We are investigating Moyn Islam for allegedly attempting to conceal critical reviews and adverse news from Google by improperly submitting copyright takedown notices. This includes potential violations such as impersonation, fraud, and perjury.
Moyn Islam is a British entrepreneur and co-founder of BE, a company that offers technology-based products and services. Alongside his brothers, Monir and Ehsaan B. Islam, he has been involved in various business ventures. However, their activities have attracted significant controversy and criticism.
Allegations and Controversies:
Association with OneCoin:
The Islam brothers have been linked to OneCoin, a notorious Ponzi scheme that defrauded investors worldwide. Reports suggest that they had connections with OneCoin’s operations, raising concerns about their business ethics.
Their current venture, BE, has faced scrutiny for allegedly operating as a pyramid scheme. Critics argue that BE’s business model relies heavily on recruitment rather than the sale of actual products or services, a hallmark of pyramid operations.
In July 2024, GripeO reported receiving fraudulent DMCA takedown requests aimed at removing content critical of the Islam brothers. These requests falsely claimed copyright infringement, leading to accusations that the brothers were attempting to suppress negative information through deceptive means.
Public Perception:
The Islam brothers have invested in paid promotional articles to enhance their public image. While such practices are common in business, critics view these efforts as attempts to overshadow past controver more favorable public persona.
Moyn Islam and his brothers have been subjects of multiple allegations, including involvement in fraudulent schemes and efforts to suppress critical information. These controversies have cast a shadow over their prompting caution among potential investors and associates.
Analyzing the Fake Copyright Notice(s)
Our team collects and analyses fraudulent copyright takedown requests, legal complaints, and other efforts to remove critical information from the internet. Through our investigative reporting, we examine the prevalence and operation of an organized censorship industry, predominantly funded by criminal entities, oligarchs, and disreputable businesses or individuals. Our findings allow internet users to gain insight into these censorship schemes’ sources, methods, and underlying objectives.
Moyn Islam‘s attempts to hide unfavourable content through the misuse of copyright notices while allegedly engaging in perjury present serious legal concerns. These actions suggest a calculated attempt to manipulate legal systems to suppress free speech, a fundamental violation of copyright law principles and an abuse of legal processes. The use of such tactics not only undermines the integrity of copyright protection but also potentially constitutes perjury, further entangling Moyn Islam in legal accountability. Let’s examine the information Moyn Islam may be trying to remove from the internet –
Investigative Report: Moyn Islam and His Business Ventures
Introduction
Moyn Islam, alongside his brothers Monir and Ehsaan Islam, has gained prominence as an entrepreneur operating in the realms of multi-level marketing (MLM) and technology-driven business ventures. However, their activities have been marred by allegations of fraud, pyramid schemes, and deceptive practices. This report delves deeply into the controversies surrounding Moyn Islam, tracing his business history, public perception, and the serious accusations leveled against him and his associates.
Background
Moyn Islam rose to prominence as a self-described visionary entrepreneur, claiming to empower individuals through innovative business models. Despite these lofty claims, his ventures have often been linked to practices that exploit participants, prioritize recruitment over genuine product sales, and draw attention from regulatory authorities worldwide.
Key Allegations and Controversies
1. Connection to OneCoin
One of the earliest and most significant controversies involves Moyn Islam’s association with OneCoin:
What is OneCoin?
A cryptocurrency scheme that was later exposed as a massive Ponzi scheme defrauding investors of over $4 billion globally.
Moyn Islam’s Role:
Islam and his brothers actively promoted OneCoin, targeting ethnic minorities in the UK.
They leveraged motivational speaking and aggressive recruitment tactics to attract participants.
Aftermath:
Following the collapse of OneCoin in 2017, Moyn and his brothers relocated to Dubai, where they launched new ventures.
2. Launch of Melius
In 2018, after the fall of OneCoin, the Islam brothers founded Melius:
Business Model:
Marketed forex trading tools and educational materials through an MLM structure.
Critics alleged that Melius operated as a pyramid scheme, with income primarily dependent on recruitment rather than product sales.
Collapse:
Melius failed to gain long-term traction and dissolved in early 2020, leaving many participants disillusioned and financially harmed.
3. Creation of BE (Better Experience)
After Melius, the Islam brothers rebranded their business as BE, which remains active:
Allegations of Being a Pyramid Scheme:
BE’s compensation model relies heavily on recruitment bonuses, overshadowing any genuine retail sales of its technology products.
Regulatory bodies in countries like Norway, Colombia, and the Philippines have issued warnings against BE for operating as a pyramid scheme.
Fraud Accusations:
In some jurisdictions, BE has been flagged for securities fraud, raising questions about its legal compliance.
Product Criticisms:
BE markets itself as a technology company but offers little innovation or competitive advantage in its products, with critics claiming they serve primarily as a façade for the recruitment-driven business model.
