The recently revealed Karatbars International reboot is missing one thing: Harald Seiz.
Although it made it to my editorial notes as I researched MineBase, I figured the fact that Karatbars credentials could be used to log in to MineBase, and excerpts from Seiz sprinkled throughout the site, was enough to make it official.
A BehindMLM reader noticed something strange about the LinkedIn link on MineBase’s website though…
…and now I’m thinking the whole thing is a Russian recovery scam.
The case for MineBase being a Russian recovery scam
The LinkedIn link on MineBase’s .COM domain points to the Russian version of the website:
The two officially supported MineBase website languages are Russian and English:
MineBase’s website was developed by RiArt, a Russian agency:
MineBase’s TOS documents were authored on a Russian language system:
This is the case on both the MineBase .IO and .COM websites.
The fact of the matter is we still don’t know who’s behind Acua Wellington, the first Karatbars recovery scam.
We don’t know how they got hold of the KaratBars International affiliate database.
What we do know is their first point of contact was an email to Karatbars affiliates. This has happened again with MineBase.
Harald Seiz being credited as Dr. anything is bizarre, much the less a string of initials. I don’t recall Seiz ever citing himself as a Dr.
Given how pompous he comes off as, if Seiz was a Dr. I find it hard to believe it wouldn’t be in every Karatbars International communication ever sent out.
Then there’s the MineBase dev team, who are all presented as Indians (or from around that region). All but one are represented by stock IT photos, and we can’t confirm any of them actually exist.
Finally, Seiz hasn’t mentioned MineBase on any of his social media profiles. In fact Seiz has been MIA for about a year. His last FaceBook and Instagram posts are dated July 5th, 2021.
If Seiz was running MineBase, wouldn’t he have at least mentioned it post-launch? It should be noted Seiz never mentioned or addressed Acua Wellington either.
MineBase’s official YouTube channel is full of voiced over videos and stock footage. Nobody has physically fronted the company.
Comments on all the videos are also turned off.
The case for MineBase being an actual Karatbars reboot
MineBase’s .COM domain is actually registered to Karatbars International GmbH. This could of course be bogus information but it differentiates itself from the MineBase .IO domain.
Rimma Ismailova is cited as MineBase’s “web designer” on its .COM website. This matches up with RiArt’s website:
Keep in mind though Rima Ismailova might not exist as depicted.
MineBase’s .IO website is just a login form. Given the emails just went out, it’s what I’d expect for a website not ready to be shared with the world yet.
MineBase’s .COM website is fleshed out and full of information, this is a lot of effort for a recovery scam.
Conclusion
I’m leaning towards MineBase being another Acua Wellington type reload scam. Acua Wellington never took off and was pretty suspicious. So it’s possible the scammers behind it are trying again.
If that’s the case then there are still things that don’t add up. Like why are there two MineBase websites? If the .COM is being run by reboot scammers, why is it much more developed than the .COM offering?
Also why are there two website domains to begin with?
Perhaps more worryingly for Karatbars investors, how did these scammers get their Karatbars login credentials (again)?
Has Harald Seiz sold the Karatbars affiliate database? Was it hacked and sold, possibly multiple times?
There’s enough doubt here to set alarm bells off. Granted MLM crypto Ponzi schemes are usually shady to begin with, but this just feels off upon closer inspection.
If Harald Seiz doesn’t make a personal appearance soon, I’m thinking MineBase will go the same away Acua Wellington has.
That is nothing further will happen, leaving those who did provide information wondering who they gave it to.
If the Karatbars database has been sold or compromised, these reload scams might not necessarily be about compromising accounts.
The first step towards identity theft would be confirming information – by getting investors to log in with their Karatbars credentials.
Beyond that the potential scammers have yet to show their hand.
Pending a personal appearance from Harald Seiz explaining what on Earth is going on, I’d be wary of interacting with anything received through an email address you’ve associated with Karatbars.