URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Massachusetts Confirms TelexFree Probe

breakingnews72URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: The office of Massachusetts Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin has confirmed an investigation into the TelexFree MLM “program” is under way.

“There is an investigation going on, but I can’t comment beyond that,” said Brian McNiff, a spokesman for Galvin.

The brief statement to the PP Blog marks the first confirmation by a U.S. securities regulator that TelexFree is under investigation in the United States. TelexFree is under investigation in Brazil, amid pyramid-scheme allegations.

TelexFree is scheduled to hold its purported “international convention” beginning tomorrow in Spain.

A source outside of law enforcement told the Blog yesterday that Galvin’s office had issued subpoenas for certain people to appear before the Massachusetts Securities Division on March 5 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

A federal agency also has interviewed a person who may have knowledge about TelexFree, the source said.

More . . .

About the Author

55 Responses to “URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Massachusetts Confirms TelexFree Probe”

  1. Go Galvin! Go!
    Shut down TelexFree once and for all!

  2. You brought a smile to my face Patrick!!!

  3. Great News, great work Patrick.

    It’s safe to assume Massachusetts isn’t alone in making inquiries but it’s so nice that this company can no longer claim they “haven’t heard of any” US investigation.

    What are the odds we see a Pro Sun zipper effect of more states adding their names to a growing list of investigations?

  4. So sad to see people wanting to scrutinize other companies that are doing well. Quite the liberal perspective it sounds.

  5. blogging:
    So sad to see people wanting to scrutinize other companies that are doing well. Quite the liberal perspective it sounds.

    Poor guy. So naive…

  6. GlimDropper: What are the odds we see a Pro Sun zipper effect of more states adding their names to a growing list of investigations?

    My guess: about the same as the odds that someone will claim the Massachusetts investigation is largely or wholly unimportant because Massachusetts is a “small” state.

    Some of the TelexFree cheerleaders started out by planting the seed that the Brazilian probe in Acre was largely or wholly unimportant because Acre is a “small” state.

    You’ll recall, of course, that the Profitable Sunrise apologists used the same chant when North Carolina made public its investigation. The first line of “defense” also included the “Barney Fife” taunt at regulators, rather like the “Gomer Pyle” taunt used by the ASDers in 2008.

    Patrick

  7. Hey Admin,

    How long you think we’ll have to wait for Massachusetts to make public the investigation and halt TelexFree operations as they did with WCM777?

  8. Darkbotic: How long you think we’ll have to wait for Massachusetts to make public the investigation and halt TelexFree operations as they did with WCM777?

    Not sure. At this point, there’s also no way to tell precisely when the TelexFree probe began and when/if a halt order will issue.

    The WCM777 probe began in September 2013 and the order was made public in November 2013:

    https://patrickpretty.com/2013/11/15/urgent-bulletin-moving-massachusetts-halts-wcm777-says-it-was-selling-unregistered-securities-and-targeting-brazilian-community/

    Patrick

  9. One wonders what does a company called “Brazilian Help Inc.” has anything to do with this mess. It is at the SAME address as TelexFree and DiskAvontade, and its head apparently is James Merrill, AND it recently applied for a telco license through Texas with help of Joe Isaacs of ISGTelecon (and formerly, of FHTM)

  10. love uuuuuuuuuu sooooooooooooooooooo patrick

  11. Mehn are you guys still here in 2014? I came into this TelexFree ish 11 family accounts strong, in 15 weeks I had recovered my money. 1year later, I had created 108 family accounts by reinvesting my earnings. At a guaranteed sum of $10,800 a week and investing on real estate now, life is good man! If I had listened to cheap bloggers, I’d still be struggling with life. To be alive is to be at risk. I’ll check to see if you’re still here in 2015 maybe I’ll be on Forbes list by thenLmao!

  12. Rich, you are 100% right! they have nothing to do, but talking trash. This people like Patrick and the rest have been bought by the big guys that want to manipulate the middle class, so you can depend from them and the Government. And they hate to see people lives change. USA is a free country and let it be, we are all growing up and we take our own decision!

  13. Rich Dude: I’ll check to see if you’re still here in 2015 maybe I’ll be on Forbes list by thenLmao!

    It wouldn’t be unprecedented for an established criminal or an up-and-coming one to make the Forbes list. Perhaps you’ll join Ponzi schemer Allen Stanford.

    http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/54/400list08_R-Allen-Stanford_FF2F.html

    Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán once was listed by Forbes as a billionaire and also as one of the “World’s Most Powerful People.”

    From Forbes on Feb. 22, 2014:

    http://www.forbes.com/sites/doliaestevez/2014/02/22/mexican-kingpin-el-chapo-guzman-hid-in-secret-tunnels-and-sewers-before-being-captured/

    Story lede:

    “The Mexican government confirmed Saturday that Mexican drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán was detained in Sinaloa, his home state on Mexico’s Pacific coast. “I acknowledge the work of the Mexican security institutions in achieving the arrest of Joaquín Guzmán Loera in Mazatlán,” Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto wrote in his Twitter account.”

