BULLETIN: Tata Group, Famous Business Concern In India, Says Fraudsters Trading On Its Name To Push HYIP Scheme; Purported Agriculture ‘Program’ Has Presence On The Ponzi Boards

The purported TataAgro entity had a presence on the Ponzi boards and appears to have used trading screens to dupe the worldwide investing public. Image source: Google cache.

The purported TataAgro entity had a presence on the Ponzi boards and appears to have used trading screens to dupe the worldwide investing public. Image source: Google cache.

BULLETIN: (3rd Update 8:32 a.m. ET, Feb. 20 U.S.A.) The Tata Group, a global conglomerate based in India, says its name has been stolen by an HYIP Ponzi scheme. The fraud scheme is associated with a domain styled TataAgro.com and has a presence on the MoneyMakerGroup, TalkGold and DreamTeamMoney Ponzi forums, according to search results.

Like the recently exposed WCM777 fraud scheme, the TataAgro scam claims a business presence in the British Virgin Islands. WCM777 also traded on the names of famous companies, including Siemens, the German conglomerate. Siemens issued statements warning the public about WCM777. Tata now has done the same thing with the purported TataAgro entity.

The TataAgro website “claims that ‘Tata Agro Holding is a subsidiary of the globally known Tata group, [and is] one of the top 10 agro investment players in Asia’s financial market,'” the real Tata says. “It goes on to offer a wide range of investment plans with a monthly profitability of up to 100%.

“Members of the public are hereby cautioned that the information provided on the website is absolutely false, misleading and intended to defraud innocent and unwary members of the public,” the real Tata says. “Neither Tata Sons nor any other Tata company has any connection whatsoever with the aforesaid Tata Agro Holding. Tata Sons is initiating appropriate action in the matter.”

PonziTracker.com was among the first outlets to report the news of the Tata warning.

The TataAgro site appears not to be loading.

It is somewhat common for fraud schemes to try to steal the identities of major figures on the world financial stage. CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, regularly publishes information on purported “opportunities” that adopt the names of legitimate firms to create confusion and fleece the masses.

A post dated Dec. 3, 2013, at the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum claims the purported TataAgro entity pays “1.9-3.1% daily for 15-90 days” and accepts Perfect Money, BitCoin, EgoPay and Qiwi.

Meanwhile, a post dated Dec. 17 at the DreamTeamMoney Ponzi forum makes this claim (italics added):

Tata Agro is an agricultural investment company founded in 2012 in British Virgin Islands. We are a subsidiary of transcontinental conglomerate Tata Group that has been established in India back in 1868 and now boasts the combined market capitalization of $96 bln.

We have retained only the best things from a rich and long experience of our ancestor: the unique corporate culture, client-oriented and customized approach, and understanding of the market through retrospective analysis. Our fundamental aim is to help you grow your capital.

We work with assets like barley, soya, soya oil and meat, corn, wheat, and livestock and currently operate in CME Group, TOCOM, and MGEX exchange houses.

We are eager to offer you four investment plans with the daily ROI of 1.9% to 3.1% and investment term of 15 to 120 days. You can invest from 5 to 10,000 USD. Apart from that, we offer you a profitable referral program that lets you earn more and work side by side with your family and friends.

A post dated Dec. 17 at the TalkGold Ponzi forum makes these claims (italics added):

  • Invest 5 to 100$ for 15 days and earn 1.9% ROI daily;
  • Invest 100 to 1000$ for 30 days and earn 2.3% ROI daily;
  • Invest 1000 to 5000$ for 60 days and earn 2.5% ROI daily;
  • Invest 5000 to 10,000$ for 120 days and earn 3.1% ROI daily.

Collapsed fraud schemes such as Zeek Rewards, AdSurfDaily, Legisi, Pathway to Prosperity, Profitable Sunrise, Imperia Invest IBC and many more also had a presence on the Ponzi boards.

The TelexFree “program” currently has a presence on the Ponzi boards.

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5 Responses to “BULLETIN: Tata Group, Famous Business Concern In India, Says Fraudsters Trading On Its Name To Push HYIP Scheme; Purported Agriculture ‘Program’ Has Presence On The Ponzi Boards”

  1. There was also a site styled HYIPAgro which also seems to have gone, but there is a google cache of the “Support” page. Expecting the usual HYIP/Goldcoders script nonsense, there was this entry:

    27. Are you a part of indian tata group?
    – Yes, of course.So, why did Tata Group says otherwise? The Article, which was published recently in the Times of India is written specifically to expand the popularity of HYIP Agro (www.hyipagro.co). Tata Group can not officially confirm that HYIP Agro Holding is part of a automobile-to-aviation group, because it’s a new type of company and we must pay very high profits to the people, so we want to know How public will accept it . HYIP Agro Holding is the best company of all Tata Group ever open.

    The Times Of India story is probably this one dated 15th Jan
    http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Tatas-initiate-action-against-firm-for-using-brand-name/articleshow/28822300.cms

  2. Thanks for this, Tony. It’s another one of those head-scratching days.

    Patrick

  3. More fodder for the head scratching:

    HYIPAgro and TataAgro seem to be linked to someone called “Gina Kilindo”. Jan 6th this was filed by the real Tata group:
    http://indiankanoon.org/doc/124502317/
    After the usual legal waffle it says:

    6. Sometime during early January 2014, the plaintiff was first informed by one of its Group Company regarding the impugned domain names http://www.tataagro.com, http://www.tataagro.biz http://www.tataagro.org and http://www.tataagro.net of the defendant Nos.1 and 2.

    And:

    7. Case against the Defendants
    (a) The defendant No.1, i.e. Gina Kilindo is the owner of the defendant No.2 i.e. Tata Agro Holding Ltd. and also the registrant of the impugned domain names http://www.tataagro.com, http://www.tataagro.biz http://www.tataagro.org and http://www.tataagro.net.
    (b) It is alleged by the plaintiff that the plaintiff was further informed that the defendant Nos.1 and 2 are trying to portray to unwary customers and the public at large that they are involved in the business of providing expertise in relation to investment distribution around various sectors such as agriculture, poultry, and related products and services. In this regard,
    CS(OS) No.46/2014 Page 6 of 11 the defendants have also been seeking financial investment from unwary customers and public at large. People can contact the d efendants on its website http://www.tataagro.com through email or even through an online chat service which is provided on the said website. The defendants also have pages on popular social networking websites such as Facebook and Twitter. Printouts of the pages from the defendants’ website http://www.tataagro.com as well as from its Facebook and Twitter pages are filed in the present proceedings.

    Further reading shows that Tata are pursuing this vigorously within the law.

  4. Thanks for this, Tony. Good stuff.

    Patrick

  5. Slight aside, WCM777 / Kingdom777’s Ming Xu claims to operate WangTong Investment Bank, except that Chinese name is normally associated by MassMutual. Ming Xu really has no investment bank or investment group or any association with MassMutual.