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Category: The Economy

EDITORIAL: Arguments Of Zeek Winners Continue La-La Land Narrative, But Come As No Surprise In MLM’s HYIP Wing

Many people in the antiscam community applauded Kenneth D. Bell, the receiver for Zeek Rewards, when he sued more than 9,000 individuals more than two years ago for return of their gains from the scheme. Those gains — more than $200 million — came from Ponzi proceeds, Bell alleged. And he pointed out that the…

Aug 18, 2016
Private Attorneys Now Investigating Traffic Monsoon

UPDATED 1:15 P.M. EDT U.S.A. It has happened in previous cases involving alleged violations of federal securities laws, and now it’s happening with Traffic Monsoon. “The Peiffer Rosca Wolf law firm is investigating Traffic Monsoon, LLC and Charles Scoville’s alleged Ponzi scheme on behalf of investors – whom Traffic Monsoon called ‘members,’” the firm said…

Aug 11, 2016
Does Mysterious TrafficMonsoon.plus Domain Have A Bogus Comodo Security Logo?

The last time the PP Blog covered something such as this was in February 2015. That’s when “Moore Fund,” a preposterous Ponzi-board “program” that later vanished with an unknown haul, was using a “Norton Secured” logo unauthorized by Symantec to fool the masses. Unfortunately, the masses included members of The Achieve Community, who’d already been ripped…

Aug 10, 2016
BULLETIN: Utah Division of Securities Rejects Claims In Traffic Monsoon Promo That Scheme Had Been Given Clean Bill Of Health

BULLETIN: The Utah Division of Securities — the state-level regulator — has rejected online claims that the agency had investigated Traffic Monsoon and had given it a clean bill of health. Federal regulators sued Traffic Monsoon and alleged operator Charles Scoville last week, alleging Ponzi fraud, securities fraud and the sale of unregistered securities to…

Aug 5, 2016
Some Traffic Monsoon Promoters Are Zeek Clawback Defendants

UPDATED 11:51 A.M. EDT U.S.A. Zeek Rewards’ receiver Kenneth D. Bell had no comment this morning on reports that some Zeek clawback defendants also were participants in Traffic Monsoon, alleged last week by the SEC to have been a Ponzi scheme that had gathered at least $207 million. The reports appeared on RealScam.com. In March…

Aug 5, 2016
SEC: Claims That Traffic Monsoon Was A Successful Advertising Business ‘Merely An Illusion’

“The complaint alleges that more than 99% of Traffic Monsoon’s revenue is derived from new investor funds, making claims that it is a successful advertising business merely an illusion.” — U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, July 28, 2016 EDITOR’S NOTE: This (below) is the full litigation statement of the SEC on its Ponzi case against…

Jul 28, 2016
TRAFFIC MONSOON: Whack-A-Mole — For Sure

News came early this morning that the SEC had moved against Traffic Monsoon, calling it a Ponzi scheme. Both the “program” and alleged operator Charles Scoville were charged civilly yesterday in Utah federal court with securities fraud and selling unregistered securities to unaccredited investors. Scoville also was the braintrust behind AdHitProfits, a Ponzi-board “program” in part…

Jul 27, 2016
REPORT: SEC Moves Against ‘TrafficMonsoon,’ Calls It A Ponzi

The SEC has filed a lawsuit against the Traffic Monsoon “program” and called it a Ponzi scheme that had gathered $207 million, the Salt Lake Tribune is reporting. The assets of Traffic Monsoon and alleged operator Charles Scoville have been frozen, the newspaper reports. On June 1, the PP Blog reported that Payza — a payment…

Jul 27, 2016
EDITORIAL: With Conviction Of Zeek’s Burks, Another Senior MLMer Faces Prospect Of Decades In Prison

UPDATED 4:31 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Zeek Rewards was always inexcusably horrid, fueled by serial willful blindness and the sort of practiced disingenuousness that props up so many MLM “programs.” In dollar volume, Zeek ended up being more than seven times larger than the $119 million AdSurfDaily MLM Ponzi scheme that put ASD operator Andy Bowdoin in federal…

Jul 24, 2016
‘Guaranteed50KIn30Days’ Was ‘Pyramid Promotion Scheme’: Nebraska Attorney General

“Guaranteed50KIn30Days” and associated programs were “pyramid promotion schemes” that depended on recruitment rather than product sales to “ultimate-user consumers,” investigators from the office of Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson said today. The PP Blog wrote about the schemes in July 2013 — in part because they were being pushed by affiliates who also pushed the Profitable…

Jul 22, 2016
IMPORTANT: Statement From TelexFree Trustee On Sept. 26 Claims Deadline

UPDATED 11:23 A.M. EDT U.S.A. DEC. 22, 2016: The claims deadline has been extended from Dec. 31, 2016 to March 15, 2017, at 4:30 p.m. Prevailing Eastern Time. This marks the second deadline extension. Claims must be filed at TelexFreeClaims.com. Our brief on the earlier deadline is below: **_________________** The claims information below was received July…

Jul 22, 2016