    Patrick

    P.S. Some of the AdViewGlobal scammers were big dreamers, too. A couple of them thought it prudent to plant the seed that Forbes had endorsed their scam:

    https://patrickpretty.com/2009/06/01/adviewglobal-promoters-trade-on-name-of-forbes-magazine-to-trumpet-surf-firm/

    Same thing happened with the WCM777 scam, only this time the seed was planted that the Wall Street Journal was on the WCM777 train:

    http://behindmlm.com/companies/wcm777-review-cloud-services-investment-returns/#comment-179687

    Patrick

  14. Cavi: This people like Patrick and the rest have been bought by the big guys

    I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen an HYIP scheme that didn’t generate a conspiracy theory. With the ASD case in 2008, it became next-to-impossible to keep track of all the conspiracy theories — some of which were ported over by the Zeek Rewards conspiracy theorists:

    https://patrickpretty.com/2013/06/21/zeekers-share-their-conspiracy-theories-at-newspaper-site/

    Patrick

  15. Hey Rich Dude,
    So, how much product did you sell? None?
    I think you just proved all of our points with your little nah nah Ponzie look at me dance. I’ve always said, “Money can’t buy class or good taste”. Your a perfect example.
    Yes, you will most certainly be on a list but it won’t be Forbes….
    It will be on the claw back list….
    We “will” be here in 2015, you can count on that.
    You?
    You’ll be living in your fancy card board box behind Wal Mart eating ba nah nah’s : )

  16. funny to watch the late entry people show up like clockwork to try and legitimize the scam in order to get their money back.

  17. blogging: Quite the liberal perspective it sounds.

    HYIP schemes typically are equal-opportunity crimes. I’m wondering if you’d consider former GOP Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum a “liberal,” given that he brought a pyramid-scheme case against AdSurfDaily.

    The strangest thing then happened: some of the ASDers opined that McCollum should be charged with Deceptive Trade Practices — apparently for holding the view that ASD was a pyramid scheme.

    https://patrickpretty.com/2009/02/13/bill-mccollum-florida-attorney-general-seeks-tougher-securities-law/

    There also was an effort by ASDers to have two federal prosecutors appointed by a Republican President investigated and charged with crimes.

    There was all kinds of strangeness attached to ASD. As the PP Blog reported on March 13, 2009:

    “First, members of the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum tried to whip up support for ASD President Andy Bowdoin by sending Kool Aid packets to Bill O’Reilly of Fox News. Now Bowdoin himself, through a Surf’s Up Mod, is urging members to write letters to Glenn Beck, another Fox personality.”

    https://patrickpretty.com/2009/03/13/surfs-up-mod-releases-andy-bowdoin-letter-to-troops-asd-head-urges-letter-writing-campaign-to-glenn-beck/

    Patrick

  18. Patrick:

    You can add Rwanda to the list of countries that have now launched an investigation! (I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda do the same some time soon!)

    http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/Rwanda/News/Rwanda-govt-probes-TelexFREE-over-Ponzi-scheme-claims-/-/1433218/2226134/-/aha5x8/-/index.html

  19. Rich Dude:
    Mehn are you guys still here in 2014? I came into this TelexFree ish 11 family accounts strong, in 15 weeks I had recovered my money. 1 year later, I had created 108 family accounts by reinvesting my earnings. At a guaranteed sum of $10,800 a week and investing on real estate now, life is good man! If I had listened to cheap bloggers, I’d still be struggling with life.To be alive is to be at risk. I’ll check to see if you’re still here in 2015 maybe I’ll be on Forbes list by thenLmao!

    Well, I wouldn’t go spending all that money just yet Ace! Evidently you’re not aware of “clawbacks!” Essentially, when a company is shut down for being an illegal pyramid scheme, the Court appoints a Receiver, and one of their responsibilities is to determine who was a “net winner,” meaning they earned more than what they put in, and to recover the amount they earned in excess of what they put in, otherwise know as a “clawback.”

    Smart people send the full amount once notified, and if they can’t, they better be able to negotiate an agreed upon amount and demonstrate they have no assets-otherwise the Receiver is going to seize assets of yours if you can’t pay or refuse to pay!

    In case you’re thinking, “I live outside the U.S., so there’s nothing they can do to me,” think again slick! If you live in a country that is a signatory to the Hague Convention, the Court appointed Receiver can have you served, at which point you end up in a lawsuit if you don’t return the money, if can’t negotiate some deal, or if you refuse to pay…

    You might want to read up on “Clawbacks” on the website of one of the MLM industry’s top law firms, Thompson-Burton…go to http://www.thompsonburton.com/zeekrecovery and scroll down to the section entitled Zeek Receiver Issues Quarterly Report-look for the sub-section entitled Clawbacks.

    Even in countries that aren’t a part of the Hague Convention, the U.S. is likely to have what is known as an inter-country agreement, in which case the long arm of the law in the U.S. can still get you, and that’s even the case in situations where no inter-country agreement exists!

