Don’t get fleeced by HYIP scammers and commission-based promoters who push such fraud schemes on the Internet, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) says in a new warning.
Have you ever seen an ad on the Internet or a posting on a social media site promising too-good-to-be-true rates of return in short periods of time? Then you may have encountered an advertisement for a high-yield investment program, sometimes referred to as an HYIP.
HYIPs are Ponzi schemes sold by unlicensed individuals. In the past, con artists relied on word of mouth to lure investors into these investments. Now they rely on the Internet and social media buzz to quickly popularize their schemes before the fraud is discovered.
NASAA’s membership consists of “67 state, provincial, and territorial securities administrators in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and Mexico,” the group says.
On Nov. 12, 2014, the SEC charged an HYIP known as “Profits Paradise” that allegedly was operating from India while duping people into believing it was operating from the United States.
The first Profits Paradise “plan purportedly yielded daily interest of 1.5 percent on investments of $10 to $749,” the SEC said. “The second plan purportedly yielded 1.75 percent on investments of $750 to $3,499. And the third plan purportedly yielded 2 percent on investments of $3,500 and above. Postings on Profit Paradise’s Facebook page promised investors they could ‘Enjoy Hassle Free Income’ and advertised a ‘5% Referral Commission.’”
NASAA’s HYIP warning notes that some HYIP scammers are switching to cryptocurrencies. With many HYIPs already operating in an environment of secrecy, ones that use payment vessels such as Bitcoin may intensify risk to investors.
Some common concerns and issues you should consider before investing in any product containing virtual currency include:
Virtual currency is subject to minimal regulation,susceptible to cyber-attacks and there may be no recourse should the virtual currency disappear.
Virtual currency accounts are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), which insures bank deposits up to $250,000.
Investments tied to virtual currency may be unsuitable for most investors due to their volatility.
Investors in virtual currency will be highly reliant upon unregulated companies that may lack appropriate internal controls and may be more susceptible to fraud and theft than regulated financial institutions.
Investors will have to rely upon the strength of their own computer security systems, as well as security systems provided by third parties, to protect their e-Wallets from theft.
“6. I affirm that I am not an employee or official of any government agency, nor am I acting on behalf of or collecting information for or on behalf of any government agency. I affirm that I am not an employee, by contract or otherwise, of any media or research company, and I am not reading any of the Ad Click Xpress pages in order to collect information for someone else.” — From the AdClickXpress Terms of Service, Nov. 29, 2014
The carcass of AdClickXpress (ACX) is stirring — just in time to cast a spell on suckers hoping to find some extra money for the holidays. Like predecessor scams JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid and ProfitClicking in the same criminal family, ACX fancies itself the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) of online schemes.
In short, ACX ropes “customers” into an international financial conspiracy theoretically designed to be offshore everywhere. But deliberately taunting government investigators in its Terms of Service (see breakout quote above from the Terms) appears only to have been a first act. The “program” now appears to be taunting its own members and prospects.
From a Sept. 10, 2014, post on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum, quoting from the taunt (italics/bolding added):
Note: if members are found to have posted negative information about ACX, even if it is absolutely true, their account could be penalized significantly. ACX Management will be the sole determinant as to how much damage the member has caused other ACX Members.
Like the bizarre and incongruous AdViewGlobal scam before it, ACX fancies itself a “private association.” But even if it were one of those — and even if in theory it could hamstring government investigators and reporters with a vomitous word salad — it is a “private association” that threatens its own members in ways the Mafia wouldn’t consider.
So, at least by Sept. 10, ACX began serving up BannersBroker-like word-sewage. It’s all designed to confuse and to obfuscate, of course.
By the Terms alone, ACX makes co-conspirators of its members. And after this artifice is carried out, it divines a construction by which it will penalize “significantly” and unilaterally calculate damages purportedly caused by those same members who’d dare post “negative information . . . even if it’s absolutely true.”
Separately, there are unconfirmed reports on MoneyMakerGroup that Frederick Mann, the purported operator of JSS/JPB and the de facto inspiration behind the follow-up scams, has died. Mann, a former pitchmen for the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, once directed traffic to videos featuring Francis Schaeffer Cox, the now-convicted Alaska “sovereign citizen” and militia man implicated in a plot to murder public officials.
