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Category: Alleged Ponzi Schemes

EDITORIAL: MIXED MLM MESSAGING: As Herbalife Announces FTC Probe, TelexFree Cheerleaders Plant Seed That Obama Gave Their ‘Program’ An Exemption From Securities Laws

UPDATED 12:07 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) You can’t blame legitimate MLMers if they’re feeling a little jittery. Herbalife, one of the industry’s stalwarts, is under investigation by the FTC, which has many duties, including enforcing laws against false advertising and pyramid schemes. Precisely why the FTC is investigating Herbalife is unknown. Hedge-fund manager Bill Ackman says…

Mar 16, 2014
In Alberta, 1 in 3 Report Being Approached With A Possible Fraudulent Investment, Securities Commission Says

Carefully checking and protecting before investing is part of the theme behind Fraud Prevention Month in Alberta, the Alberta Securities Commission said today. As part of its initiative, ASC rolled out a noontime “free lunch” in Calgary. The agency said it used the Mighty Skillet food truck at City Hall “to offer Calgarians a free…

Mar 13, 2014
Quebec Issues Investor Alert On WCM777

UPDATED 6:42 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has issued an Investor Alert on the WCM777 MLM “program.” Quebec’s securities regulator now joins at least nine other jurisdictions issuing Investor Alerts or filing actions against WCM777, also known as World Capital Market, Kingdom777 and Global-Unity. Global-Unity recently used a photo of a…

Mar 11, 2014
Alaska Issues Alert On WCM777; State Asks Local Investors To Contact Division Of Banking And Securities

The WCM777 “program,” also known as Kingdom777 and Global-Unity, is now the subject of an Investor Alert in Alaska. Alaska’s move brings the unofficial total of jurisdictions or regulatory agencies filing actions or issuing Investor Alerts against WCM777 to eight: The country of Peru, the state of Massachusetts, the state of California, the state of…

Mar 10, 2014
CLAIM: TelexFree Reps Took ‘Private Jet’ From Dominican Republic To Haiti And Were Met At Airport By ‘Prime Minister’s’ Motorcade

UPDATED 7:03 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) At a TelexFree pitchfest in a Massachusetts hotel this morning, a man promoting a credit-repair “program” linked to TelexFree claimed that TelexFree reps recently took a “private jet” from the Dominican Republic to Haiti. “I felt like a rockstar,” the man said from the stage. Once on the ground in…

Mar 9, 2014
Spammers Push Bitcoin-Themed Reload Scams

You’ve probably heard about the debacle at Mt. Gox, a Bitcoin exchange. Reuters, meanwhile, is reporting that a Bitcoin bank known as Flexcoin is shutting down after it lost $600,000 to a hacker attack. Elsewhere there are stories about the tragic death of 28-year-old Autumn Radtke, CEO of First Meta Pte Ltd, a Bitcoin exchange.…

Mar 6, 2014
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Zeek Receiver Sues Alleged Insiders, Winners; Emails, Skype Chats Helped Expose Fraud; ‘We’ve Already Attracted A Great Many Big Fishes,’ Wright-Olivares ‘Excitedly’ Told Paul Burks Early In Scheme, Kenneth D. Bell Alleges

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (8th Update 2:40 p.m. ET March 4, U.S.A.) The court-appointed receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid-scheme case has sued alleged insiders and net winners, including members of the 2008 AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. Parts of the complaint read like a re-living of the ASD scheme, with Zeek Receiver Kenneth…

Mar 3, 2014
Were Costa, Nehra No-Shows At TelexFree Confab In Spain? Plus — TelexFree In Haiti

UPDATED 12:23 P.M. ET (MARCH 4, U.S.A.) A 10-hour video of the TelexFree confab in Spain Saturday and Sunday has emerged, apparently a recording of a once-live feed. After being billed as headliners, neither Brazil-based TelexFree executive Carlos Costa nor American MLM lawyer Gerald Nehra appeared on the stage to accept awards. U.S.-based TelexFree marketing…

Mar 3, 2014
MORE FROM MLM LA-LA LAND: Is It A Taunt? Purported Successor Firm To WCM777/Kingdom777 Uses Image Of Golden Pyramid

Updated 6:24 p.m ET (U.S.A.) Members of the WCM777 scam, which morphed into Kingdom777 after regulatory actions were filed, have been informed by a “program” upline that the venture now is operating as Global-Unity, a source told the PP Blog today. Parts of the Global-Unity website appear to be under construction. The “News” tab, for…

Feb 26, 2014
Scrutiny Of TelexFree Intensifies; 2 European Police Agencies Issue Warnings And Say Madeiran Community At Risk

Updated 9:45 a.m. (Feb. 27, 2014, U.S.A.) Police who serve Portuguese-speaking residents in two British Crown dependencies — the States of Jersey and Guernsey — have issued warnings on the TelexFree scheme. News of the warnings was published on BehindMLM.com. Brazil-based TelexFree executive Carlos Costa waved the flags of Portugal and Madeira in a curious…

Feb 26, 2014
UPDATE: Promoters May Be Lobbying TelexFree To Keep Ponzi Scheme Intact

Updated 8:36 a.m. ET (Feb. 26, U.S.A.) Some TelexFree promoters may be lobbying the company and Brazil-based executive Carlos Costa to keep its original Ponzi scheme intact, according to a Blog post (in Portuguese) observed by the PP Blog this morning. BehindMLM.com reported on Feb. 19 that TelexFree may be in the process of changing…

Feb 25, 2014