Blacklist - most dangerous company in Malaysia

In addition to the recent highlight by the mass media, here is some good compilation of suspicious business scams.

1. The Cafe Scams - Island Red Cafe & Stevens Corner(strange, both in Pandan Indah) - Island Red Cafe collects members RM6,000 each and promised 5% return every month and even give you a name in the ROC as a shareholder but what's the point when they run away? Stevens Corner, the famous indian coffee shop follows due to drop of business since their renovation. They collect RM3,000 per member and promise return of RM150 monthly and plans to open nice fanchisee cafe called StevensTeaGarden. Someone mentioned they will make you sign an agreement that give them the rights NOT to pay you anything in future. If you really wish to join, ask for a copy of their agreement and consult your lawyer BEFORE paying them. Bet you will NOT get a copy. Both collect monies from new members with MLM recruitment schemes and pay the old members like Sunshine Empire. You never know when they will run away.

2. Sunshine Empire This licensed and legal Company has an impressive office at the ground level of KUB building along Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, near Menara Public Bank and AmBank Building . They also have a showroom office at the ground level in the next building. 3 or 4 months ago, Singapore's Straits Times and The Paper published big news reminding their people to be careful and NOT to believe in them. Hope someone can put up the link or> google for it.(As expected, they STOPPED paying back members now and all investors LOST their money). Someone below has put a link to the Singapore news. In fact there are more to it. Although Singapore is investigating them, they did not stop their business as the business is legal and so far, no Singaporean have failed to receive their commissions as promised. Thus, the government cannot stop them yet. The news published that the founder, director and group president is someone named James Phang but he is NOT the owner. Isn't this quite strange ? At the end of the game, James Phang can just disappear from the Company easily and claimed that he was just "employed". Such trick always happened in scam businesses. Now, the Company has STOPPED paying commissions and interests to members with the excuse that the Singapore government has freezed their bank account while under investigation. Do you think their boss will be so stupid to keep much monies in the bank to be freezed? They are all transfered away. It's just an excuses not to> pay back to members and members are only paid "e-bonus-points" which is cashless. If they wish to> convert to cash, they have to recruit new members to pay them cash and the recruiter less out trom the amount. So victims act like Vampires and "forced" to victimise other victims if they wish to get their monies back. And their victims will later transform to vampires and the scam carries on…..

3. MobilWallet This Company owned by 2 young men, Stanley & Rey Gan, office in Queens Avenue Park has collect multi-millions the last 2 years. Claimed that they tied up with Telekoms, Utility Board payment like Water & Electricity bills, even Maybank got fooled by them. Advertisement Billboards everywhere. They STOPPED paying back their members few months ago and the members cannot do anything because they are made to sign an agreement unaware that they have to claims if the company stopped paying them by CHANGING terms and policies.

4. Water Business - Oxygenated and Alkaline Water Products Some of these are bottled water and some are filters or equipment that claimed the trick..One of the better known Company that sold "oxygen" water is SITO (supposed to stand for Selangor International Trading Organiszation and claimed Selangor State Government owned some share in it). The key person and founder is a Dato Robert Ong from Rawang but his name is no longer in the business now. Their products are sold for RM2 to RM3 for a 350ml bottle and now concentrating mostly in the Indian market. Their Chinese and Malays market are long gone since a year or 2 ago. Their customers are made to believe that their water has more oxygen and able to give miraculous effects for the body. Water is H2O, how to put more O into it ? Anyone knows how much oxygen do we breathe into our body everyday at FOC ? Latest news is that this SITO Company is going to create new label to market under a new Company since the SITO name has already gone bad. Someone informed that this Company is owing alot of money(due to refunds) to ex-stockists but just refuse to pay them. (Latest news, SITO shifted to another place and their MLM business has closed but planning to start again with a different name, beware!!) Alkaline Products - Can anyone explain how it can work for the body ? The stomach's gastric liquid is so acidic that water of any pH that goes through it will not make any difference.

5. Car Fuel Booster - K-Link K-Link, the famous scam MLM Company that sold the footpatch TAKARA, later the "cock-ring" and energy-card launched the patrol-saving pills last year. Got so hot that even grocery shops are selling for them.. Recently many of these cars that used the pills are rushing to the workshops to clean the residual. Few months ago, another MLM Company launched a fuel booster gadget, claimed that saves up to 20% fuel, that is attached to the cigarette lighter. Started off well using binary plan but businese begin to fade now and most users find it NOT effective.

