‘Achieve Community’ Now Serving Up Spectacle In Which Confusion Reigns; Video On Sign-Up Instructions For Purported New Processor Goes Missing From YouTube, As Report Of New Investigation Surfaces

3RD UPDATE 4:02 P.M. ET U.S.A. The “Achieve Community,” an 800-percent ROI Ponzi-board “program” apparently hamstrung by problems with payment processors, now is serving up a spectacle in which confusion and delay are the only consistent themes.

BehindMLM.com reported late last night (or early today, depending on your time zone) that the office of Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette had confirmed an “open investigation” into Achieve involving the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.

The PP Blog this morning sought comment from Schuette’s office.

“We don’t comment on investigations,” said Andrea Bitely, the Attorney General’s communications director and press secretary.

The response appears to confirm the report on BehindMLM.com that Achieve is under investigation in Michigan.

Because the Colorado Division of Securities has confirmed a probe into Achieve, the PP Blog sought comment yesterday from Michigan’s Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing bureau on whether Achieve was under investigation in that state. The bureau referred the Blog to the communications division of its parent agency, the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA).

A LARA spokeswoman said only that the bureau neither confirms nor denies investigations.

But if the bureau is working with the Attorney General’s office, it would mean that Achieve might have two types of trouble in Michigan: consumer fraud and securities fraud — and at the same time it faces the Colorado investigation.

Given information on two websites linked to Achieve, the “program” appears to operate through a Delaware corporation known as Work With Troy Barnes Inc. Barnes is a Michigan resident, and the two websites linked to Achieve list a Riverview, Mich., address for the “program.” Although Work With Troy Barnes Inc. appears in Delaware records as a company domiciled in that state, there appears to be no corresponding registration as a foreign corporation in Michigan.

Precisely how Achieve is operating through Work With Troy Barnes is unclear. The two Achieve websites — ReadyToAchieve.com and The Achieve Community.com — have Korean lettering near the bottom. IP addresses for the web properties resolve to Iceland.

Any number of Achieve members have shown blind faith in Achieve. Some “defenders” of the “program” have spoken of faith in God and Jesus Christ. Achieve, though, appears repeatedly to have encountered struggles with payment processors after reportedly losing its ability to do business through Payoneer in late October or early November.

And this brings us to today . . .

Instructional Video Goes Missing

Barnes — along with Kristi Johnson of the Denver area — are the purported operators of Achieve.

At some point yesterday (Feb. 12), a Barnes-narrated video appeared on YouTube. The 11:06 video was titled “Thursday Update 2 12.” The video provided Achieve members instructions on how to register for a purported new payment processor.

This video now mysteriously has gone missing, amid concerns expressed by some Achievers that even registering for the processor might open the door to identity theft. What’s more, the identity of the processor itself, how it is operating and where it is operating from are murky.

The now-missing Troy Barnes' video for Achieve showed fields . . .

The now-missing Troy Barnes’ video for Achieve showed fields soliciting notarized passport and driver’s license photo identification and other sensitive information, raising the specter of identity theft.

The narration by Barnes was disjointed, at once advising members they had to submit all information requested in the information fields but backtracking to insist certain information was optional.

In the video, fields requesting standard identification such as name and address were shown. But there also was a field that requested the submission of notarized color copies of a passport or driver’s license with a signature, “OR an un-notarized copy of one of the previous AND a copy front and back of a valid credit card OR another type of government issued picture identification which shows a signature and birth date.”

There also were fields that solicited information on income and a letter from the employer of an Achieve member addressed “To Whom it May Concern” to verify employment.

With respect to the field soliciting an employment-verification letter, Barnes said this: “Don’t even worry about this. You don’t need it, all right. This is going to disappear off of here. For now, it’s there. Don’t worry about it.”

Despite those words, Barnes also said, “Remember: When you submit, everything’s gotta be filled out. Everything.”

