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Government probes online survey company Speak Asia for Ponzi scam

Speak Asia Fraud  !


Well a few months back a friend of mine approached me to become a part of some Survey company who is paying INR 1000 per 2 online surveys (takes 20mins) and one had to invest INR 11000 upfront. Being on the internet for more then 12 years now from the face of it looked to me as some scam as who in the world will pay Rs.1000 (thats around 25$) for some 20 mins that too for a survey. That time I didnt even cared to ask about the name of the company.

Recently it again caught my attention by seeing the "Speak Asia" ads frequently in middle of IPL. I am sure you all have also seen Speak Asia advertisement how its now easy to make money online by filling surveys and the whole family is happy. So the deal seems to be getting more sweeter by the day for everyone joining in and they are not only making money for the participants, and for themselves too to buy advertising spots in IPL matches and also run a few TVC kind of ads on Imagine TV where the anchor is Rakshanda Khan.
                                                                                                   
a) Company Background:
The company name is: SpeakAsia Online Pte Ltd.  
formerly known as : Haren Technology Pte. Ltd.
formerly known as: PAN Automotives Pte. Ltd.

(Compliance rating for this company is Non Compliant currently)

Prior to this name they were operating under:

HAREN VENTURES PTE. LTD.
f.k.a HAREN AUTO PARTS PTE. LTD.
f.k.a HAREN MULTICONSULT TRADE SERVICES PTE. LTD.


MUMBAI: Indian authorities have launched an investigation into Speak Asia, an online survey company that has collected hundreds of crores from users by promising huge payments for filling its surveys. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA), Economic Offences Wing, market regulator Sebi and bank regulator Reserve Bank of India will look into different aspects of the Singapore-based firm's operations here, following complaints from various consumer groups, persons familiar with the development said.




Speak Asia, which does not have an office in the country, charges 10,000 or 5,000 upfront from web surfers towards a subscription of 'Surveys Today' e-zine, an online magazine, for one year and six months respectively to enrol as its panellists. But it offers up to 900 to fill up two surveys of about 12 lines each. And it says it has enrolled 1.9 million panellists.
While Sebi will examine if it is a collective investment scheme, which the company has denied, the Reserve Bank will probe if there is money laundering. "Speak Asia is running a money circulation scheme that comes under the purview of the state governments. However, the Reserve Bank is also investigating if the unregistered company has remitted money overseas above the permissible limit," a person familiar with the development said. Sebi officials declined comment. An RBI spokesman only said the bank does not regulate multi-level marketing companies.
One of the complainants is Kirit Somaiya, a former Member of Parliament and president of the Investors' Grievances Forum. He alleges that Speak Asia is a fly-by-night operator trying to dupe investors. "It does not have any legal documents to carry its business. How can a company give 52,000 per week for a subscription of 11,000 per annum for e-zine?" he says.

~Be Aware~

Comments

  1. aman11 July 2011 at 20:04

    yeah friend it is a big scam .
    thanks for writing about it

    ReplyDelete

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