Category: Writing And Branding

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. Nor did it say who had recommended it or explain precisely why it had chosen Mauritius.

“First and foremost, we are over-doubling our current affiliate services staff both in-house and in Atlanta and are bringing on an overseas branch in Mauritius to manage 24/7 inquires,” Zeek said. “Since we have affiliates in so many countries and support tickets come in around the clock, we will have operators training on the opposite side of the planet shortly, which is a very exciting development.”

It is unclear if Zeek ever sent money to an outsourcing firm in Mauritius. Although it is known that Zeek used offshore payment vendors, nothing in the public record suggests these were based in Mauritius.

On Aug. 17, 2012, a little more than three months after Zeek announced its Mauritius support operation, the SEC described Zeek as a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that had gathered hundreds of millions of dollars.

**_____________________**

UPDATED 9:15 A.M. APRIL 4 EDT U.S.A. Did a $693 million internal Ponzi scheme at Bramer Bank in the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius cause the bank to crumble?

Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth used the term “Ponzi” when describing the bank, Reuters reported today. (In a 4:44 4sWeb Tv video on YouTube dated today, the prime minister can be heard saying “Ponzi scheme” at about the 1:22 mark.)

On April 2, the Bank of Mauritius, the central bank of the nation of about 1.3 million people, revoked Bramer’s banking license and appointed a receiver.

This was followed today by the suspension of Bramer’s securities on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius.

Troubles at Bramer had an immediate ripple effect. The Financial Services Commission of Mauritius appointed a conservator over BAI Co (Mtius) Ltd., an insurance company operating under the same umbrella company as the bank. “BAI” stands for British American Investment.

Ponzi-scheme cases often have confusing — if not wild — backstories and sidebars.

The video below was published under a “BramerBank” account on YouTube on Nov. 17, 2014. It depicts Bramer in a highly favorable light, reporting on an award the bank received from Global Finance Magazine, an American publication. The video appears to have been produced by MBC, the public-broadcasting company of Mauritius. The Ponzi allegations would surface only months later.

A Facebook site of Bramer appears now to be inaccessible or to have gone missing. Google cache, however, shows a March 31 post attributed to “Bramer Banking Corporation.” The post claims Bramer had been the subject of criminally “malicious comments” on Facebook and that the bank had filed a report with police.

The screen shot below shows the cached post:

Just two days before regulators shut it down, Bramer Bank claimed on Facebook that it was being smeared.

Authorities in Mauritius appear to have moved aggressively against the firm within the next 48 hours.

The central bank said it had conducted an on-site examination of Bramer “from 22 January to 20 February 2015.

“On 27 February 2015, the Bank conveyed to [Bramer] a number of significant deficiencies (going back to 2012) that had been noted during the examination,” the central bank continued.

In revoking the license, the central bank said it “considers that [Bramer] has been carrying on business in a manner which is contrary or detrimental to the interest of its depositors and the public. The [central] Bank also considers that the conditions prevailing at [Bramer] pose serious systemic risks to the domestic financial system.”

Apr 3, 2015
COURTING TROUBLE: In Bogus Promo, Obama Shown As Pitchman For ‘MyAdvertisingPays’

On April 2, a video depicting President Obama as a fan of the MyAdvertisingPays “program” appeared on YouTube. An “Obama voice” was dubbed into the video, which also shows the Presidential Seal. Text below the video reads, “Mr. President speaks about the new advertising revolution.”

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 pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

Bush left the White House in January 2009, after Barack Obama was elected President. By August 2010, according to the FTC, “medical discount” hucksters were trading on Obama’s image.

By September 2010, contrived images of Obama appeared in sales promos for the MPB Today MLM “program.”

MPB Today operator Gary Calhoun later was charged with racketeering. Assets were seized. A conviction followed.

In 2013, with Obama now in his second term, he was depicted in a promo as a pitchman for a scheme known as Ultimate Power Profits. That “program” had promoters in common with Zeek Rewards, which the SEC described in 2012 as a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that had gathered hundreds of millions of dollars.

