WebsiteTester.Biz Pitched On Reborn GoldenPandaAdZone Forum, Plus MoneyMakerGroup, TalkGold And Other Ponzi Havens
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally was published June 30. The PP Blog later encountered a database problem, which caused the site to go down and resulted in the temporary loss of some data. The data now has been retrieved.
This story is about a new site known as “WebsiteTester.biz,†but some background is in order.
It turns out that the April reports of the demise of the Golden Panda Ad Zone Forum, which changed its name to the Online Success Zone (OSZ), were premature.
OSZ now is back online — and a poster is pitching “WebsiteTester.biz,â€Â which appears to be promoting itself as an upstart advertising “testing†platform.
Positioning surfing sites as testing platforms dates back at least to the CEP Ponzi scheme. Last summer, the failed AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf, which had close ties to the AdSurfDaily autosurf, was trying to reposition itself as an ad-testing site.
Just prior to going offline in April, OSZ was pushing Narc That Car and Data Network Affiliates, two highly questionable companies whose membership roster includes people linked to alleged Ponzi or pyramid schemes. OSZ got its start as the Golden Panda Ad Zone forum after the U.S. Secret Service seized more than $80 million from ASD and its purported “Chinese†autosurf companion, Golden Panda Ad Builder.
During the summer of 2008, with ASD at its zenith and about to be accused of operating a Ponzi scheme, a predecessor to the INetGlobal autosurf also was coming online. INetGlobal eventually morphed into a surf site that largely targeted Chinese members, according to the Secret Service, which is investigating INetGlobal as its operator, Steve Renner, is in federal prison serving time for income-tax evasion.
The ASD and Golden Panda money was seized amid allegations of wire fraud, money-laundering, selling unregistered securities and operating a Ponzi scheme. A forfeiture complaint in the case alleged a conspiracy with unnamed participants, and ASD was sued separately under the federal racketeering statute by members who also alleged a conspiracy was under way.
Participants’ marketing of WebsiteTester.biz. occurs against the backdrop of a forceful statement by federal prosecutors in Illinois that virtually all HYIPs are Ponzi schemes. Autosurfs are a form of an HYIP program. The business model of WebsiteTester.biz is unclear, and the company has not been accused of wrongdoing.
In the Illinois case, Pathway To Prosperity (P2P) was alleged to have operated a global Ponzi scheme that gathered more than $70 million and fleeced more than 40,000 people. Nick Smirnow, P2P’s operator, has a criminal past dating back to at least 1979, including convictions for breaking and entering, driving the getaway car in a robbery and cultivating and selling drugs. He also told a colleague he was involved in a double homicide in Canada and claimed to have ties to organized crime in Ontario, according to court filings.
Posts on forums such as ASA Monitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup sought to sanitize the P2P scheme, authorities said. This important piece of information seems to have escaped the OSZ forum, which apparently continues to operate on the theory that HYIPs, autosurfs and cash-gifting programs somehow are a legitimate form of commerce.
Incongruities abound in the autosurf and HYIP universes. “WebsiteTester.biz,†the apparent new darling of Ponzi boards such as OSZ, has a domain that is registered behind a proxy. It is unclear if any of its early boosters even know who owns the company or could name a single executive or a board member. Because the site’s business model is unclear, promoters are pitching a program they know virtually nothing about.
The mere fact the “opportunity†is being pitched on the Ponzi boards shows, at a minimum, that promoters instinctively turned to the cesspools to drive business to the company.
On its website, Website Tester, which purportedly is in prelaunch, says this (italics added):
“FINALLY . . . This is the business you have waited for so long:
“It is completely free, you earn through EVERYBODY who registers after you, even if you do not sponsor people; you must not sell or buy anything. Guaranteed!
“The faster you register, the more can be your potential income, even if you do nothing else than register for free . . .
“How does it work? – It’s simple!
“A market research company from the USA is searching for internet users all over the world, who get paid for testing websites and giving a short opinion. You also can earn up to 1,000 US$ per month working 1 to 10 hours weekly.
“Even if the job as a website tester is not for you, you can earn two passive incomes month after month.â€
Excuse us while we vomit.
Based on information on the landing page of WebsiteTester, the upstart company appears to have a tie to an upstart, Las Vegas-registered company known as Alpha Market Research Inc. Alpha Market appears to have a Twitter site from which it relentlessly links to self-produced news releases that are posted on PRLog.org, a free press-release distribution service.
Hey, did you see how the SEC described a scam yesterday that allegedly relied on Twitter and Facebook to help line up people to be fleeced in a securities swindle?