6. Perfumery Products (eg. Lampe Berger & Bel Air)(more details later). Lampe Berger is not so hot now in the neighbouring countries but there are still new victims every month in Malaysia . Must thanks to those who have contributed and kept the thread alive here in Kopitiam. Bel-Air have closed in Malaysia .. LB is almost zero in Singapore . This perfumery product from France with over 100 years history is just bottles and fragrance (check the factory's website) but the Company marketing them in Asia claimed "aromatheraphy" products. Hong Kong TVB aired a program that exposed their scam but their members claimed that HK's TVB already apologised to them. Note that the biggest strenght in a MLM Scam is their members will go all way out to lie in order to defend for their Company. The reason is simple; these members fear that they will not be able to make their money back if the Company collapsed. Knowing that the Lampe Berger products are moving slow, they add a line of skincare products named Estebel, also claime to have over 100 years history in France. (Hardly anymore Chinese newcomers, they are now tapping the Malays in Malaysia.)

7. Energy Products (eg. stone pendants, bracelets, mattress and pillows). They use all sorts of gimmicks and demonstration to make you into believing them. They will do some tricks and demo to prove that these products really produce energy BUT is there any tricks in their demo? So what if there really produce energy; is it good or strong enough to help the body? The effect is actually PLACEBO which I will elaborate in a new thread soon. (More details later.)

8. Hi-Tech Products Names like bio-tech, nano-tech that claimed millions of dollars of research involved, eg Bio-Young and XKL few years ago. Most of these will claimed a professor behind them (even with name and picture of a person) or used words like "U.S.A. formula", "German Technology" or "Nanotechnology" and no further details (more details later). If you ask for more details like the professor or factory's address, the answer will be "trade secrets".

9. Investment Schemes SWISSCASH is the King of all. Swisscash is nearly over now but there are many similar and smaller ones that are still on. (Now, it's closed or stopped paying back members.)

10. GoldQuest This Company that claimed to be HK-based started with some non-value gold-plated coins that are sold for over RM2,000 have several names and changed products several times. QuestVacation, QuestNet, etc. They have several offices in Amcorp Mall, PJ and their key person (in fact, the owner), a Malaysian Indian was arrested last year in Indonesia for having involved in a very big Phillipines scam. Most of their overseas offices are closed or inactive but their Malaysia business is still hot, with some "energy" products. (Can someone please provide a link which showed the news that their boss was involved in a big scam in Philippines and was arrested in last year?)

11. Numerogy & Fortune Telling A Company named Visible (new office at Auto City Prai) is using MLM to sell fortune telling classes using your birthday based on numerology fortune telling. Prpspects will be told that they need to buy a certain "number" between 1 to 9 in the form of pendants or bracelets made of stainless steel and sold from RM600 to RM20,000. Customers, or rather victims are mostly females from rural areas. Very hot in Penang now and a number of spin-off Companies have started.

12. MJ - Life MJ-Life - This Company boost of a very big background with many many years of history which is NOT true. Their people or associates may be long in business but nothing to do with their MLM launched recently. Why do I consider it a scam or bad? New members are told to pay a sum of money (up to RM1000) and you get NOTHING for it. You only get a membership can entitle you to enjoy all sorts of special price and discounts when you have medical check-ups in their centres.. They will claim all those check-ups cost more if done elsewhere. It's not true. Only the naive and those new to medical check-ups will fall victims to them. Most members who paid the money ended up with nothing.

13. Seaweed Venture Scams 1 such Company is located in Taman Maluri, Cheras. They will ask you to invest a few thousands ringgits for their venture of growing seaweeds in East Malaysia and you are guaranteed returns. To gain your confidence further, they will tell you your investment money is secured by "insurance" or "unit trusts" & "trustees". When you ask for further documents to prove, they will give all sorts of excuses or just ignore you because they know they cannot get you. These Seaweed scam is one of the hottest now, warn all your friends about it before they are victimised.

14. MXM (Previously MGM) This is a master scam among the younger group, very successful 2 or 3 years ago but since there moved to their big 10-storey office at Phileo Damansara and changed name to MXM, their business dropped. They collect members RM3,000 to RM4,000 with credit card monthly easy payment and in return you get a hospital benefits insurance from Pacific Insurance worth only a few hundred RMs together with some you-don't-need medical check-ups from their associate Company Pathlab. Also talk about fitness, lifestyles bullshit that is all worthless.

