PatrickPretty.com

Tag: Better Business Bureau

Alleged Bid To Gag Customers Leads To FTC Lawsuit Against Florida Seller Of ‘Unproven Weight-Loss Products’

Let’s say you’re a direct-seller and manage to persuade yourself that trying to threaten and intimidate your own customers is a good business practice. How might you accomplish this? Well, the FTC alleged today that Florida-based Roca Labs Inc. and Roca Labs Nutraceutical USA Inc. inserted “gag clause provisions” in purported customer agreements in a…

Sep 28, 2015
EDITORIAL: Uber Isn’t MLM, But It Sure Acts Like It

We’ll begin by pointing out that Uber, the popular ride-sharing company and darling of venture capitalists, is not an MLM firm. But it sure is acting like one, even briefly vomiting one of MLM’s most familiar and reflexive responses to critics: HatersGonnaHate. Can MLM enterprises and MLMers in general learn from Uber’s bizarre missteps? You…

Nov 20, 2014
TelexFree, WCM777 (Etc.) — In Pictures

California-based WCM777, an MLM “program,” got booted out of Massachusetts in November 2013, amid allegations of securities fraud and affinity fraud targeted at the Brazilian community through hotel pitchfests. WCM777, purportedly operated by Ming Xu and recruiting affiliates to conduct business over the Internet, later got booted out of California. In addition to the Brazilian…

Mar 22, 2014
FOR SPANISH-SPEAKERS: Telemundo 39 (Dallas) Report On WCM777

Here is a link to a Telemundo 39 (Dallas) report on the WCM777 “program.” Link. The unofficial total of jurisdictions or regulatory agencies filing actions or issuing Investor Alerts against WCM777 stands at seven: The country of Peru, the state of Massachusetts, the state of California, the state of Colorado, the state of Louisiana, the…

Feb 22, 2014
UPDATE: ‘YouGetPaidFast’ Pitchman Said To Be Casting Net At Unemployment Office For Gifting-Program Leads; Meanwhile, Scheme Takes A Phil Piccolo-Like Turn By Pointing To Alexa Rankings As Supposed Proof Of Legitimacy

YouGetPaidFast, a Texas-based “program” that plants the seed it has the blessing of the FBI, is benefiting from a pitchman who is handing out flyers at an “unemployment office,” according to a post from an apparent naysayer at the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum. The poster says his friend is the one handing out the flyers —…

Oct 27, 2013
Notes/Analysis On TelexFree: A Little Like AdSurfDaily/AdViewGlobal, TextCashNetwork, Zeek Rewards, Profitable Sunrise And World Marketing Direct Selling

UPDATED 10:22 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The purported TelexFree “opportunity” is under investigation by multiple agencies in Brazil, its purported base of operations despite competing claims the company is headquartered in the United States. The notes below concern TelexFree’s U.S. presence and positioning. They are presented in no particular order of importance. TelexFree says it is…

Jul 4, 2013
Rumors Swirl About Banners Broker ‘Program’

UPDATED 8:54 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Rumors abound online that authorities in India have carried out some sort of action against the Banners Broker “advertising” program. As of the time of this post, the PP Blog has been unable to confirm the rumored action with a law-enforcement source. “Advertising” scams long have been associated with the…

Jan 1, 2013
UNBELIEVABLE: Now, A Scam Known As ‘Her Majesty’s Credit Union’ That Duped Investors By Falsely Claiming To Be Insured By Lloyd’s Of London And Backed By The Government, SEC Says

A scammer known by three names who’d earlier presided over an “insolvent” credit union in Georgia before being forced out of business in eight months went on to start a bogus credit union in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the SEC said. The Virgins Islands enterprise was known as “Her Majesty’s Credit Union” (HMCU) and sold…

Nov 8, 2012
‘Investor-Fraud Summits’ Set For 6 U.S. Cities: Stamford, Conn.; Nashville, Tenn.; San Francisco; Denver; Cleveland And Miami

What: Investor Fraud Summits. Where/When: Stamford, Conn. (today from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. EDT at the University of Connecticut – Stamford Campus); Nashville, Tenn. (Oct. 4 from 8:45 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. EDT at Vanderbilt University Law School’s Flynn Auditorium located at 131 21st Avenue South) ; San Francisco (Oct. 9, in Walnut Creek,…

Oct 1, 2012
ZEEK: Part Of The Backstory — In Pictures

UPDATED 4:20 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Unsolved mysteries remain in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme case. Among the unanswered questions are these: How many members did Zeek have in common with AdSurfDaily, a predecessor 1-percent-a-day scam to the Zeek scheme? Why do some Zeek “defenders” appear to be engaged in bizarre bids to harass and menace…

Sep 23, 2012
UPDATE: North Carolina Investigators Demanded Info From Zeek On July 6; State Says It Has Not Taken Shutdown Action

UPDATED 10:58 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Two new details have emerged in the mysterious shutdown yesterday of the office and websites of Zeekler/Zeek Rewards: The office of North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper told the PP Blog this morning that it has taken no action to shut down Zeek, the operator of an MLM and a…

Aug 17, 2012