BULLETIN: (6th Update 9:51 a.m. ET U.S.A.) A gunman who reportedly targeted the headquarters of the Austin Police Department and other government buildings in an overnight attack in Texas has been shot dead.
Austin Assistant Chief Raul Munguia has told reporters that the suspect appears to have used a vehicle that contained an improvised explosive device. Because the suspect was wearing a vest of some sort, there is concern that it could be armed, too.
A bomb squad was dispatched.
Early reports suggest the other buildings included the federal courthouse in downtown Austin and Mexico’s consulate.
Austin is the capital of Texas. Police and first responders were targeted in an attack last week near Tallahassee, Florida’s capital.
Picture of four bullet holes that shattered the glass of the guard shack on the back side of the federal courthouse pic.twitter.com/bFVnUgXRCe — Erin Cargile (@erincargile) November 28, 2014
A media briefing will be at 9 a.m. re: this mornings shooting @ the Waller Creek Bldg. located at 10th and the west frontage of IH-35.
From NBC News, quoting a person who observed part of the incident (italics added):
“[The shooter] was in full gear so he didn’t seem like a civilian, but there was no writing on any of the equipment,” the restaurant server said. “It seemed like he was wearing a bullet-proof vest and he was wearing a helmet with a clear visor over his face.”
Attorney General Lawrence Wasden at an Idaho event last year. Source: website of the attorney general.
The successful felony prosecutions under federal law of two Connecticut women in a cash-gifting scam apparently hasn’t registered in Idaho.
Now, the state’s attorney general, citing the Connecticut prosecutions that led to lengthy prison sentences, is taking action. And he’s not mincing words.
“Taking part in an unlawful pyramid scheme violates the Idaho Consumer Protection Act and is a felony under the state’s criminal code,” Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said. “Make no mistake – taking part in these schemes is illegal. Anyone who has received money from participating must pay it back. Failure to do so may result in civil or criminal enforcement action.”
Idaho investigators have received two recent reports of illegal gifting pyramids operating in the state, Wasden’s office said. Sums of $5,000 are being solicited. Reports identified the schemes as a “Women’s Wisdom Circle.”
One has “a formal dinner theme, the other a gardening theme,” Idaho prosecutors said.
In one Women’s Wisdom Circle reportedly operating in Ammon, participants are being asked to pay a $5,000 entry fee. By recruiting others, participants can then advance up the pyramid through levels named after the courses of a formal dinner: appetizer, soup/salad, entrée and dessert. Reports investigated by the Consumer Protection Division indicate those at the top of the pyramid have received payments of up to $40,000.
The gardening theme gifting circle operating near Preston makes “soil” the entry position, while “harvester” rests at the top of the pyramid.
The schemes are promoted as gifting programs intended to empower women and claim to adhere to IRS gifting rules. Women are encouraged to keep their involvement secret and are required to sign a statement that the money they pay is a gift, with nothing expected in return.
The statements are false and do not make participation legal, regardless of what potential recruits are told, Wasden said.
“Participants should stop immediately,” Wasden warned. “Unlawful pyramid schemes collapse, hurt people financially and are a crime in Idaho.”
British police nationwide are calling “upon communities to help tackle terrorism” in the wake of the arrests and subsequent convictions of two brothers accused of attending a terrorist training camp in Syria and returning to the United Kingdom, the Metropolitan Police Service said today.
Mohommod Hassin Nawaz, 31, was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. Younger brother Hamza Nawaz, 23, was sentenced to three years. The brothers, the service said, were stopped at Dover port in Southeast England at 3 a.m. on Sept. 16, 2013, after traveling on a ferry from Calais in Northern France.
A search of their silver Peugeot, the service said, resulted in the discovery of :
Five rounds of 7.62mm ammunition “suitable for the use in a range of rifles and assault rifles.”
Numerous mobile phones and a SIM card, containing “images, video clips and text messages relating training camps.”
A “balaclava and heavy duty clothing,” including boots covered in dust.
A total of £2,400 in cash.
Travel documents identifying their movements.
“Officers found communications on their phones indicating that they had attended a terror training camp located in the Latakia province of Syria,” the service said. “Detectives believe that the brothers had cultivated an extremist mindset over a period of months prior to their travel.”
The Internet is being used to poison thinking, the service said.
