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Tag: Brett Hudson

  • UPDATE: Text Cash Network, Firm With Phil Piccolo Tie, Now Fishing For ‘International Satellite Partners’ And $25,000 Deposits — After Earlier Piccolo-Associated Firm Asked For $14,995 At A Time For Offshore ‘Resorts’ Program

    “WE NEED INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE PARTNERS: #1 must have minimum $25,000 deposit. #2 must have a good name in the country. #3 must be very honest and trustworthy. If you know of such a person in your country have them send a request to [deleted]@textcashnetwork.com.” — Feb. 13, 2012, Blog promo for Text Cash Network

    From a TCN Blog promo on Feb. 13, 2012.

    UPDATED 12:07 A.M. ET (FEB. 16, USA.)

    Following a previous pattern of scams linked to MLM huckster Phil Piccolo, the purported Text Cash Network (TCN) text-advertising “opportunity” now is fishing for great sums of cash, according to affiliate Blog posts that appear not to even to question the offer.

    The posts appear to be based on an email affiliates received from TCN , with affiliates simply copying and pasting the content on Blogs.

    TCN, according to the posts, is seeking “INTERNATIONAL SATELLITE PARTNERS” willing to plunk down a “minimum $25,000 deposit.” The posts are tied to a purported TCN celebration for being in business for 100 days.

    The promos also are hyping something called the “VIP Plus Advertising Package,” which purportedly will debut March 16 at a cost of  “$499 + $60 Monthly x 11 Months with 100% of the additional funds going to the VIP Plus Agents.”

    Some TCN affiliates are simultaneously encouraging recruits and prospects to send money to TCN via Western Union to buy in as TCN distributors at levels between $129 and $399. Such tactics have been associated with advance-fee scams and other forms of fraud.

    “Western Union will allow you to put it on your credit card!” one TCN affiliate promo roars. “Call Western Union for details.”

    In November 2010, a Piccolo-associated entity known as One World One Website (OWOW) solicited members to send in cash amid promises the contributions would earn “24% Annual Interest.” The offer led to questions about whether OWOW, which is listed as a defunct Wyoming corporation while it maintains websites that are unable to process payments, was selling unregistered securities as investment contracts.

    “The 24% Annual Interest On Your Money … Did you know that many PROS are receiving 24% Annual Interest on their money. The deadline for 24% annual interest paid in monthly increments of 2% will end on 11/30/2010 . . . Any funds deposited thereafter will pay 18% annual interest in monthly increments of 1.5%,” the Nov. 18, 2010, OWOW email read in part.

    In July 2010, Data Network Affiliates — another venture associated with Piccolo — said it was offering an offshore “resorts” program through a vendor. Members could buy into the purported program through a “No Interest Easy 24 Month” payment plan of of $625 a month. DNA solicited members to spend $14,995 on the resorts program, suggesting that some prospects would put the entire amount on a credit card.

    Like the current TCN invitation soliciting deposits of $25,000, the OWOW email from November 2010 included an email address. Prospects with access to cash were encouraged to use the address to contact the company to discuss the offer.

    Recent scams with which Piccolo has been involved — including OWOW and DNA — have featured Piccolo as a background player. Other individuals emerged as the faces of the company.

    TCN has ducked questions about Piccolo. The firm lists Brett Hudson as its president. Both TCN and DNA operate in the region of Boca Raton, Fla.

    DNA’s former CEO resigned within a matter of weeks in early 2010, saying that various email missives from the company were “bull” from a “backdoor guy.” Both TCN and DNA purport to operate “processing centers” in Boca Raton.

    DNA’s corporate registration is listed in Nevada as dissolved. Like OWOW, Text Cash Network filed corporate paperwork in Wyoming. OWOW’s registration is listed as “delinquent” and “Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax).”

    OWOW effectively died in November 2011, the same month TCN was born in Wyoming, according to records. OWOW got a 10-day head start on other TCN affiliates in early November, according to web promos that explained OWOW was helping TCN test its system.

    Why TCN would choose OWOW as a key, early business partner is unclear.

    Another common thread among TCN, DNA and OWOW is the presence of Piccolo business associate and MLM huckster Joe Reid. TCN has accented the purported “tax” benefits of joining, something DNA also did.

