UPDATE: ‘JustBeenPaid’ Promos Trading On Name, Likeness Of Oprah Winfrey; ‘Click On The Oprah Banner Below,’ Ad Instructs
Screen shot: Pitchmen now are trading on the name of Oprah Winfrey to hawk JustBeenPaid. The name and likeness of Warren Buffett also have been used in JustBeenPaid pitches, and Ponzi forum chatter also includes the name of Charlie Sheen.
UPDATE: In addition to trading on the name of Warren Buffett, the JustBeenPaid “program” is trading on the name of entertainment icon and business titan Oprah Winfrey.
Actor Charlie Sheen’s name also has been referenced in Ponzi forum chatter about JustBeenPaid, an “opportunity” whose braintrust once recruited members for Florida-based AdSurfDaily. ASD, according to the U.S. Secret Service, was operating a $110 million Ponzi scheme.
YouTube recently has been deleting JustBeenPaid promos.
JustBeenPaid became a darling of the Ponzi scheme boards earlier this year. The Winfrey development occurs against the backdrop on a September incident in which Club Asteria — another Ponzi board darling — published a likeness of actor Will Smith in a promo.
Club Asteria later removed the image, which featured Smith’s likeness over a “JOIN NOW” button. It is common for schemes to plant the seed that a famous person or entity endorses a “program” — even when no such endorsement exists.
Winfrey’s name and likeness repeatedly have been used by scammers to sanitize their fraud schemes, leading to litigation filed by Winfrey herself, the Federal Trade Commission and the attorney general of Illinois.
“Click on the Oprah banner below,” a prompt for a current JustBeenPaid promo urges. A likeness of Winfrey appears below the prompt, which creates the appearance that she has endorsed the “program.”
“The Profit Program for the Most Special Moneymakers!” the promo exclaims.
When the image is clicked, a page for a JustBeenPaid affiliate loads.
An appeal for visitors to join “OneX” appears on the same page that abuses Winfrey’s name and likeness. OneX and Club Asteria, which trades on the name of the World Bank, were among the “programs” pitched on the Ponzi boards by “manolo” earlier this year.
In April, “manolo” used the name of JPMorgan Chase when pitching a “program” known as ThatFreeThing.
In 2010, the DataNetworkAffiliates “program” linked to Phil Piccolo traded on the name of and likeness of Winfrey. Piccolo has been called the “one-man Internet crime wave.”
Hopefully someone has alerted Oprah’s people to this. I’m pretty sure that it is illegal to use her name or likeness without her express written permission.
It is a registered trademark. And Oprah has been known to go after abuses in court (cf. Acai berry claims).
I wouldn’t be to worried about Oprah. I’d be worried about the army of lawyers she has available to her.
Quick note:
The “Oprah” banner cited in the post above is hosted on the JustBeenPaid server. The file name is: jbp_39_468x60.gif
There also is an image of American icon Benjamin Franklin on the site. The file name is jbp_33_728x90.gif.
“Guarantee your earnings!” it screams. It also uses the same quote attributed to Oprah.
“The Profit Program for the Most Special Moneymakers!”
Patrick
Quick note:
There also is an image of Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame. The file name is jbp_35_728x90.gif
It uses the Oprah and Ben Franklin language, too, and also notes, “Vulcans Never Bluff!”
So, what we have here is a site — JustBeenPaid — that is using the intellectual property of Oprah Winfrey and the Star Trek franchise to fleece the masses.
Patrick
Oprah…Will Smith…Star Treck….B Franklin….
Who’s next????…
My money on them claiming that Elvis is alive and that he’s a happy member of JBP….))