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UPDATE: Joe Reid, Pitchman Who Led DNA and OWOW Recruits To Disaster, Described As ‘Absolute Legend’ In Text Cash Network’s 90-Day Anniversary Call; Like DNA, TCN Claims Florida ‘Processing Center’ And ‘Tax Benefits’
The pitchman hosting a 90-day anniversary call yesterday for Text Cash Network introduced fellow TCN pitchman Joe Reid as an “absolute legend.”

“In this industry, folks, facts tell, and stories sell,” a pitchman identified as “Eddie” said in remarks introducing Reid.

“This gentleman is a legend — an absolute legend in the industry,” Eddie said. “This gentleman makes money. This gentleman makes BIG money. He’s made millions and millions of dollars over the years in the network-marketing industry . . .”

But “Eddie” said nothing about Reid’s involvement in Data Network Affiliates (DNA) and One World One Website (OWOW), bizarre and crashed opportunities linked to Reid business associate and fellow MLM huckster Phil Piccolo amid claims that affiliates were not getting paid. Piccolo also has been linked to TCN.

Among other things, DNA claimed it could help the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children, later claiming it offered a “free” cell phone with “unlimited” talk and text for $10 a month.

DNA appears to have assisted in the rescue of no children, but it did complain that the AMBER Alert program had a bloated budget. It later removed its cell-phone offer, claiming it had been duped into making the offer by a huckster. OWOW, for its part, claimed it had products that cured or treated cancer — while also claiming a “magnetic” product helped prevent leg amputations and helped produce tomatoes that would grow to twice their ordinary size — all while assisting dairy herds in producing more milk. (Use the search button in the upper-right corner of the PP Blog for more info on DNA and OWOW and their series of ambiguous and confounding offers.)

As he is doing now for TCN, Reid led cheers in videos or conference calls for DNA and OWOW. (TCN is using the same conference-call software as DNA.) While researching an offer by OWOW, the PP Blog was advised by the Des Moines Police Department (Iowa) that certain addresses that appeared in online promos for OWOW were nonexistent. Lower in this story, you’ll find a reference to something the Boca Raton Police Department reported after the PP Blog asked it to visit a local building.)

An Emerging Bromide

Despite “Eddie’s” assertion that “facts tell,” he provided no substantiation of his claims about Reid and offered no information on Reid’s DNA/OWOW ties, apparently preferring instead to focus on the “stories sell” part of his emerging bromide.

Reid’s story yesterday offered platitudes that “exciting things are happening” at TCN, with Reid adding that the purported text-advertising firm had “tremendous leaders” who’d created “great excitement.”

Reid, whose TCN cheerleading appeared to be somewhat subdued during the call, then passed the call back to Eddie.

Without providing any factual foundation and again apparently defaulting to the “stories sell” part of his bromide, Eddie again assured listeners that Reid was a “legend.” He added that TCN had set all of the following records:
- Fastest to 10,000 members.
- Fastest to 20,000 members.
- Fastest to 50,000 members..
- Fastest to 100,000 members.
- Fastest to 200,000 members.
“And most recently, folks, we were the fastest company to 300,000 members — in under 90 days.”

Participants who weren’t excited about those numbers need to check their “pulse,” Eddie ventured, predicting later that there would be “seven-” and “six”-figure earners.

Like DNA and OWOW, strange events and incongruities have marked TCN’s existence.

The TCN Photo Mystery

Despite oddities such as the existence of a promotional photo that shows TCN’s name affixed to a glistening office building in Boca Raton and a public statement by the Boca Raton Police Department that the name is not affixed to the building, Eddie asserted that TCN is a company that “makes sense.”

TCN Tax Claims — After Similar DNA Claims

TCN also may be playing with fire by wooing recruits with claims about the purported tax advantages of joining.

Eddie asserted in the 90-day anniversary call that joining TCN for the “tax benefits” was a good idea. (DNA made similar claims, and Piccolo was a member of a company in California that paid $1 million, in part to settle pyramid claims and claims that recruits were being lured by advertised “tax write-offs.”)

