Skip to main content
Passive Income Autopsy

Case index

Every income claim we have examined, with its verdict, its first key figure and its filing date. Each case states the claim at full strength, runs it against primary evidence with access-dated citations, and ends with what would change the verdict.

All 23 cases

Show
  1. Case 023That the earnings table on a company's income disclosure statement tells you what a typical participant earns.about 47,000Earned money in a typical month, the group the table describesInconclusive
  2. Case 022That there was no way to tell in advance. It is the most common thing said after a passive-income vehicle collapses, usually by people with a real grievance, and this site has now published 21 autopsies against which it can be tested.13%Share of a $22 million raise that reached actual mining, allegedInconclusive
  3. Case 021That depositing cryptocurrency into Celsius's Earn Interest Accounts was a way to earn a high yield without doing anything and without taking real risk. The original complaint alleges Mashinsky described the model as "sleep to earn", and quotes him: "you don't have to do anything, you just go to sleep, and every Monday we pay you yield." It alleges Celsius advertised yields "up to 17% per year".up to 17% per yearYield Celsius advertised, as allegedBusted
  4. Case 020That a prospective Premier Martial Arts franchisee reading the franchise homepage was looking at what an average PMA studio grosses. The Federal Trade Commission alleges the homepage carried "average 2021 gross sales" of $548,345 from 2022 until at least 24 August 2026.$548,345Top 15 studios, average 2021 gross salesOpen
  5. Case 019That PlanNet Marketing's 2025 Income Disclosure Statement works as what the company's own compliance team calls "a strong marketing tool", because it shows the average Rep earning $38.15 and "a small amount of extra effort" lifting that to $752.71.92.52%Share of active reps in the entry Rep rankBusted
  6. Case 018“IBOs who build a team of 25 to 48 IBOs will have 'earnings' of about $40,000 a year.”about $40,000 a yearYearly earnings in the presentations, as allegedOpen
  7. Case 017“Put in $24,000, take 25% a year with compound interest, and in ten years you have $1,000,000 and can retire on $250,000 a year.”$16 millionSold to investors, at least, as alleged by the SECOpen
  8. Case 016“Your money funds our lending business, and your guaranteed return comes out of what the borrowers pay back.”$10,930,940Losses to victims, per DOJ after the guilty pleaBusted
  9. Case 015“Buy into the companies everyone will want at IPO, at market prices, before the market can.”$450 millionDrawn in from customers, as alleged by DOJOpen
  10. Case 014That buying into Location Ventures and its URBIN affiliate was — in the SEC's own phrasing, not ours — a set of "passive investment opportunities" in South Florida real estate: capital in, a share of the development profit out, none of the developing.2 of 37Counts he pleaded guilty to, of the indictmentOpen
  11. Case 013That you can find out, before you sign anything, what a typical Scentsy Consultant is actually paid — because the company publishes the figure itself.$466.56Median annual commissions, gross, 2024Confirmed
  12. Case 012That the Botanic compensation plan, with its published bonus ladder running from $500 to $50,000, describes an earning opportunity a prospect can evaluate.$50,000Top one-time Rank Achievement Bonus in the planInconclusive
  13. Case 011That money placed with Capital Funding ASAP LLC would fund short-term loans to small businesses and pay a fixed return of 22% to 53% on a one-year investment, or 9% to 10% over two to three months, with the principal guaranteed and, for some investors, secured by collateral.$47 millionRaised, at least, as alleged by the SECOpen
  14. Case 010That placing money with Goliath Ventures through a "Joint Venture Agreement" would generate "ongoing passive income" from crypto liquidity pools, at 3% to 10% a month, with the principal guaranteed to come back.$425 millionRaised from over 1,300 investors, as alleged by the SECOpen
  15. Case 009That a real estate sponsor had "grown their business, protected the entirety of the principal, and never missed a distribution.$5.6 millionFund 14 raised from 53 investors, per the orderOpen
  16. Case 008“Copy the EXACT system hundreds of my students use to make $1k to $3k a month in passive income.”$1k to $3k a monthMonthly passive income the CEO promisedInconclusive
  17. Case 007“Real estate done for you — put money in, collect the rent, do none of the work.”$152 millionRaised, approximately, as alleged by the SECOpen
  18. Case 006“Connect your account and crypto mining pays you recurring passive income.”$22 millionRaised, approximately, as alleged by the SECOpen
  19. Case 005We Sent 50 AI Agents to Find One Faceless Etsy Success Story50Research agents sent to find one qualifying shopInconclusive
  20. Case 004“Faceless print-on-demand stores are passive income.”$1,868Mean yearly sales per active seller, derivedBusted
  21. Case 003“Start a blog, earn passive income in months.”21 monthsAverage time to a blog's first dollar, self-reportedBusted
  22. Case 002“Day trading for a living is learnable by most people.”97%Persisted 300+ sessions and lost moneyBusted
  23. Case 001“MLM is a real path to passive income.”$1,000 or less per yearGross income of most participants, before expensesBusted

