‘Bacon’ Crumbles — And Yet Props Up MAPS

EDITOR’S NOTE: The interconnectivity of fraud schemes is one of the core dangers of the HYIP sphere. Stolen proceeds continually cycle between and among scams, making banks and payment vendors virtual warehouses for cross-border criminals and their serial enablers. The problem may be intensifying. More and more HYIP schemes appear to be using script kits — essentially prefabricated websites — in which emerging schemes simply plug in their information and graphics. These kits allow schemes to show ads for other schemes, including competitive schemes.

Simply put, modern scams are driving business to other modern scams.

As the story below illustrates, the cycle may not be broken even if a particular scheme suspends payouts.

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baconmapssmall“Bring The Bacon Home,” a Ponzi-board “program” popularized in part by Achieve Community hucksters, reportedly has crumbled.

The circumstance surrounding the collapse, however, demonstrates that BTBH is contributing to ongoing harm. Indeed, the “program” continues to publish ads for other HYIP schemes, including “MyAdvertisingPays.”

MAPS, as it is known, is referenced in a prospective class-action complaint filed against multiple TelexFree figures and financial vendors in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in December 2014.

TelexFree was alleged by the SEC last year to have been a combined pyramid and Ponzi scheme. The trustee in the TelexFree bankruptcy case says the cross-border “program” may have gathered as much as $1.8 billion.

TelexFree and MAPS are known to have had promoters in common. It was learned last month that Shaun Smith, an alleged “winner” in the Zeek Rewards scheme broken up by the SEC in 2012, also is promoting MAPS.

Zeek receiver Kenneth D. Bell is suing Smith and more than 9,000 other alleged “winners,” amid claims they are in possession of proceeds that flowed from a Ponzi scheme.

Despite the reported collapse of BTBH, it continues not only to publish ads for MAPS, but other schemes.

BTBH, which had claimed $40 turned into $1,800, encountered a failed launch in January. The “program” then embarked on a self-styled “relaunch,” but that, too, appears now to have failed — leaving investors holding the bag.

Before Achieve Community collapsed under the weight of an SEC investigation announced in February in which the agency alleged Achieve was a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that had gathered $3.8 million, any number of Achieve promoters also were promoting other cross-border scams.

Another of the scams currently advertised on BTBH is “MooreFund,” as the screen shot below demonstrates. MooreFund also was promoted by Achieve members.

baconmoorefundsmall

As the PP Blog reported on Feb. 24 (italics added):

Like Achieve, MooreFund has a presence on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums such as MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold. The “program” purports to offer four investment plans. These promise absurd daily interest rates of between 1.5 percent and 3 percent, with “compounding” available on three of the four plans and tiered recruitment commissions offered on all four.

MooreFund, in turn, was promoted online alongside a “binary options” scheme known as SpotFN that recently became the subject of a cease-and-desist order in Missouri.

See April 12 report on BTBH at BehindMLM.com.

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3 Responses to “‘Bacon’ Crumbles — And Yet Props Up MAPS”

  1. Patrick, since you mentioned Talkgold and Moneymakergroup, a reminder that both are run by the same people.

  2. But, but, but….this can’t be! Rodney Blackburn, one of the most astute big time investment analysts/assistant coffee shop managers ever recommended this and he has a STERLING record.

    Hell, it was none other than he who turned me onto the best investment decision ever, the Iraqi Dinar!

    I think you should check your facts and retract this story!

    (I hope you know I’m not serious)

  3. Quick notes: In both screen shots above, the name of SuccessCycler appears. It’s a Ponzi-board “program.”

    Patrick