“As more vulnerable people are being brainwashed through social media, police call for parents, carers, friends and colleagues to be alert to the signs of extremism,” the service said.
Said Chief Constable Sir Peter Fahy, national policing lead for the Prevent Programme: “The police cannot be in every mosque, college or other community venue monitoring what is discussed and the doctrines which are promoted. Nor would we want Britain to be such a society.
“We need parents, schools, partners, friends and colleagues to be aware of the signs that someone is being influenced by extremist messages and have the confidence to report any concerns to the police,” he continued. “Look out for notable changes in behaviour and mood; those vulnerable may begin to express extreme political or radical views, or appear increasingly sympathetic to terrorist acts; their appearance may change along with the friends that they spend time with or they may start to spend excessive time on their own or on the internet.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: Zeek Rewards receiver Kenneth D. Bell has issued the statement reproduced below. It is dated Nov. 25, 2014. Source: Zeek Rewards Receivership Website.
** ________________________________ **
ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE RECEIVER – November 25, 2014
Today, new features were added to the claim status portal in response to issues that have arisen in the distribution process. The claim status portal can be accessed by following: https://cert.gardencitygroup.com/zrwdet/fs/home. These updates allow for a claimant who is eligible to receive a distribution to be able to check the status of that distribution by logging on to the claim status portal. In addition to claim status, that portal will now provide those affiliates who are eligible to receive a distribution with: the date on which his/her distribution check was issued; the amount of the distribution check; whether the distribution check has been cashed; and whether the distribution check was returned to us as undeliverable. Second, if your check was returned to us, lost, destroyed, or your check was issued in the wrong name (for example, if you inadvertently provided your Zeek username instead of your real name when you provided your payment information), you will now be able to request a new check be issued to you in the proper name. We hope that these updates will address many of the issues you have been asking us about.
With these improvements to the claims status portal we will no longer respond to emails and calls that request the status of a claim that can otherwise be answered by logging into the claim portal and checking on the status of your claim. We have been spending a considerable amount of receivership assets responding to affiliate claimants’ inquiries about the status of their claim, all of which can now be answered through self-help. The savings generated by this automated system will allow us to make larger distributions to all affiliate claimants holding allowed claims.
Among the inquiries to which we will no longer be responding are requests from affiliates who registered on the claims portal but did not complete and finally submit a claim. The claims system was continuously operational and was tested and verified as accurate during the claims period and afterward. If review of your claim status shows that you did not finally submit a claim through the claim portal by the Court ordered deadline of September 5, 2013, I have no authority to accept or permit you to file a claim thereafter, including now. I regret that anyone who could have validly submitted a claim failed to do so.
If you hold a claim eligible for a distribution, but were not mailed a check on September 30, 2014, I encourage you to login to the claims status portal and accept the letter of determination you were issued (or have any objection you raised to the claim determination resolved) and submit the required Release and OFAC certification so that we may distribute money to you. If you take these steps, you will be mailed a first interim partial distribution at the end of January 2015.
By the close of business on December 1, 2014, we will have issued Letters of Determination to all affiliate claimants who timely filed claims.
Finally, we continue to receive many inquiries about tax withholdings from distribution checks. We are trying very hard to get reliable guidance from the Internal Revenue Service. I do not want to withhold taxes from distribution checks, but unless and until I receive assurance that the IRS agrees with me, withholdings will be made. We cannot expose the receivership, and the assets which we have and from which we will make distributions to victims, to potential penalties and fines by the IRS.
From a letter by Sen. Al Franken to Uber. Franken, a Democrat, is a member of the powerful Senate Committee on the Judiciary. He also is chairman of the Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law.
We’ll begin by pointing out that Uber, the popular ride-sharing company and darling of venture capitalists, is not an MLM firm. But it sure is acting like one, even briefly vomiting one of MLM’s most familiar and reflexive responses to critics: HatersGonnaHate.
Can MLM enterprises and MLMers in general learn from Uber’s bizarre missteps?
You see, both Uber and MLM have a common problem: a certain internal recklessness coupled with a tin ear for PR, one that serves up one spectacular gaffe after another. Uber’s latest self-inflicted wound now has the attention of Sen. Al Franken, the Minnesota Democrat. Franken wants to know why “Uber’s Senior Vice-President of Business Emil Michael recently made statements suggesting that Uber might mine private information to target a journalist who had criticized the company.”