  • SPECIAL REPORT: OWOW, Phil Piccolo-Associated Firm That Pumped Text Cash Network, Purportedly Cited ‘Financial Trouble’ Last Summer And Sought ‘Brand New People’ To ‘Pay Off All Of The Past Commissions And Money Owed To Suppliers’

    From YouTube: Mr. P. prowls the stage for OWOW in 2010.

    UPDATED 5:05 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) Did One World One Website Inc. (OWOW) — the Phil Piccolo-associated company that appears to have been given some of the top positions in Text Cash Network (TCN) and recruited a huge downline with the knowledge of TCN management — try to fix its own problems last year by hatching a Ponzi plan in which money sent in by new members would be used to pay commissions owed to original members?

    A bizarre OWOW promo dated July 30, 2011, on Dealslinker.com suggests so. The promo, which claimed that “O.W.O.W. Management left town a long time ago” and “gave up for many reasons,”  further claimed OWOW was implementing a restoration plan and suggested that the company was being run by “leaders.” The “leaders” were not identified.

    Incongruously, the promo claimed that “[i]t is actually not the current O.W.O.W. that is in Financial Trouble. It is the baggage from 10/10/2010 to 3/10/2011 that has brought us down. And is a Ball and Chain around the current O.W.O.W. Team.”

    “WE NEED YOUR HELP ‘OR’ THE HELP OF BRAND NEW PEOPLE…” the promo urged. “THE SOLUTION IS ‘FOUNDER OWNERSHIP’ YES… FOUNDERS…”

    With those words in July, OWOW introduced a scheme by which “FOUNDER PACKAGES” would be created in four tiers (Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum) and sold online to right the OWOW ship. The purported packages were priced between $500 and $5,000, and purchasers who bought in at the $5,000 level were promised they would get “20 shares in a (sic) 5% of The Sales Profit Pool from 8/8/11 to 12/12/12 of The O.W.O.W. Program…”

    The claim leads to questions about whether OWOW was offering unregistered securities as investment contracts and effectively creating an investment pool while using unregistered broker-dealers to sell the offer.

    Purchasers who bought in at the lower-priced tiers were promised a smaller number of shares, according to the promo. Members at the $500 level would get one share; members at $1,000 and $2,500 levels would get three shares and 10 shares, respectively.

    Despite the claim that OWOW’s profits would be shared among certain members through Dec. 12, 2012, the business registration in Wyoming of One World One Website Inc. is listed as “Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax).”

    OWOW and at least one releated entity also appear to have lost the ability to gather money via PayPal.

    Whether OWOW sold any of the purported packages referenced in the July 2011 promo is unclear. But about three months later — during the opening days of November 2011 and while OWOW apparently was still reeling — OWOW appears to have been given a 10-day head start to sell TCN.

    Some TCN members now say that TCN has delayed commission payments to members for a fourth time and that members have been encouraged to send money via Western Union and money orders to both the company and individuals associated with the firm.

    A pulldown menu on TCN’s website says money can be sent via Western Union to three individuals: Tyler Johnson, Brett Hudson or Jane Johnson. TCN purports to have hundreds of thousands of members globally.

    Brett Hudson is listed on TCN’s website as the firm’s president. TCN purports to operate from Boca Raton, Fla. OWOW and another Piccolo-associated entity know as Data Network Affiliates (DNA) also purported to operate from Boca Raton and environs.  The Better Business Bureau issued an alert about DNA in 2010.

    Why TCN is asking members to send funds to individuals via Western Union is unclear.

    TCN purportedly is owned by “The Johnson Group,” although descriptions about that company have been vague and ambiguous.

    Here is what TCN says about itself:

    “Text Cash Network Inc is a USA Corporation and is own (sic) 100% by a five year old communication company which is another USA Corporation owned by The Johnson Group. We have not disclosed the communication’s company name or contact information in fear that THOUSANDS OF AGENTS may or should we say would call them for information prior to our official launch of 12/12/2011.”

    The date TCN advertised as its launch date — Dec. 12, 2011 — was precisely one year ahead of the date through which OWOW promised to pay tiered members who purchased shares in a pooling arrangement: Dec. 12, 2012.

    Curiously, TCN promoters associated with OWOW added an ampersand and extra proper noun to the name of TCN’s purported ownership group, describing TCN’s owners as the “Johnson & Johnson Group.”

