Update (December 12, 2017): US authorities have finally begun cracking down on USI-Tech. In a statement released on December 20, 2017, the Texas State Securities Board announced that it had moved against USI-Tech, serving the operation with an emergency cease-and-desist order. According to Texas Regulators, those named in the order (Clifford Thomas from Maryland and Michael Rivera from California) had violated state securities registration standards, and failed to disclose information based on which investors could make an informed decision about the feasibility of the USI-Tech pitch. Regulators have also pointed out that the operation peddles daily returns in classic HYIP fashion, while encouraging existing members (quite a few of whom have posted comments below) to bring others into the fold, matching yet another trait of classic Ponzi schemes.
USI (United Software Intelligence) Tech is very peculiar operation, which has recently started to probe the crypto currency vertical with an extremely scam-suspicious offer. What is so peculiar about USI Tech? If you take a look at their website and you actually do some research about the “products” they offer, you won’t find a single sign telling you that this is indeed legitimate. Everything about every facet of the operation screams “scam” and a “shameless pyramid scheme,” yet there are many people out there who promote it, doubtlessly in the hopes of picking up affiliate money in the shape of commissions and rewards. There’s a thread on USI Tech at bitcointalk.org too, where all the genuine posters express suspicion and skepticism, but no one actually delivers any kind of proof to combat the buzz generated by a couple of “promoters.” At this point, calling USI Tech a 100% scam would be far-fetched on account of this lack of evidence, but the fact remains that everything about the business model the operator pushes is wrong.
It appears that usi-tech.info, the official website of the operation, has started out as a run-of-the-mill auto trading scam. It peddles some sort of shady software which is supposed to dominate Forex trading, automatically generating massive and consistent revenues for its users, in exchange for a one-time fee. Sounds too good to be true? You bet it does. The way the auto-trader is promoted is highly suspicious too. The website features a highly scammy promotional video, and it makes outrageous promises, without delivering any kind of insight into how these feats of greatness are accomplished. We don’t really find out anything about the company/people behind the operation either. The site does have an “impressum” page, where a Dubai company registration number and an address is given. The address is but a PO box at a hotel though, so it does absolutely no favors to the operation on the credibility front.
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A truly dedicated investigator will actually find out though who this operation really belongs to, although it isn’t easy by any means, as those promoting the scheme will always do their best to keep this bit of information under wraps.
The person under whose name the usi-tech.info domain has been registered is a certain Joao Felipe Fernandez Severino, a Portuguese national, who has been barred from financial activity in Portugal. This person was involved with another scam called AMC INVEST – apparently USI Tech’s first incarnation. AMC Invest offered 10% interest per month on investments and it ended up scamming hundreds of people before it was blown up by the authorities. People were arrested in connection with this case and some of them remain in custody.
If you come across a YouTube video posted by a certain OJ Jordan, in which he interviews the alleged CEO Ralf Gold and the UK rep, take it with a grain salt. This OJ character is apparently in on the scam as well.
Why do so many people seem to provide positive feedback on USI tech though? The fact that a EUR120 referral reward is offered to every new “member” one brings into the fold, may have a lot to do with it.
While on the USI Tech homepage we are told that their trading bot is not the type built on a couple of straightforward technical indicators, like most of its peers, no specifics are provided in this regard at all. We are supposed to take their promises and statements at face value and that’s it. The auto trader supposedly works with the MT4 platform, so it probably makes use of the technical indicators of the platform. The bottom line on this trading bot angle is that it’s most likely a shameless (and quite unoriginal scam).
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any shadier with the operator, you learn about USI Tech’s Bitcoin HYIP/Pyramid scheme, which promises fabulous returns of 1% per day for 140 days on one’s BTC investment. All one really needs to do to get in on this deal is to hand these trustworthy people his/her bitcoins. “Earning opportunities” abound after the investment is actually made too. Those who bring friends of theirs into the USI fold, get a 10% commission on the Bitcoin packs these friends purchase and – in classic multi-level marketing meets pyramid-scheme fashion – a 3% on the referrals those referred by them make.
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If one has any doubt in his/her mind about the true nature of this operation, in the ridiculous videos through which they promote their Ponzi scheme, the marketers of USI Tech use a series of pyramid diagrams just to make everything crystal-clear. There may indeed be a good dose of irony at work here.
Joining this Bitcoin Ponzi scheme is obviously free of charge, unlike the auto trader deal detailed above. All the perpetrators really need are their victims’ Bitcoin deposits.
