WeWe Global: The Crypto Scam That Won’t Die

Luiz Goes’ WeWe Global, a multi-level marketing operation that has collapsed and reinvented itself multiple times since 2021, is now on its fourth iteration. Each time it falls, it rises again under a new name, with new tokens, but with the same promise of outsized returns that experts say are mathematically impossible to sustain.

“It’s a classic Ponzi scheme, just dressed up in crypto clothing,” said Dr. Sarah Johnson, a cryptocurrency fraud investigator at CryptoWatch Institute who has been tracking WeWe Global. “They’re using the complexity of blockchain technology to confuse investors and hide the simple fact that they’re paying old investors with new investors’ money.”

The scheme’s evolution paints a picture of remarkable resilience in the face of repeated failures:

1. WEWEX Token (Early 2021 – Late 2021): WeWe Global’s initial offering collapsed within months.
2. LyoFI and LyoPay (Late 2021 – January 2023): This iteration, using LYO tokens, lasted just over a year before imploding.
3. LFI Token (January 2023 – August 2023): A short-lived eight-month scheme that quickly fell apart.
4. The Blockchain Era (August 2023 – Present): The current iteration using EURfi and XLFi tokens.

“Each collapse has happened faster than the last,” Dr. Johnson noted. “The Blockchain Era’s lifespan is likely to be even shorter, given the increasing awareness of these scams and the dwindling pool of potential new investors.”

The collapse of the LFI Token scheme left many investors unable to withdraw their funds, leading to widespread frustration and accusations of fraud. In a telling comment on LinkedIn, Raj Kumar Sharma, a Director at Accenture and LinkedIn Community Top Voice holder, addressed Luiz Goes directly:

“Please give people withdrawal on WEWE, so many thousands are waiting from 7 months.. else this again proved to be a ponzi scheme where empire is getting created by looting innocent people.. please come out clean and honor your commitments”

This comment came in response to a post featuring Luiz Goes allegedly appearing on Forbes. However, further investigation revealed that the Forbes feature was on a spoofed duplicate website, forbesnewyork.com, rather than the legitimate Forbes platform. This use of fake news sites to create an illusion of legitimacy is a common tactic employed by cryptocurrency scams to lure in unsuspecting investors.

The inability of investors to withdraw funds, coupled with the use of deceptive marketing tactics, further reveals the fraudulent nature of WeWe Global’s operations. Despite these clear red flags, the scheme continued to evolve, leading to its current iteration as The Blockchain Era.

At the center of this operation is Luiz Goes, a Brazilian national who presents himself as the CEO of LyoPay. Mr. Goes, operating from Dubai, gives detailed marketing presentations for WeWe Global while claiming to be merely a partner. Attempts to reach Mr. Goes for comment were unsuccessful.

LyoFI, a key component of WeWe Global’s second iteration, was unveiled in October 2021. The company’s website domain, lyofi.com, was registered just months earlier, on July 30th, 2021. LyoFI was incorporated as DIGIFI GROUP LTD in the British Virgin Islands, a jurisdiction known for its lax financial regulations.

“The use of offshore jurisdictions like the BVI is a red flag,” said Mark Thompson, former Financial Crimes Enforcement Network investigator. “It’s often used to obscure ownership and avoid regulatory scrutiny.”

LyoFI introduced a new scheme promising a 300% return on investment over 900 days through the “cloud minting” of LYO tokens. Experts agree that such returns are unsustainable without a continual influx of new investors, a hallmark of Ponzi schemes.

Another prominent figure in the WeWe Global network is Jose Gordo, a Spanish national who has been aggressively promoting the scheme in South America. Mr. Gordo is currently wanted in Argentina on criminal fraud charges related to his involvement in OneCoin, another notorious cryptocurrency scam that collapsed in 2017.

“Gordo’s involvement is particularly troubling,” said Inspector Maria Rodriguez of Interpol’s Financial Crimes Unit. “It shows a pattern of moving from one crypto scam to another, leaving a trail of victims across continents.”

The scheme has found particular traction in Italy, with data from web analytics firm SimilarWeb showing that over 60% of WeWe Global’s website traffic came from the country at one point. Diego Endrizzi, a top Italian promoter, has emerged as a key figure in the organization’s latest incarnation.

As of December 2023, The Blockchain Era’s website was attracting approximately 57,000 monthly visits, with 51% of that traffic originating from Italy. This represents a significant drop from earlier iterations, suggesting the scheme may lose momentum.

For comparison, SimilarWeb data shows that Safir International, another collapsed scheme now part of Xera, received about 557,000 monthly visits to its website as of December 2023, with a significant portion coming from the Dominican Republic.

Meanwhile, Success Factory’s rebranded “SF Suite” website only attracted around 85,000 monthly visits, with 28% of that traffic originating from Russia.