    Whether the addition of the ampersand and extra proper noun was a bid to trade on the name of Johnson & Johnson, the New Jersey-based Dow and S&P 500 component, is unclear. TCN came out of the gate trading on the name of Groupon, but a Groupon logo that once appeared on the site has been removed.

    Returning to the subject of OWOW, money from the purported OWOW “FOUNDER PACKAGES” would be used in part to “pay off all of the past commissions and money owed to suppliers,” according to the bizarre OWOW promo, which was attributed to “Mister P.”

    “Mister P” is an alias used by Phil Piccolo. Strangely, though, the OWOW promo was positioned as a “personal letter from J.P. aka Mister P.” Why the initials “J.P.” were used is unclear.

    Other Oddities

    The July 2011 OWOW promo referenced in this post appears to be a bid to sell both OWOW and a program known as ThatFreeThing. Indeed, the headline on the promo reads, “OWOW Wholesale Direct and MyFreething – ThatFreeThing.”

    Despite the headline reference to That Free Thing, the promo does not contain a link to the That Free Thing program.

    That Free Thing uses an address in Westminster, Colo., and publishes a picture of an office building with the name of the company affixed in large letters to the side of the building.

    TCN promos have featured images of a building in Boca Raton with the company’s name affixed in large letters near the crown of the building. The Boca Raton Police Department said on Dec. 14 that TCN’s name was not affixed to the building — despite what promoters led recruits to believe.

    “Mister P,” meanwhile, also is referenced in a promo for something called “MY FREE EVERYTHING,” which appears to be operating through a domain styled “TheDebtFreeCard.com.”

    Visitors to that site are told about a “100% PASSIVE!” program through which they can earn through the sale of “$50,000 to $250,000 JVP FOUNDER LOAN PACKAGES.” Like the OWOW promo, the My Free Everything promo raises questions about whether the purported firm is selling unregistered securities as investment contracts and whether promoters are serving as unregistered broker-dealers.

    Amid confusing claims on the site, visitors are told this: “If you are within 10 Levels of This Sale you will EARN IMMEDIATE MONEY… $500 to $2500… or If you personally sell one $5000 to $25,000… However THE BIG PICTURE will be THE RESIDUAL INCOME because THE SALE was made in YOUR DOWNLINE… There are many DOCTORS and OTHER PROFESSIONALS looking for PASSIVE INCOMES… All you do is FIND THEM and The Leadership SELL THEM… ”

    Separately, promos for OWOW on LinkedIn are asking viewers to visit a YouTube site to “see [an] Oprah” video on OWOW.

    When a link in the LinkedIn promo for OWOW is clicked, however, visitors are taken to a video that has nothing to do with Oprah Winfrey, the entertainment icon and business titan whose name often is appropriated by MLM hucksters and affiliates unwise to their ways.

    Instead, the video is about a product known as PhoneGuard, an app that purportedly keeps teens and children safe by shutting off a cell phone’s texting capacity while they’re in automobiles.

    See this story about DNA, another Piccolo-associated program that used Winfrey’s name. DNA purported to have ties to Anthony Sasso, who was described as DNA’s data expert and a “special board consultant.”

    Sasso, who reportedly once had a role in PhoneGuard, is a convicted felon who was charged in a South Florida racketeering case. DNA, the Piccolo-associated entity, hyped him as “The King Of Data For Dollars” and Sasso was said to be the “owner of the largest database of text numbers in the world.”

    TCN purports to be a text-advertising company.

     

  • ‘TEXT CASH NETWORK’: RED FLAGS GALORE: New ‘Opportunity’ Linked To Ponzi Boards And To Phil Piccolo-Associated ‘Firms’: Hype, Vapid Claims, Alexa Charts, Launch Countdown Timer, Brand Leeching — And Possible Ties To Long-Running SEC Case

    Until four days ago, the OWOW website associated with Florida-based huckster Phil Piccolo shared this message about Text Cash Network (TCN) with visitors. Joe Reid, a Piccolo associate, is leading conference call-cheerleading for TCN. Reid previously led cheers for Data Network Affiliates, another business linked to Piccolo.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: A “program” known as Text Cash Network (TCN) that purports to share “advertising” revenue from text messages is spreading virally on the Internet. This column includes information prospective TCN members might want to consider before joining and asking others to join. There are red flags galore. Last week, the PP Blog compiled some research and sought comment from the SEC about the emerging program because the name of Brett Hudson, billed in TCN promos as the firm’s “president,” appears in a 2005 “press release” that quotes Hudson and Richard A. Altomare. The SEC acknowledged receipt of the Blog’s inquiries, but did not comment.

