Promoters of virtual companies like Speak Asia earned crore of rupees using the internet. The authorities are now planning to develop a system to alert people about dubious activities of MLMs

Reacting on the proliferation of multi-level marketing (MLM) schemes and financial losses gullible people are suffering due to this menace, the law and enforcement agencies are planning to keep track of activities that are taking place over the Internet.

According to sources, the agencies are developing certain mechanism in collaboration with Internet search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing to alert people about dubious activities like MLMs and to keep tab on such money multiplier schemes. However, this cannot be confirmed with top officials.

Earlier, while speaking at a seminar, Rajvardhan, additional commissioner of police, Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Mumbai, warned people about Speak Asia like ponzi schemes and called such schemes a social menace, which is proliferating across the country, especially in rural areas.

Mr Rajvardhan was speaking at a seminar on economic offences. Topics like multi level marketing schemes, forensic accounting to role of serious fraud division in economic offences were covered in the seminar, which was largely attended by officers from law and enforcement agencies.

While he spoke about various such schemes and issue faced during investigation, Mr Rajvardhan refrained from divulging any further information or talking to the press. He called the seminar as a private event even though the formal invitation to media did not say so. Interestingly, most of the information from his presentation is readily available in public domain.

During the seminar a detailed presentation on the various ponzi schemes, their modus operandi and the high income claim they make was made by a senior official. He also touched up on the schemes such as City Limousine, Speak Asia, which have duped people for amounts running in crore.

Talking about the issues faced by the investigating agencies in schemes like Speak Asia, Mr Rajvardhan said these companies are registered abroad and hence it is difficult to trace their money trail.  The number of such schemes are increasing and there websites often claims ISO certification, PAN Card as legal documents. “Such documents do not have much value,” he added.