15. Gano Excel This company from the north, a copycat of DXN selling Lingzhi capsules created a new Company called Gano iTouch to cash-in on the internet like e-Cosway after their Company went down the drain since the last 2 years, selling Linzhi and some no-value energy pendants and alkaline water gadgets. They provide free transport every weekend from KL to visit their Alor Star office.

16. NuLife (HK) This Company started by some HK people has been in Malaysia for more than 10 years but they have flopped in HK and Malaysia due to bad management and a product scam making use of a prosecuted American named Dr Jeffrey Bland, found guilty of false products claim. Since this case in the US leaked out and many Malaysians found out that the real boss in HK is a Steven Tang (he cheated many Malaysians in another scheme about 20 years ago) their business went down all the way. Now they claim Malaysian partners cheated them and start a new Company in Malaysia . Watch out, this new Company will come out with some investment scheme idea that will get many to lose their money.

17. Arowana Fish Breeding Oora from Germany , Biofuel (Kompleks Maluri) etc - These are some newer scams. Arowana fish venture ask you to invest some money and give you fixed return. Biofuel will tell you their Indonesia connections (just like Sunshine Empire before using Taiwan) & Oora from Germany(I never trust those cruel Germans) that market some bio-chips and a gadget that claims to give energy and therapeutic effects of accupunture, tai-chi, yoga, etc depending how you set the toy-like gadget, wear it on your body and you get the effect later. They could not explain or provide any demonstration to prove their effectiveness. Only doctors and papers claim that I will never trust. The health effect is actually PLACEBO, which I will elaborate in a different thread.

How to achieve good vision while driving during a heavy downpour.

We are not sure why it is so effective, just try this method when it rains heavily.This method was told by a Police friend who had experienced and confirmed it. It is useful...even driving at night. Most of the motorists would turn on HIGH or FASTEST SPEED of the wipers during heavy downpour, yet the visibiilty in front of the windscreen is still bad..... In the event you face such a situation, just try your SUN GLASSES ( any model will do), and miracle!All of a sudden, your visibility in front of your windscreen is perfectly clear, as if there is no rain.Make sure you always have a pair of SUN GLASSES in your car, as you are not only helping yourself to drive safely with good vision, but also might save your friend's life by giving him this idea. Try it yourself and share it with your friends!

Awareness/precaution of using GPS & Mobile Phone.Safe lifes

GPS

A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that someone she knew had their car broken into while they were at a football game. Their car was parked on the green which was adjacent to the football stadium and specially allotted to football fans. Things stolen from the car included a garage door remote control, some money and a GPS which had been prominently mounted on the dashboard. When the victims got home, they found that their house had been ransacked and just about everything worth anything had been stolen. The thieves had used the GPS to guide them to the house. They then used the garage remote control to open the garage door and gain entry to the house. The thieves knew the owners were at the football game, they knew what time the game was scheduled to finish and so they knew how much time they had to clean out the house. It would appear that they had brought a truck to empty the house of its contents.Something to consider if you have a GPS - don't put your homeaddress in it. Put a nearby address (like a store or gas station) so youcan still find your way home if you need to, but no one else would knowwhere you live if your GPS were stolen.

MOBILE PHONES

I never thought of this....... This lady has now changed her habit of how she lists her names on her mobile phone after her handbag was stolen. Her handbag, which contained her cell phone, credit card, wallet... Etc...was stolen. 20 minutes later when she called her hubby, from a pay phone telling him what had happened, hubby says 'I received your text asking about our Pin number and I've replied a little while ago .' When they rushed down to the bank, the bank staff told them all the money was already withdrawn. The thief had actually used the stolen cell phone to text 'hubby' in the contact list and got hold of the pin number. Within 20 minutes he had withdrawn all the money from their bank account.

Moral of the lesson:

Do not disclose the relationship between you and the people in your contact list. Avoid using names like Home, Honey, Hubby, Sweetheart, Dad, Mom, etc...... And very importantly, when sensitive info is being asked through texts, CONFIRM by calling back. Also, when you're being text by friends or family to meet them somewhere, be sure to call back to confirm that the message came from them. If you don't reach them, be very careful about going places to meet 'family and friends' who text you..

