TalkGold Ponzi And Criminals’ Forum Deletes ‘Sticky’ Thread On InstaForex; Firm Named Defendant In CFTC Sweep Used Payment Processor Whose Contact Person Is Referenced In International Money-Laundering And Narcotics Case

The TalkGold Ponzi scheme and criminals’ forum has deleted a “sticky” thread reportedly paid for by InstaForex, a dubious company named a defendant in a registration sweep conducted by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission last month.

The PP Blog reported two days ago that InstaForex was using TalkGold to promote a scheme by which participants who sent InstaForex at least 1,000  U.S. dollars could qualify to win a Lotus Elise valued at more than $50,000. Although sweepstakes that require a purchase are illegal in the United States, InstaForex bizarrely instructed investors that they could improve their odds of winning the car by opening up to 100 accounts each.

Some of the InstaForex promoters used photographs of attractive women to promote the scheme. It was unclear whether the photos were actual pictures of the promoters or whether they were stage props designed to lure skeptical investors.

Why any investor from any country would open a single account — let alone 100 accounts — with a firm that advertises on TalkGold was left to the imagination. TalkGold and similar sites such as MoneyMakerGroup are referenced in multiple filings in U.S. federal courts as places from which international Ponzi and fraud schemes are pushed.

A separate ad for which InstaForex apparently paid TalkGold $95 remains operational on the forum. The ad shows an image of a red Lotus and claims the company is “THE BEST BROKER IN ASIA.” Directly below the ad is an ad for a company that claims to provide a return of 525 percent “After 1 Minute” and 9,860 percent “After 6 Hours.”

Just four of the thousands of schemes pushed on TalkGold — Imperia Invest IBC, EMG/Finanzas Forex, Legisi and Pathway to Prosperity — created tens of thousands of victims globally while gathering hundreds of millions of dollars, according to court records.

The precise time at which TalkGold deleted the paid “sticky” thread on InstaForex and the precise reason why the thread of at least 109 pages was deleted were unclear. Records suggest the thread was deleted in the past 24 hours. The once-massive thread now returns a “No Thread specified” error.

Among other things, InstaForex advertised that it accepted payments through Perfect Money, a murky money-services business purportedly operating from Panama. Imperia Invest, which the SEC accused in October of stealing millions of dollars from thousands of participants, also used Perfect Money, according to court filings.

Included among the Imperia Invest victims were thousands of Americans with hearing impairments, according to the SEC.

Meanwhile, the name of Roger Alberto Santamaria del Cid — the purported contact person of Perfect Money — appears in federal court filings in the EMG/Finanzas Forex forfeiture case.

A Florida-based task force that specializes in detecting and uncovering massive fraud schemes brought the EMG/Finanzas Forex case last year. Del Cid, Perfect Money’s purported contact person in Panama, is listed as EMG’s “Secretary” in court filings that allege that tens of millions of dollars seized in the probe were tied to the international narcotics trade.

EMG/Finanzas Forex was so corrupt that some participants were told the only way they could get their money out was to recruit new investors, have the new investors pay them directly — and use the proceeds from the new investors to recover their initial outlays, according to court filings.

The very first EMG post on the now-shuttered ASA Monitor Ponzi and criminals’ forum referenced yet-another widely promoted Ponzi scheme: 12DailyPro. The 12DailyPro case, brought by the SEC in February 2006, also is cited in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi prosecution brought by the U.S. Secret Service in August 2008. ASD also was promoted on TalkGold.

Writing on ASA Monitor, an EMG/Finanzas Forex aficionado claimed to have learned the ropes from 12DailyPro.

“I have been in internet business for 3 years now and in autosurf industry from 12dailypro,” the ASA poster began. He (or she) then proceeded to tell readers about how they could earn commissions by recruiting for EMG/Finanzas, which the Feds later described as an international menace with tentacles in Central America, South America and Europe.

Court filings in the EMG/Finanzas case paint a picture of an incredibly elaborate maze of companies and bank accounts set up to confuse both investors and law enforcement. At least 59 bank accounts, 294 bars of gold and nine luxury vehicles were seized.

The EMG allegations were explosive because they showcased the undeniable fact that people who promote programs such as HYIPs and autosurfs because such programs may pay “commissions” to recruit new members may be operating as fronts or conduits for international drug dealers and money-launderers.