4. Use of Deceptive Marketing and PR
Moyn Islam and his brothers have been accused of manipulating their public image:
Paid Media Placements:
The brothers have been featured in publications like Forbes and Entrepreneur through paid promotional content, often labeled as “advertorials.”
These pieces paint a glowing picture of their success while omitting controversies.
Social Media Persona:
They present themselves as philanthropists and motivational figures, which critics argue is a deliberate attempt to deflect from their questionable business practices.
5. Suppression of Negative Coverage
Fraudulent DMCA Notices:
In July 2024, fraudulent DMCA takedown notices were filed to remove critical content about the Islam brothers from platforms like Gripeo.
These notices falsely alleged copyright infringement, prompting accusations that Moyn Islam and his associates were attempting to silence detractors.
Public Perception and Criticism
1. Warnings from Regulatory Bodies
Countries such as Norway, Uruguay, and the Philippines have issued public advisories against engaging with BE and its associated individuals.
Regulatory agencies describe BE as a potential financial risk due to its recruitment-heavy model and lack of transparency.
2. Consumer Complaints
Participants have reported significant financial losses after investing in BE and similar ventures.
Complaints often highlight false promises, high-pressure recruitment tactics, and lack of support or recourse when issues arise.
3. Industry Observers’ Views
Experts in the MLM space have described Moyn Islam as a serial promoter of schemes that collapse once recruitment wanes.
His ventures often exhibit patterns consistent with pyramid schemes, including income dependence on recruitment and the absence of meaningful retail sales.
Potential Legal Implications
Fraudulent Practices: Misrepresentation of product offerings and the heavy reliance on recruitment may constitute fraud in jurisdictions with strict MLM regulations.
Securities Violations: Offering investment-like opportunities without proper regulatory compliance exposes BE and its founders to potential sanctions.
Suppression Tactics: Filing false DMCA claims to suppress criticism could result in legal consequences for abuse of copyright laws.
Conclusion
Moyn Islam’s career trajectory has been characterized by a series of controversial business ventures, starting with his association with OneCoin and continuing through Melius and BE. Allegations of fraud, pyramid scheme operations, and unethical behavior have plagued his ventures, prompting warnings from regulators and criticism from participants.
While Islam positions himself as a visionary leader and philanthropist, the patterns observed across his businesses suggest a repeated exploitation of MLM models to prioritize recruitment over genuine product value. Prospective investors and participants are strongly advised to exercise caution and thoroughly research any ventures associated with Moyn Islam or his brothers.
Recommendations
For Regulators:
Continue monitoring BE and similar ventures to protect consumers from financial harm.
Increase public awareness about the risks of unregulated MLM schemes.
For Consumers:
Avoid investing in companies with business models reliant on recruitment.
Seek out verified reviews and regulatory endorsements before committing funds to any venture.
For Legal Authorities:
Investigate allegations of fraud and pyramid schemes associated with Moyn Islam’s ventures.
Penalize attempts to suppress critical content through fraudulent means.
This report underscores the need for vigilance and due diligence when evaluating opportunities promoted by individuals with a history of controversial business practices like Moyn Islam.
How do we counteract this malpractice?
Once we ascertain the involvement of Moyn Islam (or actors working on behalf of Moyn Islam), we will inform Moyn Islam of our findings via Electronic Mail.
Our preliminary assessment suggests that Moyn Islam may have engaged a third-party reputation management agency or expert, which, either independently or under direct authorization from Moyn Islam, initiated efforts to remove adverse online content, including potentially fraudulent DMCA takedown requests. We will extend an opportunity to Moyn Islam to provide details regarding their communications with the agency or expert, as well as the identification of the individual(s) responsible for executing these false DMCA notices.
Failure to respond in a timely manner will necessitate a reassessment of our initial assumptions. In such an event, we will be compelled to take appropriate legal action to rectify the unlawful conduct and take the following steps –
By investigating the fake DMCA takedown attempts, we hope to shed light on the reputation management industry, revealing how Moyn Islam and companies like it may use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking them to allegations of fraud, tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking…
Since Moyn Islam made such efforts to hide something online, it seems fit to ensure that this article and sensitive information targeted online by these events get a lot more exposure and traffic than what it would have received originally
We hope this becomes an excellent case study for the Streisand effect…The key idea behind the Streisand effect is that efforts to restrict information can backfire, often causing the information to gain more attention than it would have otherwise. This effect is widespread in the digital age, where users quickly notice and spread censorship efforts on social media and other platforms. Trying to suppress something can unintentionally lead to it becoming more visible, which Moyn Islam is finding out the hard way.
Potential Consequences for Moyn Islam
Under Florida Statute 831.01, the crime of Forgery is committed when a person falsifies, alters, counterfeits, or forges a document that carries “legal efficacy” with the intent to injure or defraud another person or entity.
