Investors scammed out of $77 million

Reports have revealed that fake online marketing company that claims to have Google and Yahoo among its business partners has cheated thousands of Taiwanese investors out of a total of Tw$2.5 billion since last year.

According to Taiwanese authorities, OurPPC, which calls itself a pay-per-click management company, offered individuals the chance to invest in Internet search keywords, assuring the investors that they could earn up to a 23 percent return within 50 days.

In an attempt to increase the number of investors, the group also organized a tour to Macau in July for anyone who had put in $10,000 into the scheme, and about 2,400 people signed up, according to investigators.

"According to our information on hand, we can't assert the company actually exists," a Taiwanese official told AFP on Tuesday.

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The official also added that the amount of money obtained through the suspected fraudulent scheme could have been more than the authorities currently know.

On it’s website, OurPPC says its core business is to help users of its service drive traffic to their website by identifying keywords used in Internet searches.

The alleged fake company also lists its headquarters to be in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and CEO as a man named Peter Anderson who allegedly graduated from the Wroclaw University of Technology in Poland.

The company had turnover of $15 million in 2013, it claims.