REPORTS: TelexFree Members Targeted In Hacking, Phishing Bids

After similar reports in July, there are new reports today that members of the TelexFree MLM “program” have been targeted in hacking and phishing schemes. Such fraud bids often accompany HYIP schemes. One such report appeared on Facebook, where a self-identified member of TelexFree claimed she had two TelexFree accounts and that both had been hacked. The poster further claimed her email account had been compromised and that she was having trouble contacting TelexFree.

Separately, the Blog of TelexFree pitchwoman Faith Sloan is reporting on “FAKE EMAILS / PHISHING EMAILS” apparently associated with a bogus domain that marries the name of one of TelexFree’s payment processors to that of TelexFree to form a dotcom.

In the email, TelexFree members are advised to click on a link to “enable” a new payout system.

The email is fake, according to FaithSloan.com.

“DO NOT CLICK ON ANY OF THE LINKS! DO NOT DO IT!” the site advises.

In mid-August, TelexFree affiliates excitedly announced the firm was using Global Payroll Gateway (GPG) to process payouts due members. By Sept. 22, there were reports that TelexFree had dumped GPG (or the other way around) and that TelexFree was switching to I-Payout. Coinciding with these reports were reports that TelexFree was filing for bankruptcy, but a court in Brazil rejected the filing.

Faith Sloan purportedly is spearheading an effort to popularize TelexFree in Peru. The “program” is under investigation in Brazil and is alleged to be a massive pyramid scheme. Sloan previously was associated with Zeek Rewards, alleged by the SEC last year to be a $600 million Ponzi scheme and pyramid fraud. She also has been associated with “Profitable Sunrise,” a “program” the SEC said earlier this year was conducting a massive international swindle. Other Sloan “programs” included Noobing, part of the business mix of Affiliate Strategies Inc., alleged by the FTC to have conducted a large-scale government-grants swindle. Noobing in part was aimed at people with severe hearing impairments.

Despite the investigations in Brazil and reports of death threats aimed at a judge and prosecutor involved in the TelexFree case, some members — including Sloan — continue to sing the praises of the “program.” Some affiliates claim that $15,125 sent to TelexFree fetches at least $42,075 in a year.

Members have been encouraged online to make deposits in TelexFree accounts at Bank of America and TD Bank, although competing reports have suggested that TelexFree has pulled out of Bank of America. These reports were attributed to “Steve Labriola, Director of Marketing for Telex FREE, Boston.”

TD Bank recently agreed to pay $52.5 million to settle claims it was acting as a facilitator for Scott Rothstein’s epic Ponzi scheme in Florida. Rothstein, a former attorney, is a convicted racketeer serving a 50-year prison sentence for his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme.

TelexFree has U.S. arms in Massachusetts and Nevada. Some affiliates have claimed they can speed the flow of money to the firm and have encouraged prospects to make copies of deposit slips and banking information and email them to sponsors for “expedited” service. Affiliates of the $119 AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme in 2008 pitched their downlines in similar fashion. At a minimum, the practice puts followers at risk of identity theft. It also may set the stage for money-laundering and other crimes to occur between and among TelexFree members.

There was a claim on Facebook yesterday in which New Zealand and Australian prospects of TelexFree were told that an “australian and new zealand group . . . can help sponsor others in there and pay them in through our back office easy to transfer cash there.”

In July, there were reports that TelexFree had blocked members’ access to their back offices because hackers had attempted an intrusion.