PatrickPretty.com

Category: Alleged Ponzi Schemes

  • ‘GooBets,’ Cross-Border Fraud Scheme, Emerges

    2ND UPDATE 2:19 P.M. EDT U.S.A. A “program” known as “GooBets” that appears to be targeting speakers of Portuguese and English has emerged. BehindMLM.com broke the news this morning. After observing the GooBets site, the PP Blog sought comment from the National Football League and the National Basketball Association. That’s because GooBets is using the…

  • Lawyer Linked To Zeek Rewards Scheme Disbarred

    A California attorney alleged to have stolen at least $800,000 that originated in Zeek Rewards while serving as counsel for a Zeek financial vendor has been formally disbarred. The California Supreme Court issued the order against Scott Stone Mehler on Feb. 23, according to the docket of the case. Mehler was an attorney for Plastic…

  • ‘Bacon’ Crumbles — And Yet Props Up MAPS

    EDITOR’S NOTE: The interconnectivity of fraud schemes is one of the core dangers of the HYIP sphere. Stolen proceeds continually cycle between and among scams, making banks and payment vendors virtual warehouses for cross-border criminals and their serial enablers. The problem may be intensifying. More and more HYIP schemes appear to be using script kits…

  • Another Rodney Blackburn ‘Program’ DOA

    4th Update 1:15 p.m. EDT U.S.A. “Daily-Earnings,” yet another Ponzi-board scheme pushed by Achieve Community huckster Rodney Blackburn, appears to have met its demise. The “https” dotcom for Daily-Earnings is publishing a “Your web space is ready to go!” message, suggesting front-page content has been moved from the site. Not all pages of the site,…

  • DEVELOPING STORY: Thai Police Bust ‘UFunClub,’ Yet Another Cross-Border Network-Marketing Program; Case May Involve $307 Million

    UPDATED 9:10 A.M. EDT U.S.A. It’s whack-a-mole via MLM or network marketing — again. There are reports in Thai media about a major pyramid/Ponzi bust involving a cross-border “program” known as “UFunClub.” (See links below.) No American suspects appear to have been arrested or named so far, but Americans have promoted UFunClub. One of them,…

  • GlobalNews.ca: Pyramid Scheme Was Operating Out Of British Columbia Nursing Home

    Two senior managers at the St. Michael’s Centre nursing home in Burnaby allegedly were running a pyramid scheme targeted at women and have been fired, GlobalNews.ca is reporting. Workers — rather than residents — were the apparent targets. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating, the publication reported. Whether the scheme was operating as a…

  • Did Internal Ponzi Cause Bramer Bank Of Mauritius To Crumble?

    EDITOR’S NOTE: On May 10, 2012, on the news site of Zeek Rewards, the Rex Venture Group-operated “program” based in Lexington, N.C., announced it was moving part of its customer-service operation to Mauritius. Mauritius is an Indian Ocean island nation with a population of about 1.3 million. Zeek did not identify the Mauritius outsourcing company.…

  • COURTING TROUBLE: In Bogus Promo, Obama Shown As Pitchman For ‘MyAdvertisingPays’

    Depicting then-President George W. Bush as a fan of the AdSurfDaily MLM HYIP “program” backfired in spectacular fashion in 2008, drawing the attention of the U.S. Secret Service. Federal agents eventually seized more than $80 million in an asset-forfeiture case. ASD President Andy Bowdoin, accused of operating a cross-border Ponzi scheme, was indicted. He later…

  • UPDATE: IntellaShares Now Under Scrutiny By Save The Children

    IntellaShares, a collapsed “program” with a presence on the Ponzi boards and purportedly prepping for “relaunch,” now is under scrutiny by Save the Children. Jeremy Soulliere, a spokesman for Save the Children USA, confirmed the inquiry to the PP Blog this morning. Save the Children USA is an arm of Save the Children Federation Inc.,…

  • SEC Declines Comment On ‘IntellaShares’ And Its Purported ‘BLACKLIST’; Ponzi-Board ‘Program’ Trades On Name Of Save The Children

    UPDATED 11:31 A.M. EDT U.S.A. In 2010, the Federal Trade Commission took action against an online venture known as iWorks. This allegation appeared on Page 7 of the FTC’s Dec. 21, 2010 complaint: “They have also attempted to drive down their chargeback rates by threatening to report consumers who seek chargebacks to an Internet consumer…

  • BULLETIN: Receiver Sues USHBB Inc., Maker Of Zeek Videos — And Ties Firm To AdSurfDaily Ponzi Scheme

    9th UPDATE 9:01 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Indianapolis-based USHBB Inc. and three of its principals — James A. Moore, Robert Mecham and Oscar H. Brown — have been sued by the court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case. Receiver Kenneth D. Bell alleges USHBB, a producer of videos, also did work for the…