onyx lifestyle – The Latest Online Scams and How to Avoid Them

Onyx Lifestyle promises something big; private banking, a luxury lifestyle, and an extraordinary return on your investment, but can it deliver? In this Onyx Lifestyle review I reveal what you need to know. What is Onyx Lifestyle? Onyx Lifestyle is a private club with a sales force structured like a Multi-level marketing company. As a private club, Onyx Lifestyle is not regulated. Do not invest money with Onyx Lifestyle you cannot afford to lose. Click to Discover a Proven Path to Financial Independence! What is Onyx Lifestyle? A Closer Look. In its privacy policy, Onyx Lifestyle describes itself as “a direct sales company that markets Luxury Lifestyle products and services through Independent Representatives.” The membership agreement is between the applicant and a company called Onyx Premier. I assume Onyx Premier is the parent company of Onyx Lifestyle. It’s interesting to note that in the agreement, the address for Onyx Premier is 1 King William Street, London EC4N 7AF United Kingdom, and described as a “Club.” The address given for Onyx Premier is an office building in the London financial district. However, a search for Onyx Premier does not list a business by that name at that address. Onyx Lifestyle doesn’t know what it is. In the privacy policy it claims to be “a direct sales company,” but in the membership agreement, it claims to be a “club.” In my opinion, it appears that Onyx Lifestyle wants the money-making power of a multi-level sales force while at the same time, hiding behind the legal definition of a club. Clubs are exempt from legal scrutiny and regulation. Recently I reviewed a similar club, also based in England. Onyx Lifestyle is Selling a Dream. Onyx Lifestyle sells the dream of wealth and luxury, but can a $199 fee do all that or does it just fatten someone’s bank account? If you are considering getting involved with Onyx Lifestyle, it is essential that you check your emotions and evaluate the offer as objectively as you possibly can. The only sure thing about Onyx Lifestyle is that it will cost you money. When money is involved, you must think like a cold business professional. Why Are They Hiding? Onyx was NOT created to help you live large. It was created to make money for the owner or owners, whoever they are. There is no information on the Onyx website about who owns it or who manages it. Lack of transparency is a huge red flag. Meet Romacio Fulcher and Clifton Braun. I found only two names associated with Onyx Lifestyle, Clifton Braun and Romacio Fulcher. Both are veterans of MLM, and both have dubious reputations. Who is Behind Onyx Lifestyle? An important detail about Romacio Fulcher and Clifton Braun is that they have no experience in cryptocurrencies. None. Zero. Goose Egg. Nada! Yet, the foundation and sex appeal of Onyx Lifestyle is crypto. Both Fulcher and Braun are first and foremost MLM marketers known to blur the ethical line, and they are selling a huge pig in a poke. They are trying to make you excited about their offer without showing you what it really is. A Closer Look at Clifton Braun. BehindMLM reports that Clifton Braun is named as a co-founder on the company’s marketing overview document. No one else is named as a co-founder. There may be others. Mr. Braun’s Linkedin profile also says he is a co-founder of Onyx LifeStyle Membership. It’s noteworthy to mention that Mr. Braun’s Linkedin profile also states he is in banking and living in the greater Salt Lake City area. However, his Facebook profile tells a different story. Mr. Braun’s Facebook profile describes him as a social marketer from Los Angeles and his website, clifbraun.com, describes him as entrepreneur, social marketing expert, and author. Pyramid Scheme Experience. Just four years ago, Braun was promoting Vemma when the FTC shut it down for being a pyramid scheme. Two years ago, he joined Wealth Generators which the CFTC fined for operating illegally. Between Wealth Generators and Onyx Lifestyle, Braun promoted Liv, a multi-tiered lifestyle and travel club. It may have been his experience with Liv that taught Braun private clubs are not regulated. And, his experience with Wealth Generators that showed him cryptocurrencies are not regulated either. Together private clubs and crypto form an irresistible strategy for taking people’s money. A Failure of Trust. Because the Onyx Lifestyle website fails