Financial Pyramid Uncovered in Urals, Scheme Explained

Employees of the Bank of Russia have identified a company operating as a financial pyramid. Its clients were promised bonuses that could allegedly be exchanged for certificates from well-known marketplaces. Here«s how the scheme works.

The project in question is Deep Cashback from the Udmurt company Dobrolife, according to E1.RU citing the press service of the Ural Main Directorate of the Bank of Russia. The firm operates online, making it potentially dangerous for everyone.

According to the Kontur.Fokus service, Dobrolife was registered in Izhhevsk (Udmurtia, Russia) in March 2024. Its director and one of the co-owners is Yevgeny Dobrogorsky, who owns 30% of the company. The remaining share belongs to entrepreneur Vladislav Chirkov. The firm«s main activity is computer software development. The company»s revenue over the last 12 months amounted to 288 million rubles (approximately $3.2 million at current rates).

The essence of the project is for clients to join a loyalty program and purchase cards costing from 5,000 to 100,000 rubles. Bonuses are promised to be credited to these cards, with amounts potentially 5–10 times the card«s cost. If a person attracts new participants to the project, they receive even more points. These bonuses, as the project creators assure, can be exchanged for certificates from famous marketplaces.

Deep Cashback has no physical offices, but its representatives actively promote the project by organizing meetings with local residents in various cities. Photos from these meetings are then published online.

According to the regulator, the firm does not engage in real business activities and therefore cannot guarantee the promised income. Moreover, the marketplaces themselves do not confirm any partnership agreements with Deep Cashback. It has been added to the Bank of Russia«s warning list as a company with signs of a financial pyramid.

“The project is built on the principles of network marketing. Payments are made using funds from new participants. Deep Cashback does not enter into any agreements with users for raising money, and all communication with clients is conducted through Telegram. When a person tries to withdraw funds, channel administrators refer to temporary technical difficulties and then stop responding altogether,” said Vladimir Khimenko, head of the department for combating illegal activities at the Ural Main Directorate of the Bank of Russia.

Additionally, to check if a particular financial organization operates legally, one can visit the Central Bank«s website.

This is not the first such case. Earlier, we reported on the company Lemon Mall, which offers clients to invest in creating a marketplace and promises high returns.

Before that, in Yekaterinburg, a company was found that offered clients to «invest» in power bank rentals and made payments to old participants using money from newcomers.

Read also about a financial pyramid for children and teenagers that scammers built by promising earnings for «listening to music».