23 cases in this index.

By month

November 20261 case filed

  1. Case 023About 47,000 of 107,769: Reading Herbalife's Earnings Statement Line by LineInconclusive

October 20264 cases filed

  1. Case 022Four Questions, Nine Case Files, and the Three You Could Have Checked YourselfInconclusive
  2. Case 021The $35 Million Is Not in the Document. Both Numbers That Are Say "Deemed Satisfied."Busted
  3. Case 020The Homepage Said $548,345. The Same Table Says $315,850 for All 59 Studios.Open
  4. Case 019PlanNet Calls Its Own Disclosure a Marketing Tool. The Rank Holding 92.52% of Its Reps Averaged $38.15.Busted

September 20265 cases filed

  1. Case 018The Training Promised $40,000 a Year. The Complaint Says the Median Bonus Was $139.Open
  2. Case 017The Certificate Said 25% a Year. The Complaint Says Only About Half the Money Was Ever Invested.Open
  3. Case 016The Licences That Made the Loans Were Revoked in 2014. The Notes Kept Selling Until 2025.Busted
  4. Case 015Pre-IPO Access, $450 Million: One Man Pleaded Guilty, One Is Presumed InnocentOpen
  5. Case 014The SEC's Own Words Were 'Passive Investment Opportunities.' The Plea Covers Two Counts of Thirty-Seven.Open

August 20267 cases filed

  1. Case 013$466.56: The Number Scentsy Publishes on the Page That Recruits YouConfirmed
  2. Case 012The Income Disclosure Statement That Discloses It Has No Income DataInconclusive
  3. Case 01122% to 53%, Fixed. The Principal Was Guaranteed. The Collateral Was Sports Cards.Open
  4. Case 010Ongoing Passive Income: Two Federal Regulators, One Day, and Two Different NumbersOpen
  5. Case 009Never Missed a Distribution: A Website Claim, and the Order That Lists What It Left OutOpen
  6. Case 008Copy the EXACT System: A $1,995 Course, a $1.5 Million Order, and a Claim Nobody TestedInconclusive
  7. Case 005We Sent 50 AI Agents to Find One Faceless Etsy Success StoryInconclusive

July 20266 cases filed

  1. Case 007Real Estate Done For You: The SEC's $152 Million Autopsy Filed YesterdayOpen
  2. Case 00613 Cents on the Dollar: Inside a $22M 'Recurring Passive Income' Mining PitchOpen
  3. Case 004The Average Etsy Seller Grosses $156 a Month. Before Etsy's Cut.Busted
  4. Case 003Start a Blog, Earn in Months, They Said. The Survey Says 21 of Them.Busted
  5. Case 002The 97% Club: What Happened to Every Day Trader in an Entire MarketBusted
  6. Case 001We Read 70 MLM Income Disclosures So You Don't Have ToBusted

The next autopsy, by email

One email per case: the claim, the finding, the verdict. No courses, no coaching, no income products, ever. Unsubscribe in one click.

Thanks. Your address is on the list for the next autopsy.

We keep only your address, to send new autopsies. Leave any time: privacy.