The company iGenius promises financial independence. Young women in particular are attracted to this.11.09.2024 | 28:35 minAnyone who uses social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok or YouTube is familiar with the advertisements that promise to earn money with just a few clicks and little time. In direct messages, young women try to win over recipients for companies such as iGenius.
iGenius – according to its own statements, the company operates in 123 countries and offers over 20 products that are designed to help you get rich.
iGenius: Conquering the financial sector with “female empowerment”
The actual main product is educational videos and live sessions that are designed to teach you how to trade. iGenius also offers access to a trading AI that is designed to trade cryptocurrencies automatically.
Influencers from iGenius use “female empowerment” to specifically recruit young women to gain a foothold in the male-dominated financial sector. Influencers present themselves as successful traders on platforms such as TikTok and Instagram and promise a life of luxury.
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But behind the glamorous videos and pompous “Women’s Galas” lies a business model that relies heavily on sales and apparently less on the actual success of the products. Miguel Vees Raposo, a top earner at iGenius, explains:
In 2023, I earned about 60 percent of what I earned from network marketing and 40 percent from trading and investing.
Miguel Vees Raposo, iGenius-Trader
Illegal pyramid scheme: member recruitment instead of product sales
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Thanks to smartphones and social media, customers can be reached directly. But many multi-level marketing models focus not on the products but on recruiting new members. This is illegal – a snowball or pyramid system. It is difficult to identify these.
Lawyer Christian Solmecke explains how to recognize an illegal pyramid scheme: “You could look to see whether something is really being sold here? How much money does a seller earn from selling products compared to recruiting new employees?”
If most people in a system only make money by recruiting new members, we have an illegal pyramid scheme.
Christian Solmecke, Attorney at Law
iGenius predecessors already traded in questionable financial products
One former participant reports that she canceled her membership after being misled by promises of quick money-making. The high cost of the entry-level package ($1,499) and monthly fees ($175) made participation unprofitable for her.
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But it is not just the promises of quick money that are questionable; iGenius’ company history and the corporate network to which it belongs also give cause for skepticism.
iGenius is the third attempt by a company that offers various types of financial products and engages in multilevel marketing. The previous companies were warned by financial authorities and business partners were convicted of fraud in other ways.
Fraud and money laundering also among ex-CEOs
The parent company Investview also has a turbulent history. When Investview was founded in 1946, the company was still called Uintah Mountain Copper Mining Company. It owned mining rights for quartz, but not the associated land. Little happened for 50 years, and by the turn of the millennium the company had, according to its own statements, recorded “no income whatsoever”.
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Between 2005 and 2012, the company was renamed four times and has since been called Investview. A former CEO was sentenced to 16 years in prison for fraud and money laundering, unrelated to Investview’s business, and had to pay over $54 million in fines and compensation.
Dream of big money only for a few
Financial supervisory authorities such as Germany’s BaFin are faced with major challenges due to the online operation of MLM companies. Auditing these companies is difficult because the market is opaque and fast-moving and international responsibilities are often not clearly defined.
Media library note:
Source: ZDF/finally
On social media, iGenius is presented as a platform that offers quick money, flexible working and financial freedom – especially for young women.
But the ZDF documentary “The Trace: iGenius – Fast Money or Big Bluff” shows that it is difficult to make money with iGenius products. The system thrives on recruiting new members. And only a few realize their dream of making big money.