Against this backdrop, a YouTube video that appeared online today positioned Obama as a pitchman for MyAdvertisingPays, a Ponzi-board scheme like ASD, MPB Today, Ultimate Power Profits, Zeek and many others.

News about the 0:33 MAPS’ video titled “My Advertising Pays, Obama” first appeared on the RealScam.com antiscam forum.

MAPS already may be on borrowed time. That’s because MAPS has links to both the Zeek and TelexFree schemes. TelexFree, alleged to have gathered more than $1.8 billion, also traded on the illusion the U.S. government backed the “program.”

The video for MAPS puts MAPS-friendly words into the President’s mouth.

“My AdvertisingPays pays its members every 20 minutes,” a mimicked voice of Obama’s says. “I highly recommend you to join MyAdvertisingPays.”

The video concludes with, “God bless MyAdvertisingPays.”

Apr 2, 2015
UPDATE: IntellaShares Now Under Scrutiny By Save The Children

From the IntellaShares website.

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., the internationally prominent charity.

“We are going to look into this matter further,” Soulliere wrote.

The PP Blog reported yesterday that IntellaShares was publishing a graphic of a check on its website that implied a donation of $478 had been made or will be made to “Save The Children Foundation.” The memo line of the check reads, “Charity Spotlight – Feb/2015.”

Text accompanying the check reads, “The Following Amount Will Be Donated For the Period Feb. 17-28/2015. Thank You To All Members For Making This Possible!”

Another page on the IntellaShares website claims that the “program” donates “20% of Total Collected Membership Fees to THE FEATURED CHARITY.”

This potentially means that Save the Children will not be the sole nonprofit whose name gets dangled by IntellaShares. The site suggests that the Global Music Project was the featured charity last month.

Separately, BehindMLM.com, which covers emerging MLM frauds, reported yesterday that IntellaShares appeared to be threatening “disputers” and people who asked too many questions with entry on a “BLACKLIST” that “will be available to program owners only.”

Precisely who controls the purported blacklist wasn’t specified by IntellaShares. The language, however, was menacing.

“So be careful what you do now it could result in loss of ability to become a member of any program in short order,” IntellaShares advised members, according to BehindMLM.

A post on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum today includes content attributed to IntellaShares. It declares “[t]oday is a beautiful day in the internet world” because “INTELLASHARES WILL BE OPEN FOR NEW SIGN UPS AND FUNDING TODAY!”

This hashtag was attributed to IntellaShares: “#TOOBADABOUT30PEOPLEWEREBLACKLISTED.”

At least one Ponzi-board poster was not amused.

“They think that threatening people can suppress peoples opinion, that doesn’t sound like people that are for the people,” the poster ventured. “Sounds like facism to me. What a joke.”

Scams trading on the Ponzi boards and on social-media sites such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are infamous for trying to enforce rigid thinking and mute criticism — sometimes by threat. At the same time, it is not unusual for such schemes to use the names of a famous charity or famous for-profit business as part of a bid to create a veneer of legitimacy.

IntellaShares, which plants the seed “program” participants will receive $3.25 for every $2.50 they send in, appears to have collapsed shortly after launch earlier this year.

Thuggery is not unusual in the HYIP sphere of MLM or network marketing.

In early 2014, a “program” known as Banners Brokers threatened to lock the accounts of members “found to be contributing to the negativity on the Internet.” Participants further were threatened with a forfeiture of earnings and encouraged to report doubters to management.

Banners Broker tried to sugarcoat its thuggery by calling it an effort to implement a “Community Watch” program.

By October 2014, documents filed by the the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in July 2014 surfaced. These documents described Banners Broker as a “pyramid scheme that over time evolved into a straight Ponzi scheme in which new victims were recruited to stave off requests for withdrawals and complaints from older ones.”

Investigative documents in Canada describe Banners Broker as a “criminal enterprise.” The U.S. Secret Service used the same phrase when describing the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme.

Like Banners Broker and ASD, IntellaShares purports to be an “advertising” program.

