A former Syrian refugee living in Christchurch said he and his family have lost more than $3200 after being drawn into a suspected pyramid scheme now under investigation by police and the Commerce Commission.

As first revealed by chrislynchmedia.com, the online platform SFCVIBE operates from a registered office on Riccarton Road and has already attracted international concern, with the Consumer Council of Fiji describing it as a “sophisticated task based pyramid scheme designed to defraud Fijians of their hard earned money.”

New Zealand Commerce Commission told chrislynchmedia.com on Monday, the Commission had launched its own investigation.

Multiple people contacted chrislynchmedia.com with strikingly similar accounts of losing money.

A former Syrian refugee said he was introduced to the platform by a work colleague, who invited him to a café and explained he could earn money by watching videos and giving them five star ratings. “I was told I could make about $15 a day just by rating videos.”

He said he was required to pay $450USD to join, which he purchased for $817 NZD through a bank transfer to the recruiter.

“They told me I could get the money back after one year. They said it was held for security reasons.” He said he was then added to a WhatsApp group, where a person identifying themselves as “Yara” contacted him and encouraged him to recruit others.

“They kept telling me to invite more people. That’s how you earn more money.” He said he invited his wife and two children, who were also required to pay to join.

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All four family members made payments, either through bank transfers or in person at a Riccarton Road office. “I was told to go to the office at Riccarton Road. There was no EFTPOS, no receipt, just cash or bank transfer.”

He said his son transferred about $790, and similar amounts were paid for his wife and daughter. In total, the family paid more than $3200.

When Chris Lynch Media visited the Riccarton Road office on Monday morning, it was locked.

He said after he stopped recruiting new members, he began receiving repeated messages pressuring him to bring in more people.

“They contacted me every day. When I couldn’t find anyone else, they started blaming me and saying I wasn’t contributing.” He said he was eventually removed from the WhatsApp group and blocked from accessing the platform.

“I couldn’t withdraw any money. My whole family was blocked.” He has since filed a report with police and provided bank records, screenshots, and contact details linked to the operation. Chris Lynch Media has also seen the police report. 

“It’s a very big scam. My family worked hard to save that money, and now it’s gone.” “We trusted it because there was an office in Christchurch.”

He said the operation placed heavy pressure on participants to recruit others and used meetings and online sessions to promote the scheme.

“There was no real explanation of how the business worked. It was all about bringing in more people.” He also claimed the group used cultural messaging and community events to build trust. “They used local people and events to make it look real. That’s how they convinced us.”

Riccarton Road director denies wrongdoing

Chris Lynch Media spoke to director of the Christchurch branch of SFCVIBE on Monday, who denied any wrong doing.

“First things first, this is not my company,” he said. “I’m just running a franchisee.”

He confirmed users were required to pay to join the platform. “That’s the business module,” he said.

“So you put a deposit, you start making money out of it, and it’s an ongoing procedure.” He said complaints raised with chrislynchmedia.com were linked to another group within the platform. “The ones who have been calling you, all the accounts have been put on hold because they’re under investigation,” he said.

He claimed those users were being scrutinised for “using wrong means” and creating fake accounts. “They have to deal with their service manager and their supervisor,” he said.

“They are not even under my referral link.” He said payments were handled by others within the system.

“I am not the one who’s paying. It’s their service manager who’s dealing with it,” he said. He said the ‘service manager’ was based overseas.

“They’re based in the United States,” he said. Asked where the money originated to pay users, he said he did not know. “I wouldn’t know what their business model is,” he said.

He confirmed he operated from a physical location on Riccarton Road, which he said was used to “collect data.” He also defended the recruitment structure. “That’s the business model,” he said.

“You come, you earn, and then you call your friends and family, and everybody earns.”

He said he was not aware of any investigation by New Zealand authorities and maintained no wrongdoing had occurred.

“We haven’t done anything wrong as of now,” he said.

A Consumer NZ spokeswoman said “it’s the old adage that if something seems too good to be true, then it probably is.