The current iteration, “The Blockchain Era,” offers investment tiers ranging from 110 euros to a staggering 1.11 million euros. It promises returns through an AI trading bot called Quantwise, which cryptocurrency experts say is likely fictitious.

“There’s no evidence that this AI trading bot exists or could produce the returns they’re promising,” said Dr. Alex Chen, blockchain technology consultant at TechFuture Analytics. “It’s just another layer of misdirection.”

The Blockchain Era’s compensation plan includes a 10% referral commission (boosted to 15% for the first 30 days), residual commissions through a complex 15-level structure, and various bonuses based on recruitment volume. Notably, participants are required to reinvest 30% of all commissions and bonuses, a tactic experts say is designed to keep money trapped in the system.

The Blockchain Era operates through a website domain, “tbe.io,” first registered in 2016 but likely acquired by the WeWe Global operators in June or July 2023. The current website went live in late July 2023, coinciding with the collapse of the previous LFI token scheme.

Interestingly, The Blockchain Era’s marketing materials feature LyoTrade and LyoWallet, connected to the earlier WeWe Global iterations.

In a surprising development, remnants of WeWe Global and two other collapsed schemes, Safir International and Success Factory, announced a merger into a new entity called Xera.

Launched on February 4th, 2024, Xera has been operating for over five months, following the same playbook as its predecessors.

Xera’s leadership includes several figures with troubling histories in the crypto MLM world:

• Henk Diepbrink, former Managing Director of Safir International, now serves as Xera’s Managing Director.
• Werner Kaiser, previously part of Safir’s “Elite Circle of Trust,” is now Xera’s Global Vice President.
• Gorka Buces, formerly involved with the collapsed schemes Xifra and Decentra, is Xera’s Chief Visionary Officer.
• Nils Grossberg, founder of the failed DagCoin and Success Factory Ponzi schemes, is now Head of Global Partnerships for Xera.

Xera incorporates a new AI trading bot called Quantwize and introduces EURX and CLFI tokens. Investment packages range from 110 euros to 1.11 million euros, mirroring The Blockchain Era’s structure.

Xera’s website, operating on the domain “xera.pro”, was registered on January 8th, 2024, just weeks before its official launch. This quick turnaround from domain registration to launch is typical of these schemes, designed to capitalize on momentum and avoid regulatory scrutiny.

The persistence of schemes like WeWe Global points to a larger problem in the cryptocurrency space. According to a report by Chainalysis, cryptocurrency-based crime hit an all-time high in 2023, with scams accounting for $8.7 billion in losses. Of this, MLM-style crypto schemes represented a significant portion, estimated at $3.2 billion.

“The combination of cryptocurrency’s perceived complexity and the familiar MLM structure creates a perfect storm for fraud,” explained Dr. Emily Wong, professor of Financial Technology at Stanford University. “Victims are lured by the promise of getting in early on the ‘next big thing’ in crypto, while the MLM structure encourages them to recruit friends and family, spreading the scam further.”

The impact of these scams extends beyond direct financial losses. Dr. Wong added, “These schemes erode trust in legitimate cryptocurrency projects and can have a chilling effect on innovation in the blockchain space. They also often target vulnerable communities, exacerbating existing economic inequalities.”

Regulatory authorities have struggled to keep pace with these rapidly morphing schemes. The transnational nature of cryptocurrency fraud and the use of tax havens and jurisdictions known for lax financial regulations have made prosecution challenging.

“These operators are adept at exploiting regulatory gaps,” said Robert Simmons, former senior advisor at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. “By the time authorities catch up, they’ve often already moved on to the next scheme.”

Despite the challenges, some jurisdictions are taking action. In February 2023, New Zealand’s Financial Markets Authority (FMA) issued a securities fraud warning against WeWe Global’s third iteration. However, as Robert Simmons noted, “These warnings often come too late for many investors, and the transnational nature of these operations makes enforcement incredibly difficult.”

Funds recovery is rare for victims of these schemes. Marco Rossi, an Italian investor who lost €50,000 in one of WeWe Global’s earlier iterations, said, “They promise you the moon, but in the end, you’re left with nothing but broken promises and empty wallets.”

As Xera continues to operate, experts warn that it’s likely the latest mask for the same underlying fraud. They advise extreme caution to anyone approached with promises of high returns in cryptocurrency investments, especially those using MLM structures.

“If it sounds too good to be true, it almost certainly is,” Dr. Johnson cautioned. “In the world of crypto, there are no guaranteed returns, only guaranteed risks.”

The persistent reinvention of WeWe Global and its offshoots highlights the ongoing challenges in regulating cryptocurrency.

As authorities and investors struggle to keep up with these shape-shifting schemes, the question remains: how many more iterations will emerge before this fraud cycle is finally broken?