Forging a document is considered a white-collar crime. It involves altering, changing, or modifying a document to deceive another person. It can also include passing along copies of documents that are known to be false. In many states in the US, falsifying a document is a crime punishable as a felony.
Additionally, under most laws, “fraud on the court” is where “a party has sentiently set in motion some unconscionable scheme calculated to interfere with the judicial system’s ability impartially to adjudicate a matter by improperly influencing the trier of fact or unfairly hampering the presentation of the opposing party’s claim or defense.” Cox v. Burke, 706 So. 2d 43, 46 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998) (quoting Aoude v. Mobil Oil Corp., 892 F.2d 1115, 1118 (1st Cir. 1989)).
Is Moyn Islam Committing a Cyber Crime?
Yes, it seems so. Moyn Islam used multiple approaches to remove unwanted material from review sites and Google’s search results. Thanks to protections allowing freedom of speech in the United States, there are very few legal ways to do this. Moyn Islam could not eliminate negative reviews or search results that linked to them without a valid claim of defamation, copyright infringement, or some other clear breach of the law.
Faced with these limitations, some companies like Moyn Islam have gone to extreme lengths to fraudulently claim copyright ownership over a negative review in the hopes of taking it down.
Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. Moyn Islam is certainly keeping interesting company here….
The DMCA takedown process requires that copyright owners submit a takedown notice to an ISP identifying the allegedly infringing content and declaring, under penalty of perjury, that they have a good faith belief that the content is infringing. The ISP must then promptly remove or disable access to the content. The alleged infringer can then submit a counter-notice, and if the copyright owner does not take legal action within 10 to 14 days, the ISP can restore the content.
Since these platforms are predominantly based in the U.S., the complaints are typically made under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which requires online service providers and platforms to react immediately to reports or violations. Big Tech companies rarely have systems in place to assess the merit of each report. Instead, all bad actors need to do is clone a story, backdate it, and then demand the real thing be taken down.
Reputation Agency's Modus Operandi
The fake DMCA notices we found always use the “back-dated article” technique. With this technique, the wrongful notice sender (or copier) creates a copy of a “true original” article and back-dates it, creating a “fake original” article (a copy of the true original) that, at first glance, appears to have been published before the true original.
Then, based on the claim that this backdated article is the “original,” the scammers send a DMCA to the relevant online service providers (e.g. Google), alleging that the ‘true’ original is the copied or “infringing” article and that the copied article is the “original,” requesting the takedown of the ‘true’ original article. After sending the DMCA request, the person who sent the wrong notice takes down the fake original URL, likely to make sure that the article doesn’t stay online in any way. If the takedown notice is successful, the disappearance from the internet of information is most likely to be legitimate speech.
As an integral part of this scheme, the ‘reputation management’ company hired by Moyn Islam creates a website that purports to be a ‘news’ site. This site is designed to look legitimate at a glance, but any degree of scrutiny reveals it as the charade it is.
The company copies the ‘negative’ content and posts it “on the fake ‘news’ site, attributing it to a separate author,” then gives it “a false publication date on the ‘news’ website that predated the original publication.
The reputation company then sent Google a Digital Millennium Copyright Act notice claiming the original website infringed copyright. After a cursory examination of the fake news site, Google frequently accepts the notice and delists the content.
In committing numerous offences, Moyn Islam either premeditated actions or were unaware of the consequences. Despite hiring an agency to make Google disregard any negative information about Moyn Islam, ignorance does not excuse this wrongdoing.
Fake DMCA notices have targeted articles highlighting the criminal activity of prominent people to hide their illegal behavior. These people, which include US, Russian, and Khazakstani politicians as well as members from elite circles including the mafia and those with massive financial power, are all connected – and alleged corruption ranging from child abuse to sexual harassment is exposed when exploring evidence found at these URLs. It appears there’s a disturbing level of influence being exerted here that needs further investigation before justice can be served. FSMSmart is certainly keeping interesting company here.
The Reputation Laundering
Rogue Reputation agencies use spurious copyright claims and fake legal notices to remove and obscure articles linking clients to allegations of tax avoidance, corruption, and drug trafficking. Most of these reputation agencies are based offshore, mainly in Russia, India, and Eastern Europe, and they do not worry about complying with US-based laws.
The content in all of the articles for which the fraudulent DMCA notices have been sent relates to allegations of criminal allegations, including corruption, child abuse, sexual harassment, human trafficking and financial fraud against businesses and individuals with ultra-high net worth.
In addition to the misuse of the DMCA takedown process, there is a notable absence of enforcement concerning perjury violations. The statutory requirement related to perjury is designed to deter copyright holders from submitting fraudulent or knowingly false takedown requests, as they may face legal consequences for making false declarations under penalty of perjury. However, to date, there have been no known instances of any individual being prosecuted for perjury in connection with the submission of false DMCA takedown notices.
