Speak Asia Online is a Scam !

POSTED BY Jagoinvestor ON March 15, 2011 1:45 am COMMENTS (42)

Amit Agarwal has covered very well why Speak Asia Online is a big scam and one has to stay away from it .

 

If anyone of you have invested your money with them . Please keep your cool and dont get lured even if you are getting some income from them .

 

Read more : http://www.labnol.org/india/speak-asia-online-scam/18845/

42 replies on this article “Speak Asia Online is a Scam !”

  1. Ankur says:

    what happened to Speak Asia? is its revenue model still there?
    has the time come to tell the truth?

    ~Ankur

  2. Jalan says:

    @Prabeesh..

    “I don’t see a valid point in your claim that the current business model cannot be sustained using this method and people will not be serious about he inputs ,if they don’t pay.”
    To understand this you must have basic info about online survey business and companies and know about the business model. A little research in general on market research companies will give you good basic knowledge over this.

    “SAOL is in position of projecting the % of response it’s expecting?” This again is related to the business model of market research agencies where they need to make sure that a min. no. of response is recorded for their client to come to any conclusion – Sample space

    “There can be more reasons to this beyond our understanding of business and calculations.” Why this is creating doubt in your mind? If we were so good in business modeling and business calculations, we were not putting comments here but earning some good bucks in our businesses (if we had a business).

    “Do you have list of clients which was surveyed by SAOL..last i checked they said ICICI and few other as their client which was later stated by SAOL its not…”
    When did you last check it? It’s been a month that SAOL has submitted the list of all its client in High court Mumbai with a non-disclosure agreement. If you ready to sign it, please get it from there.

    Hope I answered. In case of anymore doubts, let me know.. or visit http://www.facebook.com/SpeakAsiaOnline.BizBasket and http://www.bizbasket.net

  3. prabeesh says:

    @Jalan

    I don’t see a valid point in your claim that the current business model cannot be sustained using this method and people will not be serious about he inputs ,if they don’t pay.

    Why would any be not serious if he gets good money with only initial few work being not paid?

    SAOL is in position of projecting the % of response it’s expecting? Pls explain

    “There can be more reasons to this beyond our understanding of business and calculations.” ?????

    Well this is the statement one starts to get doubt about the business they are doing…

    Do you have list of clients which was surveyed by SAOL..last i checked they said ICICI and few other as their client which was later stated by SAOL its not…

  4. Jalan says:

    @Prabeesh,

    Without this option also, lot of people agree to be a part of SAOL 🙂

    The company is working a part of it’s business on direct selling model as well. It is also in different business as explained in my post above. So this must not be confused with just a survey company, but a very new and strong line up of business. As a part of SAOL, I dont see this option as feasible with the same business plan. Yes, this can be an option but in that case there could be a different return than current. The business model and return can not be same if SAOL switch to this model.

    Another logical reason is that the panelist does his work seriously because he had put money in it and SAOL is in position of projecting the % of response it’s expecting. If this is made in the above said model, the company will loose the projection as the panelist has not liabilty associated with company and may or may not response to the market reaserch activities. There can be more reasons to this beyond our understanding of business and calculations.

  5. prabeesh says:

    @Rishi, Jalan,Jignesh and Manish,Ramesh

    Oh one another thing.. Deepak in Captial Mind (http://capitalmind.in) said a simple solution

    There have been cases where there is no initial payment required and the initial payment will be deducted from my first few month surveys.

    If that is the case i think many will be ready to join in such a simple job..Can they make it like that? Why Upfront payment..i will join and pay my first few dues to company and then i will start earning?

  6. prabeesh says:

    In all of this discussion i like one simple statement

    “TIME WILL TELL”

    I am more than happy to wait and watch that happen.

  7. jignesh says:

    So,
    Many of us came to conclusion….i guess.

    Manish/Ramesh,

    if you guys are agreed with him, you should change the heading which is speading misinfo as you were agreed for doin so in this post.

