EF Jewellery, yet another scam linked to the Trouva network of fraudulent schemes, has finally collapsed.
On Saturday, 5 October 2024, EF Jewellery, which in some circles is known by the US English spelling, EF Jewelry, ceased all withdrawals, and by the end of the day, the website had been taken down completely, displaying a “This site can’t be reached” error to anyone attempting to log in.
This sudden disappearance left countless “investors” empty-handed, with many already experiencing issues with logging in and initiating withdrawals on Friday, 4 October 2024, signalling the inevitable collapse.
Operating under the guise of a legitimate investment opportunity, EF Jewellery lured individuals by promising returns through various tiers of “custom jewellery” products. Here’s a breakdown of the fake investment structure they presented just before shutting down:
Investment Tiers and Promised Returns
Custom Jewellery Tier | Price | Validity Period (months) | Promised Total Income |
LE-X1 | R3,250 | 2 | R13,000 |
LE-X2 | R7,600 | 2 | R30,400 |
LE-X3 | R17,000 | 2 | R68,000 |
LE-X4 | R35,000 | 2 | R140,000 |
LE-X5 | R57,000 | 2 | R228,000 |
LE-X6 | R80,000 | 2 | R320,000 |
This structure encouraged participants to buy into higher tiers for greater returns, presenting the illusion of easy profits. But, as with all scams, these promised returns were never intended to materialise.
Recruitment-Based Earnings
EF Jewellery incentivised users to recruit others by offering additional bonuses for each new member they brought in.
This pyramid-style income model, common in many scams, further ensnared victims. Below is the advertised bonus structure:
Custom Jewellery Tier | Invitation Bonus | New Member Bonus | 12% Team Income | 6% Team Income | 3% Team Income |
LE-X1 | R200 | R40 | R1,560 | R780 | R390 |
LE-X2 | R400 | R40 | R3,648 | R1,824 | R912 |
LE-X3 | R800 | R40 | R8,160 | R4,080 | R2,040 |
LE-X4 | R1,400 | R40 | R16,800 | R8,400 | R4,200 |
LE-X5 | R2,000 | R40 | R27,360 | R13,680 | R6,840 |
LE-X6 | R3,000 | R40 | R38,400 | R19,800 | R9,600 |
This setup placed intense pressure on participants to continuously recruit new members to sustain the payout cycle.
With no more withdrawals occurring, and the website now taken down, the pyramid has now predictably crumbled, following the same path as previous scams in the Trouva network.
In typical Trouva style, EF Jewellery attempted to legitimise itself by mimicking a reputable brand, specifically EF Collection, a legitimate Los Angeles-based jewellery business by Emily Faith (efcollection.com).
Operating under the domain jewellery-ef.com, EF Jewellery falsely presented itself as a genuine investment opportunity, using WhatsApp groups, fake incentives, and misleading income promises.
Like Trouva, it aimed to deceive individuals by adopting the identity of a well-known brand to gain credibility.
The shutdown of EF Jewellery, much like Centamin on the same day, is another chapter in the collapse of the Trouva scam network.
For more details on the series of scam shutdowns, visit the latest article on Trouva-linked scams, including Centamin, folding.
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Those people they are took my money am the one of member who was scammed with Trouva , this people they’re heartless many members they cry because of them l loss my R80,000 because of them . And l was working like part time work but end of time they are scammed us
Is there any cases logged against this EF jewellery to help south africans regain their money?
I’ve also lost my investment the very same day the scam collapse, I report it but there’s no gaurentie that I will retrace my lost, the warning came to late, just after I deposited my money, luckily it was a big sum, but still it’s hurt my family a lot
Luckily it wasn’t a big amount