TVI Express: the final verdict

This will really be the final word on TVI Express I will write. It will be a summary of all the previous entries. However, I will also post a translation of the Chinese article, as the Google Translation isn't that good. Any way, here goes...

TVI Express: The Final Verdict

Tens of Thousands of people have been lured by the promise of quick profits, i.e. "earn up to $15000 in a week" to join "TVI Express" all around the world. India, China, and now the US. This supposedly London-based company claims to sell discounted travel vouchers. However, TVI Express is a Ponzi scam, plain and simple. They may have hidden their deeds pretty well, but there are enough clues out there for everybody to find. But will you see it, or stay in self-denial?

The problems of TVI Express are plenty. For organization, I've divided it up into three categories: company background suspicions, company practice suspicions, and finally, faulty retorts.


Company background suspicions
Here, we'll list the questions raised about the company's background

* TVI Express gives a London address, but that address is out of date (place is empty / moved out)

TVI Express claims to reside in London. Says so right on their own website at tviexpress.com . The problem is... they are NO LONGER THERE, as of late September 2009. And they did NOT leave a forwarding address. Just call that building's receptionist. She'll tell you.

Some TVI Express members claim that if you are a member you'd know the new address. However, nobody has revealed this address. It is now almost 2010, and nobody knows where TVI Express is operating from. If someone does know, why is it such a big ****ing secret? Are they tired of people asking them reasonable questions?

What you may not know: UK is actually one of the easiest places to start a company. It takes as little as 30 pounds to start a "private limited company" in Britain, and it can be done within 3 hours. Furthermore, UK companies will help you setup "virtual offices" in London, automatically forwarding mail, fax, and phone calls to anywhere in the world using VOIP, all with a nice-sounding London address. They can even provide live operators. All for a monthly fee, of course.

Conclusion: Having a "London Office" may sound legit, but it doesn't really mean anything.

UPDATE (22-JAN-2010): Since then, TVI Express has been found in no less than four locations: Cyprus, UK (in Heathrow), in China, and India. 


* TVI Express is NOT a registered company according to UKData, where all registered UK companies are listed.

All UK companies are required to register per Companies Act of 2006, so this is a red flag.

The real bombshell is found in the "TVI Express Terms of Use". While in the ToU it mostly refers to itself as "TVI Express", at least one place it referred to itself as "TVI Services Ltd." There is a "TVI Services Ltd" in UKData. It goes to an address in Surrey, NOT London. What's more, that address in Surrey belongs to a company registration agent. In other words, it is a "mail forwarder", or "virtual office".

Analysis: TVI Express can't keep its own name straight. "TVI Express" is not a registered company in the UK, but "TVI Services Ltd" apparently is. So what is the relationship between the two? One wonders? And just which one do you pay, and which one pays you? If they're NOT related, why is it in the terms of use? And does that mean that TVI Express is illegally operating in the UK? If not, why different names?

Conclusion: Sounds like another "virtual office". Any one want to pay 18 pounds to UKData and see who are the founders of TVI Services Ltd and if it's really related to "TVI Express"?


* Nobody really knows when did TVI Express started operating.

TVI Express claims to be in "prelaunch" in January 2009. However, there are two dates to note: the domain TVIExpress.com is registered in April 2008, and the company TVI Services Ltd, is registered in March 2009 (ref:UKData).

Google archive search shows that there is no mention of TVI Express on ANY website before February 2009.

Frankly, if it really did start operating in February 2009, but didn't registered the company until March 2009, it was operating illegally for at least a month.

Analysis: As shown before, it takes 30 pounds and 3 hours to setup a company in the UK. Why wait until March 2009, as the domain was registered a year before? That is, if it is the same company? If not, then TVI Express is falsely claiming to be a London company! If it IS the same company, why different names?

Conclusion: suspicious, but circumstantial


* There is NO legitimate media coverage of this "exciting new company", except that the Chinese authorities are investigating this as a pyramid scheme in Zhejiang.

Do the Google News search yourself: all the results are "press releases", which are not checked for accuracy. And the releases are NOT from TVI Express itself, but from TVI Express members.