to name who is behind it, and because clubs and cryptocurrencies are not regulated, do you really want to get involved? Of course, the vision of living a luxury lifestyle is appealing, but do you really think someone who hides behind a website and pushed an offer that is not regulated will deliver on their promise? Joining Onyx Lifestyle. As I write this, Onyx Lifestyle is in pre-launch. The count down timer on the website shows it will launch in 16 days, which would make the launch date June 6th, 2019. Other sources mention a launch date of June 8th and June 30th. However, you can “Lock Your Spot” now. Apparently, in the pre-launch phase, all Onyx Lifestyle is selling is the chance to lock your spot. It's not clear what that means. Although the website fails to mention anything about additional fees, I suspect the $199 fee to lock in your spot is just the beginning. Click to Discover a Proven Path to Financial Independence! An Odd Phrase. Also, the phrase “Lock My Spot,” and “Lock Your Spot,” are odd and a bit suspicious. It’s not clear if you’re getting a membership for your money or just buying a spot on a list. The wording smacks of avoiding legal commitment. It’s possible with this phrasing that the undisclosed founders of Onyx Lifestyle could claim they never promised anything. Down the Onyx Lifestyle Rabbit Hole. When I tried to lock in my spot, the first thing I discovered was I couldn’t join without a sponsor. I found a forum post of an Onyx Lifestyle sponsor and followed his link. Then things got really, really weird; really, really fast. Before I could join, I had to fill out a long form. After the place for my name, I was expected to give them my Social Security Number! They wanted my phone number too. Right off the bat, they asked for everything they needed to steal my identity. Remember, the Onyx Lifestyle website reveals nothing about the company, the opportunity, or who is behind it, yet they expect me to give them my personal information. Not Cool! I Went All the Way. I continued with the sign-up process and got all the way to the part where I had to pay money. Had I actually paid them, it would have cost me $206 to Lock My Spot ($199 Activation Fee, plus $7.50 Processing Fee). If I had paid with Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, I could have saved $3.25. Whoopee! What You Get with Onyx Lifestyle. As a member, if you really are a member, of Onyx Lifestyle, you are promised a private banking account, the ability to buy, sell and use crypto, the chance to "loan money" in the crypto market, access to VIP events, wholesale travel packages and one of several membership tiers that are said to be the “key to luxury.” Again, I’m not sure if “Locking Your Spot,” gets all this or if there is an upgrade that gets all this. The website isn’t clear. In the scheme of things, the luxury stuff seems incidental. Dealing in crypto market micro-loans looks like the main event with Onyx Lifestyle. It seems the people behind Onyx Lifestyle are trying to imply we’ll get good things by locking our spot without actually committing to delivering anything. A Closer Look at Romacio Fulcher. A second name associated online with Onyx Lifestyle is Romacio Fulcher. Fulcher is a veteran of MLM and a top earner. He has a prelaunch training video on Youtube promoting Onyx Lifestyle. Unfortunately, the 30-minute video does not explain what Onyx Lifestyle is. Instead, Fulcher pitches selling the $199 Onyx Lifestyle Activation fee and building downline teams. Prior to his involvement with Onyx Lifestyle, Fulcher was a distributor with World Global Network. He claims to have had a downline of over 21,000 and to have earned over $2 million his first year. However, in an official company press release, the CEO of World Global Network reported he terminated Romacio Fulcher for the following reasons. Conduct not appropriate for distributors, Breach of contract, Making defamatory statements, Divulging private and confidential company information. Romacio Fulcher’s Money Grab. In the video below, Romacio Fulcher pitches an ambitious plan to recruit 50,000 people into his sales team during the first month Onyx Lifestyle is live. The video is about 30 minutes long. Now that we know a little about Romacio Fulcher, his Onyx Lifestyle pre-launch training video looks downright sinister. Let me explain. In the video, Fulcher pitches his plan to build a downline of 50,000 people the