IntellaShares may be trying to skirt securities laws by claiming on its website that “REVENUE SHARING IS NOT GUARANTEED.”

ASD, which once purported to have gifted 100,000 “ad packs” to a charitable venture, made a similar claim in 2008 . So did the Zeek Rewards scheme in 2012.

Both ASD and Zeek collapsed after interventions by law enforcement.

The SEC yesterday declined to comment on IntellaShares.

Apr 2, 2015
British Columbia Bans U.S. Resident From Securities Market, Says She Was Pushing Fraud Schemes For Commissions
The British Columbia Securities Commission, which regulates securities in the Canadian province, has banned a U.S. resident who allegedly promoted a series of schemes on commission.

“Sharon Downing has admitted that she engaged in an illegal distribution of securities,” BCSC said.

Downing, according to BCSC, promoted schemes for Thomas Arthur Williams and six entities engaged in raising money illegally.

Some of the cash went to persons with criminal records or who were securities-fraud recidivists, BCSC charged, describing money movement as akin to a Ponzi scheme.

The agency identified the companies as:
- Global Wealth Creation Opportunities Inc.
- Global Wealth Creation Opportunities Inc. (Belize).
- Global Wealth Financial Inc.
- Global Wealth Creation Strategies Inc.
- CDN Global Wealth Creation Club RW-TW.
- 2002 Concepts Inc.
The case demonstrates that persons living in the United States who push illegal schemes based in Canada can be charged by provincial regulators.

Downing not only pushed the schemes for commission as a “finder,” she also invested in them, BCSC said.

“Downing invested $60,000 of her own money in the Global Group of Companies and has no reasonable prospect of its recovery,” the agency said in a settlement agreement with her.

All in all, Downing drove $180,000 in business to the Global entities, receiving $3,231 in commissions, the agency said.

Williams, BCSC said in 2014 when he and the Global entities were charged, is a British Columbia resident who was “the directing mind, director and officer” of the purported opportunities.

The 2014 notice alleged that “Williams made promises to investors, including that their investments were shielded from securities laws, that he would provide returns of at least 2% interest per month with a potentially higher interest rate on a ‘best efforts’ basis, and that he would preserve the integrity of their funds.”

It is somewhat common for scammers to claim that securities laws do not apply to the investment programs they are offering.

“During the relevant period, none of the respondents were registered under the Act in any capacity, and the Global Group of Companies has never filed a prospectus in respect of the distribution of its securities,” BCSC said.

The schemes “raised approximately $11.7 million from 123 investors between February 2007 and April 2010,” BCSC alleged.

And, the agency charged, “Williams invested about $5.8 million of investor funds with individuals and companies introduced by or connected to persons who had criminal or regulatory histories of securities fraud. Williams did not inform investors about the fraudulent background of the people he was dealing with, nor did he receive any returns or principal from any of the investments he made.

“Williams did not inform his investors that none of his investments produced any returns, but rather continued to raise more money from investors, provided monthly statements showing fictitious returns of up to 4% on their investments, and paid ‘interest’ and principal payments to some investors from other investors’ money,” BCSC said.

Under the settlement agreement, Downing will pay BCSC the $3,231 in commissions she had posted.

The agreement also prohibits her “from trading in securities (with limited exceptions), and from becoming or acting as a promoter or registrant for a period of three years. Downing is also banned, for the same period, from acting in a management or consultative capacity in connection with the securities market, and from engaging in investor relations activities.”
Apr 1, 2015
SEC Declines Comment On ‘IntellaShares’ And Its Purported ‘BLACKLIST’; Ponzi-Board ‘Program’ Trades On Name Of Save The Children

IntellaShares reportedly is threatening members who file disputes — all while trading on the name of Save The Children. Photo source: 4/1/2015 screen shot from website of IntellaShares.

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 blacklist they operate called ‘BadCustomer.com’ that will ‘result in member merchants blocking [the consumer] from making future purchases online!’”

BehindMLM.com is reporting today that a “program” known as “IntellaShares” appears to be threatening participants with entry on a “BLACKLIST.”

