Archive for August 2013

EDITORIAL: Death Of An MLM Salesman — Brought To You Via Empower Network’s ‘Badass’ Button

EDITORIAL: Death Of An MLM Salesman -- Brought To You Via Empower Network's 'Badass' Button

If you’re an MLM company facing a PR problem or a crisis involving the firm and its distributors, don’t expect fellow MLM firm Empower Network to solve it for you. In fact, it’s probably prudent to expect that Empower Network will only magnify your bad press or virally blab the things you’re trying to keep […]

TelexFree, MLM Firm That Is Subject Of Pyramid Probe, Says It Will Offer ‘At Sea’ Event

TelexFree, MLM Firm That Is Subject Of Pyramid Probe, Says It Will Offer 'At Sea' Event

TelexFree, an MLM “opportunity” under investigation in Brazil amid allegations it is orchestrating a massive pyramid scheme, says on its website that it is conducting an “at sea” event Dec. 15-18. Perhaps accidentally providing an awkward hint of dire portent, the promo shows the TelexFree logo superimposed on the side of a luxury ocean liner […]

BCSC: Scammers Ripped Off Canadians In Forex Scam In Which Money Was Wired To Costa Rica; At Least 1 Investor Duped Into Making Payment Of $13,000 Purportedly For U.S. Taxes In Ill-Fated Bid To Recover Lost Principal

BCSC: Scammers Ripped Off Canadians In Forex Scam In Which Money Was Wired To Costa Rica; At Least 1 Investor Duped Into Making Payment Of $13,000 Purportedly For U.S. Taxes In Ill-Fated Bid To Recover Lost Principal

EDITOR’S NOTE: The PP Blog reported yesterday about a massive alleged penny-stock scam married to an advance-free fraud scheme in which investors were duped into believing they were interacting with IRS employees trying to collect taxes and a law firm interested in recovering funds from the stock swindle. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said the scammers […]

REPORT: TelexFree Has No License To Offer VOIP Services In Brazil; Claim Reminiscent Of U.S. Government Assertion Against AdSurfDaily Ponzi Schemer Last Year

REPORT: TelexFree Has No License To Offer VOIP Services In Brazil; Claim Reminiscent Of U.S. Government Assertion Against AdSurfDaily Ponzi Schemer Last Year

UPDATED 12:29 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) TelexFree, which operates through Ympactus Comercial Ltd. and is under investigation amid allegations in Brazil it is running a massive pyramid scheme, has no license with Brazil’s telecommunications regulator to offer VOIP services, according to this report in Brazilian media. The regulatory agency is known as Anatel. Here is a […]

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: 2 Connecticut Cash-Gifting Pyramid Schemers Sentenced To Combined 10.5 Years In Federal Prison; Probe ‘Ongoing,’ Feds Say

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: 2 Connecticut Cash-Gifting Pyramid Schemers Sentenced To Combined 10.5 Years In Federal Prison; Probe 'Ongoing,' Feds Say

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: UPDATED 10:18 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Two Connecticut women convicted of wire fraud and filing false tax returns in a multimillion-dollar cash gifting scam have been sentenced to a combined 10.5 years in federal prison, federal prosecutors announced tonight. Donna Bello, 57, was sentenced to six years. Jill Platt, 65, was […]

BULLETIN: Songkram Roy Shachaisere, Figure In AdSurfDaily Ponzi Story, Indicted With 8 Others In ‘One Of The Largest International Penny Stock Frauds In History’

BULLETIN: Songkram Roy Shachaisere, Figure In AdSurfDaily Ponzi Story, Indicted With 8 Others In 'One Of The Largest International Penny Stock Frauds In History'

BULLETIN: Songkram Roy Shachaisere, a sidebar figure in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme story, has been indicted with several others in what federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York are calling “one of the largest international penny stock frauds in history.” The probe “used wiretaps in the United States and undercover agents in foreign […]

Full Statement Of SEC On Criminal Conviction, Prison Sentence, Restitution Order And Civil Liability Of Legisi HYIP Ponzi Operator Gregory N. McKnight

EDITOR’S NOTE: As the PP Blog reported on Aug. 6, Legisi HYIP Ponzi-scheme operator Gregory N. McKnight was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison. McKnight is 53. He was ordered taken into custody immediately after sentencing last week and is listed as “in transit” to an unspecified detention facility. Legisi was promoted in part […]

**[UNCONFIRMED]** Report In Brazil Says Prosecutors Have Asked U.S. Court To Block TelexFree Accounts, New Signups **[UNCONFIRMED]**

**[UNCONFIRMED]** Report In Brazil Says Prosecutors Have Asked U.S. Court To Block TelexFree Accounts, New Signups **[UNCONFIRMED]**

**[UNCONFIRMED]** A report in Brazilian media translated by Google Translate from Portuguese to English says that prosecutors in Brazil have asked a U.S. court to prevent new members from joining TelexFree and to block the accounts of TelexFree figures Carlos Wanzeler, James Merrill, Carlos Costa and Lyvia Wanzeler. The PP Blog could not immediately confirm […]

How Bizarre Will MLM Get? YouTube Video That Drives Traffic To Empower Network Feeds On Name Of ‘CashCropCycler’ And Trades On Images Of White House, Obama And Biden

How Bizarre Will MLM Get? YouTube Video That Drives Traffic To Empower Network Feeds On Name Of 'CashCropCycler' And Trades On Images Of White House, Obama And Biden

EDITOR’S NOTE: Our thanks to reader “Tony” for pointing out the video described below. UPDATED 9:26 A.M. EDT (SEPT. 10, U.S.A.): How bizarre will MLM get? Well, there may be no ceiling: A 2:47 video animation playing on YouTube depicts U.S. Vice President Joe Biden as a recent enrollee in the CashCropCycler HYIP “program” who […]

UPDATE: After Claiming It Was Interested In ‘Building A Network That Ticks,’ ‘CashCropCycler’ Appears to Be DOA; ‘NEOMutual’ Also Appears To Have Gone Missing After ‘Crowdfunding’ Claims

UPDATE: After Claiming It Was Interested In 'Building A Network That Ticks,' 'CashCropCycler' Appears to Be DOA; 'NEOMutual' Also Appears To Have Gone Missing After 'Crowdfunding' Claims

Touted on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum by former Zeek Rewards pitchman “mmgcjm,” a bizarre “program” known as CashCropCycler appears to have tanked. Joining CashCropCycler in the recent HYIP DOA lineup was NEOMutual, a purported “crowdfunding” opportunity that claimed it used bitcoin and a series of offshore payment processors to provide daily interest rates of 1.4 […]

SEC: Utah Ponzi Schemer With ‘Loans’ Program Ripped Off Church Associates, Family Members, Friends, Seniors — And Some Of The Money Went To ‘Multilevel Marketing And Web-Based Advertising Business Opportunities’; Separately, Newspaper Reports Allegations Of Cash Handoffs To Investors In Parking Lots

SEC: Utah Ponzi Schemer With 'Loans' Program Ripped Off Church Associates, Family Members, Friends, Seniors -- And Some Of The Money Went To 'Multilevel Marketing And Web-Based Advertising Business Opportunities'; Separately, Newspaper Reports Allegations Of Cash Handoffs To Investors In Parking Lots

In the latest affinity-fraud scheme detected in Utah, an Orem man conducted a $4 million offering fraud and Ponzi scheme aimed at church associates, family members and friends, including senior citizens and the “recent widow of a church associate” whom he volunteered to help with finances after she lost her husband, the SEC said. Some […]