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38 Responses to “TalkGold Ponzi And Criminals’ Forum Deletes ‘Sticky’ Thread On InstaForex; Firm Named Defendant In CFTC Sweep Used Payment Processor Whose Contact Person Is Referenced In International Money-Laundering And Narcotics Case”

  1. This is not a big surprise, they recently deleted a thread exposing a scammer by the name of Clayton Parker, aka Uncle Clayton. In that case a new thread was created, but all the pages of the original thread went missing, and this from a forum that proclaims,”nothing is deleted”…! Maybe they will also claim in this casse that it was an “accident” due to trying to remove spam-bots.

  2. “Some of the InstaForex promoters used photographs of attractive women to promote the scheme. It was unclear whether the photos were actual pictures of the promoters or whether they were stage props designed to lure skeptical investors.”

    Videos on you-tube do suggest that the pics were of actual staff…either that or they used some amazing software to produce the videos…

    Also worth noting that Insta staff never claimed to be in Asia….They always said they were in Russia…

  3. From the Instaforex website: http://instaforex.com/licence.php

    “Licence

    The activity of InstaForex Companies Group corresponds with Russian and International legislation. InstaForex is registered on British Virgin Islands and acts within the bounds of Common British Law. The Headquarters is located in Russia that is why licenses on brokerage issued by the main regulating authority in Russian Federation – The Federal Financial Markets Service, were taken out by InstaTrade Investment Company (Russia) – member of InstaForex group of companies.

    Russian regulating body – The Federal Financial Markets Service is the analog of American NFA (National Futures Association), British FSA (Financial Services Authority) and Cyprus CYSEC (Cyprus Securities). Nowadays all Russian Brokers who provide on-line access to the stock market, is obliged to be certified and standard-driven, developed by the Federal Financial Markets Service. Authority of the Federal Financial Markets Service is officially fixed in Financial markets law of Russian Federation.

    InstaForex carries on an activity on examination and implementation of new trading instruments not only from Russian stock but international as well. That is why the main principle of InstaForex is an agreement with national and international legal systems connected with fight against money laundering, which foreseen creation and implementation of measures against income legalization, got by illegal means.

    The main priority of InstaForex is an agreement with international regulations in financial field”

    and the Instaforex “team” http://instaforex.com/team.php

  4. I officially declare, this article is to mislead the readers. InstaForex topic at Talkgold forum was deleted by one if its admins by the nickname geoff01 mistakenkly. This is his explanation regarding the issue:

    “Hello,

    I am letting you know that when I was clearing up some spam in your thread I inadvertently deleted the whole thread, rather than just the post.

    I am really sorry about this. I have PMd Brian the other admin about it to see if there is any way the thread can be restored, but I haven’t yet heard back from him. He normally comes online in about 1 or 2 hours time from now.

    I apologise very much for this error, and I assure you we will be in touch as soon as something is known.

    Regards

    Geoff”

    Secondly, we haven’t been accepting payments via Perfect Money for more than two months. So this is a lie.

    The promoters use their real pictures as the avatars (thanks for the compliment, be the way lol).

    And finally, if a company holds a campaign, it only says it has a good marketing policy. Only a sick-minded person can take it as a reason to call someone a scammer.

  5. InstaForex topic at Talkgold forum was deleted by one if its admins by the nickname geoff01 mistakenkly.

    Katerine,

    What are you saying? That InstaForex is a proud TalkGold “sticky” advertiser?

    Is it also proud to have its $95 display ad on TalkGold positioned above an ad that that touts profits of 9,860 percent “After 6 Hours” — and in a cluster of ads, one of which touts returns of 1.7 to 2.7 percent every 30 days AND referral commissions of 10 percent?

    And there’s another one in the cluster that touts “daily” and “weekly” returns of between 3.5 percent and 7 percent. Proud to be in that TalkGold cluster, too?

    Here’s some info about another program promoted on TalkGold. Perhaps InstaForex and its customers will find it instructive:

    http://patrickpretty.com/2010/05/31/kaboom-affidavit-in-pathway-to-prosperity-case-paints-picture-of-wanton-criminality-complaint-references-talkgold-asamonitor-moneymakergroup-posts-united-states-throws-down-gauntlet/

    Secondly, we haven’t been accepting payments via Perfect Money for more than two months. So this is a lie.