    If you happen to be a top earner as you claim, you’ll be right at the top of the list of people likely to receive a “clawback” notice. Then we’ll see how much you’re laughing! Life suddenly won’t be so good, as the process is not a pleasant experience!

    Your ignorance of what happens in cases where charges of illegal pyramiding are involved is breathtaking! You might want to do some research on Ad Surf Daily and Zeek Rewards, 2 programs shut down for being illegal pyramid schemes and 2 programs which ironically had some similar concepts and features to TelexFree International!

    In fact, let me tell you what’s really laughable from a legal and regulatory compliance-your own remarks! Your statement, which is typical of many, is exactly one of the things that will be used to prove they’re an illegal pyramid scheme, and that they’ve been selling nothing more than a security-illegally!

    First, it is a violation of SEC rules to use words like “invest,” make statements alluding to having invested and returned x percent or made x amount, and it is also illegal to make claims of “guarantee income.” The minute you start using such terms and making such statements, the SEC now classifies whatever you are selling to be a “security,” and one has to be registered and licensed to sell a “security!”

    Only banks, financial institutions, financial services companies, stock brokerage firms, etc., that are registered, licensed, and regulated in the selling of securities are able to use words like “invest,” “return on investment,” “guaranteed income,” etc., in promoting a product or a service. When regulators like the SEC come knocking, asking to see a securities license, when one can’t be shown, the company is automatically shut down and deemed to be an illegal pyramid scheme! The “securities” angle is exactly how WCM777 was shut down for being an illegal pyramid scheme! http://www.sec.state.ma.us/sct/current/sctworldcapital/world-capital-markets-consent-order.pdf

    I would suggest reading the above consent decree! You might learn something! You also might notice the number of similarities between WCM777 and TelexFree International in regards to the issues that led to the downfall of WCM777. By the way, the person responsible for shutting down WCM777 is the same person now going after TelexFree International-the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, William Galvin!

    So, while you think you are proving how smart you are with your comments, you have actually just proven not only the opposite, but you have just helped the regulators to prove their case that TelexFree International is an illegal pyramid scheme! In fact, it wouldn’t surprise that investigators have visited such such as this and taken screen shots of comments like yours!

    Way to go Einstein! LOL! I sure you’re not planning on arguing with me! Let me save you the trouble and stop you from looking foolish! I’ve got 32 years of network marketing experience, have been a top industry leader since the 1980s, a #1 or top 10 distributor in several companies, have over 15 years in the area of regulatory compliance (have worked with 2 of the industry’s top attorneys on various consulting projects), was recently awarded membership in the Academy of Multi-Level Marketing (a prestigious organization of over 100 of the industry’s top distributors, leading experts, and executives), my best friend/partner and I in our past 3 companies have built combined teams of 1 million distributors, our groups have generated $2 billion in sales, and we’ve been multi-million dollar earners, and prior to network marketing spent time on Capitol Hill and have first knowledge of and experience with regulatory agencies.

    In fact, I was recently featured in an article on the Businesforhome.org website, which is a leading source of news and information for our industry.www.businessforhome.org/2014/02/ken-steward-vemma-awarded-membership-in-the-academy-of-multi-level-marketing/

    I think I probably know what I’m talking about! Here’s a review of TelexFree International that’s written from a legal and regulatory compliance perspective: http://www.telexfreereport.the6parameters.com

    Read it-you might learn something! Comments like those of you and your friend Cavi that people have been bought, that comments like the ones I’ve expressed are just talking trash, or see if we’re still here in 2015 are so asinine that they’re only exceeded by your level of ignorance!

    Seriously, did it ever dawn on you that maybe somebody was trying to educate you, to actually help you, that they didn’t have a hidden agenda, and that they maybe knew more than you? If there were ever 2 guys that needed to go through a training on regulatory compliance and the difference between a legitimate network marketing opportunity and an illegal pyramid scheme, its you 2 guys! You and your friend Cavi remind me of the adage, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink!”

  20. Ken Stewart: You can add Rwanda to the list of countries that have now launched an investigation! (I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda do the same some time soon!)

    http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/Rwanda/News/Rwanda-govt-probes-TelexFREE-over-Ponzi-scheme-claims-/-/1433218/2226134/-/aha5x8/-/index.html

    Thanks for this, Ken. I’ve received a note from Tanzania and believe Ugandans also are involved in TelexFree.

    The photo in The East African is from the TelexFree website and shows the rolling banner that promotes the “international convention” in Spain.

    Patrick

  21. This is soo funny! All the naysayers are sooo excited about this update! Finally…maybe all the sorry sales reps that they lost to Telexfree can come back to their company. I’m not for or against TF but, it’s funny to me that there are sooo many haters out there, trying to make it sound like they are trying to educate the public for the good of man kind. When in fact the truth is that they want traffic to their blog sites and also they’re upset that all their reps ran to a more profitable deal..LOL! I mean, think logically here…I have not heard a peep from someone in TF that is complaining about the company. Everyone who is complaining or criticizing is an outside source! Now if you’re in TF and you’re complaining or criticizing, then maybe…just maybe, you might have some weight to your argument. Go ahead, find someone who’s in TF that’s complaining about it…seriously! All we see here is a bunch of “Drama” LOL.

