** CAUTION: Report Of Bogus TelexFree Site **
There is a report on social media this morning of a bogus TelexFree site that mirrors an old TelexFree site that existed when the company was actively soliciting business. The site creates the impression TelexFree has reopened.
TelexFree has not reopened.
It is Sunday. Federal prosecutors handing the TelexFree criminal case involving alleged fraudsters James Merrill and Carlos Wanzeler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The actual TelexFree site says the firm has suspended all business activity. The trustee in the TelexFree bankruptcy case has begun his investigation and announced in court filings that he is seeking court authority to issue subpoenas. (See documents 261-265 here. Link current as of today’s date.)
Because the report about the bogus site was made on social media and the intent of the poster is not known, extreme caution is warranted. Clicking on the link to the asserted hacking site through the social-media site potentially could have bad consequences. So could entering any information on forms at the site.
The social-media poster positioned the report as a warning hackers seeking to profit from the troubles at TelexFree could be at work. The site used the word “telexfree” as part of its URL.
Even if the social-media poster was being sincere in his warning and it proves true the site is bogus and designed for hacking, clicking on the link potentially could expose you to harm.
And if the site is not a hacking or phishing site, it leads to questions about why such a site that mirrors TelexFree’s “old” site exists to begin with. Could it be an old TelexFree affiliate’s site created with swiped code and designed to dupe prospects into believing they were dealing directly with the TelexFree corporate entity? Could it be an orphaned site of TelexFree itself?
The asserted hacking site uses the name of a male individual with an address in Chicago, according to a database search. The Registant Organization is listed as “telexfree.”
Some TelexFree affiliates are alleged to have accepted TelexFree payments directly, a circumstance the Massachusetts Securities Division said in April resulted in a condition in which “participants received uncontrolled cash deposits outside of the TelexFree system.”
The social-media poster who issued the warning appears to be pushing a “program” known as ViziNova that may be linked to the alleged $80 million WCM777 scam allegedly operated by Phil Ming Xu.
It is common for HYIP hucksters to be in multiple “programs” simultaneously. After “working” a “program” for months and cleaning up with it, the most disingenuous promoters then may turn on the “opportunity,” perhaps particularly if a regulatory action occurs or there is a sense one is imminent.
Such promoters then may try to port entire “teams” to a new scam.
Quick note: There are bizarre reports that imply the $1 million bond posted by the bankruptcy trustee somehow equates to a victory for TelexFree and is being used to fund the defense to the SEC charges.
This is HYIP nonsense of the rankest kind.
See this doc for the real reason for the bond:
http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/ust_org/ustp_manual/docs/Volume_7_Banking_and_Bonding.pdf
Also see this report:
https://patrickpretty.com/2014/06/03/bulletin-feds-say-telexfree-has-disturbingly-cult-like-quality-sec-accuses-faith-sloan-of-lying-to-court/
And this one:
https://patrickpretty.com/2014/04/19/now-zeek-and-adsurfdaily-like-petitions-for-telexfree-bankruptcy-judge-asked-to-bail-out-mlm-program/
Side note: Some TelexFree members are asking for a “bail out” of the “program.”
In HYIP La-La Land, the U.S. government’s bail out of General Motors has been weaponized by scammers as a bizarre means of rationalizing Ponzi schemes. Some HYIP scammers have positioned their “programs” as much-needed relief for private enterprise and even have styled them as bail-out “programs” to try to cherry-pick sympathizers who understand the political code.
When HYIP purveyors start talking about bail outs, what it potentially means is that political extremists and MLM wackos of all stripes are seeking to inject politics into the discussion and make the situation even more murky and confusing.
The tortured “logic” goes something like this:
* GM, a company in financial trouble, received a bail out.
* If GM gets a bailout, so should HYIP “programs” experiencing a cash crunch.
* Not providing a “program” a bailout is “proof” of government hypocrisy.
The nonsense knows no limits in the HYIP sphere. On one day, they’ll claim all commerce is lawful. On the next day, they’ll claim all businesses are Ponzi schemes.
Tony H, one of our longtime readers, memorably has described this as “Ponzi Buzzword Bingo.”
Memory Lane:
https://patrickpretty.com/2009/01/15/breaking-news-more-asd-connected-assets-seized-bowdoin-blamed-company-troubles-on-russian-hackers/comment-page-1/#comment-267
What the willfully blind HYIP Stepfordians ignore is that OneX and AdViewGlobal, an ASD reload scam orchestrated by AdSurfDaily Ponzi schemer Bowdoin, actually put Bowdoin in jail before ASD did.
The Feds were well aware that Bowdoin was a silent partner in AdViewGlobal and also was publicly pitching OneX, and they informed Bowdoin’s lawyers and the judge that they knew.
https://patrickpretty.com/2012/04/30/update-adsurfdailys-andy-bowdoin-faces-may-8-bond-review-hearing/
For additional background, consider that Bowdoin was out on bail in 2011, when he started to push OneX, an obvious pyramid scheme.
https://patrickpretty.com/2011/10/25/developing-story-awaiting-trial-accused-adsurfdaily-schemer-andy-bowdoin-resurfaces-as-pitchman-for-onex-opportunity-flogged-on-ponzi-forums-i-believe-that-god-has-brought-us-onex-to-provide/
Here’s how bizarre it got: Bowdoin pushed OneX right alongside of people he was accused of ripping off in the ASD Ponzi swindle. On a webinar with Bowdoin, one of his fellow OneX promoters called OneX a “bailout” program:
The judge later ordered Bowdoin jailed — this before he was formally sentenced for ASD.
The HYIP world is a cesspit, a gateway to extraordinary and untenable crime. Whether TelexFree’s James Merrill likes it or not, the Feds are asking serious questions about what could happen if he is freed on bail.
What happened when Bowdoin was freed on bail is that he immediately hatched a new scam as a silent partner and relied on some of his old colleagues to help the “program” gain a head of steam — and then he hatched a scheme by which he’d use a pyramid scheme (OneX) to raise money for his criminal defense, again with the help of old colleagues.
Patrick