    No, Katerine. It’s not a lie. BTW, if InstaForex no longer is accepting payments from Perfect Money, why did it decide to end the relationship?

    Even if it stopped accepting payments more than two months ago, it means it still was accepting payments for months after del Cid’s name appeared in the EMG/Finanzas Forex forfeiture complaint in a money-laundering and narcotics investigation.

    And it also means InstaForex was accepting Perfect Money payments for at least two months after Perfect Money’s name appeared in the SEC complaint against Imperia Invest — you know, the complaint that alleged Imperia was ripping off thousands of deaf people.

    http://patrickpretty.com/2010/10/07/bulletin-sec-seeks-shutdown-of-imperia-invest-in-emergency-action-program-pitched-on-same-ponzi-forums-promoting-mpb-today-agency-says-imperia-defrauded-thousands-of-deaf-americans/

    And finally, if a company holds a campaign, it only says it has a good marketing policy. Only a sick-minded person can take it as a reason to call someone a scammer.

    Katerine, are you actually going to claim that asking people to plunk down $1,000 for a chance to win a sports car and encouraging them to open up to 100 accounts to improve their odds of winning is “good marketing policy?”

    Is advertising on TalkGold above a promo that promises profits of 9,860 percent “After 6 Hours” also “good marketing policy” — you know, given the reference to TalkGold in the Pathway to Prosperity complaint that alleges P2P created 40,000 victims from all of the permanently inhabited continents of the world?

    Patrick

  6. Katerine, What are you saying? That InstaForex is a proud TalkGold “sticky” advertiser?

    We are not proud, we just don’t care. In our eyes, this is another resource visited by a lot of traders. Why not to put some adds there? Our activity is absolutely legal, what we offer to our customers is absolutely legal. Blaming as in scamming only because we advertise at Talkgold is just illogical.

    No, Katerine. It’s not a lie.

    Relly? So when did you deposit your trading account with InstaForex via Perfect Money for the last time?

    BTW, if InstaForex no longer is accepting payments from Perfect Money, why did it decide to end the relationship?

    Not “if”, we really ended this relationship, because it’s future seems to us dubious. The official release is currently being prepared and published soon. We do not only stop accepting payments via this processor, but also recommed all its customers to close their accounts with Perfect Money.

    Katerine, are you actually going to claim that asking people to plunk down $1,000 for a chance to win a sports car and encouraging them to open up to 100 accounts to improve their odds of winning is “good marketing policy?”

    The word “plunk down” is inept here. To get a chance to win the car you shouldn’t pay us this money. You can deposit them to your account and make a profit. Even in case you do not make any single trade, you’ll be still registered in the campaign and have an opportunity to win. Yes, we think it’s a good marketing. At list you should get acknowlodged with the rules before making such a groundless conclusion (http://instaforex.com/contest_forex_lotus_rules.php)

    Is advertising on TalkGold above a promo that promises profits of 9,860 percent “After 6 Hours” also “good marketing policy” — you know, given the reference to TalkGold in the Pathway to Prosperity complaint that alleges P2P created 40,000 victims from all of the permanently inhabited continents of the world?

    Why are you asking me about it? It’s not our promo and we are not responsible for what is advertised there.

  7. Where’s my reply, published 10 minutes ago?

  8. Hmmn,

    are we all talking about the same “Instaforex” which claims it doesn’t deal with US clients ???

    The same “Instaforex” which claims the current probe involves a US “agent” and not Instaforex itself ????

    Or is it the Instaforex which, on its’ own website http://support.instaforex.com/en/index.php/InstaForex_system_of_servers says this:

    “All of them share traffic with the help of intermediary data centers, inclusive of over 20 additional servers located in different parts of the world. Thus, a complex system of servers and data centers makes it possible for traders to have a high-grade and rapid connection to the trading centre. In case of any intermediary data centre overload, the client platform is automatically switching to other data centre. The US trading server of InstaForex Company includes 9 data centers and is accessible for the clients across the world, for the North America and the Russian Federation as well. THE ADVANCED TECHNICAL SUPPORT AND TROUBLE-PROOF TRANSMISSION CHANNELS PROVIDED BY ONE OF THE BEST AMERICAN COMPANY MAKE THE US INSTAFOREX SERVER POPULAR AMONG THE CLIENTS FROM THE NORTH AMERICA, RUSSIA AND EUROPE”

  9. Hello, Ekaterina, how are things in Kaliningrad?

    I see that your Forex company has a US server… on 7-19-2010, you said the following at http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=0a57d0370fc3d842d8e564e257348408&threadid=203376&perpage=6&pagenumber=4

    “The most traders prefer the USA trading server. The less of them open accounts at Singapore server.”