As for the Chinese story, you'll have to go by this Google translation: Summary says that Zhejiang Adminstration of Industry and Commerce is investigating any "sellers" of TVI Express for Pyramid scheme. (note: I'll post a better translation later)

Analysis: a company that can turn 250 into 10000 or 15000 in less than a month, but NO legitimate press coverage? Either this company is like a stealth aircraft and flying under everybody's radar ALL OVER THE WORLD, for the past NINE MONTHS (assuming the January launch date is real), or it's so shady nobody wants to write about it.

Conclusion: Circumstantial evidence, but more damning all the same.


* There is NO information ANYWHERE about who are the founders of TVI Express, and who are in the management.

There's nothing on TVIExpress.com about this, and as stated before, the only name that even comes close is "TVI Services Ltd.", which may or may not be related. In fact, you don't even know how many owners are there, where they are from, how/why they started TVI Express, or such. There's absolutely NO information at all.

This, when combined with the fact that "TVI Services Ltd" goes to a virtual office, the London office is vacated with no forwarding address, and nobody knows where the call is being answered (if you call their number and ask, they will NOT tell you), is very disturbing.

What's more, TVIExpress.com has "domain privacy" turns on. All contacts about the website goes to the webhost. Another dead end.

Conclusion: Just what exactly IS TVIExpress.com hiding? Circumstantial, of course

UPDATE (22-JAN-2010): Someone posted the corporate records and you get three Indian names, complete unknowns. 


Company Operation Suspicions

Here are the questions raised about the company's operating methods, practices, and such.


* TVI Express claims to sell travel at a discount.

TVI Express's own FAQ says that you don't need to sell anything, but you do need to start by recruit two other people as your downline, and have them each do the same (i.e. recruit two more people). (Each, of course, pays the $250 / $271 sign up fee)

Conclusion: Isn't that the classic definition of a Ponzi scheme? All you do is recruit more people who pay to join, and not sell anything?


* No! They actually sell travel club membership! You actually book through Travelocity.com! That's legit!

Travelocity is FREE to use. WHY would I pay $250 to use it? And I can use Hotwire.com, orbitz.com, Kayak.com, expedia.com, and bazillion other sites for travel deals, and all those are free to use too. Why would I pay $250 to use something that's free to start with? When there are so many more choices out there? What do I *get* for that $250?


* TVI Express claim various "experts", including Warren Buffett, Robert Kiyosaki, Bill Clinton, and more, endorse it, in the "expert watch" section.

Analysis: If you read the endorsements carefully, you'll find that all of them are about MLM industry in general, NOT about TVI Express in particular. The quote about Mr. Buffett actually says that Berkshire Hathaway owns some stocks in MLM corporations. The quote about Mr. Kiyosaki says that he would start a MLM if he had to start all over. The quote from Bill Clinton is borrowed from kiva.com, a microlending MLM providing microloans to impoverished third-world countries.

Conclusion: They LOOK LIKE endorsements, but they actually are NOT!


* TVI Express says you get 7-day 6-night vacation with return airfare when you join

Who has went on this supposedly vacation? Who provides this 7-day 6-night trip that we supposedly get when we sign up? Booked through what by whom? Why just "return airfare" and not round-trip airfare for this "free trip"? Is this offer good anywhere in the world, as it's pushed in India, China, AND now the US of A? There are absolutely NO DETAILS on this "free trip" at all. How far advance do we book? Distance restrictions? Blackout dates? And all of the other stuff you normally do when you book a vacation?

Conclusion: so light on details, it may as well be popcorn.


* To join TVI Express, you can use a prepaid voucher of $250, or pay $271 via credit card or "Liberty Reserve" (out of Costa Rica, by the way).

And where do you get this prepaid voucher? From an existing TVI Express member, of course. When he recruited about 14 more people, he gets his $250 cash back and one of these $250 vouchers. He will gladly sell you the voucher and pocket $250 in cash. Is that the so-called "free trip voucher"? Or is that something else entirely? No explanation anywhere.

And the credit card processor is down all the time. Apparently, they operate out of a bank in Cyprus, which is an island off the coast of Greece. If the business is based in London, why bank in Cyprus? A UK business is taxed by UK rates no matter where you bank... And as we asked before, we can't even be sure this company is REALLY based in London!

Conclusion: so how do you join this... "club" or whatever? Who am I supposed to pay?