A senior executive at Uber suggested that the company should consider hiring a team of opposition researchers to dig up dirt on its critics in the media — and specifically to spread details of the personal life of a female journalist who has criticized the company.
Put another way: make the lady sweat that some skeleton might surface and lead to her demise should she dare continue to write pieces Uber found unflattering.
One Uber executive, BuzzFeed reported, planted the seed that Uber could prove “a particular and very specific claim about her personal life.”
The journalist is Sarah Lacy, the editor-in-chief at PandoDaily and a Mom. Here we’ll mention that, in addition to the Uber thuggishness, she’s also had to deal with the sidebar contention that Pando just might be funded by the CIA.
As a journalist who has been accused by MLMers of being on the CIA payroll and told by MLMers that my supposed secrets dealing with my supposed homosexuality and supposed porn addiction will be outed even as “sovereign citizens” threaten me with $500,000 fines for alleged trademark infringement, it will come as no surprise to PP Blog readers that I’m more than a little sympathetic to reporters who encounter thugs.
This sympathy extends whether the thugs are in the Ivory Tower or operating from the sewers.
The BuzzFeed Uber revelation set off a media firestorm now in its fourth day, putting Uber’s name in the papers for all the wrong reasons. Now, at least one reporter has come forward to claim that Uber tracked her without her permission as she rode in a Uber car. The device Uber uses to perform this tracking is known as “God View.”
In September, venture capitalist Peter Sims wrote that he’d been tracked by Uber without his permission. Sims says he was in a Uber car in New York City and that Uberites in Chicago were monitoring his movements. What this means, in essence, is that Uber was using him as a stage prop without his knowledge and consent from halfway across the country while also invading his privacy.
This reminds me of two crackpot MLM schemes making the rounds in 2010. These “programs” were known as NarcThatCar and Data Network Affiliates. Both schemes bizarrely reimagined mass invasions of privacy as exciting new products — and then wrapped pyramid schemes around their creations for good measure.
The schemes worked approximately like this: Armies of MLMers would hit neighborhoods across the land and write down the license-plate numbers of cars parked on streets and the addresses at which they were parked. They’d also hit the parking lots of grocery stores, big-box retailers, restaurant chains, pharmacies, doctors’ offices, bookstores, libraries, theaters, video-rental companies and universities.
All of this information would be entered in a database, purportedly to assist the AMBER Alert system of locating abducted children. AMBER Alert purportedly would get the data for free, but clientele purportedly including banks and companies in the business of repossessing cars during the height of the recession would pay for it.
MLM recruits were told to try not to attract too much attention while writing down all these plate numbers. They also were falsely told they were helping the U.S. Department of Homeland Security track terrorists.
Yes. MLM went in the spy business, using the pretext that it was one’s patriotic duty to monitor license plates and that enormous profits would flow from neighbors keeping track of automobiles in their neighborhoods. As the story was told, the database could tell the police what cars were parked at a fixed address at the time a child was snatched. This information then could be compared to the next sighting of the tag as entered in the database from a different fixed address, thus purportedly providing clues as to where the kidnapped child was being held.
If anyone had the temerity to raise a stink or even make a polite inquiry about why a stranger was recording their plate number in a parking lot, the recorders were trained to respond that no one had anything to fear if they hadn’t done anything wrong.
Both Narc and DNA were filled with such Orwellian outrageousness (and were such obvious pyramid schemes) that reporters began to hound both “programs.” The Better Business Bureau was subjected to bizarre attacks from the MLM sphere for raising questions about the “programs,” and some MLMers got the idea that the reporters, rather than the companies pulling off obvious scams, should be investigated.
Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels couldn’t have imagined greater allies than the MLM Stepfordians.
By 2012, MLMer and Zeek Rewards Ponzi-scheme figure Robert Craddock got the bright idea of putting himself in the opposition-research business — the opposition being reporters who wrote anything bad about Zeek. One of his targets was Zeek critic K. Chang, who briefly lost control over his HubPages site because Craddock had filed a complaint alleging copyright infringement, trademark infringement and libel.
K. Chang eventually prevailed, but not without experiencing downtime while the Zeek scheme was still gathering cash. The SEC eventually shut down Zeek, alleging that it was operating a fraud that had gathered $850 million.