  22. Observer: Go ahead, find someone who’s in TF that’s complaining about it…seriously!

    Go ahead. Go find someone who complained about Bernard Madoff (other than Harry Markopolos, Erin Arvedlund (Barron’s) and Michael Ocrant (MarHedge)).

    Seriously.

    Oh, you might want to see this story:

    http://behindmlm.com/companies/telexfree/reactions-to-new-telexfree-compensation-plan/

    Patrick

  23. Notes: Since this story went up late Friday afternoon, the PP Blog has received considerable traffic from Brazil, the Dominican Republic and Massachusetts.

    Interest in the story is not limited to those places, but all three appear to have considerable interest in TelexFree.

    Now, some observations/comments in general . . .

    * TelexFree, I believe, is destined to become a “world story.”

    * TelexFree might have exceeded Zeek Rewards in money-pulling power. Based on government filings, current estimates for Zeek are between $850 million and $897 million.

    * Using unofficial extrapolations, TelexFree may exceed $1 billion. In terms of Ponzi schemes, that would put TelexFree in the class of Scott Rothstein’s epic Ponzi/racketeering scheme in Florida.

    * A brief remark on willful blindness in the MLM sphere: For a while, I was accessing the TelexFree site through an affiliate link of someone involved in the Profitable Sunrise scheme. It is likely that this person also was involved in Zeek and AdSurfDaily. This person is a male, and there is a possibility that the Profitable Sunrise actions by the SEC and various state regulators in 2013 finally woke him up — i.e., it appears as if he didn’t pound the pavement for TelexFree and that his link was an orphan. Please note I am making certain assumptions here to give him the benefit of the doubt.

    * Our longtime readers will observe how quickly some TelexFree “supporters” tried to change the subject to politics and/or introduce conspiracy theories. This signals danger.

    * TelexFree executive pandering to the masses in Brazil is the most prolific I have ever seen. It is exceptionally dangerous. The people of Brazil are at extreme risk.

    * The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Acre is acting with great courage.

    * Some of the TelexFree supporters want to talk politics. I’m game, to a certain degree. I’d point out, for example, that the SEC Boston office came under great fire for “missing Madoff.” I don’t see any chance that the SEC is going to “miss TelexFree,” especially given that TelexFree is operating in the Boston region of Massachusetts.

    Because of the Stepfordian element in MLM, someone in a TelexFree trance perhaps will argue that if the SEC takes action, it will only be because “they” missed Madoff and now are trying to save face by going after TelexFree. In short, get ready for some increasingly wild arguments on behalf of TelexFree.

    * On a more practical political level, Boston was the site of last year’s deadly bombings at the Boston Marathon. Here we have a Massachusetts company — TelexFree — that conducted business from a virtual office, had promoters who tried to create the illusion of scale by posing in front of the building as though TelexFree were its only occupant — and perhaps $1 billion or more has flowed through TelexFree and associated entities. One of its top pitchmen is a former SEC defendant in a pyramid-scheme and affinity-fraud case, and no one in TelexFree management appears to have an ounce of concern about the bizarre visual that creates.

    Meanwhile, money reportedly is flowing all over the world, including to members in nation-states that have intractable political problems and even a history of recent civil wars. (Rwanda, the site of a 1990s genocide, for instance. Like the rest of the struggling world, Rwanda gets to see images of limos in TelexFree videos and gets to hear the tales of incredible TelexFree riches, including the tale that TelexFree is so rich it can sponsor a football club in Brazil that plays in one of the most important leagues in the world.)

    As more facts become known about TelexFree, the American people are going to demand a sweeping investigation. Like the other HYIPs, it is impossible for TelexFree to have any meaningful understanding of who its customers are. This situation is untenable. It is ASD and Zeek — on steroids. The “Steroidal Puppeteers” are there, too.

    * Over the years, I have tried to be fair with MLM attorney Gerald Nehra. I have now formed the opinion that just seeing his name — as we did in the context of ASD, Zeek and TelexFree — is a warning sign.

    * For years now, some MLMers have been spinning a myth that these “programs” are OK as long as you don’t call them “investment programs.” It is an insidious lie and the height of MLM’s poisonous, self-destructive disingenuousness.

    * Speculation: U.S.-based Profitable Sunrise cheerleader Faith Sloan will eventually blame TelexFree management and Nehra (or other TelexFree lawyers).

    * Speculation: U.S.-based TelexFree cheerleader Scott Miller will eventually blame TelexFree management and Nehra (or other TelexFree lawyers).

