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Tag: Biwako Bank Ltd.

  • UPDATE: Pushed To Profitable Sunrise Victims, Biwako Bank Limited Appears To Be DOA

    biwakoadUPDATE: The PP Blog wrote about Biwako Bank Limited on April 29 after it was touted on a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site as a good “program” for individuals ripped off in the alleged Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme.

    But now Biwako Bank’s website has disappeared, with the “program” apparently following Profitable Sunrise into the darkness.

    “**THIS IS NOT AN HYIP , THIS IS A BANK**” a pitchman bizarrely claimed about Biwako on the Profitable Sunrise Facebook site last month. The program curiously said it hoped to attract “costumers.”

    The non-HYIP claim was made despite the fact Biwako Bank listed four color-coded “plans” that purported to provide daily payouts of between 1.95 percent and 3.05 percent.  The highest-paying plan — the “Red Plan” at 3.05 percent a day — advertised a percentage even higher than the purported “Long Haul” plan of Profitable Sunrise.

    The “Long Haul” plan claimed to pay 2.7 percent a day.

    In April, the SEC alleged that Profitable Sunrise was a pyramid scheme that may have gathered tens of millions of dollars at least in part by using offshore companies and wire transfers.

    Regulators have repeatedly warned about reload scams targeted at victims of fraud schemes. Like Profitable Sunrise, Biwako had a presence on the TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup forums. So did Zeek Rewards, which the SEC described in August 2012 as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    Biwako’s haul is unknown.

    Other reload programs promoted on the Facebook site by boat-sharks include (at least) “SuperWithdraw,” “Whos12,” “Maxi-Cash,” “FairyFunds,” “Roxilia,” “OptiEarn,” “AVVGlobal,” “ProForexUnion,” “MajestiCrown” and “TelexFree.”

  • Now, Boat-Sharking For ‘Biwako Bank Limited’: Promos Appear On Facebook Site For Profitable Sunrise And Claim Enterprise Is ‘Japan’s Strongest Bank’

    In 2010, FINRA warned that scammers may provide a "Typo Tip-Off." An enterprise whose affiliates are targeting victims of the alleged Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme says it is trying to attract "costumers."
    In 2010, FINRA warned that HYIP scammers may provide a “Typo Tip-Off.”  In 2013, an enterprise whose affiliates are targeting victims of the alleged Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme says it is trying to attract “costumers.”

    Biwako Bank Limited caught our attention yesterday after a boat-shark appeared on a Facebook Profitable Sunrise site to promote it while making this claim: “**THIS IS NOT AN HYIP , THIS IS A BANK**”

    The claim is at odds with a claim on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum that Biwako has a “GoldCoders’ HYIP Manager License.”

    Regulators have warned for years that internal inconsistencies are one of the hallmarks of HYIP fraud. In 2010, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) noted that HYIP scammers also often present a “Typo Tip-Off.”

    “Watch out for online postings, website copy or emails that are riddled with typos and poor grammar,” FINRA said. “This is often a tip-off that scammers are at work.”

    Now, with Profitable Sunrise apparently dead in the water after actions by the SEC and numerous state and provincial regulators in the United States and Canada over the past two months, Biwako is informing prospects in a video playing on its website that the enterprise exists to connect “costumers” to new opportunities. It also claims that compounding is “avaliable.”

    Meanwhile, it publishes an investment calculator and appears to imply an association with CNN and Time magazine.

    And despite a Facebook boat-shark’s claim that Biwako is not an HYIP, the website of the purported “opportunity” lists four color-coded “plans” that purport to provide daily payouts of between 1.95 percent and 3.05 percent.  The highest-paying plan — the “Red Plan” at 3.05 percent a day — advertises a percentage even higher than the purported “Long Haul” plan of Profitable Sunrise.

    The “Long Haul” plan claimed to pay 2.7 percent a day.

    Earlier this month, North Carolina issued a warning about “reload scams” aimed at Profitable Sunrise victims.

    Like Profitable Sunrise, Biwako also is being promoted on the Ponzi boards.

    Also see March 27 PP Blog story about Facebook boat-sharking and March 31 story. (The March 31 story reports that promotions for a “program” known as TelexFree claim participants can purchase an income that varies by the amount they invest. Under one scenario outlined in a video, participants who send in $15,125 purportedly are buying an income of $1,100 a week for a year.)

    The TelexFree pitch was similar to pitches for the infamous World Marketing Direct Selling (WMDS) and OneUniverseOnline (1UOL) pyramid schemes, which were exposed in 2005 and operated by James Bunchan and Seng Tan. Those scams resulted in federal prison sentences for both Bunchan and Tan.