Did iFreeX ‘Program’ Pirate T-Mobile’s Branding Material?

From a YouTube promo for iFreeX. Masking by PP Blog.

From a YouTube promo for iFreeX. Masking by PP Blog.

T-Mobile told the PP Blog today that it was looking into a situation in which images of Carly Foulkes appear to have made their way into a promo for iFreeX, an emerging “program” that became the subject of a scam warning by Massachusetts Commonwealth Secretary William Galvin yesterday.

Foulkes, a Canadian model, is known colloquially as “the T-Mobile Girl.” Millions of television viewers were charmed by Foulkes, who helped T-Mobile build its brand and also is known colloquially  as “the girl in pink.”

In 2013, Business Insider called Foulkes “one of the most recognizable brand spokespeople out there right now.”

A promo for iFreeX appears to show Foulkes in full T-Mobile wardrobe regalia, clad in her traditional pink summer dress and displaying a cell phone. A logo for iFreeX appears just below her image.

T-Mobile said this afternoon that it “will look into it.”

It is not unusual for MLM “programs” to engage in brand-leeching. Most of the recent HYIP schemes taken down by the SEC have traded on the names, reputations and imagery of famous companies.

“iFreex appears to be nothing more than a rebranded TelexFREE fraud for mobile phones,” Galvin said yesterday. “Everyone, but especially those in the Brazilian and other immigrant communities that are the target of these pitches, need to be skeptical of any scheme that offers guaranteed returns with little or no effort. Unfortunately, we have seen an increase in these pyramid schemes in the past year.”

TelexFree is alleged to have operated a billion-dollar, cross border pyramid and Ponzi scheme. Reload scams typically pop up to replace cratered “programs.”

“IFREEX PRE LAUNCH / PRÉ LANCEMENT/ PRÉ LANÇAMENTO!” the text section of an IFreeX promo on YouTube screams.

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4 Responses to “Did iFreeX ‘Program’ Pirate T-Mobile’s Branding Material?”

  1. Admin test.

    Patrick

  2. And here’s the original “T-Mobile girl” image: http://img.talkandroid.com/uploads/2011/08/t-mobile-girl-holding-phone.jpg

  3. Those scammers are just stealing/buying images of anybody holding a phone, aren’t they?

    That other picture Oz found was a Brazilian stock photo site.

    http://www.canstockphoto.com.br/retrato-bonito-jovem-mulher-segurando-9965926.html

  4. Quick note: Looks as though the image of Carly Foulkes (“the T-Mobile girl) also appears as Slide 7 in a 14-slide promo dubbed “Ifreex Official presentation of the Business Plan.”

    It’s on Twitter this morning.

    Patrick