Still sensing there was money to be made in the MLM cottage business of harassing reporters or soliciting dirt on them, Craddock eventually established a website known as “InternetClowns” that purportedly would serve all MLM firms. The supposed “clowns” included the PP Blog and BehindMLM.com, two sites that report on MLM frauds.
At the beginning of this column I noted that perhaps MLM could learn something from the experience of Uber in the subject area of tracking reporters and soliciting dirt on them. It strikes me now that maybe it should be the other way around: that Uber could learn from MLM.
One of the things Uber could learn is not to do anything MLMish if it wants to maintain its standing as a venture-capital darling.
By MLMish, we mean something crazy and outlandish such as tracking reporters, bringing in opposition-research teams to menace them and telling a group of people in the Second City that you’re using your “God Machine” to spy on a venture capitalist in the Big Apple.
And perhaps Uber also might want to avoid the most recent practice associated with “defenders” of outrageous MLM “programs” and HYIP schemes.
This would be the practice of trying to smear critics by using online forums to plant false stories about critics’ ties to Islamic terrorist groups and otherwise attacking human beings based on their Muslim faith.
Uber can read all about that one on RealScam.com, a site that concerns itself with international mass-marketing fraud. RealScam.com currently is being hectored by a person known as “Happy Customer” who is making outrageous claims against critics, filing bogus reports at RipoffReport and trying to keyword stuff the forum with words such as “Islamic Forum” and “haven for Islamic Terrorists !”
Happy Customer’s mind appears to be telling him (used presumptively) that, if only he can use the words “Islamic” and “Muslim” enough times — while mixing in words such as “terrorist” and “terrorism” — the eavesdropping and text-reading National Security Agency might just buzz by and turn off RealScam’s server.
Study the strange MLM circus, Uber. What you’ll learn should be more than enough to help make most unwanted headlines go away.
BitClub Network apparently has found its first crop of 500 suckers willing to throw down $3,599 to become “Founders.”
A link from a new post on Twitter suggests BitClub Network now is trying to line up 500 new suckers who’ll purportedly earn half of what the core group was promised. The new suckers will be called Founder[s]2.”
Buy-in pricing for the Founders2 positions wasn’t immediately clear. BitClub Network is a purported mining-pool “community” with a Bitcoin theme.
From the claim on the page linked from Twitter (italics added):
“If you came to the party late you still have another chance to be in the second wave of Bitclub Network Founders. This group will split an additional 0.5% of total mining profits paid out to the next 500 members who become a ‘Bitclub Network Founder2.’”
A week ago today, some existing BitClub Network promoters were trawling for suckers to let 100 percent of their money ride in the “program” by setting the repurchase scheme to 100 percent. BitClub Network’s repurchase scheme is similar to so-called “80/20” programs seen in Ponzi schemes such as Zeek Rewards.
BitClub Network is being promoted by some former Zeek members, including clawback defendant T. LeMont Silver.
In the affiliate pitch accessible today through Twitter, the claim was made that BitClub Network participants had to exercise patience because what the “program” is doing is like “building a home-made space ship to explore outer space.”
Though not Bitcoin-themed, an emerging “program” known as The Achieve Community also is trading on a community theme. As is the case with BitClub Network, Achieve Community members are encouraged to let a percentage of their money ride.
A video promo for Achieve Community viewed by the PP Blog today suggested that $50 plowed into the scheme could return $25,600 in 170 days or so by employing a 50-percent rollover strategy.
We recommend these two stories/Comments threads at BehindMLM.com on “The Achieve Community.” Access the first here. Access the second here.
BehindMLM.com covers emerging MLM fraud schemes. Naturally the site separates some MLMers from their senses because it so neatly debunks cover stories and magical constructions that have helped MLM scams trading on the Internet thrive for years.
We’d point out that, like other apparent “supporters” of other “programs,” an apparent “supporter” of Achieve Community “defending” the “program” at BehindMLM.com is arguing that “The Achieve Community is not a scam [because] I GOT PAID . . .”
Such arguments tend to reflect the coaching of willfully blind promoters and typically are seen on well-known Ponzi boards such as MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold.