IntellaShares appears to have launched earlier this year and then experienced a prompt collapse. Despite this, the “program” claims on its website that it has or will donate $478 to the “Save The Children Foundation.”

It is unclear if IntellaShares actually was referring to Save the Children Federation Inc., the internationally prominent Connecticut charity that operates at SaveTheChildren.org.

BehindMLM has described IntellaShares as a “$2.50 micro Ponzi investment scheme.”

The “program” has a presence on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums such as MoneyMakerGroup. There are assertions of an imminent “relaunch.”

So far this year, the SEC has taken actions against two Ponzi-board “programs”: Achieve Community and Wings Network. In Congressional testimony on March 19, the agency said it is targeting scams that operate “under the guise of ‘multi-level marketing’ and ‘network marketing’ opportunities.”

Such scams may use social media such as forums, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook to target marks. Some may imply they are linked to a charity or perform good deeds with money sent in by participants.

In 2009, for instance, a Ponzi scheme known as AdViewGlobal purported to be involved in an effort to preserve the rain forest. AdViewGlobal, which was a knockoff of the 2008 AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, later disappeared.

Like IntellaShares, AdViewGlobal purported to be in the “advertising” business. It also had a presence on the Ponzi boards.

In 2011, a Ponzi-board “program” known as “Club Asteria” promised weekly payouts of up to 8 percent while trading on the name of the American Red Cross. During the same year, a TalkGoldPonzi forum promoter pitching both Club Asteria and a separate scam known as JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid (730 percent a year) claimed that filing disputes with payment processors meant that “all members will suffer.”

IntellaShares may be operating out of New York.

The SEC this morning declined to comment on IntellaShares. The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Update 11:31 a.m. The FTC said this morning that it “hasn’t brought any enforcement actions involving IntellaShares.”

Whether it would remains an open question. The agency has an aggressive enforcement history when consumers end up on the receiving end of threats or are duped into joining work-at-home “programs.”

Apr 1, 2015
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 AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme “and one or more other failed MLM operations.”

Though not referenced specifically in the complaint, one of those operations was “NarcThatCar,” a bizarre pyramid scheme that collapsed in 2010.

Bell raised concerns months ago that some MLMers or network marketers simply were proceeding from scheme to scheme to scheme. The receiver previously tied alleged Zeek winner Todd Disner to the ASD Ponzi scheme.

Not only did USHBB and its principals mine $676,848 from Zeek for producing videos and marketing materials that duped vast numbers of Zeek participants, Moore, Mecham and Brown piled up hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit profits as Zeek affiliates, Bell charged.

Brown, better known as O.H. Brown, used “ushbb” as his Zeek affiliate name and amassed $168,642.70, Bell alleged.

Moore scored $109,130.64 under multiple usernames, including “geniweb” and “ttm,” Bell alleged.

Mecham piled up “at least $868,542.17 through his shell companies Five Star Marketing, LLC and The End Media, LLC, under multiple usernames, including ‘napier2’ and ‘theend,’” Bell alleged.

Moore resides in Indianapolis, according to the complaint. Mecham is a resident of Bountiful, Utah, and Brown lives in Mount Pleasant, S.C.

Mecham and Brown received transfers of $25,000 each from a Zeek “insider” in August 2012, the same month Zeek collapsed, according to the complaint.

Brown, according to the complaint, potentially knew that the SEC was looking at Zeek in June 2012 and dashed off a panicked email to Zeek executive Dawn Wright-Olivares.

What appears to have happened, according to the complaint, was that a technology company with which USHBB did business was contacted by the SEC, prompting Brown to tell Olivares:

“Heads up!!!! Our IT partners, RMR development received a telephone call from the SEC today regarding yougetpaidtoadvertise and what organizations were associated. This was a very short call I am told. Not sure what will come of this but this is an alarm at least that the government is looking. We need to get squeaky clean and quick!”

Olivares, charged civilly by the SEC and criminally by federal prosecutors in the Western District of North Carolina in 2013, allegedly shared inside information with USHBB and Brown.