first month Onyx Lifestyle is live. He goes on to say that means selling the $199 “Lock” to 50,000 people. If we do a little math, we can see that; $199 X 50,000 = $9,950,0000! Remember, there is no product at this stage, just a “lock.” I guess it puts your name on the list. When you realize that Romacio Fulcher is trying to generate close to $10,000,000 in 30 days, Onyx Lifestyle begins to look like a money grab. Why Dubai? In the video, notice that Fulcher mentions a launch event in Dubai? Is it because Dubai is a tax free country with anonymous banking? A Possible Scenario. Imagine thousands of Onyx Lifestyle members in Dubai the day of the launch. They invest millions of dollars into LQD8 Blocks. The transactions are completed in Bitcoin and are untraceable. The money is deposited into an anonymous bank account owned by Clifton Braun, Romacio Fulcher and who knows who else. Dubai does not report banking transactions to any other country. Once the money is deposited, no one other than the account owner can make withdrawals. No government in the world can get to it. It could happen. And that is just the beginning. For the first 12 months of Onyx Lifestyle, an army of representatives are pushing the investments. Bitcoin pours into the Onyx Lifestyle coffers where it is deposited into the same anonymous account in Dubai. At the end of 12 months when it's time for the LQD8 Blocks to pay interest to the investor, Onyx Lifestyle dissolves. Nothing is ever paid back to the investors. Their money vanished into an anonymous bank account in Dubai. Burj Al Arab Jumeirah, Dubai A Closer Look at Crypto. Cryptocurrencies are not currency. They are just lines of code. They have no value other than the collective belief among some people that they are valuable. The IRS considers cryptos to be private property. Read Is Crypto a Scam? Cryptos have no intrinsic value. If you buy a Bitcoin for $8,000, you can only make money if you find someone who will pay more for it, otherwise known as the Greater Fool. Payment in Crypto is NOT Reversible. The FTC warns that scammers demand payment in crypto because crypto is NOT reversible and the transactions are anonymous. Click to DISCOVER a Proven Path to Financial Independence! Cryptos Are Not Regulated. Another factor to consider is that cryptos are not regulated. That means if you get screwed over in a crypto scam, no government agency will come to your rescue. Furthermore, unless you are intimately familiar with buying and selling crypto, you won’t even know what you bought or if you own crypto. Plus, there are hundreds of privately created cryptocurrencies available that are nothing more than bits of code. For example, you could buy a crypto product and believe you own crypto, but because the market is not regulated, you may have just given your money to a stranger and have nothing to show for it. Onyx Lifestyle LQD8 Blocks. Another example, closer to the point, Onyx Lifestyle offers a product called LQD8 Blocks. On his blog, Julian Leahy describes LDQ8 as Bitcoin investment packages. However, that is not what the Onyx Lifestyle says LQD8 Blocks are. In very non-specific language, the Onyx Lifestyle website describes the LQD8 Blocks as a “micro-lending program that allows you to participate in providing liquidity loans to the crypto market.” In other words, you aren’t buying Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. If you put your money into a LQD8 Block, you are loaning your money to an unknown, unregulated entity with NO COLLATERAL. You have no way of knowing if you will ever get paid back. Each LQD8 Block costs $70 worth of Bitcoin. $20 goes upline to pay commissions, and the remaining $50 is loaned to earn a 10% monthly return. There are several things wrong with the Onyx Lifestyle LQD8 Block picture. It's an unsecured loan to an unknown and unregulated entity. 