All successful Ponzi/pyramid schemes “pay.” Those payments are used as “social proof” no scam exists and help to drive new dollars to scams. HYIP-flavored scams are among the most dangerous in the world. They pollute banks and payment processors with illicit proceeds, turning them into warehouses for fraud schemes. And because bad money follows bad money in the HYIP fraud sphere, the proceeds affect the commerce stream at multiple points of contact.
Money purportedly “earned” in one “program” is used to join another. The banks and processors, in effect, end up warehousing radioactive financial waste. If that’s not bad enough, many of the schemes are exceptionally dark and murky. Money disappears down ratholes or ends up in the hands of ghosts. Such was the case at “Profitable Sunrise” and “Secure Investment” and many more.
There are “I got paid” posts for both of those “programs” on the Ponzi boards.
At Achieve Community, $50 somehow miraculously turns into $400, purportedly in 55 days or so. Our research shows that promos claim people can buy multiple “positions.” There also is a claim that, at some point in the future — a point at which Achieve Community lines up another payment processor — recruits will be able to buy 200 “positions” with two separate transactions of $5,000 each.
This could be construed as an attempt to evade reporting requirements under the Bank Secrecy Act and to “structure” transactions to evade those reporting requirements. The Massachusetts Securities Division has raised the issue of structuring in its action against the TelexFree “program.”
Structuring is dangerous because it accommodates both “micro” and “macro” scams. Some people may buy in at the “micro” level of $50, sometimes known in HYIP Ponzi Land as a “test spend.” Enough “I got paid” posts from cheerleaders at “micro” levels could cause others to buy in at “macro” levels of thousands of dollars.
Some people in TelexFree appear to have made a series of purchases, effectively turning “micro” transactions into “macro” positions. The same thing likely also occurred with the Zeek Rewards and WCM777 MLM “programs.” Like TelexFree, Zeek and WCM777 cratered.
MLMers should reject any contention that no scam exists because a program “pays” or that a member getting “paid” is proof that nothing untoward is occurring. HYIP schemes are infamous for fuzzy if not nonsensical math and for hiding scams behind green curtains.
Beyond that, all successful Ponzi/pyramid schemes “pay.” Ever hear of Bernard Madoff? He “paid.”
At the moment, 9,000 or so alleged winners are confronting clawback lawsuits to recover alleged fraudulent transfers from the c. $850 million Zeek Rewards scheme.
Put another way, Zeek “paid.” After that, Zeek caused people it “paid” to have to hire lawyers and respond to subpoenas and prepare to sit for depositions — all at their own expense.
Imagine Bernard Madoff, who “paid” far less than Zeek on an annualized percentage basis, strolling into court and addressing the judge at sentencing:
“But . . . but, Your Honor,” he begins. “You don’t understand. I paid. This is so unfair! I’ll tell you what this is! It’s a [freaking] conspiracy by the government against people just trying to help their fellow man!”
Next imagine the judge, after repairing from the bench to the restroom to projectile-vomit, returning to the courtroom and ordering the bailiff to escort Mr. Madoff through the side door to begin his 150-year tour of the prison system.
Finally, imagine Madoff sitting in his cell and having the following conversation with himself.
“If only the Achieve Community cycler had been around at the time. I could have rolled in all my clients’ money and, for each $50, I’d get paid $400 — in just two months or so, no less!”
If you can imagine these things, you can imagine the insidious world of the HYIP universe. Madoff, no stranger to chicanery, might actually be mortified at the goings-on in certain MLM circles. Even so, he never would have insulted a judge by insisting no Ponzi scheme existed because he “paid.”
Put another way, the greatest Ponzi schemer in U.S. history was more honest than the average HYIP purveyor and willfully blind promoter hoping to carve off profits from the mass production of scams on the Internet.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This post originally was published at 12:40 a.m. ET on Nov. 3. It will continue to appear at the top of the PP Blog for a while, but new stories will appear below it . . .
Dear Readers,
What a long, strange, occasionally exhilarating and sometimes frightening ride it has been. This letter celebrates the PP Blog’s 2,500th post with WordPress. Our first was 2,152 days ago, excluding today’s date. Some of you have been with us every step of the way since December 2008.
Many of you have shared your knowledge in our Comments sections and helped shape our thinking. This has helped us create a better publication, one that frames issues in context and provides analysis. Readers get breaking news, situational news and opinion.