“What about the tax benefits that you receive from owing a home-based business?” Eddie asked yesterday’s conference-call listeners. “You can literally bring home 3, 4, maybe $5,000 — up to $7,000 a year in tax benefits. So many people are completely unaware that, just by being a part of a home-based business, they can save thousands of dollars every year by being a part of a home-based business.

“Guess what? Join us with Text Cash Network and start saving today . . .” Eddie instructed while focusing on the purported tax advantages.

Screen shot: Like DNA, TCN puports to operate a "processing center" in Boca Raton.

Another oddity associated with TCN and DNA is that both firms

Screen shot: Like TCN, DNA purports to operate a "processing center" in Boca Raton.

claimed to operate “processing centers” in South Florida, but the addresses appear to be rental services.

Meanwhile, both TCN and DNA have OWOW — another Piccolo-associated entity — in common somewhere in the food chain.

The earliest promos (early November 2011) for TCN appeared on OWOW’s website.

Like DNA, OWOW appears to be a defunct corporation that continues to produce a website that sometimes goes missing and sometimes is rerouted to other sites.

The management structure of TCN, DNA and OWOW also has been murky, with all three firms claiming to be operated by top professionals while simultaneously publishing ambiguous information. Some TCN promoters, for instance, have claimed TCN is owned by “The Johnson Group.”

Promos that originated through OWOW, however, added an ampersand and extra proper noun, declaring that TCN was owned by the “Johnson & Johnson Group.”

Affiliates of TCN, DNA and OWOW have complained publicly about not getting paid. All three firms have explained away those concerns in largely the same fashion: that payments have come or will come once a series of launches and prelaunches and website adjustments are completed.

Each of the schemes spread in part through social-media sites such as YouTube and Facebook.

One poster on a Facebook TCN site dubbed the “Text Cash Network- Official Group Page” complained today that “power line stats” are not working.

“It stopped on the 12/28/2011,” the poster claimed.

On another Facebook site — one dubbed simply “Text Cash Network” — a poster spammed an offer for JSS Tripler. Promoters of JSS Tripler are under investigation by CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator.

See our TCN archive.
Feb 2, 2012
SPECIAL REPORT: OWOW, Phil Piccolo-Associated Firm That Pumped Text Cash Network, Purportedly Cited ‘Financial Trouble’ Last Summer And Sought ‘Brand New People’ To ‘Pay Off All Of The Past Commissions And Money Owed To Suppliers’

From YouTube: Mr. P. prowls the stage for OWOW in 2010.

UPDATED 5:05 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Did One World One Website Inc. (OWOW) — the Phil Piccolo-associated company that appears to have been given some of the top positions in Text Cash Network (TCN) and recruited a huge downline with the knowledge of TCN management — try to fix its own problems last year by hatching a Ponzi plan in which money sent in by new members would be used to pay commissions owed to original members?

A bizarre OWOW promo dated July 30, 2011, on Dealslinker.com suggests so. The promo, which claimed that “O.W.O.W. Management left town a long time ago” and “gave up for many reasons,” further claimed OWOW was implementing a restoration plan and suggested that the company was being run by “leaders.” The “leaders” were not identified.

Incongruously, the promo claimed that “[i]t is actually not the current O.W.O.W. that is in Financial Trouble. It is the baggage from 10/10/2010 to 3/10/2011 that has brought us down. And is a Ball and Chain around the current O.W.O.W. Team.”

“WE NEED YOUR HELP ‘OR’ THE HELP OF BRAND NEW PEOPLE…” the promo urged. “THE SOLUTION IS ‘FOUNDER OWNERSHIP’ YES… FOUNDERS…”

With those words in July, OWOW introduced a scheme by which “FOUNDER PACKAGES” would be created in four tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum) and sold online to right the OWOW ship. The purported packages were priced between $500 and $5,000, and purchasers who bought in at the $5,000 level were promised they would get “20 shares in a (sic) 5% of The Sales Profit Pool from 8/8/11 to 12/12/12 of The O.W.O.W. Program…”

The claim leads to questions about whether OWOW was offering unregistered securities as investment contracts and effectively creating an investment pool while using unregistered broker-dealers to sell the offer.

