PatrickPretty.com

Category: Alleged Ponzi Schemes

With A New Month Approaching, PP Blog Again Asks For Donation Assistance From Readers, Encourages Them To Use The Blog’s Tools To Peel Back The Online Fog And Strip Away The Web Thicket That Provides Cover For Fraudsters

Dear Readers, The PP Blog is read each day by Ponzi scheme victims, victims of affinity fraud and various forms of securities fraud and commodities fraud, victims of online scams, researchers, media outlets, members of the antiscam community, financial-services companies and law-enforcement agencies. We are pleased that they turn to the Blog for information. Our…

Aug 27, 2011
Is Ponzi Legend ‘Ken Russo,’ AKA ‘DRdave,’ Now Performing PR Work For Club Asteria In Wake Of Negative Findings By Italian Regulator? Infamous Forum Pitchman Who Claims To Have Received Thousands Of Dollars Via Wire From Firm Posts 854-Word Club Asteria Puff Piece On TalkGold

Club Asteria updated its news website yesterday for the first time since July 21, a period of more than a month. But the Virginia-based company did not address a new order issued Monday by the Italian regulator CONSOB in its three-month-long investigation into how Club Asteria was promoted in Italy. And neither did Club Asteria…

Aug 26, 2011
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Brett Blackman, President Of Collapsed ‘Noobing’ Autosurf, Subjected To $27 Million Judgment In ‘Grants’ Scheme And Banned From Marketing Money-Making ‘Opportunities,’ FTC Says; Blackman Firm Faces Separate $27.2 Million Judgment

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: The price of Brett Blackman’s serial scamming finally has been determined: $54.2 million. Blackman, the president of an autosurf known as “Noobing” that targeted people with hearing impairments, has been subjected to a personal judgment of $27 million and banned from marketing money-making “opportunities,” the FTC said. Blackman also has…

Aug 25, 2011
After Weeks Of Prelaunch Hype And A Month Of Formal Fundraising, Andy Bowdoin Says He Is $480,700 Short Of $500,000 Goal; AdSurfDaily Patriarch And Accused Felon Says In Email That He Has Collected Only $19,300 To Pay For Criminal Defense In $110 Million Ponzi Case

He once had command of legions — and AdSurfDaily members lined by the hundreds and waited in line for hours to pay Andy Bowdoin to give them a chance to “build wealth.” At its peak in the summer of 2008, ASD reportedly was posting tens of millions of dollars a week in revenue. But that…

Aug 25, 2011
UPDATE: CONSOB, Italy’s Securities Regulator, Issues New Order In Probe Related To Club Asteria; Findings And Effect Not Immediately Clear; Google Translation Software Calls CONSOB A ‘Bag’; Yahoo Calls Club A ‘Starfish’; PP Blog Awaits Official Government Translation

Dear Readers, The PP Blog became aware last night that CONSOB, Italy’s equivalent of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), had issued a new order on Monday in its investigation into certain claims made online in Italy about the purported Club Asteria business “opportunity.” Club Asteria has been widely promoted online as a “passive”…

Aug 24, 2011
UPDATE: HYIP Known As ‘Insectrio’ Has Collapsed; Website Of LibertyReserve- And PerfectMoney-Enabled Scheme Pushed On Ponzi Boards Goes Missing; Both Payment-Processing Firms Referenced In SEC’s Complaint Against Imperia Invest IBC

UPDATE: (UPDATED 11:53 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) RealScam.com is reporting that the website of a bizarre HYIP known as “Insectrio” will not resolve. As the PP Blog reported on May 27, Insectrio was emerging as a darling on the Ponzi boards. The purported “opportunity” even used a graphic showing the logos of TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup and DreamTeamMoney…

Aug 22, 2011
AlertPay Says It Was Targeted In DDoS Attack Last Week; Unclear Who Launched Assault; Site Processed Payments For Club Asteria And Other Collapsed HYIP And Money-Cycler ‘Programs’ Promoted On Ponzi Boards

UPDATED 9:45 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) AlertPay, a Canadian payment processor referenced frequently on Ponzi boards such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup, announced on its Blog that it was subjected to a “large” DDoS attack last week that affected customers’ ability to access the site. In a Blog post dated Wednesday, the company said the DDoS attack…

Aug 21, 2011
BULLETIN: ASDCashGenerator Website Now Returns A Server Error; PP Blog Observed Error After Clicking On Link In 2008 ASD Promo That Featured Photo Of Current Club Asteria Pitchman Hank Needham

BULLETIN: (UPDATED 10:16 A.M. EDT (AUG. 22, U.S.A.) As the PP Blog first reported on July 12, the ASDCashGenerator.com domain once controlled by accused Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin had returned online and was promoting a mysterious opportunity known as “Ad Sales Daily International.” But the ASDCashGenerator website now is throwing a server error and returning…

Aug 21, 2011
Andy Bowdoin Claims His ‘Army’ Is ‘Fighting Mad’; Bizarre Fundraising Effort By Accused Ponzi Schemer Whose Firm Has Ties To ‘Sovereign Citizens’ Continues

Thomas A. “Andy” Bowdoin, the accused Florida Ponzi schemer whose firm has ties to “sovereign citizens,” now says his fundraising “Army” is “Fighting Mad and growing fast!” Bowdoin, 76, is accused of presiding over a massive Ponzi scheme involving at least $110 million at Quincy-based AdSurfDaily. He has been using military and Biblical references for…

Aug 19, 2011
MIRACLE? TalkGold Ponzi Forum Rejects Club Asteria Payment Claim From Serial Scammer ‘Ken Russo’ (AKA ‘DRdave’); CA Thread Moved To ‘Closed Programs And Scam Warnings’ Folder

Despite efforts by serial cash-gifting, cycler, HYIP and autosurf pitchman “Ken Russo” to prevent the TalkGold Ponzi forum from moving the 16-month-old Club Asteria thread to the scam folder, TalkGold did exactly that today. “Ken Russo,” known as “DRdave” on TalkGold, posted purported proof that he had been paid through Ponzi-friendly AlertPay on Aug. 5…

Aug 18, 2011
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Triton Financial’s Kurt Barton Found Guilty In Ponzi Scheme That Defrauded People Of Faith, Football Stars, Family Members; Now-Convicted Fraudster May Face Life In Prison; ‘The Con Man Can Be As Brutal As Any Armed Robber,’ FBI Agent Says

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: A jury in Texas has returned dozens of guilty verdicts against Kurt Branham Barton in the Triton Financial LLC case. Barton, 44, potentially faces life in prison after being convicted of 17 counts of money laundering, 15 counts of wire fraud, five counts of making false loan statements, one count of…

Aug 18, 2011