    If not then you should prove that SAO is SCAM which is your heading…

    Well i am only a common person whose relatives have invested in SAO and so i am eager to know what is truth.

    thanks for post mANISH.

    regards

  8. Jalan says:

    Manish/Ramesh,

    We need to be open to understand what company is doing and under which laws they are covered. For example of approvals, they have all the approvals required to do business in India based on their CURRENT business model i.e. online model of market research business, for example RBI approval for their forex transaction, master franchise registration, service tax for weekly circulars (e-zine or e-magzine) etc.

    Very simple and logical question for all the experts here, do you think getting money in or out of India through SWIFT is possible without RBI approvals to the partner banks?? You can go through different posts at http://www.bizbasket.net over this

    Now coming to whats the future? First of all this is not investment company. They have different phase in the business plan like any corporate. Initial phase was offline survey, than online survey, after that online advertisement, than online shopping of many things (from pin to cars) on discounted rate (like ebay), telecommunication (tv channel and mobile service), insurance, real state, global travel desk etc. etc. In this, the company is on verge of launching online ads watching and shopping and than other things step by step.

    For this purpose they need to register in India and than many Indian laws will be applied on them including MCA, SEBI (they will come with 95 crores equity capital) etc. http://www.bizbasket.net/2011/06/zee-business-exclusive-speakasia-update.html

    http://www.bizbasket.net/2011/06/talkatora-stadium-speakasia-update.html

    As a panelist and networker I have seen the company fulfilling every promise they made. This helps me to maintain my faith. This plays a major rule, similar to our investment decisions.

    Thats why even after all the media behind SAOL, there is not even one single FIR from any panelist. This is even after the company declared that they won’t be able to pay out because UOB has asked them to close (not seize) their accounts. This was majorly due to media hype and UOB did not want to play with its image in this situation. Another reason was that the number of Forex transfer increased like anything due to panic created by media and reached 1,50,000 cash requests in a month!! Even if any company has hell lot of money, this job of transfer of funds through SWIFT will takes its own sweet time from UOB and than from Indian banks.

    Manish:

    First we need to understand that the company compensates us for participating in market research activities. Currently its simple click and fill survey, next will be ad watching and survey etc.

    The questions in surveys are designed and put in such a manner that the response will tell if it was taking genuinely. For ex. one questions asks that ‘Are you married’ and you just say ‘Yes’ and after 6-7 questions it asks ‘Are you bachelor?’ and you again say ‘Yes’. This tells you are not filling them properly This is just an example of how the workflow is placed to check.

    But, as the number of panels increase the revenue which comes for survey from clients (corporate, market research companies, NGO etc – i.e. those are in panel business or are looking for panel services.) will not be sufficient to pay the commitment of Rs.500. So they have various source of income and they add new source of income and activities. The latest example will be online ad watching. One has to watch ads online and answer the questions related to ads to check if you watched it carefully and than other survey questions. Now this is again a market research activity and involves two source of revenue- Ads and survey. Everyone knows how big money is involved in ad market and what we do when ad comes on TV. SAOL will ensure that panelist wait for those ads, watch them and give response. Is that not wonderful for corporate or companies putting money in this segment.

    This post is getting too long, so will put revenue sources in brief

    1. Sale of subscription Codes – This is in tune of 15-20 crores DAILY
    2. Franchise Security money – Every person who takes franchise needs to deposit Rs.3 lacs security money with them. There are more than 200 franchise and growing every week.
    3. Survey Income from client – The company gets anywhere between $15 to $50 per survey they get filled for their clients. This is company declared figures.
    4. Advertisement Based revenue – Company is bringing video and advertisement based survey, and earning huge revenue from this.
    5. GenXBazzar – They will negotiate the prices and after passing the discount, will have a good co mission in the revenue head of company.

    If anyone has any specific question, please put across. Btw, even after so much hype, nothing was proved against SAOL, no arrest or negative decision from neutral authorities.

  9. Jalan says:

    Cool.. I don’t know how I missed this discussion on Manish’s page. I think by now everyone has got the news that SAOL is genuine company and there is not much to discuss now.

    In case you missed any news refer my website http://www.bizbasket.net

    This site has more than 8,00,000 hits. One of the most trusted website for genuine news and findings on SAOL all over India. I can see someone has posted one of the links from here (Thanks!!)

    P.S. I am the co-founder of Team BizBasket in SAOL.