Purchasers who bought in at the lower-priced tiers were promised a smaller number of shares, according to the promo. Members at the $500 level would get one share; members at $1,000 and $2,500 levels would get three shares and 10 shares, respectively.

Despite the claim that OWOW’s profits would be shared among certain members through Dec. 12, 2012, the business registration in Wyoming of One World One Website Inc. is listed as “Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax).”

OWOW and at least one releated entity also appear to have lost the ability to gather money via PayPal.

Whether OWOW sold any of the purported packages referenced in the July 2011 promo is unclear. But about three months later — during the opening days of November 2011 and while OWOW apparently was still reeling — OWOW appears to have been given a 10-day head start to sell TCN.

Some TCN members now say that TCN has delayed commission payments to members for a fourth time and that members have been encouraged to send money via Western Union and money orders to both the company and individuals associated with the firm.

A pulldown menu on TCN’s website says money can be sent via Western Union to three individuals: Tyler Johnson, Brett Hudson or Jane Johnson. TCN purports to have hundreds of thousands of members globally.

Brett Hudson is listed on TCN’s website as the firm’s president. TCN purports to operate from Boca Raton, Fla. OWOW and another Piccolo-associated entity know as Data Network Affiliates (DNA) also purported to operate from Boca Raton and environs. The Better Business Bureau issued an alert about DNA in 2010.

Why TCN is asking members to send funds to individuals via Western Union is unclear.

TCN purportedly is owned by “The Johnson Group,” although descriptions about that company have been vague and ambiguous.

Here is what TCN says about itself:

“Text Cash Network Inc is a USA Corporation and is own (sic) 100% by a five year old communication company which is another USA Corporation owned by The Johnson Group. We have not disclosed the communication’s company name or contact information in fear that THOUSANDS OF AGENTS may or should we say would call them for information prior to our official launch of 12/12/2011.”

The date TCN advertised as its launch date — Dec. 12, 2011 — was precisely one year ahead of the date through which OWOW promised to pay tiered members who purchased shares in a pooling arrangement: Dec. 12, 2012.

Curiously, TCN promoters associated with OWOW added an ampersand and extra proper noun to the name of TCN’s purported ownership group, describing TCN’s owners as the “Johnson & Johnson Group.”

Whether the addition of the ampersand and extra proper noun was a bid to trade on the name of Johnson & Johnson, the New Jersey-based Dow and S&P 500 component, is unclear. TCN came out of the gate trading on the name of Groupon, but a Groupon logo that once appeared on the site has been removed.

Returning to the subject of OWOW, money from the purported OWOW “FOUNDER PACKAGES” would be used in part to “pay off all of the past commissions and money owed to suppliers,” according to the bizarre OWOW promo, which was attributed to “Mister P.”

“Mister P” is an alias used by Phil Piccolo. Strangely, though, the OWOW promo was positioned as a “personal letter from J.P. aka Mister P.” Why the initials “J.P.” were used is unclear.

Other Oddities

The July 2011 OWOW promo referenced in this post appears to be a bid to sell both OWOW and a program known as ThatFreeThing. Indeed, the headline on the promo reads, “OWOW Wholesale Direct and MyFreething – ThatFreeThing.”

Despite the headline reference to That Free Thing, the promo does not contain a link to the That Free Thing program.

That Free Thing uses an address in Westminster, Colo., and publishes a picture of an office building with the name of the company affixed in large letters to the side of the building.

TCN promos have featured images of a building in Boca Raton with the company’s name affixed in large letters near the crown of the building. The Boca Raton Police Department said on Dec. 14 that TCN’s name was not affixed to the building — despite what promoters led recruits to believe.

