Information and Alerts

Alert

On March 6th, 2019 BBB wrote to Mr. Rodney Brace, CEO of Hyphen-Tec Inc.
Having received no response, BBB sent a second letter on March 29th to which we received no response.
BBB wrote these letters as part of an investigation into the business practices of Hyphen Tech; specifically, the raising of funds from consumers who thought they were investing in a Tech Start Up with potential for multi-level marketing style returns.
The letters requested information as to the nature of the business as well as information regarding the status of the business and its relationship with other business entities operated by Mr. Brace.
These entities include: All Teamed Up and Premiere Income Plan.
BBB also left several voice messages left for Mr. Brace which remain unanswered.
BBB contacted the Consumer Affairs Office of the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador; however, they had no information on Mr. Brace or how to contact him.  
In continuing efforts to find the contact information for Mr. Brace, BBB contacted two video production companies that had helped produce promotional videos for Hyphen Tech, Premier Income Plan and KwikiChat, another product for which Mr. Brace was soliciting investment funds.
(BBB received a complaint from a consumer who invested funds for the development for KwikiChat, a web application being developed by Hyphen Tech, on the promise of a payout of double his investment. To date there has been no return whatsoever and despite repeated attempts, no communication as to the status of the development of the product or the whereabouts of the invested funds.)
One of the video production companies responded to BBB by saying that they were no longer in contact with Mr. Brace. As of May 30th, 2019, Mr. Brace and the second video production company have yet to respond to our inquiries.
BBB strongly advises consumers to make sure you do your research before joining or investing in a business, particularly a multilevel marketing business.
With the ability to reach out to dozens, or even hundreds or thousands, of people at a time through email and social media, it may seem like everybody you know is in business for themselves and selling something. You may get invitations to parties selling jewelry, clothing, makeup, kitchen gadgets, or health supplements or added to Facebook groups for “pop up shops.”
Many of these businesses are multi level marketing plans – people make money through their own sales as well as the sales of people who they recruit to their sales teams.
Multilevel marketing is legal, but there is a fine line between these businesses and illegal pyramid or Ponzi schemes. The main difference is that with multi level marketing, your income is based on actual product sales (by you and your recruits) while with a pyramid scheme your income is based on your signing up other distributors. A Ponzi scheme is similar to a pyramid scheme but focuses on fake investment opportunities instead of sales.
Here are some things to think about:
What will you be selling? Find out what you will be selling and compare prices and quality with other products. Make sure that any marketing materials you will be using are truthful and there is evidence to support claims about the products.
Learn about the company. Look into the company’s track record and reputation. Look for a business review and complaints at bbb.org.  Do an internet search with the name of the company and words like scam or complaint.  You can also search for news articles related to the company.
Understand the plan. Make sure you are clear on all terms and conditions of the plan including pay and expenses. Remember that as you recruit other distributors, you are responsible for any claims you make about how much money they can earn, so be sure any claims are backed up with evidence. Get all information in writing.
Ask for the name and contact information of someone at the company who can answer your questions.  Ask them things like:  How many people are on your team?  How long have you been in the business?  How much money did you make last year?  What were your expenses last year?  How much product did you sell to customers and how much to distributors? What percentage of the money you’ve made came from recruiting other distributors and selling them inventory or other items to get started?
If in doubt, contact your local BBB and your provincial government for information on the business you are interested in.