* To "cycle out" of Traveller Board, you have to recruit two new members as your downline. Each of them needs to recruit two more, and one more level. Once you recruit 15 others, you are cycled out of the Traveller board.

Wait a minute... This is an EXACT COPY of the "eight-ball" Pyramid as documented in Wikipedia under Pyramid fraud... See for yourself. The 1-2-4-8 levels are identical. And apparently, the "express board" is yet another eight-ball Pyramid.

Conclusion: Double-eight-ball scam. What other proof do you need?


Member retorts

Here we list the outrageous claims TVI Express members make when defending doubts and criticisms raised by skeptics (such as me). It is extremely funny to see how hard they are trying to convince me, and perhaps themselves, that they did NOT fund a fraud.


* I am getting paid, therefore it must be legit!

Need I remind you that Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme was legit for 20 years... until recently? And that one guy who got like 7 billion off that scheme, is found in the bottom of his own swimming pool?

I should also remind you... If you KNOW the operation is NOT legit and you participated any way, you can be charged with fraud.

In the eight-ball scam above, only the "captain", i.e. the guy on top get paid. All others are ****ed. So perhaps you got paid, everybody else got ****ed.


* You can't say it's NOT legit because you're not in it!

So the police cannot enforce laws, and the justice system cannot judge, because they are not crooks? What planet are you living on?

Frankly, one does not need to be a rat to smell a rat. And folks... This one, is a rat.


* TVI Express got a 5-star rating from Citizencorps.com, a MLM review site, highest rating possible!

Just like TVI Express, not a single name is to be found on the whole site, and domain privacy is on so no contact info either. Their review of TVI Express has enough factual and spelling errors that it's laughable. And finally, for a supposedly legit MLM review site, they apparently reviewed only 5 MLM operations that they care to list. Even if it is NOT a shill, their credibility is in serious doubt. What's more, none of the reviews are dated, even though the site is based on Wordpress blog engine. They also took a year's hiatus (October 2008 to October 2009) with no explanation, and after the hiatus even the style of the posting changed. Sorry, but if you call that a "legit review" I have some beachfront property in Arizona I can sell you.

UPDATE (22-JAN-2010): CitizenCorp.com has downgraded TVI Express to 3 stars out of 5, citing multiple problems, including delayed payments. 


* TVI Express is Thawte-trusted!

No such thing as Thawte-trusted. Thawte sells SSL encryption certificates. If you want to accept credit card online, you have to get an SSL certificate. That by itself means nothing. You can buy that service for your website for about $250 USD... if you ever want to take credit card payments. It says NOTHING about a site's trust worthiness. It just says that hackers can't steal credit card data while it's in transit from your PC to their server.


* TVI Express is a member of the Better Internet Bureau!

Sounds impressive, until you realize that BIB is a PRIVATE company out of Canada, not affiliated with the BBB or any government agencies (says so in their FAQ). They supposedly "approve" websites for membership... for a fee of $45. There is no way to verify that a site is actually a member of the BIB, as BIB does not publish a list of current members on their website. Finally, you should note that TVI Express's BIB badge does NOT actually link back to the BIB website. Wonder why?


* You are a s****-eyed g*** who knows nothing! Stick to making t-shirts!

As this blog is for polite company, I have to censor the feedback. He tried to use the 4-letter g-word as an insult. However, he failed to realize that he was using it incorrectly. Ever since the Vietnam war, that word is applied exclusively to VC and NVA soldiers. As I never was in the military, nor were I even been to Indochina, the reference is off by thousands of miles. However, let's just humor him and say he really meant c****s, not g***s, as perhaps his Vietnam war history knowledge or insult knowledge need remediation. The item he refered to are actually made in South America (Honduras, Costa Rica, etc.) nowadays. What China really makes now are iPods. Yes, Apple iPods, contract-made in China for Apple. Thus, one must conclude that even in his insult, this gentleman is demonstrating his ignorance of reality. And in any case, his insult failed to provide any useful retort. Makes you wonder why the desperation?


In Conclusion

TVI Express is one of the biggest scams to hit the world in recent years. What's interesting about it is how it has managed to ensnare people in multiple countries, multiple continents all through the power of the Internet... and a lot of greed. And defenders of the fraud are coming up with various excuses to justify their legitimacy... and failing.