“Mister P,” meanwhile, also is referenced in a promo for something called “MY FREE EVERYTHING,” which appears to be operating through a domain styled “TheDebtFreeCard.com.”

Visitors to that site are told about a “100% PASSIVE!” program through which they can earn through the sale of “$50,000 to $250,000 JVP FOUNDER LOAN PACKAGES.” Like the OWOW promo, the My Free Everything promo raises questions about whether the purported firm is selling unregistered securities as investment contracts and whether promoters are serving as unregistered broker-dealers.

Amid confusing claims on the site, visitors are told this: “If you are within 10 Levels of This Sale you will EARN IMMEDIATE MONEY… $500 to $2500… or If you personally sell one $5000 to $25,000… However THE BIG PICTURE will be THE RESIDUAL INCOME because THE SALE was made in YOUR DOWNLINE… There are many DOCTORS and OTHER PROFESSIONALS looking for PASSIVE INCOMES… All you do is FIND THEM and The Leadership SELL THEM… ”

Separately, promos for OWOW on LinkedIn are asking viewers to visit a YouTube site to “see [an] Oprah” video on OWOW.

When a link in the LinkedIn promo for OWOW is clicked, however, visitors are taken to a video that has nothing to do with Oprah Winfrey, the entertainment icon and business titan whose name often is appropriated by MLM hucksters and affiliates unwise to their ways.

Instead, the video is about a product known as PhoneGuard, an app that purportedly keeps teens and children safe by shutting off a cell phone’s texting capacity while they’re in automobiles.

See this story about DNA, another Piccolo-associated program that used Winfrey’s name. DNA purported to have ties to Anthony Sasso, who was described as DNA’s data expert and a “special board consultant.”

Sasso, who reportedly once had a role in PhoneGuard, is a convicted felon who was charged in a South Florida racketeering case. DNA, the Piccolo-associated entity, hyped him as “The King Of Data For Dollars” and Sasso was said to be the “owner of the largest database of text numbers in the world.”

TCN purports to be a text-advertising company.

Jan 17, 2012
UPDATE: Text Cash Network Creates Even More Name Confusion With ‘ASSIGNMENT’ Clause That Appeared On ‘Purchase Agreement’ Page

Some affiliates have claimed Text Cash Network (TCN) is part of a company known as “The Johnson Group.” Others have added an ampersand and mimicked the name of an internationally famous company, saying TCN is part of the “Johnson & Johnson Group.”

Although photos appear online that show the name “TEXT CASH NETWORK” in large letters near the crown of an office building in Boca Raton, Fla., the Boca Raton Police Department said on Dec. 14 that the firm’s name is not on the building.

Now, yet another TCN flap involving a company name is emerging. The name appeared on TCN’s purchase-agreement page in recent days.

“I understand that this agreement may not be transferred or assigned without prior written consent of REX Venture Group, LLC a/k/a/ T.C.N..com (sic), which consent shall not be unreasonably denied,” the TCN purchase-agreement page read in part on Dec. 22, according to Google cache. The language appeared below a clause labeled “ASSIGNMENT.”

Largely the same language appears on a page for a program known as Zeek Rewards, which leads to questions about whether TCN had copied the language and swapped in the name of its own company without consent.

But the name of REX Venture Group no longer appears on the purchase-agreement page of TCN’s website, and the “ASSIGNMENT” clause has been reworded to read, “I understand that this agreement may not be transferred or assigned without prior written consent of Text Cash Network, inc. a/k/a T.C.N., which consent shall not be unreasonably denied.”

It is unclear when the changes were made.

TCN has claimed to employ an “attorney,” but does not name the attorney. It also has claimed to use a “host of traditional domestic and international legal representatives.”

Whether TCN consulted the purported attorney and the purported “host of traditional domestic and international legal representatives” before posting the assignment clause — and later editing it — is unclear. Also unclear is whether TCN ever consulted with the Rex Venture Group, the firm whose name now has been deleted from TCN’s purported assignment clause.

