About
This was a short-lived pyramid scheme organized by Ronald De Leon. It was active from the end of 2020 and it collapsed in mid-2021, having had the biggest impact on South-East Asian countries. Sadly, to this day thousands of people are still trying to recover their lost money.
History
Originally the fraudulent company worked under the name Premium Business, also known as Premium Biz PH on Facebook. It was based in the Philippines and it quickly came under the radar of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC Philippines). Finally, on the 18th of May, the government officials issued a public warning advising people to stop investing in the scam.
What’s more, they warned that the act of enrolling people into Premium Business was punishable by law. They also provided names of fraudulent associates who should be avoided. The list included Ronald De Leon and the following: Jerry D. Manabat, Gladys Violago, Kentclay Morales, Daisy Lazy Aureada, Jovan S. Derecho, Thea Pauline Eve R. Salva, Catherine T. Hape, Sunshine Grace F. Mission.
Since being under fire, the company quickly changed the name of its Facebook Group to PBX Trading, and the new site surfaced.
Site and Domain
As of May 2022, the Pbx Trading site and pbxtrading.ltd domain are officially down, and there are no official pages or affiliates to back it. While it was up, the site claimed the company was stationed in Qatar and it presented copy-pasted text from an official agency which had nothing to do with PBX trading.
There was very little information on what the company did and who the founder was. They did provide a chance to register with various entry fee packages. The only contact information available was two emails: [email protected] and [email protected].
How They Lured Investors
Along with the logo, the company’s name suggested that it dabbled in trading. Nevertheless, it had nothing to do with it. Surprisingly enough, the firm advertised the chance to earn monthly residual income after a one-time investment. These opportunities included five packages:
- Associate – $20 investment yields $8 per month
- Supervisor – $50 investment yields $20 per month
- Manager – $100 investment yields $40 per month
- Director – $200 investment yields $80 per month
- Executive – $1000 investment yields $400 per month
These numbers implied that anyone could profit after just three months. Since there was no limit to residual gains, it gave the illusion that people could skim money indefinitely. These earnings included the tasks of performing captcha verifications. This is a menial job that can be a legitimate source of income. Though in PBX trading it was simply an unrealistically paid cover.
Things looked even fishier, as the company encouraged further recruiting. Every new member was enticed with additional earnings if they recruited more people. Like with every Ponzi scheme, the initial members experienced small earnings and this motivated them to invest further and entice new members from their families and collective. People lost thousands to this scam.
Collapse and After-Effects
In July 2021 PBX Trading closed its operation, leaving thousands of people with their investments gone. The victims flooded the financial forums and social networks begging for their money back. Ronald De Leon has disappeared since then.
If you or someone you know has been the victim of the PBX Trading Ponzi scheme you should know that there are actions you can take. Contact us for a free consultation, and make a first step towards retrieving your money.
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