    1. Sanket

      Good to hear that SAOL as got approvals , looking forward for the further developments in this space .

      As you are closely related to SAOL , I would like to know something , Companies pay for genuine filled surveys , so how do they make sure that the surveys are filled carefully and thoughtfully , because most of the people are just joining to get that Rs 500 by filling up the survey asap , So the quality might get compromised ! ? I hope you can clear this ?

      Manish

      1. Ramesh says:

        Manish

        I dont think they have got approvals. They have Proposed to do those things. 🙂

        Check this too. http://www.livemint.com/2011/06/09001052/Officials-cite-jurisdiction-is.html

  10. rinku says:

    speak asia is not a scam…..
    Speakasiaonline Pte. Ltd, Singapore (SAOL) is a unique web 2.0 company that empowers 19 lakh consumers to create and use their collective bargaining power to get unprecedented price advantages in goods and services procured through our portals. The only comparable success in India is the unrelated http://www.echoupal.com/ which provided an improvement in the livelihoods of lakhs of ordinary Indian farmers through its portal.
    With 19 lakh strong panelists and promoted from an Indian origin, that seeks to remind the world, that the FUTURE of the 21st Century is ASIAN, with its epicenter in India.
    proud to be speak asian

  11. Ramesh says:

    An update by Amit Agarwal on the same scam in which he has answered the query related to his pulling down the original article. plus other material.

    http://www.labnol.org/india/speak-asia/19386/

  12. Rishi says:

    Manish, with due respect to you – I again present one fact that despite you having my website details (earlier asked by you separately), you are not able to publish them correctly!!

    I can’t find any of my details or site’s per se on your page.

    Any ways, one more thing to say here – Sucheta Dalal, who is writing about SAO, at below links gets confused between, Speak asia and speak India. And in third para, she writes Speak India is registered in Mumbai. But my investigation shows it is registered in Indore. ila – how can they do it? – hmm they must have got it changed the registration in back date after Sucheta wrote.

    http://www.moneylife.in/article/the-speak-asia-money-trail/16451.html

    Though, Speak Asia has no registered office in India as of now!!

    And again food for your thought – till time big people were just writing – I would like to take your words – without facts to support but on 31st May 2011, a well reputed paper (Economic Times) gave independent news on SAO.

    http://joinspeakasiaonline.org/speak-asia-online-fights-back/

  13. rishi

    i am publishing ur website name . Let others go to it and learn more about it . Lets see what others have to take from it .

    Manish

    1. Hemant B says:

      Hi Manish,

      I really appreciate the way Rishi is presenting the(his) case.

      I like few points he said
      1. “Time will give the answer” – I think we should wait & not jump on any judgement. If Speak Asia is not fraud – you will say sorry to your readers on your blog for misguiding them & keeping them away from such a great earning opportunity. (If you will not do it I will do it on my blog & your forum) and If it is a Fraud – Rishi will say sorry on his website & this forum for promoting a fraudulent company. (hope Rishi will agree with it as according to him he is guiding people in Right direction)

      2. “People who do things differently are always questioned but they are the ones who also earn big time.” – I fully agree with this but I also keep reading that most dangerous lines when we talk about money is “this time it’s different”

      3. “I don’t think either SAO or its officials have now gone underground – they still are working on the issues.” – I agree with this & in 2 months we will know the actual picture.

      4. “Satyam – is classic case of it!! – Today many of us trade in its shares.” I again agree – there is hardly any difference for traders. Let’s not talk about investors.

      5. “do not carried away by opinions – think independently.” Superb line – THINK INDEPENDENTLY. As warren Buffett said “A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.”

      So let’s leave it here & wait.

  14. Rishi says:

    As I have stated earlier as well – as a matter of fact – why don’t you publish my website’s name? It is to increase traffic to your site only – you are asking questions and making me write posts for free!!! Let people understand what’s your motto behind it.

    Now don’t edit it – if you are real fact searcher and not mere a money bug!!

    And also as a matter of fact, you are running Jagoinvestor – but till time you have not presented any fact to “Jagao” investor. You just copying so called Amit ji and getting either my views or others – but what Jago investor is doing – nothing – no facts but only words.