From the receiver’s complaint (italics added):

Further, the Defendants were involved in the Zeek scheme’s operation and the Insiders’ decisionmaking. For example, in August 2011, ZeekRewards adjusted some of the terminology it used publicly in an attempt to disguise the “Compounder” as a legitimate retail profit sharing mechanism. The Compounder’s name was changed to the “Retail Profit Pool,” but the substance of this investment vehicle did not change. USHBB was or should have been fully aware of this deceitfulness in which it participated.

In a June 24, 2011 email, Dawn Wright-Olivares wrote to O.H. Brown regarding a webinar that USHBB had created for Zeek: “I started to do minor edits . . . ([Y]ou’ll see them where I started to say Retail Profit Pool) lol instead of Compounder . . . . ” She further wrote to Brown: “the silent cap [for bid expiration] reality will be 125% but we can’t SAY it as you know.”

Wright-Olivares pleaded guilty to investment-fraud conspiracy and tax-fraud conspiracy in February 2014.

Consistent with USHBB’s “dubious track record” in ASD and other schemes, the company and its principals “assisted the ZeekRewards scheme by creating multiple videos that served as promotional tools for ZeekRewards,” Bell alleged.

Titles included:
- “One Penny Billionaire.”
- “You Get Paid to Advertise.”
- “Got 20 Seconds.”
- “The Dog Gone Truth.”
- “Spin the Wheel.”
“The videos were carefully produced to mislead and deceive victims into participating in the scheme, convincing victims that with minimal effort they could earn significant financial returns from the Zeek scheme,” Bell alleged.

And, he alleged, “These videos assisted the Insiders in promoting the alleged ease with which affiliates could earn passive profits by investing in the scheme and selling membership in the scheme to others. Affiliates were told to mention the ZeekRewards program to a prospective affiliate or advertise it on a web page, and then email or otherwise provide them a link to the USHBB videos, which upon information and belief convinced other unwary victims to sign on . . .

“The videos were a key component in proliferating the RVG Ponzi scheme, causing significantly more victims and financial loss than otherwise would have occurred absent Defendants’ actions.”

RVG stands for Rex Venture Group, the alleged operator of Zeek. It was controlled by Paul R. Burks of Lexington, N.C. Burks also has been charged criminally.

ASD was a $119 million Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008. NarcThatCar was a “program” that purported to pay MLM “program” members to recruit other members and to record the license-plate numbers of vehicles parked at restaurant chains, big-box retailers, universities, doctors’ offices and throughout neighborhoods from coast to coast.

The information purportedly would be entered into a database that could assist the U.S. Department of Homeland Security locate terrorists and lenders repossess automobiles. The bizarre scheme disappeared after it caught the attention of the Better Business Bureau and investigative journalists.

Bell is seeking treble damages and the return of ill-gotten gains from the USHBB defendants.

NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.
Mar 27, 2015
Registration Page At TelexMOB Triggers ‘Web Forgery’ Warning In Firefox Browser

Late last night the PP Blog visited the registration page of the emerging and bizarrely named “TelexMOB” scheme, which appears to be targeting victims of the alleged TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid scheme. Our earlier story is here.

The page now is triggering a “Web Forgery” warning in the Firefox browser. Such warnings may be associated with phishing schemes.

Here is the lion’s share of text from the warning (italics added):

Reported Web Forgery!

This web page at register.telexmob.com has been reported as a web forgery and has been blocked based on your security preferences.

Web forgeries are designed to trick you into revealing personal or financial information by imitating sources you may trust.

Entering any information on this web page may result in identity theft or other fraud.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission declined this morning to comment on TelexMOB. Like TelexFree before it, the emerging scheme appears to be targeting speakers of Portuguese and English.

Promos for TelexMOB already are appearing on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. Precisely who is operating the “program” and from where are unknown.

BehindMLM.com reported earlier today that TelexMOB “has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market affiliate membership to the company itself ($60-$1250).”