    * I have never met Troy Dooly personally, but he is hard not to like. Regardless, Troy either doesn’t understand the issues or is having a hard time coming to grips that people he’s known — either through reputation or directly — would lie to him or provide him information designed to create additional cover for schemes. The message I got from Troy’s Feb. 28 video on TelexFree is that the affiliates are to blame for TelexFree’s problems.

    That is horse!**!

    I’d agree only to the extent that MLM has a wing of criminals and serially disingenuous hucksters who profit from these outrageous scams — and that those people should be sued back to the Stone Age and charged criminally.

    It is the height of MLM folly to suggest that management is the victim of an out-of-control sales force and that management somehow didn’t know a “program” was benefiting from promoters with unclean hands.

    Beyond that, it is impossible to believe that management didn’t understand the Ponzi/pyramid nature of its own scheme. Imagine Madoff or Rothstein coming into court with that intellectually bereft argument.

    Patrick

  24. Quick note: The PP Blog has been receiving a bizarre new form of spam. I doubt that our TelexFree coverage is the sole trigger, but there is no doubt that “MLM” in general is being used to drive traffic to emerging schemes that have nothing to do with the names that are being used.

    For example, people who are trying to sell a “program” or offer through YouTube videos are using the names of well-known MLM companies as their User IDs for would-be comments. But the MLM brand names being used appear to have nothing to do with the links the spammers are trying to plant.

    Theory: The spammers/scammers know that famous or well-known MLM brands would capture the attention of people interested in MLM, so they’re trading off those brands to try to drive traffic to secondary schemes.

    If these spam campaigns become increasingly successful, it will inevitably lead to a situation in which the names of famous or well-known MLM companies effectively will be weaponized to drive traffic to emerging fraud schemes.

    Patrick

  25. admin: The message I got from Troy’s Feb. 28 video on TelexFree is that the affiliates are to blame for TelexFree’s problems.

    You’d think Mr. Dooley had learned his lesson from Zeek… Or is he going down with the ship along with his buddy Nehra? I don’t think his reputation can take another hit, and apology this time and a slap on the wrist by SEC may not be enough.

  26. Observer:
    This is soo funny! All the naysayers are sooo excited about this update! Finally…maybe all the sorry sales reps that they lost to Telexfree can come back to their company. I’m not for or against TF but, it’s funny to me that there are sooo many haters out there, trying to make it sound like they are trying to educate the public for the good of man kind. When in fact the truth is that they want traffic to their blog sites and also they’re upset that all their reps ran to a more profitable deal..LOL! I mean, think logically here…I have not heard a peep from someone in TF that is complaining about the company. Everyone who is complaining or criticizing is an outside source! Now if you’re in TF and you’re complaining or criticizing, then maybe…just maybe, you might have some weight to your argument. Go ahead, find someone who’s in TF that’s complaining about it…seriously! All we see here is a bunch of “Drama” LOL.

    Your logic is so fallacious its breathtaking! Of course people aren’t going to complain. They’re being drip fed each week with a small amount of money like a drug addict being groomed by a dealer, and fooled into thinking they’re making money, when the reality is the $20 payments they’re receiving are simply from the very $289 they gave the company! 14 weeks later, the original $289 the company took from them is basically gone-so how to pay the person for the remaining 38 weeks of their contract, especially if they don’t sell any VOIP? Answer: From the $289’s, $1500’s, and $15,000 packages that are being sold to new participants coming in behind you, making it an illegal pyramid scheme!

    Furthermore, the majority of the revenue coming into the company was off the AdCentral packages, which have intrinsic value only to business participants, and the majority of the revenue to pay commissions was coming from the AdCentral packages, not VOIP! 2 more aspects to their program which would qualify it as an illegal pyramid scheme.

    And we haven’t discussed the illegal incomes claims that violate FTC and SEC rules and guidelines that would lead to them automatically being charged as an illegal pyramid scheme, let alone several other huge legal issues they’re going to face!

    As a result, you’ve got both an illegal investment scheme and an illegal pyramid scheme! How you could miss this is beyond comprehension! Why do you think the company has apparently just dramatically overhauled their program, eliminating the AdCentral packages, and now putting their VOIP front and center, requiring people to make sales, etc?

    As far as your other asinine remarks, sales reps lost to TelexFree International? Seriously? I can’t speak for anyone else’s company, but in our case, we’ve got 30,000 people joining a month, sales in 2013 were $221 million USD, up 89% over 32012, and we’re featured on the Direct Selling News list of top 100 network marketing companies based on the only metric that matters: yearly sales volume!

    TelexFree International isn’t on the list, and it takes around $100 million a year to qualify for inclusion!

    In terms of income, we have 3 people on the industry’s top 100 biggest earners list-TelexFree International has NONE! So, the whole “jealousy” theory just took a leap out the window…and I don’t have a blog, so that dog won’t hunt either as they say in Texas…

    So, while your theories make for entertaining reading, they’re certainly not accurate. Let me get this straight-are you saying that the only people who should ever complain or that would have any legitimate complaints or concerns are the ones that happen to be in the company? Am I reading that right? It certainly appears that the logic you’re using…Well, I’ll wait for the answer to that question…dispelling that logic will be rather easy to do!