    Looking around your company, I most surprised by the following page:
    http://instaforex.com/offices.php?p=19

    What kind of reliable international financial institution would have an office in Lagos, Nigeria? Other than banks, I find myself at a loss for why you would have one in a city renowned world-wide for financial deception. Pray tell, has Lagos changed, or were your executives somehow unaware of the infamous guymen who infest it?

  10. We are not proud, we just don’t care. In our eyes, this is another resource visited by a lot of traders. Why not to put some adds there? Our activity is absolutely legal, what we offer to our customers is absolutely legal. Blaming as in scamming only because we advertise at Talkgold is just illogical.

    Katerine,

    If InstaForex “just don’t care” that it’s advertising in a sewer and considers TalkGold a site visited by a lot of “traders,” then InstaForex must not care if it comes into receipt of money tainted by any number of HYIP, autosurf, matrix, forex and cash-gifting scams.

    Maybe InstaForex doesn’t “care” — but its customers across the world should. Why? Because TalkGold is inexorably linked to fraudsters and criminals, including fraudsters and criminals implicated in major international money-laundering, wire-fraud, securities-fraud, Ponzi and narcotics investigations and their attendant asset seizures.

    InstaForex might as well take out an ad in the New York Times that says, “We don’t care about the source of your money and will turn a blind eye to money-launderers and people who specialize in ripping off the deaf, senior citizens, people of faith and other affinity groups.”

    Not “if”, we really ended this relationship, because it’s future seems to us dubious. The official release is currently being prepared and published soon. We do not only stop accepting payments via this processor, but also recommed all its customers to close their accounts with Perfect Money.

    It’s interesting that InstaForex has arrived at the conclusion that Perfect Money’s future seems “dubious” — but that InstaForex “just don’t care” about the TalkGold Ponzi and criminals’ cesspit because of all the “traders” over there.

    Your money stream could be polluted because of TalkGold, which is rather like Chernobyl. If the TalkGold “traders” were fish, they’d be glowing before they finally died from all the radiation, turned belly-up and washed up on shore to rot.

    The word “plunk down” is inept here. To get a chance to win the car you shouldn’t pay us this money.

    Funny, but the rules on your website make it clear that your customers have to pay to get a chance to win the Lotus (emphasis added):

    * 2.1. Legally Able Adult Citizens Who have Real Trading Accounts with InstaForex Company (hereinafter – Participant) can take part in the Campaign.
    * 2.2. In order to participate in the Campaign, it is NECESSARY to REPLENISH the real trading account in InstaForex Company with 1000 USD OR MORE during Campaign period and register at web-site http://www.instaforex.com
    * 2.3. Participant has a right to register in the Campaign more than 1 account and raise his/her chances for the victory. However, in case contest administration detects more than 100 accounts registered by one person, it reserves the right to decrease the number of accounts till 100.
    * 2.4. Any account, which meets a condition: A – B + C > 1000,00 USD, where A is the sum of replenishments since 1st of June, B is the sum of withdrawals since 1st of June, C is the trading result, can take part in this Campaign.

    Any way you slice it, it looks as though customers have to provide InstaForex at least $1,000 to get a chance to win the car — and must maintain at least $1,000 in the account after withdrawals to remain eligible to win the car.

    At list you should get acknowlodged with the rules before making such a groundless conclusion

    I read the rules before I published this story on Feb. 8. (If you look at the bottom of the story, you’ll see that Perfect Money apparently thinks highly of InstaForex.)

    http://patrickpretty.com/2011/02/08/special-report-forex-firms-named-in-cftc-sweep-used-same-offshore-processor-as-alleged-imperia-invest-fraud-name-of-man-linked-to-perfect-money-appears-in-ponzi-forfeiture-complaint-in-which-fed/

    Patrick

  11. Where’s my reply, published 10 minutes ago?

    Your reply was temporarily held in a queue because the software initially scored it as spam. I approved it manually when I got out of bed this morning and reviewed the queue.