Again, if you log onto YouTube or run a Google search, you will see scores of people promoting this scam. The above detailed affiliate scheme does quite a bit to explain why that is the case. Furthermore, Ponzi schemes like the USI Tech Bitcoin one, may actually pay a few of their victims for a while, from the funds deposited by their referrals. Some of these schemes may actually run as long as new people keep joining by the droves, but sooner or later they will indeed collapse, as the math just never adds up for them.
While bitcointalk forum users are cautiously suspicious in USI Tech’s regard for the time being, that’s hardly the case at Reddit, where people don’t shy away from calling this Ponzi scheme what it truly is.
Now, if you think that you are the only one who fell for this scam, think again. The domain usi-tech.info enjoys an Alexa global rank of 21,933 at the time of writing, which indicates this is a highly popular website. It’s mostly visited by people from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and Canada.
USI Tech Review Conclusion
The more closely you dissect USI Tech and its ridiculous offers, the more convinced you shall be that you are indeed looking at a combination of several different underhanded promotional methods and scams. We have an auto trading scam and a Bitcoin Ponzi scheme in the same package, powered by the evergreen appeal of multi-level marketing, and of course, by the never-ending supply of human ignorance.
Verdit: USI Tech is a SCAM!
Blacklisted sites: usi-tech.info, usiview.com, usitech-int.com & bitcoincashflow.net
Now, as you can see below and also in various forums, there are many positive reviews of USI Tech online. The reason quite simply might be that they offer 35% commissions on 12 referral levels in classic Ponzi fashion. If you have been scammed by them, please share your story with us by replying below. You should probably also report them to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center to prevent other people from getting scammed!
Update (November 6, 2017)
USI Tech have apparently realized that the only way to keep their system running is to constantly make announcements, release new features and have public appearances. This way, the public is kept hyped and new money keeps flowing into the system. Thus far, USI Tech have apparently paid their participants, but some of their hype-generating statements have been revealed to be nothing but lies. For instance, the operation has NOT been cleared by the SEC for the US market. That is nothing but a lie. USI Tech is not registered with the SEC in any shape or form: this can be verified by searching the Edgar database. In fact, it looks like some people have already reported the operation to the SEC. The only reason it has not yet been investigated, is the limited nature of the resources the regulator has at its disposal. If it keeps growing the way it currently does though, USI Tech may just earn a spot higher up on the SEC priority-ladder. For the time being, take a look at this document and see what the SEC’s attitude is towards operations like USI Tech.
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The operation has slowly been phasing out its Forex-robot angle, and it is now almost exclusively focused on the crypto currency packages. It has begun explaining its outlandish return rates through the generation of free energy with the aid of a magnetic generators, and the near loss-less re-conversion of heat into electricity. There’s an all-too-familiar artificial intelligence angle tossed in for seasoning too, so it’s safe to say that this one is getting wilder by the day.
Let us not forget that USI Tech have begun issuing their own crypto tokens, too.
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Update (January 24, 2024)
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York, details charges against Horst Jicha, the CEO of a crypto investment platform called USI Tech. Jicha, a German national, has been charged with securities fraud and conspiracies to commit securities fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He was arrested on December 23, 2023, as he entered the United States.
The indictment alleges that USI Tech was a multilevel marketing scheme disguised as a cryptocurrency investment platform. It was initially launched in Europe and later introduced in the United States in 2017. Jicha, as a co-founder and CEO, falsely guaranteed high returns and misrepresented the legality of the platform’s offerings. After facing regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. in early 2018, USI Tech abruptly ceased operations in the U.S., leaving investors unable to access their funds and resulting in substantial financial losses. It’s estimated that around $150 million in Ether and Bitcoin was transferred to addresses controlled by Jicha after the platform shut down.
Victims of this scheme are encouraged to contact the FBI at USITechFraud@fbi.gov. The charges are currently allegations, and Jicha is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s Business and Securities Fraud and General Crimes Sections, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kaitlin Farrell, Genny Ngai, and Daniel Marcus leading the prosecution.
This case highlights the U.S. government’s commitment to prosecuting financial fraud, particularly in emerging financial opportunities like cryptocurrency.
Those motherless fucks took my money and a week after registration they canceled my membership.
Created multiple tickets, but I’m getting nothing but apologies.
I hope they all rot in hell.
Is this K. Hansen?
well AS OF FEBRUARY 13 th 2018, there is STILL NO WITHDRAW BUTTON or wallet in the back office and the DAILY PAYOUT on btc packages has DROPPED DRASTICALLY. And now they think selling tokens is an exciting announcement….
Please give me a break….. and no one can dispute my statements. There is no withdraw and they want people to bring others in and sell tokens to go on the exchange….AND USI TECH ACTS LIKE THIS IS A BIG EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT……………How can this be?……
Nice post, maybe this review ma bye useful too isusi-techascam.com