Why TCN claimed it also was known as the Rex Venture Group also is unclear.

TCN has promotional links to Ponzi scheme boards and to MLM huckster Phil Piccolo and Piccolo-associated firms such as Data Network Affiliates (DNA) and OWOW, which stands for “One World One Website.”

Significant incongruities and vagueness over TCN’s ownership structure have marked promotions for TCN. Similar incongruities marked promos for DNA and OWOW.

1.

Google took a cache shot of TCN's purchase-agreement page on Dec. 22. Here is a screen shot of part of the page, which shows the name of REX Venture Group LLC. The name no longer appears on the page, leading to questions about whether TCN had simply copied-and-pasted terms from another MLM opportunity.

2.

Section from TCN's purchase-agreement page as it appeared on Dec. 27. The section has been reworded, and the name of REX Venture Group LLC has been removed.

Dec 27, 2011
Police Confirm That Name Of Text Cash Network Does Not Appear On Building In Boca Raton, Fla.

One of the mysteries surrounding an upstart MLM business known as Text Cash Network (TCN) only is getting deeper. Despite photos published online that show the name of “TEXT CASH NETWORK” in large letters near the crown of its purported headquarters building in Boca Raton, Fla., the Boca Raton Police Department said this morning that the firm’s name “does not appear on the building.”

What actually appears in the area in which the firm’s name is depicted in photographs is the number “2255” — the address of an office facility at 2255 Glades Rd. in Boca Raton. The large building is a multitenant, multiuse property that counts the U.S. government among its users, according to public records and information contained in Google web searches. (The U.S. Probation Office lists an office at the facility, for example.)

Precisely when the photograph showing Text Cash Network’s name exclusively affixed to the building began to circulate online is unclear. Someone, though, appears to have doctored the photo in an apparent bid to plant the seed that TCN owned the building or was its most prestigious tenant. Several companies use the street address of the building, in disciplines ranging from the practice of law to real estate, financial services, debt counseling and more.

A street photo Google says was taken in May 2011 shows only the number “2255” affixed near the crown of the building and not the words “TEXT CASH NETWORK,” a circumstance police said remained the reality today. (If you click on the link in the previous sentence, it will load a Google page. Look for the letter “A” roughly in the center of the Google page. If you click on the “A,” a window showing the street view will load. Clicking on the photo in the street view will take you to ground level, where you’ll see the building with “2255” near the crown.)

Adding to the mystery is that TCN is publishing a photo of the same building on its website — and that photo contains neither the company’s name nor the numerals “2255” near the crown. All three of the photos — the one displayed on TCN’s website, the one displayed on certain Blogs and the one from Google’s street view — show an American flag that appears to be in the same wind-buffeted, unfurled position, which may mean the same original was used to alter the photo to show the name of “TEXT CASH NETWORK” as though the company enjoyed ownership or exclusive occupancy of the premises.

It is common in MLM schemes for affiliates or upstart companies themselves to create the impression of size, scale and success where little or none exists. TCN’s website was registered less than two months ago, and the firm spent weeks in “prelaunch” phase while conducting conference-call cheerleading sessions.

Tens of thousands of MLMers are said to have signed up for the TCN program. Affiliates say the firm is owned by “The Johnson Group,” but much about that company remains a mystery, too.

Research suggests that individuals can rent a “virtual office” that uses the address at 2255 Glades Rd. and that fully furnished offices can be rented in eight-hour increments, with longer-term leases and a graduated level of virtual services also available.

TCN says on its website that “TCN Processing” is located in Suite 324 at the Glades Rd. address.

Separately, a virtual-office company that promotes its offerings in online promos displays a photo of the same multitenant facility TCN references as the address of “TCN Processing.” The virtual-office company notes that fully furnished offices can be rented in eight-hour increments — with longer-term leases and graduated service levels also available.

The name of MLM huckster Phil Piccolo has surfaced in web stories and discussions about TCN. The website of Data Network Affiliates (DNA), a firm associated with Piccolo that purported last year to be in the business of helping the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children, has not resolved to a server for at least the past two days.