    Spam is a problem here. In the past 60 days alone, our filter has blocked 8,096 communications. In the end, only 15 of those proved not to be spam.

    In any event, your reply has been published.

    Patrick

  12. how are things in Kaliningrad?

    Admin plug-in test.

    Patrick

  13. Quick note:

    Sorry, folks. The Quote Comments function appears to be malfunctioning. There were recent updates to both WordPress and the Quote Comments plug-in, and they seem not to be working well and playing well together.

    I’ve tested multiple versions of the plug-in this morning, and have reinstalled an older version that appears to have made a positive difference — but it still does not appear to functioning as intended.

    For some reason, the most recent version was not including carriage returns. The older version appears to have solved that problem, although it still is acting a bit buggy.

    Please continue to use the Quote Comments function. I’ll see if I can get this fixed, but there may not be a perfect solution.

    Patrick

  14. admin: In any event, your reply has been published.

    Patrick, I still can’t see it. Are you sure, you have approved it?

  15. admin: Please continue to use the Quote Comments function. I’ll see if I can get this fixed, but there may not be a perfect solution.

    OK. I reinstalled the oldest version of the Quote Comments plug-in I could find — and it appears to be working as intended.

    However, our Copyright Protection software (iCopyright) is asking readers if they want to purchase a license if they copy more than 50 words when using Quote Comments to respond to the comment of another reader.

    If you get this message when using Quote Comments to copy more than 50 words to respond to a reader, please select “Quit asking me” and recopy the passage.

    I subscribed to iCopyright to protect against the mass copying of large sections of the Blog. In more cases than I care to recount, folks were copying entire stories and placing them on other Blogs and forums. This kind of thing is killing publishing.

    Maybe one day I’ll publish a story about what happened to the PP Blog’s former companion site. The abridged version is that its entire editorial well was stolen — lock, stock and barrel — and placed on other sites.

    The folks who stole it basically waited for me to do the work, and then pounced. I was working long hours every day — just to see my content stolen, placed elsewhere and monetized. It was particularly devious in the sense that the thieves placed the content on sites they’d artificially aged to get high PR (page ranks), so their stolen content appeared above mine when people performed searches.

    In other words, I was doing all the work — and they were stealing it, basically using me as free labor while also stealing my organic traffic.

    iCopyright is a safeguard against that.

    Patrick

  16. littleroundman: Or is it the Instaforex which, on its’ own website http://support.instaforex.com/en/index.php/InstaForex_system_of_servers says this:

    Did you study geography at school? North America is a continent, where 23 countries are located. Or maybe the US schools teach students the USA is the only country in North America?

  17. ProfHenryHiggins: Hello, Ekaterina, how are things in Kaliningrad?

    Hello ProfHenryHiggins, things are great here. Hope, the same is in your area.

    ProfHenryHiggins: I see that your Forex company has a US server… on 7-19-2010, you said the following at http://www.elitetrader.com/vb/showthread.php?s=0a57d0370fc3d842d8e564e257348408&threadid=203376&perpage=6&pagenumber=4
    Yes, we do. So? is that illegal?

    ProfHenryHiggins: What kind of reliable international financial institution would have an office in Lagos, Nigeria?

    This office is registered by the participant of our affiliate program in Nigeria. We don’t think, there’s a good reason why people from Nigeria shouldn’t be allowed to trade Forex.

  18. admin: Maybe InstaForex doesn’t “care” — but its customers across the world should. Why? Because TalkGold is inexorably linked to fraudsters and criminals, including fraudsters and criminals implicated in major international money-laundering, wire-fraud, securities-fraud, Ponzi and narcotics investigations and their attendant asset seizures.

    Don’t you think, the goverment should care about this?

    admin: Your money stream could be polluted because of TalkGold, which is rather like Chernobyl. If the TalkGold “traders” were fish, they’d be glowing before they finally died from all the radiation, turned belly-up and washed up on shore to rot.