One thing became evident early on: the serial scammers and willfully blind hucksters hate the coverage and hold the analysis in particular contempt. As our story total increased from dozens to hundreds and, now, to 2,500, we’ve been able to point readers to more and more content that helps them see patterns and understand things in a fuller context, a context that is more meaningful to them.
We often use both the current story and the Comments thread below the story to point readers to internal and external sources of information that create “lightbulb” moments. For example, lots of readers probably didn’t understand how similar Zeek Rewards was to AdSurfDaily until we helped them understand.
There have been days in which so much news was breaking that we couldn’t get to it all or had to present capsules. On days we do not publish, we’re typically researching and reporting on a story that will be published later. Our deep editorial well remains available 24/7/365, even on days we do not add new content.
The PP Blog started by covering the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. It seemed for a while that it could never get stranger than ASD, but of course it has. The strangeness alone is worrisome. It is one of the reasons we’ve kept our nose to the grindstone. This amount of disconnect and the serial nature of the schemes speak to a growing menace.
These schemes rob people of freedom, shatter dreams, create friction between nations and lead to situations in which the dark forces of criminality gain economic power.
Because “sovereign citizens” made their presence known in in ASD and other unqualified debacles, we worked coverage of national-security issues into our coverage of securities fraud.
Affinity fraud often accompanies Ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes. People of faith are constant targets. So are people whose first language may be one other than English. People frequently are targeted by race or ethnicity, often by magnetic personalities within the specific groups. It has become clear to us that people also are being targeted based on their political views.
If you’re inclined to believe that being a traditional Republican or Democrat very well might be a sign of mental illness or that the antichrist or closeted Nazis and Communists are running things in the corridors of power, rest assured that a Ponzi schemer or securities fraudster has fashioned an offer designed to appeal to your prejudices.
The PP Blog always has been free. It helps educate, inform and enlighten readers, including victims of Ponzi and pyramid schemes who’ve been reduced to ruin and spend their lives consumed by worry.
It should not be that way in America – or any nation.
We received a note the other day from a person who lives in an African nation that knows poverty. Some individuals in this country thankfully see themselves as up-and-coming entrepreneurs who not only will improve their own lives, but the lives of their family members and fellow citizens.
This individual thanked us for our coverage of TelexFree, but reminded us that the fallout went way beyond the Latino and Portuguese communities. We’ve known for some time that we’re building a small audience in Africa. Our audiences in South America also are building. The first time we noticed this was when we became the first publication in the world to confirm through a government official that TelexFree, which had a presence in Brazil, was under investigation in its home state of Massachusetts.
These hideous schemes are affecting people globally. The security situation they create is untenable. The local danger is that they turn family and friends against each other while at once harming local economies. Because murky forces are at work and marriages between organized crime and political extremists can occur, the schemes pose a threat to international security.
Today, to mark our 2,500th post, we’re asking readers who believe in what this Blog is doing to take out a one-year subscription for either $25, $50, $75 or $100.
At the same time, we’re trying to have a little fun with this. You see, the $25 fee constitutes a penny a post for our current editorial well of 2,500 articles. There’s a pull-down menu in case you decide you’d like personally to value the editorial well at 2 cents a post ($50), 3 cents a post ($75) or 4 cents a post ($100).
The subscription will renew in a year.
Friends, it hasn’t been easy. You’ll be helping me personally. And you’ll be helping a Blog that publishes an average of 416 stories a year and keeps matters important to readers a bookmark away remain free for other readers.
My best to my longtime readers of goodwill, whether you become a yearly subscriber in any category or not. No one who is experiencing financial pain should sign up for a year’s subscription, even if you have the money right now.
Some readers have inquired about subscriptions. I have thought about it for a long time, but always have been concerned that subscriptions could lead to lower readership. Lower readership is not a good thing, especially when scams are spreading virally on the Internet.
This “penny-a-post” idea to commemorate our 2,500th post has helped me scotch the very real concern about affecting readership. There will be no paywall. The readers who subscribe will be helping keep the Blog free for those who cannot afford to subscribe and for those who simply choose not to.
My sincere thank you for your continued interest in the PP Blog.
NASAA’s membership consists of “67 state, provincial, and territorial securities administrators in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, and Mexico,” the group says.
