• Benefits for persuading friends to subscribe to an application motivating them to start a healthy lifestyle or purchase a training package on investing in the Forex market? These may be elements of the pyramid-type promotional scheme.
• The President of UOKiK, Tomasz Chróstny, set forth allegations against Your Fit Way LTD from the UK, Your Fit Way Network OÜ from Estonia, Wisepro Foctral Limited from Cyprus and Vital Trading from Toruń (Poland).
• Financial penalties of up to PLN 2 million may also be imposed on five managers employed in these companies.

Pyramid-type promotional schemes are an unfair market practice prohibited by law. They consist in building sales networks through promises of benefits that depend primarily on the number of people introduced into the scheme. The scheme of action involves making a deposit, persuading other people to enter the scheme and getting paid for their introduction. The payment comprises mainly of the contributions of the referred persons and does not result from investments or sales outcomes. Such a scheme is bound to collapse after some time, since the money paid is not invested and does not generate profits, but goes to the organisers of the scheme and people higher in the chain.

"We suspect that the affiliate programmes associated with the Yourfitway and Properly platforms may be pyramid-type promotional schemes. As a result, I have decided to bring charges of violating the collective interests of consumers against four companies, which face penalties of up to 10 percent of their annual turnover. Five managers may also be held financially responsible – each of them may be imposed a sanction of up to PLN 2 million," says Tomasz Chróstny, President of UOKiK.

YourFitWay application

The two proceedings initiated involve Your Fit Way Network OÜ with its registered office in Tallinn, Estonia, and Your Fit Way LTD from Preston, UK. The former is the creator of the website yourfitway.com intended for people who wish to take up physical activity and the affiliate programme that promotes it. On the other hand, the UK company is responsible for creating a network of partners.

The Yourfitway mobile application provides consumers who subscribe for USD 10 per month with the motivation to walk regularly. It is combined with an affiliate programme that offers three types of licenses: Gold for USD 100, Black for USD 1,000, and Black Ambassador for USD 2,500. After purchasing a licence and inviting further participants to the programme, consumers receive a commission on their payments, as well as on the payments of the next referrals in the chain.

Financial penalties for actively promoting the affiliate programme on social media, e.g. portraying the programme as a "money-making machine", may also be imposed on three managers sitting on the management boards of Your Fit Way Network OÜ and Your Fit Way LTD.

Training platform "Properly"

The next two proceedings involve organisers and promoters of the Properly training platform and its associated affiliate programme. They include Wisepro Foctral Limited, with its registered office in Larnaca (Cyprus) and Vital Trading from Toruń (Poland). The former has founded, operates and promotes Properly, which is a platform offering training packages to consumers who want to invest in the Forex market. They cost between EUR 1,000 and 4,000. After the training, future traders undergo a knowledge test and a risk assessment procedure. They subsequently enter into trading agreements with Wisepro, based on which they can conduct transactions in the Forex market under certain conditions. The platform is combined with an affiliate programme. It provides for commissions for persuading more people to buy training packages and introducing them into the scheme. The programme has been promoted by Vital Trading, which held an event for traders in 2020.

The President of UOKiK has charged both companies with the violation of collective interests and is conducting proceedings to impose a fine on two managers employed in Vital Trading, who are also shareholders in Wisepro Foctral.

Check whether you would fall into a trap

Website www.konsument.edu.pl is a modern educational tool – a social network simulator where users can experience ten types of risks, including investment risks, such as the pyramid scheme and alternative investments. The appearance of the website, its content, mechanisms and interactions are identical to those found online. Therefore, the user behaves naturally, e.g. watches commercials, reads posts and opinions of those who have joined the "team" of investors, registers his or her account and begins to "earn money".

This provides a realistic, yet safe, demonstration of how cyber frauds operate. The users learn the consequences of reckless decisions, which - taken on impulse or out of the desire for quick and high profits - can translate into measurable financial losses. They also learn how to act in similar situations and what to pay attention to. They also are advised on what to do if they fall for fraud.

Consumer assistance:

Tel. 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer hotline
E-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
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