On October 1, 2025, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) added Vortic United to its Investor Alert List, warning that it may be offering or advertising unlicensed financial services to Australian consumers, per. Vortic United lacks an Australian Financial Services License (AFSL) or authorization, making its crypto investment promotions securities fraud under Australian law, per. ASIC’s alert targets vortic-united.com, re-registered on July 12, 2025, suggesting a potential reboot or recovery scam, per.
Vortic United emerged in late 2022 as an MLM crypto Ponzi scheme, promising high returns through trading bots and staking, fronted by fake CEO “Jensen Robles” (portrayed by German national Rene Schwarze) and promoter Jan Gregory Cerato (Canadian), per. Believed to be a collaboration with a Russian crime syndicate from Turkey, it collapsed in August 2023, prompting Schwarze to flee and Cerato to relocate to Dubai, per. Prior warnings include Russia’s Central Bank (February 2023), British Columbia Securities Commission (October 2024), and California DFPI (January 2025), per.
The website’s re-registration in July 2025 coincides with ASIC’s alert, likely an attempt by the Russian syndicate to reboot or opportunistic scammers targeting victims, per. As of July 2025, traffic was low (~5,000 monthly visits), mainly from Germany (45%), U.S. (29%), and UK (15%), per SimilarWeb. The collapse followed California’s cease-and-desist, spooking operators, per. This mirrors MLM Ponzis like Cryptex and BitPay Mining, with $2.47B global scam losses in H1 2025, per.
Vortic United poses risks of total fund loss and data theft, per. ASIC urges avoiding engagement and reporting via moneysmart.gov.au, per. Bitcoin (BTC) ($113,234) and Ethereum (ETH) ($4,070) remain stable, per CoinMarketCap, but Ponzi alerts could impact DeFi sentiment, per. Diversify into USDC or ETH with stop-losses below BTC’s $112,000, per TradingView. Follow @TheBlock__ on X for updates. ASIC’s 14,000+ scam takedowns since 2023 signal robust enforcement, per.