He also said, “If you have a PO Box and you’re in the United States, so, you’re [going to] need to go to the bank. Take your driver’s license. Any bank will do this. Tell them you [want to] get your driver’s license notarized. They’ll take it and make a copy of your driver’s license. I understand your mail may go to a PO Box, but your address should have your driver’s license on it [sic]. And that’s it. Just upload it here, and you’re all set.”

About a field soliciting address verification, Barnes said this: Address verification is “very important. A utility bill. Anything that has your address on it that you’re billed for. You need to upload that here.”

Barnes described a field soliciting information on estimated annual total deposits in this fashion: “You know: What do you think you’re gonna make [through Achieve?] Put whatever you want. It doesn’t matter. You know, for me, I put a hundred thousand. So, put whatever.”

At a minimum, the video suggested Achievers who successfully submitted information would receive some sort of debit card to offload profits — perhaps in a couple of weeks.  Achieve appears not have have made a payout for more than three months while at once engaging in payment-processor roulette.

The FBI has warned for years that certain types of debit cards and shell companies can be used for the purposes of money-laundering, handing economic strength to criminals or worse.

Some Achievers have joined other Ponzi-board schemes and published YouTube promos for the schemes.

 

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9 Responses to “‘Achieve Community’ Now Serving Up Spectacle In Which Confusion Reigns; Video On Sign-Up Instructions For Purported New Processor Goes Missing From YouTube, As Report Of New Investigation Surfaces”

  1. Video is still on Youtube just not from Rodney Blackburn.

  2. as Gregg pointed out on other sites……….he bought himself 2 weeks more for new excuses as the alleged cards won’t go out for that period of time.

  3. Both of Kristi’s FB pages are gone now but her Twitter is still live. https://twitter.com/Kjinvest

  4. Twitter is now gone.

    Patrick

  5. This ponzi may be coming down very soon as the regulators might be ramping up for a operation.

  6. I don’t have access to the Achieve private forum to confirm but this is purported to be Troy’s most recent update:

    ———————
    Kristi’s poof – explained: Tonight’s update from Troy Barnes:- “Hi Everybody Well it looks like the rumors are true. Kristi has fled from USA….. God knows where she went…. ? Before she left She had been talking to the Attorney general in Colorado for many weeks. My last conversations with her were all good They were dropping all charges of fraud and of Achieve being a scam. This is what SHE told me!!! Kristi has deserted us all !!! It would seem that she has now pointed everything at me!!! I was doing every -thing I could do, to make us safe and be here for the long term and we were doing great. Now because of Kristi deserting all of us I am facing criminal charges and our Achieve assets have been frozen. I don’t know what the plan is yet. One way or another I will get your money returned to you, somehow. I am now facing jail because a few people hated our community and I have let Kristi have way too much control of our finances. I am sure I will have to be leave Facebook for a while. I have a lot to do to prepare for court and try to take care of ALL of the members. That is ALL I HAVE ever wanted to do ! How one woman can destroy so many lives is beyond me. I have no money for an attorney so I have to do my best to protect you all on my own. It’s a very sad day for me the worst day of my life ! So sorry I had the wrong partner. Troy”
    ___________________

  7. Troy Barnes’ facebook page doesn’t have a copy of the above but the comments on it seem to confirm Achieve is over.

    http://imgur.com/KqwPPvf

  8. @Glim,

    Some Achievers on an individual’s Facebook site are treating the post attributed to Troy as the official word.

    Have also observed the beginnings of a vulture convention — the typical offers to help via recruitment into a new scheme.

    Patrick

  9. well let the plate stampin begin! finally this scam is over! i feel like having a bottle of pinot celebrating tonight. 2 less con artists off the streets of cyberspace. two hots and a coffee {for kristi), and i guess they’ll both sleep on the floor. no cots for con artists! maybe i’ll start a non-profit with that slogan! i think they’re looking at 10-15 a piece. anyone else care to guesstimate the sentence?