Muhammad Azam, Najam Ul-Hassan, and Muhammad Imran, all based in the United Kingdom, launched "The Ads Team" in late 2016. These three individuals had previously promoted the notorious OneCoin Ponzi scheme.
Azam joined OneCoin earlier in the year, ending his active promotion around August. Ul-Hassan, on September 29, publicly celebrated buying a new Mercedes, attributing the purchase to "network marketing" income. He hinted at an upcoming "biggest launch," which appears to be The Ads Team. Imran also promoted OneCoin, and before that, ACN. All three seem to have been recruited into the same OneCoin downline. Whether they remain OneCoin affiliates is unclear.
On October 25, 2016, Muhammad Imran stated he was no longer affiliated with The Ads Team, effective October 24. Despite this claim, his name remained listed on the company's "about us" webpage and within its official Facebook group. The reasons for his sudden departure were not disclosed.
The Ads Team operates without any discernible retail products or services. Its primary offering involves affiliates purchasing "Ad Packs" to gain access to an income opportunity. These packs are bundled with advertising credits, allowing members to display ads on The Ads Team website.
The compensation structure centers on these Ad Pack investments, which come in denominations of $10, $25, or $50. The scheme promises returns ranging from 110% to 120%. A $10 pack offers a 110% return, capped at 200 active deposits. A $25 pack yields 115% for up to 500 deposits. The $50 pack promises 120% on up to 2000 active deposits.
Daily return-on-investment payments vary by pack size: up to 2.5% for $10 packs, 2.25% for $25 packs, and 2% for $50 packs. To qualify for these daily payouts, affiliates must view ten company-supplied advertisements each day.
Referral commissions are paid through a unilevel compensation system. An affiliate recruits others directly beneath them on Level 1. If those Level 1 recruits bring in new members, they form Level 2, and so on. This structure relies on continuous recruitment of new investors to pay off earlier ones. But this facade often obscures the underlying money transfer from new participants to existing ones.
Authorities worldwide have aggressively pursued schemes like OneCoin, classifying them as fraudulent pyramid or Ponzi operations. The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) consistently warns against unregulated investment opportunities promising high, guaranteed returns, particularly those with opaque business models or a heavy reliance on recruitment. Investors in such schemes face a high risk of total capital loss.
Individuals who believe they have lost funds to "The Ads Team" or similar schemes should contact their national financial regulatory body or a reputable fraud recovery specialist.