    If one day you came in a store to buy a bottle of soda and had no idea, that a shop-boy was a pusher, what would you do when you knew that? Should people call you a criminal for buying the soda from the pusher? Even if Talkgold is involved in all that criminal scheme, it doesn’t mean the advertisers are involved to. What we are doing is just buying the soda. This is innocent.

    admin: Any way you slice it, it looks as though customers have to provide InstaForex at least $1,000 to get a chance to win the car — and must maintain at least $1,000 in the account after withdrawals to remain eligible to win the car.

    What you have quoted only confirms my words. You don’t bring this money to us, you deposit them to your trading account to trade Forex and make money. You can withdraw them at any time. You can win the car (if your account number matches the Lotus-number) and withdraw your funds.

  19. Katerine Abramova, InstaForex PR manager: Did you study geography at school? North America is a continent, where 23 countries are located. Or maybe the US schools teach students the USA is the only country in North America?

    I beg your pardon,

    what on earth are you talking about ???

    23 countries ??

    Name just 10 of them, please.

    Oh, and while you’re at it, could you list in which of the countries you say compose North America are you licensed ???

  20. Katerine Abramova, InstaForex PR manager: Don’t you think, the goverment should care about this?

    Yes, I do think the government should care about viral criminality of the sort that is practiced on TalkGold. And because I follow these matters closely and report about them on my Blog, I can tell you that TalkGold is at the intersection of scheme after scheme after scheme.

    Katerine Abramova, InstaForex PR manager: If one day you came in a store to buy a bottle of soda and had no idea, that a shop-boy was a pusher, what would you do when you knew that? Should people call you a criminal for buying the soda from the pusher? Even if Talkgold is involved in all that criminal scheme, it doesn’t mean the advertisers are involved to. What we are doing is just buying the soda. This is innocent.

    But you DO have an idea that people from TalkGold are “pushers” and that the business you’re generating from there may not be coming from otherwise innocent affiliates or parties. TalkGold and crime go together like Willie Sutton and banks:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Sutton

    Ask ASD’s Andy Bowdoin how willful blindness worked out for him. Ask Nick Smirnow of P2P. Ask the cloaked operators of Imperia Invest IBC.

    With respect to your comments about the Lotus and what participants must do to win it, well, I think you’re engaging in some serious spinning and wordplay and that your reply is utterly dismissible.

    In fact, I believe the mere fact InstaForex is advertising on TalkGold and is defining it as a place “traders” gather makes everything about InstaForex utterly dismissible.

    Patrick

  21. littleroundman: I beg your pardon,

    what on earth are you talking about ???

    23 countries ??

    Name just 10 of them, please.

    Actually, the ponzi scheme operator is correct in this irrelevant fact. Don’t forget all those islands in the Caribbean, they are separate countries.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_sovereign_states_and_dependent_territories_in_North_America

    As fore being licensed in any of them, this ponzi scheme operator probably “doesn’t care”.

  22. LRM, no point in arguing with the crazies! You and I know there are not 23 countries in North America. Maybe in both North and South America, with Antarctica thrown in for good measure. Common sense has no meaning to these crooks. Their truth is all they believe.

  23. Don: LRM, no point in arguing with the crazies! You and I know there are not 23 countries in North America. Maybe in both North and South America, with Antarctica thrown in for good measure. Common sense has no meaning to these crooks. Their truth is all they believe.

    I’m in agreement with Ekaterina here. Geologically, North America encompasses quite a lot of small nations, as well as several larger ones that you might not have expected.

  24. Who cares whether Instaforex is using the more generally accepted idea of North America being the USA or Wikipedias’ version that covers the entire continent ??

    Instaforex’ own website here: http://support.instaforex.com/en/index.php/InstaForex_system_of_servers says “transmission channels provided by one of the best American company make the US InstaForex server popular among the clients from the North America, Russia and Europe” and “Trading server in North America (USA)

    IOW, in Instaforex’ own words the server is in the “US” or “USA”

    Good luck jumping between different versions of what constitutes “North America” while simultaneously claiming Instaforex has servers inside the “US” and “USA” but only does business with clients in the “other” version of “North America”

  25. ProfHenryHiggins:
    I’m in agreement with Ekaterina here. Geologically, North America encompasses quite a lot of small nations, as well as several larger ones that you might not have expected.

    Yes, the scammers know the exact number of countries that they are trying to steal money from.

