PatrickPretty.com

Day: February 9, 2015

  • ‘Achieve Community’ Huckster Rodney Blackburn In New Ponzi-Board HYIP Scam: Rockfeller Asset Management Limited

    "Achieve Community" figure Rodney Blackburn now is promoting Rockfeller.biz, a "program" that purports to pay up to 5 percent a day. The pitch implies a a tie to the Rockefeller family. The PP Blog this evening sought to contact former U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller through the Council on Foreign Relations. The Blog is waiting to hear back.
    “Achieve Community” figure Rodney Blackburn now is promoting Rockfeller.biz, a “program” that purports to pay up to 5 percent a day. The pitch implies a tie to the Rockefeller family. The PP Blog this evening sought comment from former U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller through the Council on Foreign Relations. The Blog is waiting to hear back.

    UPDATED 9:54 P.M. ET U.S.A. It’s called “Rockfeller.” Like the massive TelexFree scam in Massachusetts, it is using the address of a Regus office center — only this time the facility is in London.

    A Ponzi-board scheme similar to Rockfeller — Profitable Sunrise — may have swindled tens of millions of dollars before disappearing two years ago. While Profitable Sunrise claimed a daily payout of up to 2.7 percent. Rockfeller says it pays up to 5 percent daily.

    Note that the scheme’s name is very similar to the name of Rockefeller, the famous American family of financiers and politicians. Scams routinely trade on the names of famous entities or people, sometimes using slight variations of the names.

    Speaking in hushed tones in a 9:33 YouTube pitch for Rockfeller today, Rodney Blackburn suggests the “program” is operated by the Rockefeller family.

    “Guys, this is a very top-notch, high-quality company,” Blackburn says in a video titled “Rockfeller Asset Management Limited – Review Earn Daily!!!”

    “No, I have not talked to the owners of this company. I’m assuming that they’re not going to let me talk to the Rockefellers,” Blackburn says.

    The PP Blog this evening sought comment from Sen. Jay Rockefeller through the Council on Foreign Relations. Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat, is the former chairman of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He retired last month from the Senate and joined the Council on Foreign Relations as a distinguished fellow.

    One of his interests is cybersecurity.

    The PP Blog is waiting to hear back on its request for comment on the Rockfeller “program.”

    Blackburn is promoting multiple schemes with a presence on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums such as MoneyMakerGroup. These include “Achieve Community,” currently the subject of an investigation by the Colorado Division of Securities.

    Other “programs” promoted by Blackburn include “BRING THE BACON HOME,” purportedly operating through “Sherilyn” of “Singapore,” and “Trinity Lines,” which is trading on the name of God.

    Blackburn also is promoting “Unison Wealth” and other schemes.

  • Purportedly Based In Hong Kong And Offering Equity Positions, ‘MyCoin’ Bitcoin Exchange Reportedly Goes Missing; Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars May Be At Stake

    recommendedreading1“MyCoin’s” bitcoin exchange might have operated as a “pyramid-style Ponzi scheme packaged as bitcoin trading,” potential victims plan to tell Hong Kong authorities Wednesday, the South China Morning Post is reporting.

    The news comes as bitcoin-themed schemes or “programs” that claim to accept bitcoin appear on Ponzi boards such as MoneyMakerGroup, raising continuing questions about whether MLM HYIP scammers  worldwide will erode marketplace confidence in bitcoin itself.

    MyCoin appears to have planted the seed that investors could plow money into the MyCoin venture itself. The PP Blog was able to view the MyCoin website. Purported businesses such as a “Trading Center,” an “Electonic Mall,” a “Cloud Mining Machine,” a “Bitcoin Game Center and “Market Monitoring” are referenced on the still-active site.

    Various buzzwords appear on the English version of the site. Examples include “value-added services,” “strategic objective,” “mobile e-commerce” and “integrated multifunctional Bitcoin platform.”

    Fraud schemes often mix in well-known words and phrases from the worlds of investing and business to disarm members of the public. Other examples include “algorithm,” “trading floor,” “insured,” “green” (denoting “programs” said to be environmentally friendly”), “approved” and “contract.”

    Victims often are hoodwinked and dazzled into believing they’re exercising great personal and public responsibility while helping freedom and free markets expand.

    From the South China Morning post (link above/italics added):

    An 81-year-old woman surnamed Chan said she recovered only HK$1.2 million on her HK$3 million investment on seven bitcoin contracts. “I shouldn’t have been greedy. I was told by my real estate agent that the profit would be over HK$2 million after one year,” she said. The biggest loss by a single client was said to be HK$50 million, while some mortgaged their properties to invest.