    Altomare, of Boca Raton, Fla., was sued in this 2004 SEC action amid allegations of penny-stock fraud coupled with bogus press releases. The case, which involved an Altomare company known as Universal Express Inc., evolved to become an exceptionally ugly one. Altomare ultimately was found in contempt of court for flouting judicial orders and ordered jailed in New York. The court-appointed receiver in the case allegedly received threatening emails from individuals unhappy about the SEC’s action and follow-up events.

    Here are quotes from two of the threatening emails, which allegedly were sent by investors. The quotes appear in an exhibit filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York:

    1.) ” . . . you are going to be hit with a shit load of lawsuits, and if justice doesn’t prevail the good old American way then I will make it my personal duty to enforce the justice and I along with others will come and beat your ass to a bloody pulp, along with Judge (jackass) Lynch . . .”

    2.) . . . you fu[!!!!!] slut . . . don’t get smart . . . you have no idea what could happen to you . . .”

    Hudson, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, was not named a defendant in the SEC case. TCN promoters have identified him as president of Universal Cash Express, a company with a name similar to Altomare’s Universal Express Inc. entity. The 2005 “press release” that quotes Hudson and Altomare also identifies Hudson as the president of Universal Cash Express. Altomare’s title was not listed in the 2005 release, but the document was issued under the name of Altomare’s Universal Express entity ensnared in the SEC probe.

    Until a few days ago, TCN was prominently featured on the website of OWOW (OneWorld, One Website), a site linked to Data Network Affiliates (DNA) and serial MLM scammer Phil Piccolo. Piccolo is known online as the “one-man Internet crime wave.”

    Like Altomare’s Universal Express Inc. entity, DNA was registered as a Nevada company. DNA, like  Universal Express Inc., also conducted business from Boca Raton. (See the Better Business Bureau listing for DNA, which purported to be in the business of helping the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children — while also purporting to be in the cell-phone, mortgage-reduction and “resorts” businesses. Although DNA appears to be defunct, it maintains a website — one that once redirected to the OWOW website. While actively conducting its purported business, DNA made bizarre claims about “going public.” Such claims have been associated with penny-stock scams and securities fraud.)

    Joe Reid, a Piccolo business associate who helped DNA flog its mind-numbing mess to the international masses, was one of the speakers on a Nov. 11 TCN conference call. TCN is proceeding out of the gate in largely the same fashion DNA came out of the gate: conference calls featuring Reid, claims of rapid expansion involving tens of thousands of new recruits in days, a launch-countdown timer (now removed), suggestions of incredible earnings potential 10 levels deep, Blog and website posts, YouTube videos.

    Here, now, a list of  additional red flags and some additional background . . .

    RED FLAG: Piccolo has a history of threatening to sue critics and of planting the seed that, if lawsuits do not work, he knows people who can cause critics to experience physical pain. He is known to operate in the area of Boca Raton, although Piccolo also has been known to operate in California.

    RED FLAG: DNA promos in 2010 referenced a purported texting and data expert by the name of Anthony Sasso. Sasso, a convicted felon arrested in a 2005 racketeering case in Broward County, Fla.,  was described in DNA promos as “The King Of Data For Dollars” and was said to be the “owner of the largest database of text numbers in the world.” Although Sasso appears not to have been referenced in the context of TCN, both DNA and TCN purport to be in businesses that involve texting.

    RED FLAG: Early affiliates of TCN have identified Brett Hudson as the president of Text Cash Network Inc. Records in Wyoming show a company by that name was registered in the state on Nov. 8, 2011 — just days ago. Affiliates also have vaguely described Text Cash Network Inc. as “a new division of a five year old communications company owned 100% by The Johnson Group.” No state of registration was listed in promos that referenced The Johnson Group, and the “communications company” and the “division” under which Text Cash Network Inc. purportedly operates are far from clear.