  26. A more cynical person than littleroundman might be inclined to include the “North America” confusion with previously successful examples of the scammers’ art as “Congressional Medal,” “Worked with Dale Carnegie” and “this is not an investment”

  27. littleroundman: A more cynical person than littleroundman might be inclined to include the “North America” confusion with previously successful examples of the scammers’ art as “Congressional Medal,” “Worked with Dale Carnegie” and “this is not an investment”

    Hi LRM,

    Don’t forget the dozens of pro se claims by ASD members that the government had no “EVIDENCE” — despite the fact the original filing by the prosecution included EIGHT evidence exhibits and all eight were matters of public record.

    And don’t forget that, despite the claims no “EVIDENCE” existed, ASD members and the ASD expert witness were cross-examined in open court on some of the evidence.

    Finally, don’t forget that, despite the claim no “EVIDENCE” existed, the government later announced that Andy Bowdoin had signed a proffer letter and that investigators had assembled at least 500,000 pages of emails and at least 100,000 pages of banking records during the course of the ongoing investigation. Snippets of the emails are quoted in both the civil forfeiture complaint and the criminal indictment, and the banking records show that Bowdoin had more than $32 million in a single bank account and an aggregate sum of at least $65.8 million across 10 accounts.

    The records also show that ASD went on a buying binge shortly after the “money magnet” rally in Las Vegas in May 2008 and that at least one of the principal cheerleaders used E-Bullion to transfer money to ASD in the months prior to the murder of Pamela Fayed, the wife of E-Bullion’s accused operator, James Fayed. So, if the government can prove the links, it means ASD had relationships with at least two payment processors that came on the Feds’ radar screens.

    It’s also worth noting that some ASD members say the company also had a relationship with Virtual Money Inc., the debit-card supplier operated by international fugitive Robert Hodgins. Hodgins, wanted by INTERPOL, is accused of helping a Colombian drug ring launder money in Medellin and of agreeing to launder money in the Dominican Republic.

    Despite all those pro se pleadings by the ASD members, even Bowdoin acknowledges that the government has evidence. In fact, the discovery process and arguments about what will be admissible and what will not be admissible is expected to get under way soon.

    Patrick

    P.S. I know you haven’t forgotten about any of these things.

  28. Patrick,

    one day people are going to realize that, when dealing with professional fraud and fraudsters, the truth, when exposed, is not likely to be a single “fact”

    Fraudsters don’t as a matter of course, carry signs around their necks or post hints on their websites signalling their intent.

    Internet fraud can be compared to scifi holograms, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

    With 20/20 hindsight, most/many of Bowdoins’ victims now realize that the many red flags being pointed out by “naysayers” which in isolation were not proof positive of the fraud being perpetrated, when combined painted a completely different picture.

    So it is with Instaforex.

    The unusual interpretation of the term “North America” on its’ own could merely be a cultural difference,

    * EXCEPT for the fact Instaforex has continually denied offering its’ services to American citizens,

    * the same webpage specifies the server/s as being in the “US” and “USA”

    * the abovementioned CFTC complaint alleges Instaforex is operating within the USA without being correctly registered

    * Instaforex has a paid sticky AND advertising on a notorious HYIP forum which has no “legitimate” forex clients

    * Instaforex encourages/ed using an unregistered and unregulated offshore payment processor of dubious reputation

    * Instaforex has provided no evidence of the legality/ies and permits required WRT the pay-to-play win a Lotus opportunity.

  29. But apart from all the points made by LRM and admin above, they are “perfectly legal”. lol

  30. littleroundman: I beg your pardon,

    what on earth are you talking about ???

    23 countries ??

    Name just 10 of them, please.

    Oh, the problem seems to be more deeper than I thought. I think, this will help you to fill the lack of knowlodge: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America#Countries_and_territories.

    littleroundman: Oh, and while you’re at it, could you list in which of the countries you say compose North America are you licensed ???

    Could you list the countries of the North America demanding any license on brokerage activity?

  31. admin: But you DO have an idea that people from TalkGold are “pushers” and that the business you’re generating from there may not be coming from otherwise innocent affiliates or parties.

    But we don’t buy the “grugs”, we buy the “soda”. And actually, we don’t have any proofs that Talkgold is involved in any scheme. If it really is, why don’t you inform the police?

    admin: With respect to your comments about the Lotus and what participants must do to win it, well, I think you’re engaging in some serious spinning and wordplay and that your reply is utterly dismissible.