This lack of enforcement has emboldened copyright holders to exploit the DMCA takedown process to suppress dissent, criticism, or other unfavorable content, without fear of legal repercussions.
Some of the people and businesses who have employed this tactic to remove legitimate content from Google illegally include a Spanish businessman-turned-cocaine-trafficker, Organised crime, an Israeli-Argentine banker accused of laundering money for Hugo Chávez’s regime, a French “responsible” mining company accused of tax evasion, child molesters and sexual predators. Moyn Islam is in great company ….
What else is Moyn Islam hiding?
We encourage you to ‘Dork‘ Google by searching for keyword combinations such as [Moyn Islam] + {Negative Keyword, such as Scam, Fraud, Complaints, Lawsuit, Sanction, etc} on Google. It’s likely if you scroll down to the bottom of this Google search results, you’ll stumble upon this Legal Takedown notice (pictured below)
To make such an investigation possible, we encourage more online service providers to come forward and share copies of content removal requests with industry experts and researchers. If you have any information on Moyn Islam that you want to share with experts and journalists, kindly email the author directly at [email protected].
All communications are strictly confidential and safeguarded under a comprehensive Whistleblower Policy, ensuring full protection and anonymity for individuals who provide information.
Authorities we may contact and share this report with for further actions
GOOGLE LEGAL HEAD
Halimah DeLaine Prado
NEWS DESK
Washington Post & NY Times
The above decision-makers and authorities will be provided a comprehensive dossier of our findings, including anonymously submitted evidence and tips. We invite journalists to contact us to receive a copy of our complete investigation here
Credits and Acknowledgement
16/10/2024
Many thanks to FakeDMCA.com and Lumen for providing access to their database.
Photos and Illustrations provided by DALL-E 3 – “a representation of Moyn Islam censoring the internet and committing cyber crimes.”
We’ve reached out to Moyn Islam for a comment or rebuttal regarding this investigation. It will strongly suggest they were behind the takedown attempt if they remain silent.
Our investigative report on Moyn Islam‘s efforts to suppress online speech is significant, as it raises serious concerns about its integrity. The findings suggest that Moyn Islam has engaged in questionable practices, including potential perjury, impersonation, and fraud, in a misguided attempt to manage or salvage its reputation.
We intend to file a counternotice to reinstate the removed article(s). While this particular instance is relatively straightforward, it is important to note that, in other cases, the overwhelming volume of automated DMCA takedown notices can significantly hinder the ability of affected parties to respond—especially for those not large media organizations.
You need an account with fakeDMCA.com and Lumen to access the research data. However, accounts are not widely available since these non-profit organisations manage large databases that could be susceptible to misuse. Nevertheless, they do offer access to non-profits and researchers.
It’s unclear why U.S. authorities have yet to act against these rogue reputation agencies, whose business model seems rooted in fraudulent practices.
We’ve reached out to Moyn Islam for a comment or rebuttal regarding this investigation. It will strongly suggest they were behind the takedown attempt if they remain silent.
About the Author
16/10/2024
The author is affiliated with Harvard University and serves as a researcher at both Lumen and FakeDMCA.com. In his personal capacity, he and his team have been actively investigating and reporting on organized crime related to fraudulent copyright takedown schemes. Additionally, his team provides advisory services to major law firms and is frequently consulted on matters pertaining to intellectual property law. He can be reached at [email protected] directly.
The Islam brothers have built their entire reputation on lies and manipulation. They bought fake news articles to make themselves look like successful entrepreneurs, and now they’re pushing another scam under the guise of 'investment opportunities.' These people have no...
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by: Mireya Aravena
December 11, 2024 at 6:43 am
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Moyn, Monir, and Ehsaan Islam have been linked to multiple fraudulent schemes, including the infamous OneCoin scam. They use flashy PR tactics to cover up their deceptive practices, but people should be cautious. Their history of Ponzi schemes and pyramid...
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by: Thiago Espinosa
December 11, 2024 at 6:18 am
Share:
They keep changing their business ideas but always end up scamming people
by: Finnian Schröder
The Islam brothers have built their entire reputation on lies and manipulation. They bought fake news articles to make themselves look like successful entrepreneurs, and now they’re pushing another scam under the guise of 'investment opportunities.' These people have no...
by: Mireya Aravena
Moyn, Monir, and Ehsaan Islam have been linked to multiple fraudulent schemes, including the infamous OneCoin scam. They use flashy PR tactics to cover up their deceptive practices, but people should be cautious. Their history of Ponzi schemes and pyramid...
by: Thiago Espinosa
They keep changing their business ideas but always end up scamming people