The defendant set up advertisements of a pyramid scheme on billboards across the city of Tallinn. The advertisement included the following text: “Sergei-Mavrodi.com. A gift of EUR 15 for registering. WARNING! Pyramid schemes are dangerous for your financial health! Information 590 277 46; justmmm2011@gmail.com”
The advertisement in question referred to a website with URL sergey-mavrodi.com, where an offer was made to the consumers to participate in a pyramid scheme for the purposes of earning money.
On 7 November 2011, a representative of the Consumer Protection Board called the phone number indicated in the advertisement and acted as a consumer wishing to participate in the scheme. The representative of the defendant confirmed that the scheme was indeed a pyramid scheme, although a completely legal and credible one. In addition, the representative claimed the scheme already had attracted almost 1000 members.
Subsequently, the Consumer Protection Board issued a precept to OÜ Deksim Trade, in which it referred to the unlawfulness of OÜ Deksim Trades’ practice and required it to cease the misleading practice.