Like TCN, DNA promoted a payment plan 10 levels deep. TCN appears to be listed in Wyoming records as a corporation registered last month, but Florida records do not appear to include a corresponding listing that TCN is operating in the state as a foreign corporation.

Dec 14, 2011
SPECIAL REPORT: ‘One World One Website’ (OWOW), Phil Piccolo-Associated Entity That Drove Traffic To Text Cash Network, Listed In Wyoming As ‘Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax)’; OWOW-Linked ‘Store’ In New York Appears To Have Lost Capacity To Collect Money Via PayPal

Screen shot: This OWOW "Store" lists a street address in the Bronx and touts a "GRAND OPENING" on an unspecified date. The store URL is linked to PayPal, although the store appears to have lost its ability to collect money via the online payment processor. Separately, the store's apparent parent company — One World One Website Inc. — is listed in Wyoming records as "Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax)." Earlier this month, OWOW led the charge to promote Text Cash Network (TCN), according to affiliate promos. OWOW is associated with Phil Piccolo and Joe Reid. Reid has led the conference-call cheerleading for TCN after previously leading the conference-call cheerleading for Data Network Affiliates (DNA), yet another company associated with Piccolo. Reid also has appeared in at least one video for OWOW. Piccolo is known online as the "one-man Internet crime wave" and has a history of threatening critics. Promos for DNA, OWOW and TCN describe the firms as "free" opportunities that create wealth for members.

UPDATED 12:46 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) One World One Website Inc. (OWOW), the company linked to MLM huckster Phil Piccolo, has been listed in Wyoming as “Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax).” The state lists the firm’s “inactive” date as Nov. 10. OWOW’s ownership is not listed, although records suggest the firm organized itself to float 1 billion shares of common stock. Whether the stock was public or private is unclear. Also unclear is whether any actual stock was issued.

Separately, web records show that Text Cash Network (TCN) — a purported text-advertising firm promoted on the OWOW site earlier this month — uses the same four DNS servers and an IP address in the same string as Data Network Affiliates (DNA), another venture linked to Piccolo. Records also suggest that the TCN domain name originally was registered last month through an entity known as OWOW Wholesale Domains before the registration was made private.

Meanwhile, a site known as OWOW Wholesale Direct that uses the One World One Website Inc. logo is soliciting orders for a number of products, including two products OWOW positioned last year as cures or treatments for cancer. The order page links to PayPal. When visitors press the PayPal button, this message appears:

“This recipient is currently unable to receive money.”

If prospects visit the main OWOW website — as opposed to the OWOW Wholesale Direct site — they are told they need to enter the site through an affiliate link to purchase products, including the two purported cancer cures or treatments. When a visitor arrives at the main OWOW site through an affiliate link, they can place items in a shopping cart — but when they are about to be forwarded to the payment page, these messages appear: “This Connection is Untrusted” (Firefox); “The site’s security certificate has expired!” (Google Chrome); “There is a problem with this website’s security certificate” (Internet Explorer).

The presence of the shopping cart on the main OWOW site and the presence of the PayPal buttons on the OWOW Wholesale Direct site suggest the firm or its affiliates provided customers two different ways to pay: PayPal and perhaps an independent credit-card processor whose identity remains unclear because of the problem with the security certificate on the orders site.

Last year, at least one OWOW affiliate traded on the name of the National Institutes of Health.

A graphic on the the OWOW Wholesale Direct site suggests the firm has a “store” in the Bronx at 11 E. 213th Street, “Just two blocks from Gun Hill Road off of Jerome Avenue.”

The headline in the graphic reads, “Earn THOUSANDS Giving Away A FREE Opportunity.”

It is unclear whether OWOW sold franchises to affiliates or operates the store as a self-owned retail outlet. In 2010, DNA claimed affiliates could pay a fee to open their own cell-phone stores.