    Finally, I think you’re confusing knowledge, awareness of the facts, common sense, logic, and conclusions reached as a result of applying those factors as well as educating people with hate. Funny thing about comments like that-the person never disproves the facts, the logic, or the conclusions! Interesting….

    One of my mentors was the late Jim Rohn. Jim used to say, “If someone is going down the wrong road, they don’t need motivation. What they need is an education to turn around!” Take an idiot and motivate him/her and what have you got? A motivated idiot! We’ve got enough of those in our industry as it-we don’t need a few hundred thousand more!

    If they were educated about how to properly evaluate companies, how to determine the difference between a legitimate network marketing and an illegal pyramid scheme, and given a basic training on regulatory compliance as it relates to network marketing companies and opportunities, they never would have joined TelexFree or TelexFree International in the first place!

    It was such a blatant, illegal pyramid scheme that one could have been as blind as Stevie Wonder and still recognized it to be an illegal pyramid scheme! The fact that large numbers of people didn’t only proves how many uninformed, misinformed, ignorant people we have in our industry who also happen to lack any common sense, and who are in dire need to knowledge, education, and training!

    If I had to guess, I would say that you’re probably not an industry leader! Don’t know how long you’ve been in the industry, or who you were trained by, but any knowledgeable and experienced industry leader has a responsibility to educate and inform people, especially in regards to blatant, illegal pyramid schemes, which do nothing but give our industry a bad name!

    The famous philosopher Nietzsche once said, “Sometimes people don’t want to hear the truth because they don’t want their illusions destroyed.” I think that accurately sums up the situation with most TelexFree and TelexFree International reps.

  27. admin: Thanks for this, Ken. I’ve received a note from Tanzania and believe Ugandans also are involved in TelexFree.

    The photo in The East African is from the TelexFree website and shows the rolling banner that promotes the “international convention” in Spain.

    Patrick

    Yes, TelexFree International has come through East Africa, with the apparent thrust having originally come from Uganda, and the moved into Kenya and Tanzania…

    I wouldn’t be surprised to see Tanzania and Kenyan launch investigations next…once that happens, Uganda would probably follow…the Tanzanians and Kenyans seem to be more aggressive in dealing with pyramid schemes than Uganda…

    Ironically, I happen to be in Africa doing a series of seminars on network marketing-one of the topics I usually cover is regulatory compliance…Feel free to have any of those in Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, or any other African country contact me! Perhaps you can forward them my email!

    I head to, you’re going to love this, Nigeria of all places in about a week to do a series of seminars there…it will be interesting to see if I come across TelexFree International there as I have in East Africa, given Nigeria’s reputation for scams…unfortunately for Nigeria, a few bad apples can spoil the whole bunch…but hopefully we can help clean that up with knowledge, information, and education…

  28. It may be important to note that one of the key business associates of TelexFREE’s founder Carlos Nataniel Wanzeler, already got in big trouble with the SEC for creating a similar pyramid scheme back in 2006:

    SEC v. Universo Foneclub Corporation, Sanderley R. De Vasconcelos, a/k/a Sann Rodrigues, a/k/a Sanderley Vasconcelos, Rev. Victor Sales, a/k/a Victor William, a/k/a Victor Sales DeBrito, a/k/a Victor Sales Brito (United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, Civil Action No.06-10940-GAO)

    http://www.sec.gov/litigation/litreleases/2006/lr19715.htm

    Mr. Sanderley “Sann” Vasconcelos and Carlos Wanzeler are business associates. Sann has also faced numerous lawsuits in Brazil.

  29. Ken Stewart,
    LMAO-so you’re an industry leader huh? Even quoting Jim Rohm. He’s probably laughing at you right now. Because we all have seen what kind of “character” you have. As far my experience w/ mlm, usually the leaders take the “high road” but in your case, you seem to be quite involved in other peoples business. LOL…yes, I’ve seen some of your rants and raves. You’re business must not be doing so well since you have so much time wasting it on here. Why not just focus on your own business and change the world that way. If I was looking for a mentor, it diffinitely wouldn’t be you. Always attacking other companies and pushing your opinion on them. Hey dude, when you try to make other companies look bad…it doesn’t make yours look any better.

    You want to educate the public? Educate them about how great your business is! Not go nit pick on other businesses.
    All I was saying was that I haven’t heard any TF reps complain. And as far as complaining about the new comp plan…give me a break, that’s reps feeling uneasy about the unknown.
    I really don’t give a rip what TF does. What I see is people bad mouthing other peoples business and then trying to play the “I’m doing it for the good of man kind” act, b/c really…you’re not, you’re just drama queens, like Facebook junkies who needs to tell us their life story every second. You think it’s your duty to protect the public from a potential disaster? Or is this some kind of “lets kill the monster before it gets bigger and kill us!” deal?