Here is a paragraph from one of Alpha Market’s PR gems:
“Global marketing is nothing but marketing done on national and international level and which involves understanding the similarities, dissimilarities and taking advantage of the opportunities to attain the goal.â€
Here is another gem:
“When you buy something from eBay, Amazon.com or any online store, you’ve participated in e-commerce.â€
Meanwhile, here is yet another:
“If you do not have a ghostwriter writing your blog content, then it means you will need to spend some time writing some blog posts.â€
Separate from its news releases, Alpha Market says this (italics added):
“Potential clients who are disturbed by trifles during the ordering process are often unaware of exactly why. For you, the entrepreneur, the big questions remain: why did the potential client visit your website and why did they accept or not accept your offer?
Alpha Market Research, Inc. starts exactly at this point: we make your website available for thousands of AMR website-testers, assigned in groups of age and interest – this way we get detailed feedback with an honest evaluation of your website.
Like WebsiteTester.biz, AlphaMarketResearch.com is registered behind a proxy. The Alpha Market site was registered May 28, according to records. The Web Tester site was registered five days later, on June 2. Alpha Market’s Twitter site appears to date back to June 4.
The buzz about Website Tester also is occurring against the backdrop of the launch of yet-another surfing company: AdPayDaily (APD).
APD, which appears to have promotional ties to ASD and AVG, is running an AVG-like series of promotions that offer bonuses.
Interestingly, APD, which appears to have only about 550 members despite virtually nonstop flogging for weeks, now says members can send in as much as $10,000.
Website Tester, at the moment, appears just to be gathering names — and generating excitement by publishing the names of the latest registrants on the left side of its landing page. The names suggest the enterprise is attracting many people from outside the United States, but it is far from clear if anything about the company is real.
Hi Patrick
WebsiteTester.biz seems to promoting worldwide with a strong push in the spanish speaking world. The spanish speaking forums and blogs are full of it, although it is interesting to see that many posters are questioning where the money to pay people comes from, if joining and earning is free. No promoter has been able to answer the question.
Sounds like another NarcThatCar Рplenty of p̬ople to test websites and no website client base in site. The only way that I can see this being a legitimate was to earn any money is if Alpha Marketing Research or Website Tester come up with an impressive client list as the potential liaibilities in member payments will shortly be enormous.
Hi alasycia,
The virality of this “opportunity” is stunning. It’s clearly intercontinental like Pathway to Prosperity, and I noticed some forum “explanations” along these lines: “We may have to decrease ‘earnings’ expectations due to our rapid growth.”
It seems as though participants were given some sort of estimate about what their earnings would be; I’ve noticed some complaints that those purported projections have been cut in half.
So far, the most amazing thing to me is the number of people who are promoting Website Tester blindly. It looks as though someone is compiling a huge list — assuming the names that appear on the site are real.
Both the Website Tester and the Alpha Marketing Research sites appear to be hosted on the same server.
Patrick
[…] See earlier story. […]
[Spam for Websitetester deleted by Admin]
Quick note:
Spam at 11:18 a.m., 11:20 a.m. and 11:21 a.m.
Patrick
Thanks Patrick to your comment on my wall. To inform you I am just 4 days old member of this company… And also I am a newbie in internet marketing. Since I am just a little guy out there would like to earn starting from scratch and since this is free I sign up to this company.
So what should I do is wait and see. If for instants requiring an upront fees then, I will canceled my membership to this program. I really appreaciate your comment in my wall and help me a lot to the the research before joining another program.
Thanks,
Lorenz Son.
Hello Lorenzo,
Just so you know, I did not leave a comment on your wall and don’t know the wall to which you refer. Perhaps someone copied and pasted some info from the PP Blog and placed it on your wall.
In my view, you should run like the wind from this “company.”
Lorenzo, it often is the case that scams will recruit members by using a “free” signup to suck them into a sales funnel — and that the shills of scammers will say there is no downside because registration is “free.”
There are many downsides, including these:
* Scammers potentially are given the email addresses of people they intend to fleece.
* The shills, some of whom don’t know they are being used as shills, end up turning over their contact lists, customer lists and email addresses of friends, family and business associates to international schemers and criminals. This gives sordid enterprises a chance to grow.
The shills who do know they are being used as shills often are serial promoters of Ponzi and fraud schemes. They care only about “profits,” not the damage they are doing to members they recruit, the families of the members they recruit, the economy in general and the security of the region or country from which they recruit.
When I observe people recruiting members for a “free” opportunity by claiming there is no downside, I form the view that they are thoughtless and reckless. They are willing to take risks by recommending programs and companies they know nothing about, because potentially there is an upside for them.
That “upside” often proves to be the flow of criminal commissions from a Ponzi scheme that has been given a chance to mushroom globally.
Thanks for your note, Lorenzo.
Patrick