be interesting

    ReplyDelete
  14. cottage12 May 2020 at 06:41

    Hi Tara

    Is there a way that South Africans can also gain legal advice or what process can we take in order to try and claim fund we have lost. I paid to become a premium member along with investing units internationally in 2014 which i was promised to have paid me out in 5 to 7 years. Not one cent has been paid and those units have not begun to grow one bit. Would really appreciate your assistance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. TARA12 May 2020 at 17:21

      It doesn't matter where you live in the world Cottage, refund information is all the same: https://taratalkstoday.blogspot.com/2019/02/lyoness-how-to-get-refund.html

      Delete
  15. Lyoness-Lyconet-Cashbackworld. Me han engañado15 June 2020 at 12:01

    https://lyonessymidinero.blogspot.com/2020/06/con-este-blog-se-aporta-informacion.html

    ReplyDelete
  16. Lyoness-Lyconet-Cashbackworld. Me han engañado15 June 2020 at 12:01

    https://afectadosporlyoness.es/

    ReplyDelete
  17. neki_neznanec18 August 2020 at 01:51

    Anything new on the topic? Is the scheme going down already or still attracting new members?

    ReplyDelete
  18. Unknown30 August 2020 at 15:35

    Its still going on..im in and i hope everything will.be alright

    ReplyDelete
  19. Anonymous6 February 2021 at 15:35

    Dear Tara,

    can we count on analyse of the recent Online sensation and the scam of mSP?
    What is the strategy behind IPO? Since mSP can not be bought, how they are planning to get money from marketers? Is Benefit Voucher same as eVoucher, or is something else?

    Thank you for your hard work and all information and insights shared so far.

    ReplyDelete

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