    Tell me, present even a single proof to support your questions?? If you say negative, even that should be supported by facts – right!!

    For all the questions, why not ask ACRA by paying fee they ask for. Just food for your thought, on searching ACRA site, you will find Star news also a person not eligible for certificate of good standing.

    http://www.bizbasket.net/2011/05/star-tv-scam-exposed.html

    Now, I am certain, even after this fact you will not stop watching channel or question it. Now since it is not a good channel in Singapore, it may become not a good channel in India as well (as they say for SAO – “It could be a big scam”)

    But does that really matters to you – no – this news generates no traffic – till time it will not.

    I do have facts to support what I say, but then why should I tell you guys??

    Why not people search out themselves. At least this way they will get to know correct places to search on internet amongst the various electronic junk being created on internet.

    Let truth prevail not confusion.

  15. Ramesh says:

    @ Rishi,

    show us some real facts. like:-

    1. For which reputable companies has the SAO surveyed? And since you are not an official spokesperson of the company, you can certainly divulge whatever information you have?

    2. Where is the order copy of closure by the UOB bank in singapore? Or was the account closed by the account holders themselves? It is a puzzling fact that a bank in singapore will close an account because of media-reports in India.

    3. Where has been the so-called case registered? Which supreme court – India or Singapore ? Any documents supporting that?

    4. Which new bank(s) have been approached for opening the new account?

    5. Since the present account has been frozen, are SAO people still registering new people? why? Why cannot they put the latest information on their website that because of this thing, no new people / panelists are being registered till we sort out the snag?

    6. Any other fact.

    If you are comparing Satyam with SAO, then people will be better off not “investing”?

    (An afterthought: 19 lakh panelists @ 11000 = about 2000 crores. Satyam scam is an estimated 7000 crores)

    I do hope you are able to provide some solid facts and just not empty talk.

    – Ramesh

  16. Rishi says:

    What exaclty is the problem!!
    Is there a single proof with anyone that SAO has defaulted its promises till date except after the freezing of its bank accounts?

    Bloggers with good earning capacity and standing wrote something bad and then withdrew it – without informing reasons to their readers – what does that signify? They even then didn’t any information but just wanted some traffic.
    Now when things are not favouring SAO, they have again come up – such a cowardly act. If you write something – why don’t you stand by it? And people at mass who generally don’t have capability to think independently are carried away.

    I don’t think either SAO or its officials have now gone underground – they still are working on the issues.

    Regarding the questions like number of people in Singapore and freezing of bank accounts – this has happenned with big companies in past – what is the big deal??
    Satyam – is classic case of it!! – Today many of us trade in its shares.

    All what I can say always try to find facts behind the case – do not carried away by opinions – think independently.

    People who do things differently are always questioned but they are the ones who also earn big time. Rest keeps on commenting and questioning.

    Time will give the answer.

  17. jignesh says:

    Rishi,

    What you have to say on this links? Any comments ?

    Reader of JI are still waiting for your transperant (with solid proof ) opinions.

  18. Speak_Asian says:

    Their is not only Speak Asia Fraud
    http://speak-asia-fraud.blogspot.com/
    their are thousands of More like that
    http://www.medicaltranscriptiontraining.in/list_of_fraud_bpo_companies.html

    Or Search Fraud Companies on Google.co.in

  19. Ramesh says:

    One more Opinion. Actually two there.

    http://blog.investraction.com/2011/04/speak-asia-scam-or-for-real.html

    Seems like people here are still waiting for the Real Facts.

  20. Rishi says:

    Agree Atul – Lets bring facts to table – not mere opinions without basis or based on intution!!

  21. Atul says:

    Rishi,

    Looks like you are big fan of SpeakAsia, others are not. Every coin has 2 sides. Manish has captured one side and you are sharing your views on other side.

    Lets bring the facts in front of the audience and be transparent. Let visitors and audience of this website decide.

    Regards

    Atul

  22. Rishi says:

    Hi Manish,
    I like your approach.
    But this is not the right forum to explain things where contact details are moderated.

    *Rest is EDITed out* = Non-relevant.

