Zegolia.com, registered February 10, 2013, conceals its operators behind private domain registration. While an "Alexandre Ferrari" appears in "Zegolia Marketing" on the company blog, no further ownership details are available. But the Zegolia website itself features advertising banners for AdCashNetwork, a previous Ponzi scheme.
AdCashNetwork launched in 2009 and collapsed five months later. Its newsletters often carried the names "Fred Richards" and "Lisa Bim," also known as Lisa Ross. Bim/Ross sent an email to AdCashNetwork members blaming "not enough sales" for missed rebate payouts.
"We wish to notify our members that since the last few weeks, ACN has not been generating enough sales and as such we are not having enough funds to do rebate payout," the email stated. "This week, their will be no rebate payouts. Hopefully, the things will improve and we should be able to pay rebates the next few weeks." Five days after this message, the AdCashNetwork website went offline and its administrators disappeared.
Zegolia offers no retailable products or services. Affiliates join without charge and then invest money, typically in $5 increments. Each $5 investment includes advertising credits for use on the Zegolia website.
The company promises a 200% return on investment for each $5 lot. Zegolia claims this ROI will pay out weekly, at rates ranging from 7% to 14%. Referral commissions also apply to new investments. Free members earn 5% on money invested by their direct recruits. Paid members receive 8% on direct recruits and 4% on investments from their second and third-level downlines.
To qualify for weekly ROI payouts, free affiliates must visit 100 websites from a Zegolia rotator. Paid affiliates must visit 30 such sites. Membership to Zegolia is free. Free affiliates receive $5 from the company to invest but only earn direct referral commissions. Paid affiliates must invest a minimum of $5 of their own money into the scheme. Zegolia describes itself as a "100% legal cash back advertising network" offering a "passive investment" that shares earnings from advertising sales.