SEC warns against four investment-taking entities

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has advised the public not to invest in four investment-taking entities as they have not secured the necessary license to sell investment contracts.

In separate advisories, the SEC identified the entities as Vertex Evo Trading, Gameloot Advertising Services, PH-IGM, and Electronic World Trade Platform-EWTP. Their investment schemes are found on websites, social media posts, and applications.

Vertex Evo has been offering investment packages starting from PHP 500 to PHP 500,000 for a guaranteed profit of 50%, 100% and 200% for a 10-day, 15-day and 20-day investment term, respectively.

The company also offers a direct referral bonus, which is equivalent to 15%, and a 1% indirect referral bonus.

Gameloot Advertising offers play-to-earn games provided by Gameloot Network. Interested investors can choose from any of the six games with subscription fees ranging from PHP 1,000 to PHP 250,000.

Gameloot Advertising’s investors are promised a 50% to 150% profit after eight days or 24 days depending on the games they subscribed to.

The entity also offers a referral bonus of 10% for every subscription, 2% for a party bonus, and a 2.5% cashback bonus.

PH-IGM, which also operates under Inspiration Global Media, was found to be offering investment packages ranging from P200 to P15,000 with 5% daily profit or 1,000% profit for 200 days.

New users who will recharge in the company’s application and website are promised a 5% additional cash bonus depending on the top-up amount. They are also offered a 10% commission bonus.

Meanwhile, Electronic World is a mobile application downloadable in Google Playstore. It claims to be a community dedicated to internet information technology that helps solve related problems for free.

Interested investors are required to register and choose from its “Biomedicine” or “VIP Activities.” In the first choice, investors will be given 14 types of medical supplies with investment packages starting from P300 to P60,000 with a promised earning of PHP 420 to PHP 720,000.

Under VIP Activities, investors can choose from six VIP levels ranging from P1,000 to P20,000, which can earn PHP 3,000 to PHP 500,000.

The regulator said all four entities are not registered as a corporation, one-person corporation, or a partnership, thus they operate without the necessary license or authority. — Justine Irish D. Tabile