Mar 24, 2015
Now, ‘TelexMOB’

UPDATED 11:25 A.M. EDT U.S.A. Something calling itself “TelexMOB” has established a web presence this month. A logo resembling that of TelexFree — an alleged Ponzi- and pyramid scheme said to have gathered $1.8 billion across national borders — appears on the site.

BehindMLM.com was first with the news today.

The PP Blog has sent requests for comment to three government agencies and to Stephen B. Darr, the court-appointed trustee in the TelexFree bankruptcy case. The Blog will post the responses, if received.

Update 10:10 a.m. EDT U.S.A. “I have no comment, since I have no knowledge of TelexMOB,” Darr said in an email this morning.

Update 11:25 a.m. EDT U.S.A. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission this morning declined to comment on TelexMOB. (Original story continues below . . .)

It is not unusual for knockoff schemes to emerge in the HYIP sphere in the aftermath of a collapse, a disappearing act or a government action. Examples of this include the infamous JSSTripler 2 scheme, a scam riding on the name of the JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid scheme, which advertised an annual return of 730 percent in 2012.

Content appears on the TelexMOB website in English and Portuguese. Some of the English is fractured. A 16-page pdf handout on the site is written in Portuguese. The last two words in the pdf, however, are in English.

“Welcome Back,” it reads, potentially a direct appeal to TelexFree participants.

The site appears to be using a New Zealand privacy service. The servers may be in the United States.

JSSTripler 2 was memorable for reasons beyond its knockoff name. In January 2012, for example, it sparked legendary HYIP huckster Faith Sloan to call “Ken Russo,” another legendary huckster, a “crybaby.”

A claim of Dengue Fever accompanied the JSSTripler2 scheme.

Sloan published a JSSTripler 2 earnings calculator. She’d later become a defendant in the SEC’s civil case against TelexFree, filed in April 2014.

Mar 24, 2015

March PP Blog Subscription Post

NOTE: This post originally was published March 4 at 1:07 p.m. It will remain in this slot for several days. New posts will appear below it.

Dear Readers,

As was the case with our 2,500th-post commemoration in November, there are four subscription options. In the spirit of that post and the 6th anniversary post in January, I’m returning to the “penny a post” theme. We’re asking readers who believe in what this Blog is doing to take out a one-year subscription for either $25, $50, $75 or $100.

The $25 fee constitutes a penny a post for our current editorial well of 2,500+ articles. There’s a pull-down menu in case you decide you’d like personally to value the editorial well at 2 cents a post ($50), 3 cents a post ($75) or 4 cents a post ($100).

It is my hope that newer readers who can afford to subscribe will do so at either the $25 or $50 levels. The higher options may be best suited for readers and researchers who’ve been with us a long time and perhaps have read hundreds or even thousands of stories.

Because the Blog’s well is so deep, we’re able to provide readers additional context. You’ll often find this reflected in “quick notes” in the Comments threads below stories. The notes point readers to stories on the same topic or to stories that have a similar theme.

The Blog, of course, also points readers to other sources of information.

There is no paywall at the PP Blog. By purchasing a subscription that automatically renews in one year, you’ll be helping me personally. And, as I noted in November, you’ll be helping a Blog that publishes hundreds of stories a year and keeps matters important to readers a bookmark away remain free for other readers.

This “penny-a-post” idea has helped me scotch the very real concern about affecting readership by offering subscriptions. The readers who subscribe will be helping keep the Blog free for those who cannot afford to subscribe and for those who simply choose not to.

Our readers of goodwill recognize the PP Blog as a persistent effort to contain harm and to educate the public about matters that destroy pocketbooks and families and, in some cases, affect national security.

My sincere thank you for your continued interest in the PP Blog.

Patrick

Mar 17, 2015

‘MyAdvertisingPays’ And A Bromide Thrice Vomited

It turns out that a hackneyed expression currently in play within MyAdvertisingPays (MAPS) is a lightly remixed version of one used in the collapsed Zeek Rewards and Achieve Community schemes.

Will this thrice-vomited bromide become a kiss of death for MAPS?