    1. Rishi

      Ok , please send your contacts and your proofs to my email at manish [at] jagoinvestor [dot com .

      Also , please give the proofs or your explaination from your side on the legitimacy

      Also the reason the contacts are moderated on the forum is because a lot of financial planners and advisors try to market their services without helping others , which we dont allow . I hope you agree with me that its fine to moderate in that case .

      Manish

  23. Rishi says:

    Respecting your opinion – success can come to anyone – don’t limit it by commenting without knowing it, without being a part of it.

    Your heading has a most searched word “SCAM” – included just to attract more visits.
    Just give answer to your readers:

    1. Isn’t that word included to increase page visits and your own “Personal” Revenue? You could have moderated it to some less popular word!!
    2. Are you member of speakasia?
    3. Do you have a single proof to put on table – that company will run away, or have not paid, or people in the background are not genuine?
    4. Why is that you don’t let my details come on after my comment so that your readers can directly come to me and ask for proofs? Yes I do have!!
    5. You said, I wasn’t present at the time of Dhiru Bhai, were you present at the time of Ram, Krishna and other GOD’s? – I can bet you were not and I can show you proofs of the same.
    6. Do you possess some kind of expertise to judge Financials? – I do have one of those most respected in India.

    Don’t rant here on your site Ramesh – Please don’t misguide your readers by saying you worship GOD because were present at that time. You just commented on my example- right.

    There are phrases that are verified and taken as example and Dhiru’s is also one of them.

    And you know that till time it is a validly run company and is not fraud/scam (Fraud & Scams are synonyms)

    Don’t mix up things on your site – This site is now a responsibility – This purpose of this site is to give facts of the case – how can you jagao anyone without solid proofs?

    I always talk with proofs, Do you even have an idea about Amway – most successfully run MLM company? Why, being so reputed, that company has never offered its products in open market? Their products are reputed and are of good quality – they claim so through their members – Right?

    Here is the reason my dear, and anyone reading this site can verify – any product sold through MLM channel by Amway does not meets India’s standards of quality. You can check on products marketed through MLM channel. Non of the products will state Agmark, ISI or similar tags – why? because they are not upto that mark!!

    It is only now Amway has started advertising about few products – Not ALL – that meet that criteria and are given a go ahead by Indian Government to sell those.

    I hope that was an eye opener. With proof in front of your eyes!!

    A good reader can observe that Ramesh is commenting without proofs. And I am sure he will not present facts but go on ranting. Lets end it here Ramesh – Its your site – Being responsible, don’t post anything in reply until you can – “Present proofs”, if you can!!

    1. Rishi

      I can understand your reasoning, I think the whole idea here is “How risky is the business” . There might be 1000’s of people like Dhirubhai ambani at his time and very few actually succeeded . Just like that speakasiaonline seems to be a risky thing , if it can make money in long run , its well and good , but what if it can not , what if turns out to be something which people think its not , then what ?

      Big money comes from the big risk and thats the reason some time things start looking unreasonable . Can you give more details on how speakasia exactly works and how its able to give hugh profits . What is the level of money one can make through it and for how long ?

      Can you compare some investment avenue with Speakasiaonline ?

      Manish

  24. Rishi says:

    Papa has said it is wrong but then papa is not always correct!! Son has to use its brain!!

  25. Rishi says:

    @Ramesh – You are correct!. In India there is a phrase, Doodh ka jala chach bhi phook kar pita hai. You are doing correct.

    Just by giving ads doesn’t make a company Genuine. And similarly, people who speak without proofs are also not noticed. I have thoroughly checked all the details by paying requisite fee to relevant authorities but I guarantee you haven’t. You are just commenting and using words “Fraud” just to increase visits to your site. That’s It!!
    Say this is untrue – why haven’t you used words which are similar like it is not working good, not giving you money?

    To add a very responsible person, also known as father of blog revolution – Amit Aggarwal did wrote against it, but the next day he has removed the post from his blog.

    My Friend, become responsible while commenting on Internet else this will also become like Indian news channels – no one trusts them.

    Dhiru Bhai Ambani was a attendent at mumbai petrol pump in his initial state of life. Think when he would have said to his colleague – One day I will own a refinery of oil, what would have been the reply of his colleague. ???

