Bermuda Police Service issued a pyramid scheme fraud warning on April 15th concerning "Success Factory," an organization reportedly active on the island. The scheme enrolls members by invitation, urging them to recruit others and invest in its associated cryptocurrency, DagCoin.
Membership in Success Factory operates on an invitation-only basis. Once accepted, individuals are heavily encouraged to recruit additional participants into the program. Larger sales volumes correspond to an increased status level within the organization, which carries rewards such as free event tickets. This structure relies on continuous recruitment rather than genuine product sales to generate revenue for those at higher tiers.
Operators of "Success Factory" also press members to invest in DagCoin, a cryptocurrency characterized as junk. A critical aspect of this investment is a reported restriction preventing members from redeeming their DagCoins for up to three years. This lock-up period effectively traps investor funds, making them inaccessible and illiquid.
Detective Superintendent Nicholas Pedro of the Serious Crime Unit confirmed the Bermuda police's concerns. "This scheme bears many of the hallmarks of a pyramid scheme," he stated in the warning.
DagCoin itself emerged as a spinoff from the notorious OneCoin Ponzi scheme. Igor Alberts established Success Factory in the Netherlands in late 2017, utilizing the platform to promote DagCoin to a global audience.
Earlier this month, law enforcement actions began to unfold. Estonian authorities arrested DagCoin founder Nils Grossberg and his accomplice Kris Ress in Estonia. These arrests marked a significant step in international efforts against the scheme.
Around the same time, Dutch authorities, acting on behalf of Estonian counterparts, raided Success Factory's offices in the Netherlands. Igor Alberts and his wife, Andreea Cimbala, reportedly fled the Netherlands several weeks before these coordinated arrests and raids. This timing suggests they may have been alerted to the impending law enforcement actions.
Ted Nuyten played a role in assisting Alberts, providing a steady stream of public relations material to prospective investors for both OneCoin and DagCoin. The specific financial arrangements between Alberts and Nuyten have never been publicly disclosed. While Nuyten covered the DagCoin arrests in Estonia, his BusinessForHome platform did not report on the subsequent raid of Success Factory's offices.
As of early October, Alberts and Cimbala had relocated to Dubai, a jurisdiction that has become a frequent destination for operators of multi-level marketing and financial schemes facing legal scrutiny elsewhere. Dutch authorities have not confirmed whether criminal charges are pending against the couple, who are currently presumed to be fugitives. Both Success Factory's and DagCoin's websites remained accessible at the time of publication.