FTC Takes Action to Stop Sprawling ‘Growth Cave’ Business Opportunity and Credit Repair Scam

As a result of a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit, a federal court has temporarily halted the operations of a wide-ranging business opportunity and credit repair scam that has operated under the name “Growth Cave” since at least 2020.

The FTC’s complaint against the operation and its owners and officers, Lucas Lee-Tyson, Osmany Batte (also known as “Ozzie Blessed”), and Jordan Marksberry, alleges that the Growth Cave operation has taken approximately $50 million from consumers using false promises of huge income.

“Consumers seeking to start a business deserve an honest chance—not false promises of reliable income and expert help,” said Chris Mufarrige, the FTC’s Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection. “The FTC has its eye on business opportunity schemes like this one and will take decisive action to stop them.”

In videos, Lee-Tyson and Batte have claimed to be experts who have made significant money through the programs and techniques they sell and who are ready to share their supposed expertise with consumers—for a price. In these videos, Lee-Tyson portrays himself as a marketing guru and self-made millionaire. Batte, according to the complaint, implies that he contributes to Growth Cave’s success with his ability to fix negative “mindsets” and his certification in hypnosis. Lee-Tyson, Batte, and Marksberry post videos of their lavish lifestyles as proof of their programs’ earning potential, but according to the complaint those lifestyles are funded by the consumers who lost money to Growth Cave’s bogus programs.

The Growth Cave operation’s primary scheme is called Knowledge Business Accelerator (KBA) which, according to the complaint, is sold via YouTube ads. The KBA scheme’s central pitch to consumers is that by developing and marketing a so-called “digital education program,” consumers can “generate $20,000 to $50,000 in passive income.” In videos cited in the complaint, Lee-Tyson guaranteed to consumers that “It is literally IMPOSSIBLE to fail…”

According to the complaint, consumers who reach out to learn more about the KBA program are hit with email marketing that reinforces the videos’ deceptive messages and are pushed to watch more videos and schedule a “strategy call” with a Growth Cave employee, where they are told they will begin making money within four to six weeks. Consumers report that Growth Cave offers them a $10,000 profit guarantee that they are told will ensure they recoup the money they spend to buy the KBA business opportunity.

According to the complaint, Consumers pay thousands of dollars each for the KBA program, but soon after learn that Growth Cave’s promises are empty. The complaint alleges that consumers had trouble reaching Growth Cave employees and obtaining promised assistance. Consumers report that Growth Cave did not develop customized advertisements and instead provided KBA purchasers with generic scripts, which KBA purchasers had to spend significant time revising before recording their own advertisements. Even after completing previously undisclosed “requirements” from Growth Cave to launch their courses, many consumers reported that they were unable to earn the promised income.

The scheme’s operators also pushed an “upgraded” version of the KBA program, called Digital Freedom Mastermind (DFM), in which all of the work to create an educational course is supposedly completed by Growth Cave on consumers’ behalf, at a cost of an additional $30,000 to $50,000. Consumers who purchased this supposed upgrade reported that the promised services never materialized.

According to the complaint, in most cases, KBA purchasers, including those who pay for the DFM upsell, do not make a single sale and therefore do not earn any income. Instead, they find themselves owing thousands of dollars to Growth Cave, credit card companies, or third-party lenders, prompting numerous consumer complaints.

According to the complaint, Lee-Tyson and Batte also sold another business opportunity scheme called the Cashflow Consultant Academy (CCA), which promised to teach purchasers to close new sales for “wealthy business owners” and guaranteed that it would place participants with one of Growth Cave’s “business owner clients,” leading to tens of thousands of dollars in monthly income. According to the complaint, the people who endorse the program in video advertisements talking about their own successes are all Growth Cave employees—but this is never disclosed. Real consumers have regularly complained that, after paying as much as $6,800 for the CCA opportunity, instead of being placed with a business owner as promised, they often are never placed with any client at all. In the rare instances where a consumer is “placed,” consumers report that, instead of a “wealthy business owner,” their client is just a consumer who is embroiled in Growth Cave’s KBA scheme. Most CCA purchasers never earn any income or profit.

According to the complaint, Growth Cave also established a bogus credit repair scheme in 2023 called Buffalo Bridge, aimed at consumers who had purchased the company’s other bogus schemes. Buffalo Bridge claimed to provide credit repair services and 0% interest business loans, but in reality, consumers report, it merely signed up consumers for multiple business credit cards. The complaint alleges that Growth Cave unlawfully charged consumers $6,800 upfront for this supposed service.

Even after facing multiple private lawsuits from consumers who lost money to their schemes, the complaint alleges, Lee-Tyson and Batte have continued pitching new business opportunity schemes. After announcing a “rebrand” in March 2024, Lee-Tyson started selling a supposed AI-fueled program called PassiveApps, which, according to the complaint, follows the same blueprint as KBA, with supposed full-service upgrades available for thousands of dollars. The complaint alleges that Lee-Tyson even deceptively re-uses the exact same “testimonials” provided by KBA purchasers to advertise PassiveApps.

According to the complaint, Batte is pitching a service similar to CCA called ApexMind and is recycling many of the same deceptive tactics, including the prior bogus testimonials, according to the complaint.

The FTC’s complaint charges that the defendants have violated the FTC Act, the Business Opportunity Rule, the Credit Repair Organizations Act and the Reviews and Testimonials Rule.

The Commission vote authorizing the staff to file the complaint was 4-0-1, with then-Commissioner Lina M. Khan not participating. The complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

NOTE: The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the named defendants are violating or are about to violate the law and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The case will be decided by the court.

The staff attorneys on this matter are Maris Snell and Adrienne Jenkins of the FTC’s East Central Region and Miles Freeman of the FTC’s Western Region Los Angeles.