WHEN a group of teenagers approached Mr Low - he only wanted to be known by his surname -  and asked him to buy a bent paperclip for $10, the 24-year-old fresh graduate bought their story.

The teens told him that they were students from a "private training school" and had to raise $60 to fulfil a requirement for an "entrepreneurship game".

Mr Low eventually bought the paperclip for $1.

However, Mr Low said, he felt cheated when, three weeks later, he caught sight of a similar group of teenagers persuading a couple to part with their money.

He told my paper: "I recognised a few of them from the previous time, and I wondered to myself, 'Shouldn?t they already have reached their quota by now'"

He decided to confront the group - one of them had said he was from Nanyang Polytechnic. When they insisted that the "entrepreneurship game" was still ongoing and that they were from "a private training hub", Mr Low called the police. The entire group of about five or six teens dispersed.

But Mr Low did not leave it at that. An avid Hardwarezone. com forum participant, he posted a message online relating the day's events, and trawled the Internet for information on the teens he?d met. He also lodged a police report.

Mr Low said his online research revealed that the teens he met belong to a larger group of at least 33 people, aged between 16 and 20, who are downlines of multi-level marketing (MLM) company Sunshine Empire - now known as Empire Maximise (EmMax).

Downlines, in MLM jargon, are independent, unsalaried salespeople who market their products directly to consumers by means of relationship referrals and direct selling. Their uplines - distributors of the MLM organisation who recruit them - earn a commission based on their sales efforts.

Mr Low also discovered online that these teens call themselves the Aggressors, and are bound together by their common goal: To earn quick money by hitting a certain sales target, which would qualify them for a trip to Hong Kong in June. This group was apparently formed as early as May last year.

Mr Low's posting generated a furious discussion in the forum that went on for more than 55 pages. Shocked Hardwarezone. com forum members came forward with stories of how they, too, had been approached by groups of teenagers collecting money or selling paperclips in places all over Singapore - Sembawang, Sengkang, Hougang, Dhoby Ghaut, Jurong Entertainment Centre, Tampines Mall and AMK Hub.

Forum members told my paper that they have been approached by teenagers claiming to be from Temasek Polytechnic as well. Others have also reported their experiences to The Straits Times and citizen media website Stomp.

Ms Shen Xiaoyin, who wrote to The Straits Times forum, said a student from Temasek Polytechnic had approached her at Boon Lay Bus Interchange, saying he had "to raise one hundred dollars in five hours" as "part of an entrepreneurship course".

Temasek Polytechnic's spokesman responded, clarifying that "none of our students were involved in an entrepreneurship project" of the sort that was stated in Ms Shen's online letter.

Sunshine Empire has been on the Monetary Authority of Singapore's investor alert list since September 2007, and is currently being investigated by the Commercial Affairs Department for its involvement in selling unlicensed investment schemes. Its account has been frozen since November.

However, Mr Seah Eng Choon, executive director of Case, told my paper: "There is nothing to stop them from opening another bank account, and continuing with operations and recruiting members."

Since last Monday, the Aggressors have not been seen, according to posts on Hardwarezone.com. They have also deleted their personal blogs.

Police said they have received Mr Low's report and are still investigating.