    The only thing I can assume is that TF must’ve rub you off the wrong way somehow for you all to hate it so much..Or maybe you’re sick and tired of hearing all these TF reps making soo much money for whatever they do…LOL, hince that’s why I said you’re reps must’ve jumped ship to TF. Otherwise who the hell cares what TF does. If TF’s a scam, then the regulators will get them, if not, then whatever and who cares. The point is, what does it have to do with you and me and everyone else who’s not involved huh?
    Case closed.

  30. Close TelexFree now. This shit is stealing money from stupid people. Close it now

  31. I never got paid by telexfree. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. I’m a new telexfree member and i’m about to withdraw money into my bank account. Will i ever get paid?

    [URL Deleted by PP Blog]

  32. JohnQ , you and Ken stewart 2 [homophobic slur deleted by PP Blog]))) John you are broke ass and will be ))

  33. My Journey: I never got paid by telexfree. Don’t believe everything you read on the internet. I’m a new telexfree member and i’m about to withdraw money into my bank account. Will i ever get paid?

    Hello My Journey,

    I think your intentions are honorable, but please don’t put your link in this area.

    Patrick

  34. Patrick, I have a few questions. Don’t go off providing me other information that is not related to what I’m about to ask because I’m not interested. Just simply answer my questions.

    1) When did you talk to the spokesman for Galvin, Brian McNiff?
    2) Where at did you speak to him? How long did you speak to him?
    3) How did you contacted him? Or did he contacted you?
    4) If you contacted him, may I get his contact information? I would like to ask him myself, unless Brain NcNiff only speak to one specific blogger like yourself.

    “A source outside of law enforcement told the Blog yesterday that Galvin’s office had issued subpoenas for certain people to appear before the Massachusetts Securities Division on March 5 at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

    A federal agency also has interviewed a person who may have knowledge about TelexFree, the source said.”

    5) What outside source? Name? Organization? Person?
    6) What federal agency has interviewed what person?
    7) Where and when did all these took place?

    Please don’t tell me to go ask other people for answer. I want you to tell me the answer for my questions above since it’s your article. Simple answers only, no explanation needed or other nonsense information.

    Thank you for your time. If my questions don’t get answers, you just lost one viewer of your website.

  35. TelexFree Promoter: Patrick, I have a few questions. Don’t go off providing me other information that is not related to what I’m about to ask because I’m not interested. Just simply answer my questions.

    So, when you say “jump,” I say, “How high?”

    If you’re a TelexFree promoter, you might want to consider working on your PR skills.

    TelexFree Promoter: When did you talk to the spokesman for Galvin, Brian McNiff?

    Friday. Twice. By phone.

    TelexFree Promoter: What outside source? Name? Organization? Person?

    I won’t name the source.

    As for the rest of your questions, the story stands as reported. I expect there will be follow-up reports.

    TelexFree Promoter: Thank you for your time. If my questions don’t get answers, you just lost one viewer of your website.

    Good grief.

    Patrick

  36. If my questions don’t get answers, you just lost one viewer of your website.

    lol. see ya. but you’re not going anywhere.

  37. The current plan is not outside the law, but … is noteworthy because no world market is prepared to profit and sizes … This distrust of some countries and the inevitable requests for documents and clarify what is nonetheless bad because media reports and investigations.

    In April 2013 the U.S. SEC and requested documents were delivered and everything was normal, Act … it happened again last January, but … That this is a normal procedure.

  38. Mark: The current plan is not outside the law

    You seem to be implying that the former plan was outside the law.

    Mark: because no world market is prepared to profit and sizes

    I don’t believe I’ve ever seen an HYIP scheme whose “supporters” didn’t trot out this “explanation.” The conspiracy theories that inevitably will follow are manufactured from this “explanation.”

    Mark: In April 2013 the U.S. SEC and requested documents were delivered and everything was normal, Act … it happened again last January, but … That this is a normal procedure.

    Sounds like the Zeek Rewards talking points.

    Patrick

  39. The Next Company that needs to be investigated and stopped before millions of people get scammed again by Lucrazon
    [Link Deleted by PP Blog]

    Darkbotic:
    Go Galvin! Go!
    Shut down TelexFree once and for all!

  40. Hello Ed,

    Sorry, but I deleted the link. I believe you’re trying to help educate folks, but super-short posts with a link are a backdoor spamming technique. I don’t want to encourage that here.

    I agree with you on Lucrazon, though. We’ve had reports that WCM777 groups now are trying to port people to Lucrazon and get them to buy in at $8,000.

    https://patrickpretty.com/2014/01/25/update-dallas-group-may-be-trying-to-port-wcm777-members-to-lucrazon/

    Patrick

  41. Quick note:

    I’m not going to permit this TelexFree thread to get bogged down in an off-topic discussion about Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald and leaks and the National Security Agency.

    Patrick

  42. Telex free has done nothing wrong but make money for people that are willing to invest and buy their telecommunication software to call friends and relatives over seas. Government is focused on closing down money making operations that benefit the poor and middle class. Mr William Galvin is a fair and decent man that will uphold the law as required and he will see Telexfree has done nothing wrong.

