UPDATED 3:33 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Thanks to PP Blog reader “Tony,” who first posted a link to the FCA warning in this story thread on how a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site was being used to promote TelexFree, an alleged pyramid scheme.
In April 2013, the SEC described Profitable Sunrise as a murky offering fraud that may have gathered tens of millions of dollars. SolidTrustPay, a Ponzi-forum darling used by a stunning number of schemes, reportedly was one of the processors used by Profitable Sunrise. Zeek Rewards, alleged last year by the SEC to have been a combined Ponzi- and pyramid scheme that had gathered at least $600 million, also used SolidTrustPay, according to court filings. So did AdSurfDaily, a $119 million Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008. And so did JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid, a “program” purportedly operated by Frederick Mann that has spawned at least three reload scams and, like ASD, may have ties to the “sovereign citizens” movement. “Sovereign citizens” may be gaining a toehold in Canada, one of the bases of SolidTrustPay. (Please note that the “opportunities” referenced above constitute only a small sampling of the HYIP schemes enabled by SolidTrustPay.)
Also see this 2012 Consent Order between the Securities Department of the U.S. state of Arkansas and SolidTrustPay in which SolidTrustPay agreed to pay a $60,000 civil penalty and did not contest findings that it had been operating illegally in the state for years, had processed about $12 million in Arkansas through about 43,600 transactions and had illegally mined more than $331,000 in fees and commissions in the state.
What follows below is the warning on SolidTrustPay issued on Aug. 30, 2013, by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom. From the FCA:
SolidTrust Pay Ltd
Published: 30/08/2013
Almost all firms and individuals offering, promoting or selling financial services or products in the UK have to be authorised by us.
However, some firms act without our authorisation and some knowingly run scams like share fraud.
This firm is not authorised by us but has been targeting people in the UK:
SolidTrust Pay Ltd
Website: www.solidtrustpay.com
How to protect yourself
We strongly advise you to only deal with financial firms that are authorised by us, and check the Financial Services Register to ensure they are. It has information on firms and individuals that are, or have been, regulated by us.
If a firm does not appear on the Register but claims it does, contact our Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768.
There are more steps you should take to protect yourself from unauthorised firms.
You should also be aware that if you give money to an unauthorised firm, you will not be covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong.
Report an unauthorised firm
If you think you have been approached by an unauthorised firm or contacted about a scam, you should contact our Consumer Helpline on 0800 111 6768. If you were offered, bought or sold shares, you can use our share fraud reporting form.
You can see more ways to report an unauthorised firm and find out what to do if you have been scammed.