    Wyoming records show a company by the name of The Johnson Group Inc., but it is unclear if it is the same company referenced by TCN affiliates. The Wyoming records of The Johnson Group entity contain this notation: “Standing – Tax: Delinquent.” The firm appears to have used a residential dwelling in New Jersey as the address of its corporate headquarters.

    RED FLAG: TCN’s website design and “prelaunch” approach are similar in a number of key ways to the tactics employed by DNA, which planted the seed last year that it could help the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children by paying DNA members to record the license-plate numbers of automobiles for entry in a purported database. (Some of these commonalities are referenced lower in this story.)

    Until four days ago, a promo for TCN appeared on the website of OWOW, a site linked to Piccolo. (Referenced in Editor’s Note above.) The TCN promo then vanished mysteriously, possibly because Ponzi forum posters were questioning whether Piccolo was involved with TCN. The OWOW website previously was linked to the DNA scam, and also was linked to purported cancer cures.

    DNA — as is a Piccolo signature — sold the purported tax benefits of joining the DNA “program,” which traded on the names of Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump and also purported to offer a “free” cell phone with “unlimited” talk and text for $10 a month. The purported cell-phone “program” used the intellectual property of Apple Inc., claiming that DNA had a “branding” relationship with the company led by the late Steve Jobs. No DNA cell phone appears to have emerged in the marketplace. No branding deal with Apple appears to have existed.

    RED FLAG: On its pitch page, TCN currently is publishing the logos of Groupon, Google Offers and Bing Shopping, among others. Last year — in addition to using the intellectual property of Apple and the images of Winfrey and Trump — DNA  used email pitches to compare itself to “FACEBOOK, GOOGLE & WALMART…” It is common for hucksters to tie an upstart business to an established business as a means of creating the appearance of legitimacy. Brand leeching is common in the worlds of MLM scams and securities swindles.

    RED FLAG: Joe Reid, the Piccolo business associate, has led the conference-call hype for TCN and has suggested TCN is the next Groupon, which recently conducted an IPO.  Reid also led the conference-call cheerleading last year for DNA, which purported to be “going public”  while making a bizarre reference to Martha Stewart. DNA appears never to have gone “public.” Some members said the firm never paid them, but continued to charge them — and at least one website is claiming that Piccolo (aka “Mr. P.”)  stiffed it on orders for bottled water in the OWOW program.

    Things got so strange at DNA that the firm asked members to imagine that an earlier “launch” (March 2010) had not occurred and to reimagine a relaunch that occurred last summer (July 2010) as the only time the company had launched.

    DNA members were told it was the “MORAL OBLIGATION” of churches to pitch the firm’s purported “program.” Some DNA promos accented DNA commissions purportedly paid 10 levels deep. TCN also is accenting a 10-level payment plan.

    RED FLAG: In November 2010, the PP Blog published a story about the FBI foiling a Thanksgiving holiday bombing plot at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore. The Blog’s report was wholly unrelated to DNA or OWOW.

    An OWOW/DNA/Piccolo apologist who identified himself to the PP Blog as “John” took great exception to the Blog’s report on the Portland plot, despite the fact the Blog’s report did not reference OWOW, DNA or Piccolo in any way.

    RED FLAG: Like DNA, TCN also is being promoted on Ponzi scheme forums such as MoneyMakerGroup.

    When things went south at DNA last year, the DNA site began to redirect to the OWOW site, which was hawking products linked to Piccolo, including a purported “magnetic” product that prevented leg amputations while also helping garden vegetables grow to twice their normal size.. The DNA site then mysteriously stopped redirecting to the OWOW site — on a date uncertain, but after Piccolo started promoting OWOW products as cancer cures or treatments. At least one OWOW affiliate was trading on the name of the National Institutes of Health.

    RED FLAG: Both the TCN site and the DNA site are using Alexa charts that provide viewers the same sort of fundamentally meaningless comparisons — while the sites accent the word “free.”

    RED FLAG: Like the DNA site, there is no obvious way on the TCN site for prospects to contact Support.

    RED FLAG: Like the DNA site, the TCN site is using Google Translate. The use of the Google service — along with other commonalities on both sites — leads to questions about whether TCN and DNA are using the same designer.

    DNA, like TCN, is using an Alexa chart. Both sites use Google Translate software.
    TCN, like DNA, is using an Alexa chart. Both sites use Google Translate software.