    You can think whatever you like, but in this situation you’re mistaken. Otherwise prove you’re right.

  32. littleroundman: IOW, in Instaforex’ own words the server is in the “US” or “USA”

    Yes, the trading server is located in Dallas (USA). But it doesn’t mean, it’s used by the citizens of the United States. Or is it illegal in your country to have a trading server?

  33. Tony H: Actually, the ponzi scheme operator is correct in this irrelevant fact.

    Hey, Tony H. Is that a lack of parenting or you have a personal animosity to me? Do not use this slang when you talk about me or the company I represent here if you do not have at least one proof.

  34. littleroundman, I demand you to stop misleading the public with the information you are providing about our comapny.

    littleroundman: * EXCEPT for the fact Instaforex has continually denied offering its’ services to American citizens

    We DO NOT operate within the USA.

    littleroundman: * the same webpage specifies the server/s as being in the “US” and “USA”

    Having a trading server located in the USA doesn’t point out we operate in the United States.

    littleroundman: * the abovementioned CFTC complaint alleges Instaforex is operating within the USA without being correctly registered

    This only says, there’s a sue, but the giult is no proven.

    littleroundman: * Instaforex encourages/ed using an unregistered and unregulated offshore payment processor of dubious reputation

    What payment processor?

    littleroundman: * Instaforex has provided no evidence of the legality/ies and permits required WRT the pay-to-play win a Lotus opportunity.

    We have already raffled our one car in 2010, so why do you say, this drawing is unreal?

  35. Katerine Abramova, InstaForex PR manager:
    Oh, the problem seems to be more deeper than I thought. I think, this will help you to fill the lack of knowlodge: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_America#Countries_and_territories.
    Could you list the countries of the North America demanding any license on brokerage activity?

    My esteemed Ms. Whatever your name is,

    I know of no sane individual that counts the all of the outlying islands as North America which is normally the Continent itself. Add to that quoting Wikipedia as if it was always accurate. Add to that your sophomoric responses here, did you also get your PR experience from Wikipedia? You haven’t made any points that seem to bolster your position.

    So, are you saying that your “company” does not do business with any country in Wikipedia’s North America? If so, can you explain what you and your “company” are afraid of? Is a legitimate company why deny yourself all of these added North American Countries??

    If this drawing you mention is totally above board, can you demonstrate that it was won by an individual that was not employed or related to an employee of your company?

    As with most individuals who are involved in schemes such as this, you tend to confirm nothing but deny everything. For a PR manager, you do not relate to the public all that well!!

  36. Katerine Abramova, InstaForex PR manager: And actually, we don’t have any proofs that Talkgold is involved in any scheme.

    The owners and operators of talkgold are too clever to dirty them selves with being directly or openly involved with any of the obvious ponzi schemes they allow to be promoted. Instead, they create an environment that allows other operators of obvious ponzi schemes to profit. Talkgold takes their cut of the fraud by accepting “advertising”. This includes the “paid stickie” that you paid them.

    Katerine Abramova, InstaForex PR manager: If it really is, why don’t you inform the police?

    Various law enforcement bodies have been informed of the illegal activity taking place at talkgold and other ponzi promotion forums. The fact that they still exist does not mean that what they do is legal. There are many reasons that law enforcement would want to keep these forums active.

    Katerine Abramova, InstaForex PR manager: Do not use this slang when you talk about me or the company I represent here if you do not have at least one proof.

    Asking for “proof” and demanding to “inform the police” are old, old argumentative distractions used by ponzi scheme operators to attempt to silence detractors.
    So to summarise:
    Advertised on a known ponzi promoter forum
    Paid for a “paid stickie” on ponzi promoter forum
    Uses ponzi friendly payment processors
    Named as defendant in CFTC action.

    Yes I use slang. You are a shyster, promoting fraud to numpties, hoping to fool the punters, using well worn ponzi promoter excuses.

    Katerine Abramova, InstaForex PR manager: We DO NOT operate within the USA.

    And yet you have a toll free US number.

  37. Here’s a question:

    How does one operate a server within a country without “operating” within that country ????

    Does this mean I can legally “operate” a server within the USA which sells guns as long as I don’t sell to US citizens.

    This revelation could open up a whole new era of international commerce