When the RVS Closing Price System fraud, a reboot of the HSL Smart Market System fraud, disappeared with investors’ money around October 2018, I facetiously wondered how long it would take before another company with a three-letter acronym name sprung up offering infeasible returns.
Turns out the answer was about three months.
Investors have reported being cold-called by people promoting the SBL Market Guide program that can turn an investment of £4,750 (supposedly a 50% discount) into £30k in two years, after which another £4,750 becomes payable.
This is virtually identical to the RVS Closing Price System which charged £4,925 for the prospect of turning this into £30,000 within two years, with a further £4,925 payable if RVS achieved the promised returns.
Needless to say RVS and its anonymous perpetrators disappeared well before the two year period was up, and RVS investors, like HSL investors before them, lost every penny of the £4,925 they put in. Along with any further money they gave to RVS to trade shares or buy access to data.
Also identical to RVS / HSL is the meaningless three-letter acronym name, and the tactic of flooding the Internet with fake forums.
A large number of fake forums have been set up at various domains, all featuring fake threads in which investors ask about SBL and are given universally positive responses. The threads are typically falsely dated to 2016 or even earlier to give a false appearance of longevity. Whois records will confirm that all these forums have only just appeared. These fake forums often feature a large number of threads which have been stolen from genuine investor forums (e.g. Citywire) to further the deception. Fake press releases have also been used extensively to help flood Google searches with crap.
Who are behind the SBL Market Guide system?
As with previous incarnations of this fraud, the website address (this time marketguide.co.uk) is anonymously registered and no corporate details are provided. The domain was originally registered in 2001 (unsurprising for such a potentially high value domain) and the details were updated in July 2018. This suggests the anonymous perpetrators acquired the domain around the same time the previous incarnation of the fraud (RVS) disappeared with investors’ money.
Should I invest in SBL Market Guide system?
No. It is an obvious, blatant fraud which is now on its third incarnation.
If you received cold calls trying to persuade you to invest in SBL Market Guide, you would be well advised to change your phone number before you fall for another, less obvious fraud.
I invested in the SBL Market Guide system. How do I get my money back?
Your money has been stolen by unknown individuals and is long gone.
Investors in the SBL Market Guide system should take extreme caution if someone contacts them claiming that they can recover their funds. It is virtually certain to be a fraud recovery fraud. They will eventually ask for “legal fees” or “liquidation fees” or similar, which investors will never see again.
If you fell for the SBL Market Guide System fraud then you are vulnerable to losing money in similar frauds in the future. Change your phone number or email addresses, as these will now be on a “suckers list”.
If you paid for SBL’s software via a credit card or debit card, explore the possibility of a claim under “section 75” (credit cards) or “chargeback” (debit cards). (Non-UK investors should check the protections applying in their own country.) Note that chargeback and section 75 claims never cover losses from trading or investing. However, the sale of goods which are not as described is potentially covered by section 75 and chargeback.
As SBL undertook to supply software which promised guaranteed returns from trading, you might be able to make a successful claim if you can persuade the debit / credit card company that you paid for software which was sold fraudulently and not as described.
I’m reading this in October 2019. Should I invest in SBL / RVS / HSL’s next three-letter fraud?
See above.
Update 16.04.19 – new scam called SBT Trading Solutions
Yet another incarnation of the scam has been set up, this time called SBT Trading Solutions and using the website matrixsystems.net. Both the SBL and SBT websites use the slogan “The Edge to Succeed”.
The SBT website’s HTML source code even refers at one point to “SBL Life Program Specifications”.
Thanks to reader Anthony Dalby for pointing out the new incarnation.
Update 24.04.19 – another copy of the SBL / SBT scam is hosted at usbmoney.com, using the name USB Trading, and the same “Edge to Succeed” slogan.
Update 26.04.19 – the SBT website gives a UK company number which corresponds to “Starbrite Traders Limited”. Starbrite Traders was bought off-the-shelf by a “Charles Moran” in October 2018, the same month that the WHOIS registration details for SBT’s matrixsystems.net website were updated. It is likely that Starbrite Traders was acquired to launder money through and/or give the scam an extra veneer of legitimacy.
No meaningful checks are performed by Companies House on those who register UK companies, and Charles Moran may or may not exist.