    John
    MASS resident

  43. From the Milford Daily News, a Massachusetts newspaper:

    Headline: “State investigates Marlborough marketing company”

    http://www.milforddailynews.com/article/20140305/NEWS/140308025/?tag=1

    Patrick

  44. Any time frame on when Telexfree will go down in flames? I am just so tired of all the misinformed people in my daily life who can do nothing but talk about being millionaires when they haven’t even broke even yet. They get $100 and they fall head over heels for a company that is not competitive in the industry that it’s supposed to be in. Basic business says that if the product is not competitive then the likelihood of a high ROI is low, but of course VOIP is merely a mask for their Promoter position. Out of all the “ads” that people place I have never once ran into an ad for Telexfree so that makes me wonder where are these ads being posted to? Nobody can tell me how the company plans on making money yet they have confidence that the company can bankroll their paychecks every week. I have to live my daily life with these fools and it’s basically getting on my nerves and I can’t wait for it to be over. I’ll give Telexfree credit for being different from other scams, they actually pay out further increasing the faith of their promoters, but in the end it’s still the same thing as everything that came before it. I will be keeping a close eye on your website for updates, thanks for your hard work.

  45. Yeah, it’s crazy how far can the mind twist itself in justifying continued participation in a scam. Some TelexFree folks aren’t giving up. They’re already at the “what have you got against making money” stage. I think they read too much Kiyosaki. :D

  46. K. Chang:
    “what have you got against making money”

    Stupid statements are made by stupid people…I once talked to a blackjack dealer who said, “A guy told me that he could win half of his hands without even looking at the cards, he would just stay on everything and I would bust half the time…well I told him that’s great! Give me half of your money now and save yourself the time!” That blackjack dealer was a critical thinker in disguise…LOL.

  47. Its funny because I have also been dealing and work with alot of these “Telexfree Supporters” and I myself almost bought into this annoying scheme. But now I sit back and laugh as I constantly listen to these people talk about it like its god and is the ultimate way of making money. I followed my instincts and decided not to join. I was always taught that there is no “easy” way of making money unless you are A. dealing drugs B.stealing it or C.win the lottery. But other than that you have to work for your money whether that is by studying you’re ass off in school to graduate and land a good job, or working you’re way up the chain at a legitemate company etc…

  48. I honestly dont understand why you people act like hell hounds. If you dont like or trust the company just move along. There are people are actually make A LOT of money with this business. Your jealousy and hate isn’t necessary

  49. mike: There are people are actually make A LOT of money with this business

    Yes. Sann Rodrigues, a former defendant in an SEC pyramid-scheme and affinity-fraud case, appears to be one.

    That’s interesting in a couple of ways, not the least of which is that changes TelexFree says it is imposing in the compensation plan appear to have been timed not to take place BEFORE the “international convention” in Madrid earlier this month.

    Any concern on your part that Sann (and others like him) were given one more chance to prime the TelexFree pump and line their pockets under the old plan before the new plan took effect?

    mike: Your jealousy and hate isn’t necessary

    A judge and a prosecutor reportedly have been threatened with death in Brazil. TelexFree is pandering to the masses in Brazil and even has the gall to feature a pregnant woman rubbing her belly in one of its promos — as though TelexFree is the hope of all the mothers and young children of the world.

    Your comments here would fit in quite nicely with the dangerous propaganda machine of Carlos Costa.

    Patrick

    P.S. Do you know if TelexFree has any plans to ground the “private jet” to which promoters say it has access? Do you know if it ever ventures into Brazilian or Rwandan air space — or does it pretty much constrain itself to flights between the United States and Hispaniola?

  50. mike: Your jealousy and hate isn’t necessary

    How do you get “jealousy and hate” out of what critics are saying.

    I could understand “contempt” or even “sadness” for the true victims.

    I could go with “resignation” at knowing the inevitable outcome.

    But why would anyone feel “jealousy” or “hate”

  51. mike:
    I honestly dont understand why you people act like hell hounds. If you dont like or trust the company just move along. There are people are actually makeA LOT of money with this business. Your jealousy and hate isn’t necessary

    you’re not getting your money back. No reason to hate people that choose to hang on to theirs. only ‘jealousy and hate’ here are you slappy.

  52. littleroundman: How do you get “jealousy and hate” out of what critics are saying.

    I could understand “contempt” or even “sadness” for the true victims.

    I could go with “resignation” at knowing the inevitable outcome.

    But why would anyone feel“jealousy” or “hate”

    it’s the typical projecting they do.

  53. mike:
    I honestly dont understand why you people act like hell hounds.

    I honestly don’t understand why you people act like sheeple.

    If you dont like or trust the company just move along.

    Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. — Ephesians 5:11, Christian Bible

    There are people are actually makeA LOT of money with this business.

    You will recognize them [false prophets] by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” — Matthew 7:16-18

    Your jealousy and hate isn’t necessary

    “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.” — 2 Timothy 4:3-4

    You sir, have itching ears.