What killed Ranjan Das and Lessons for Corporate India

A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai. Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India . He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner. It was common to see him run on Bandra's Carter Road . Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.

It was certainly a wake-up call for corporate India . However, it was even more disastrous for runners amongst us. Since Ranjan was an avid marathoner (in Feb 09, he ran Chennai Marathon at the same time some of us were running Pondicherry Marathon 180 km away), the question came as to why an exceptionally active, athletic person succumb to heart attack at 42 years of age.
Was it the stress?
A couple of you called me asking about the reasons. While Ranjan had mentioned that he faced a lot of stress, that is a common element in most of our lives. We used to think that by being fit, one can conquer the bad effects of stress. So I doubted if the cause was stress.
The Real Reason
However, everyone missed out a small line in the reports that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep. This is an earlier interview of Ranjan on NDTV in the program 'Boss' Day Out':
http://connect.in.com/ranjan-das/play-video-boss-day-out-ranjan-das-of-sap-india-229111-807ecfcf1ad966036c289b3ba6c376f2530d7484.html
Here he himself admits that he would love to get more sleep (and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled).

The Evidence
Last week, I was working with a well-known cardiologist on the subject of ‘Heart Disease caused by Lack of Sleep’. While I cannot share the video nor the slides because of confidentiality reasons, I have distilled the key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.
Some Excerpts:
· Short sleep duration (<5 or 5-6 hours) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009.
As you know, high BP kills.
· Young people (25-49 years of age) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.
· Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks . Paper published in 1999.
· Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!
· Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease . Paper published in 2004.
· Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.
Ideal Sleep
For lack of space, I cannot explain here the ideal sleep architecture. But in brief, sleep is composed of two stages: REM (Rapid Eye Movement) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding . During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.
The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.
For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep , you are mentally irritable throughout the day ( lack of REM sleep ). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours , your body is in a complete physical mess ( lack of non-REM sleep), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down (I’ve been there, done that L )
Finally, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.
If you want to know if you are getting adequate sleep , take Epworth Sleepiness Test below.

Interpretation : Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. Many a times, I have clocked 21 out the maximum possible 24, the only saving grace being the last situation, since I don’t like to drive (maybe, I should ask my driver to answer that line J )
In conclusion:
Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours. In my opinion, that killed him.
If you are not getting enough sleep (7 hours), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.
I always took pride in my ability to work 50 hours at a stretch whenever the situation warranted. But I was so spooked after seeing the scientific evidence last week that since Saturday night, I ensure I do not even set the alarm clock under 7 hours. Now, that is a nice excuse to get some more sleep. J

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance. Please forward this mail to as many of your colleagues as possible, especially those who might be short-changing their sleep. If we can save even one young life because of this email, I would be the happiest person on earth.

ps: Incidentally, just as human beings need 7 hours of sleep, you should know that cats need 15 hours of sleep and horses need 3 hours of it. So are you planning to be a cool cat or a dumb horse? J

More signs of economic improvement

Macroeconomics
· US continued to post positive economic news. Housing starts rose to the highest level in 9 months and manufacturing in the Philadelphia region expanded more than expected. Housing starts and building permits index rose 1.5% and 2.7% respectively, led by construction of multifamily dwellings. The Fed of Philadelphia said its general economic index jumped to 14.1 in Sep from 4.2 in Aug. In addition, initial jobless claims fell to 545,000 from a revised 557,000 WOW. The job market may be starting to stabilize as government and private reports reinforce forecasts that economic growth will resume this quarter.

· UK retail sales unexpectedly stalled in Aug, a sign that consumers are cutting back on spending as unemployment rises. Consumers are struggling to pay off record debts of £1.5trn. However, Europe’s trade surplus rises to highest in 5 years in Jul on increasing exports, adding to signs the region’s economy is emerging from the recession. Exports climbed to 4.1% while imports contracted 0.3% in July, and the trade surplus jumped to £6.8bn from £2.3bn. Construction output fell 2% in Jul.

· At home, manufacturing sales sank at a slower pace of 22.4% in July compared to a fall of 25.3% in Jun, attribute by poor performance of the iron and steel sector as well as the computer industry, amid lower demand due to global economic slowdown. Current account surplus fell to RM28.76bn in 1Q compared to RM31.42bn in the preceding quarter

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