DNA, however, appears never to have released its promised cell phone or opened any stores. The firm purported to be a player in many businesses, including a license-plate recording business to assist law enforcement, a mortgage-reduction business and an offshore “resorts” business.

In 2010, OWOW claimed that people who sent it money before Nov. 30 (2010) would earn “24% Annual Interest.” If members missed the Nov. 30 date, they’d earn only 18 percent, according to the promo.

The November 2010 email led to questions about whether OWOW was selling unregistered securities as investment contracts.

“Did you know that many PROS are receiving 24% Annual Interest on their money (sic),” the OWOW pitch read in part. “The deadline for 24% annual interest paid in monthly increments of 2% will end on 11/30/2010 . . . Any funds deposited thereafter will pay 18% annual interest in monthly increments of 1.5% . . .”

DNA-Like Culture Of Threats Emerging At TCN?

In 2010, DNA threatened critics while trying to manage its operations in an information vacuum. Upon its appearance online early last year, DNA had neither a contact form nor a contact email address on its website. Virtually the same circumstance has presented itself at TCN.

Late last winter — after DNA placed a Gmail address on its site after considerable howling from critics — a person who sent a note to the Gmail address received back an autoresponder message with a headline of “Top 16 Customer Service Issues.”

Item No. 5 on the Top 16 list read: “The D.N.A. Management is Aware of many FALSE Rumors . . . The D.N.A. Legal Department is on top of such and is taking Legal Action . . . You can not become the #1 record breaking company in THE WORLD . . . Without people taking cheap shots at you . . . In the mean time keep on keeping on . . .”

DNA also claimed the reason its original domain registration used privacy protection and an address in the Cayman Islands (while leeching off the name of the U.S. AMBER Alert system) was to prevent management from having to “put up with 100 stupid calls a day.”

TCN, according to an affiliate’s Blog, now is saying this (italics/indentation added):

“The Internet is The WILD WILD WEST when it comes to what people say about anything. The laws are very different today than they were even 3 years ago. They finally passed several laws that will allow a company like T.C.N. to protect it’s (sic) good name and business model. And we will use the full extent of the law to protect T.C.N. when made available to us. Please note that many of these blogs or so called M.L.M. SELF PROCLAIMED CRITICS produced no legal documentation not (sic) substantial facts. Instead they hide behind such disclaimers such as IT IS MY OPINION or SO AND SO SAID OR CLAIMS. Now on the other hand if a Licensed MLM Practicing Attorney were to say such please let us know ASAP. NOTE ALSO: Many people who write these blogs hide behind bogus names, e-mails and even hide their ISP. If you ever come across someone who does slander or prints mis-information about our company and you have a real name and contact information please pass it on to our legal department located in your back office.”

The same TCN affiliate site also suggests there may be tax advantages if prospects enroll in the upstart opportunity.

“T.C.N. Corporate has a 100% separate division set up to call on traditional businesses worldwide. V.I.P. Agent will need to sell only 1 V.I.P. Advertising Package Annually,” according to the affiliate site. “A sale to self to resell, to personally use or to just give it away as a gift would count as such. In fact when you personally use it or give it away as a gift it just may have some tax benefits. Check with a professional tax accountant.”

DNA also touted tax advantages.

And TCN — like DNA before it — also is offering an explanation for why is does not use a contact form or publish a contact email address, according to the TCN affiliate’s Blog, which is hosted on Blogspot, Google’s free platform (italics/indentation added):

“Text Cash Network Inc is a USA Corporation and is own (sic) 100% by a five year old communication company which is another USA Corporation owned by The Johnson Group. We have not disclosed the communication’s company (sic) name or contact information in fear that THOUSANDS OF AGENTS may or should we say would call them for information prior to our official launch of 12/12/2011. They are not an MLM or Marketing Company set up to handle such incoming calls. Once T.C.N. Customer Service Center is open they could then just re-direct such calls to T.C.N.”

Like OWOW, a company named “The Johnson Group Inc.” is listed in Wyoming records as “Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax).” It is unclear, however, whether The Johnson Group entity in Wyoming is the same firm that owns TCN.