Back before the SEC shut down Zeek in 2012, the $897 million scheme traded in part on “If you want things in your life to change, you have to change things in your life.”

With Achieve prior to its shutdown by the SEC last month, it was “If you do not GO after what you want, you’ll never have it.”

On Twitter, a promoter of the emerging MAPS scheme is prospecting for recruits with a similar line. “If you want something you’ve never had, then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done!”

The PP Blog reported on March 9 that the name of MAPS appears in a TelexFree-related class-action lawsuit originally filed in federal court in New York and later transferred to Massachusetts. Even though MAPS isn’t named a defendant, it is clear that both private lawyers and government lawyers are aware of MAPS.

With an alleged haul of more than $1.8 billion, TelexFree likely is the largest MLM HYIP fraud of all time. Zeek, the previous title-holder in terms of its alleged haul, probably now is second. Both schemes may have created hundreds of thousands of victims.

Zeek’s receiver currently is involved in an international paper chase to round up assets for victims. Some of the money allegedly was routed to the Cook Islands (South Pacific) through a California company and then used to buy property in the Turks and Caicos (North Atlantic).

MAPS, which appears to have a paper presence on the Caribbean island of Anguilla but likely operates from the United States, recently claimed to have “110676+ Users.” Given its business model and the presence of serial promoters of fraud schemes in its membership ranks, MAPS very well could be a litigation target-in-the-making.

Regardless, many MLM HYIP Ponzi promoters will pretend that the membership should not be concerned — as they did with Zeek and Achieve Community.

Mar 13, 2015
UPDATE: ‘Automatic Mobile Cash’ Tanks

“Automatic Mobile Cash,” pushed on YouTube by “Achieve Community” hucksters Rodney Blackburn and Mike Chitty, has tanked, according to chatter on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum.

MMG poster “im the man,” citing information from SolidTrustPay, claimed yesterday that SolidTrustPay had blocked AMC’s ability “to accept deposits or make withdraws.” Other information in the 16-page, 226-post MMG thread suggests AMC was making selective payouts through SolidTrustPay and Payza at the beginning of March.

Blackburn and Chitty were representatives of something called the “Legendary Income Solutions Team” or LIST, often mixing promos for Achieve Community with appeals for viewers to get on board the LIST train and enroll in various HYIP schemes. YouTube appears to have banned Chitty. Blackburn deleted a number of his pitches for HYIP fraud schemes, and now is suggesting he’s returned to his roots in traditional MLM.

The PP Blog reported last week that Blackburn was touting a “tea” known as “laso,” amid claims it “mitigates” HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

On Feb. 18, the SEC described Achieve Community as a pyramid- and Ponzi scheme that had gathered more than $3.8 million. A federal judge granted an asset freeze. Criminal investigations into Achieve Community reportedly also are under way.

Chitty claimed AMC paid a “dividend.” Blackburn claimed his good friend Chitty was making “3,000 a month” from AMC.

“That’s some ridiculous money,” he said.

In addition, Blackburn published various “earnings” extrapolations for AMC. One claimed that the purchase of 100 “packages” for $2,500 from AMC turned into $73,000 in a year.

In January, Blackburn dared the SEC to investigate Achieve Community and other programs he was pushing. Whether he’ll dare the Federal Trade Commission or the Food and Drug Administration to investigate the laso health claims was not immediately clear.

The laso tea is one of the offerings of an MLM “program” known as “Total Life Changes.”

After Blackburn’s SEC dare, a “program” known as “TrinityLines” that traded on the name of God and allusions to Scripture went missing.

Blackburn also was promoting “MooreFund,” an obvious fraud purportedly operating from the United Kingdom. He also threw in with “Rockfeller,” an obvious fraud trading on the name of the famous Rockefeller family.

“BRING THE BACON HOME” and “Unison Wealth” also were in the stable. The “bacon” program now has carded at least its second failed launch, and reportedly has a plan to launch again tomorrow. Unison Wealth, meanwhile, appears to have developed problems.

Mar 10, 2015