35% of your investment gets immediately sucked off the top. You pay them in Bitcoin, an untraceable commodity. Your investment is not regulated. No legitimate investment can earn 10% monthly return. It's an unsecured loan to an unknown and unregulated entity - again! Is it Ponzi Scheme? Promising an unusually high return on investment, particularly with a monthly payout, sounds like a Ponzi scheme. Incidentally, if you subtract the fees, you’re not making a 10% return, assuming you get paid. LDQ8 Blocks could easily be a Ponzi scheme where early investors are paid from the revenue late investors paid into the scheme. Or, it could just be a money grab and you never get anything back. 12 Months FREE. The promised 10% ROI is on the $50 left after the admin fee/commission is sucked off the principle. Also, the promised 10% ROI is an average after Onyx Lifestyle holds the investment for 12 months. In other words, from the day a member invests in a LQD8 Block, the unknown managers and co-founders behind Onyx Lifestyle have 12 months to take people’s money before they are expected to pay back a cent. To be clear, they can run this scheme for a year before anyone is the wiser. With a sales force of 50,000, as Romacio Fulcher is now recruiting, imagine how much money they can take in over the course of a year? There are no regulations stating they must pay the money back. They could easily take the money and run. Dubai is the perfect place to stash their ill gotten cash. Parking Your Money in LDQ8 Blocks. A $70 LDQ8 Block is the minimum. It gets real pricey, real quick. According to BehindMLM, an Onyx Lifestyle member must pay a fee before they can put their money in LDQ8 Blocks. The higher the fee, the more LDQ8 Blocks a member can invest in. Remember, you’re loaning your money to an unknown entity and they want you to pay a fee for the privilege. When was the last time your bank offered to pay you for the privilege of loaning you money? Making someone pay for the privilege of offering a loan is whack-a-doodle logic. For example, for a fee of $299, a member can put their money in up to 100 LDQ8 Blocks. The ROI is capped at $10,000 and the payout subject to a 2% withdrawal fee. If you did put money into the full 100 block as in the above example, it will cost you $7,000 going in. Immediately, $2,000 will be sucked off the top to pay commissions to your upline. Plus, you had to pay the $299 for the right to invest. Remember, all that money comes out of your pocket on day one. Then you must wait 12 months to get anything back. Assuming Onyx Lifestyle is still around in 12 months. Also, and remember this most of all, the LDQ8 Blocks are NOT investments! LDQ8 Blocks are not security instruments. They were not created by a licensed securities firm or a cryptocurrency broker. It Gets Worse! The fee structure for investing in LDQ8 Blocks has several levels, each more expensive than the last. The highest level costs $50,000 for the privilege of putting your money into a made up, non-securities, non-regulated vehicle that probably doesn’t even exist. Every dollar you put into Onyx Lifestyle is at risk. There is nothing to ensure you will ever get anything back. Is it a Pyramid? Onyx Lifestyle does not have a retail product. Everything it offers is for members. As a club, that could be expected, however, as a business, that may make Onyx Lifestyle a pyramid scheme. According to the FTC, a direct sales company that does not earn most of its revenue from retails sales to the public might be a pyramid scheme. The reason Onyx Lifestyle could get away with it is twofold. It claims to be a club which is not regulated. And, Onyx Lifestyle takes payment in Bitcoin, also unregulated. Click to Discover a Proven Path to Financial Independence! The Last Word on Onyx Lifestyle. Onyx Lifestyle makes bold promises on their website. And the website attempts to trigger our desire for a life of luxury and status. Unfortunately, Onyx Lifestyle does nothing to earn our trust. We don’t even know who they are. It is obvious that Onyx Lifestyle is pushing to get as much money as they can as quickly as possible and to get it in Bitcoin, an unregulated and untraceable commodity. The only two faces we can attribute to Onyx Lifestyle are Clifton Braun and Romacio Fulcher. Both have been top earners with MLM companies, and both have poor reputations. Read Why Affiliate Marketing is Better than MLM. Nothing about Onyx Lifestyle is regulated. It’s a club exempt from legal inquiry and oversight. And, it’s headquartered outside of the United States. After researching everything I could find on Onyx Lifestyle, it appears the founders, whoever they are, have build a machine that is highly efficient at taking people's money, but is not obligated to give any of it back. Related Articles: The Heartbreak of MLM How to Evaluate an MLM Company If you found this article helpful, or if you would like to contribute to this Onyx Lifestyle review, please leave a comment below. Thank you.