    Dhiru is mad, don’t trust him. But world knows what he did – no matter wrong or right – but he made it big.

    Company is paying, the address of people managing it are genuine (ask me how do I know?), company office is genuine, why department which raided its franchisee’s offices went empty handed? How come Singapore and Indian government granted them registration to the concept? Indeed there are ads which say to reduce weight – it also say condition applies – which you wouldn’t have read!! and must have enrolled without knowing those conditions – but then there are ads which say Buy one TV get one free – still people believe and the company honours.
    Tell me how many times you have weighed your toothpaste before buying it? I can bet zero times – you wouldn’t have even thought of doing so? correct – and then you are commenting on things which are materaily present in front of you with proofs.

    There are revolutionary concepts waiting for people – till the time there is competetion. People who are awake make money from it – ofcourse after verification.

    Classic example is of Satyam – I can’t find any comments of your on internet warning shareholders – why so??? And why can’t you save Indian stock exchange from crashing!!

    Follow someone but with brain and responsibility – Dear…Commenting is easy – but commenting responsibly is not.

    1. Ramesh says:

      @ Rishi,
      Please rant somewhere else. And make responsible comments.

      where have i said that “the company is fraud”.
      i said it does not seem to me a credible business idea. Its my sense of what is there in front of me.

      About Dhirubhai ambani. Were you present when he has supposedly told his colleague that thing. Evaluate how many people have said that and how many are dhirubhai (only one). So dont mix up things in life. dhirubhai had worked quite hard and used his business acumen very uniquely. If one does that, he may have success.
      Success does not come sitting idle and doing non-sensical stuff. Unless it is a ponzi scheme, in which the initial entrants make some money, till the greater fools rush in (this is what the company business model seems to me – whether it is true or not, i am not interested).

      “Respect my Opinion”.

      – Ramesh

  26. Rishi says:

    Hi Everyone,

    Speakasiaonline is 100% genuine company registered in Singapore. Speakasia online ads already appeared in local newspapers and national TV NDTV imagine. Now the ads are appearing in Times of India (link are given below). I think we buy things after seeing ads on TV and/or in newspapers since 16-Apr-2011. Even speakasiaonline ads will appear during major IPL matches as well. There is nothing to doubt about. Always remember Aeroplane is always SAFE at Ground, But it’s note made for that, So always take some meaningful Risk in Life to Achieve Great Pleasure”.

    *EDITED all the CONTACT info, which is not allowed as per the Forum guidelines*

    1. Ramesh says:

      @ Rishi

      All the contact info has been edited out, according to the forum guidelines.

      Regarding your particular argument: Just because a company gives ads in media, does not make it genuine. Whether that media is local / national newspapers, IPL / or TV. For example, there are lot of ads which come on TV, which claim to reduce weight or other such stuff – not necessarily genuine.

      Regarding your particular company, if it is too good to be true, it is generally false. I would always run away from get-quick-rich schemes and other stuff which do not have a credible business sense. Sadly, your company falls in that category. Whether it has given money since the last 1/3 years, does not matter for me.

      Ramesh

  27. prabeesh says:

    manish link doesnt work can you post the correct one?

    1. Prabeesh

      the link is correct , but i can see labnol.org has removed that post it seems , not sure why

      manish

  28. Optimistic says:

    Hi Amit & Manish …

    Is your referral programs not working… need a push…I feel you have missed the bus..

    There is a saying ” Team work divides effort, Multiplies effect “..

    There is also a saying ” Winners never quit, quitters never win ”

    Regards

    Optimistic…

    1. Optimistic

      Can you clarify what you mean ? Amit is a technology blogger . Which refferal program are you reffereing at ?

      Manish

      1. Hemant B says:

        Hi Manish,

        I don’t know why AMIT removed his article. But even I have no doubt that it is a scam.

        I have written something on speak asia
        http://www.tflindia.in/2011/05/speak-asia-online.html

  29. Atul says:

    Hi Manish,

    Thanks for sharing.

    There is widely used saying ” There is nothing called as free lunch”.

    Regards

    Atul

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