TCN and OWOW use the same registered-agent service in Wyoming, according to records. TCN’s corporate registration became effective on Nov. 8. Records suggest that, just two days later — on Nov. 10 — OWOW’s registration was listed as “Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax).”

Affiliates of TCN say the firm is operating in the region of Boca Raton, Fla., as an arm of The Johnson Group. DNA also operated from Boca Raton, and OWOW listed an address in nearby Deerfield Beach.

Are TCN Affiliates Creating Another Flap?

Even through TCN says it is owned by “The Johnson Group,” some TCN affiliates whose promos also reference OWOW have added an ampersand and an extra proper noun to their TCN ads. These promos identify TCN’s owners as “The Johnson & Johnson Group.”

Johnson & Johnson, a component of both Dow Jones and the S&P 500, is the internationally famous maker of pharmaceuticals and consumer products that are household names. Johnson & Johnson, which is based in New Jersey, also is known under a “Group” version of its name.

Several TCN affiliates — including international affiliates whose native language may not be English — are claiming this in promos (italics/indentation added):

“O.W.O.W. is ONLY promoting TEXT CASH NETWORK Inc

HERE IS WHY… #1 they pay like 100 times more than ANY OTHER and #2 is that: TEXT CASH NETWORK is owned and operated by The Johnson & Johnson Group.” (Emphasis added).

The promos go on to list “Mr. T. Michael Johnson” as “C.E.O.” of the “Johnson & Johnson Group” and “Mr. R. Christopher Johnson” as “President.”

Some affiliate promos for TCN that also reference OWOW have described “The Johnson & Johnson Group” as a player in the “Internet Software Business since 1994.” Promos for TCN that do not included the ampersand and the extra proper noun have described “The Johnson Group” as a “communications” company.

On Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson — the New Jersey-based Dow and S&P 500 component — said that it “will look into” whether the TCN promos and the Johnson & Johnson Group references could create any brand confusion.

“I am not aware of any affiliation they would have with Johnson & Johnson,” a company spokesman said about TCN and The Johnson Group.

One TCN affiliate promo that referenced the Piccolo-associated OWOW entity and used the name “Johnson & Johnson Group” blared this message (italics/indentation added):

“Why did O.W.O.W. get a TEN DAY JUMP START with this Incredible Opportunity? Two words “JOE REID”… One of The Johnson & Johnson Group management team was once in the referral marketing industry and knew of Joe’s reputation for taking companies into the marketplace. Joe started off consulting with them and is now the only person direct to the company.

“O.W.O.W. management convinced Joe that they should not open up the flood gates and that they should use O.W.O.W. as their TEST TEAM and get any bugs out of the system,” the message continued. “Joe convinced J&J to do a WHISPER LAUNCH… And we got the gift of a lifetime.

“Our team recruited over 1000 people in less than 24 hours… We estimate our team will build a 10,000 team in 10 days . . .”

When DNA — yet another company linked to Piccolo — came out of the gate last year, it claimed it was “going public” and used the names of Martha Stewart, Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey. Joe Reid was one of DNA’s principal cheerleaders.

Reid has emerged in the same role for TCN, which is using the same conference-call software DNA used last year. Reid has suggested TCN could become the next Groupon. The Groupon references were made before Groupon’s stock price plummeted to below the $20 IPO level earlier this week.

Analysts have fretted about the Groupon business model and emerging competition.

TCN purports to be in a business by which members will receive up to five text advertisements per day to their cell phone. Its site is filled with errors of grammar and usage, but the firm says it has recruited more than 80,000 members in just days.

Among the claims on the TCN website is this:

“Here are two mathematical examples of maximum revenue sharing. A 2×10 Referral Structure Pays A Maximum Earnings (sic) of $76.75 Per Day or $2,302.50 Per Month plus Matching Bonuses. A 3×10 Maximum Earnings = To (sic) High Of A Dollar Figure To Put In Print.”

Nov 25, 2011