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  • Proposed Class Action Alleges Traffic Monsoon’s Scoville Told PayPal He Was In ‘Investments’ Business

    From a proposed class-action lawsuit against PayPal sparked by the alleged Traffic Monsoon/Charles Scoville Ponzi scheme. Red highlights by PP Blog.

    In the aftermath of the SEC’s securities-fraud action against him last year and a judicial ruling this year that he was opertaing a Ponzi scheme, Traffic Monsoon’s Charles Scoville has blanketed social media with claims he was not offering investments.

    But Scoville told PayPal that “Traffic Monsoon’s business was “Investments – general” when he opened an account for the “program” in 2014, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit against the payment processor for aiding and abetting Scoville’s alleged fraud.

    This happened after PayPal had “previously banned Scoville from using its services following allegations that his prior pay-to-click businesses, which also purportedly sold advertising businesses with revenue sharing, were Ponzi/pyramid schemes,” according to the lawsuit.

    Whether the SEC would seize on the claim as the agency’s case against Scoville and Traffic Monsoon works its way through the courts was not immediately clear. Investigators potentially could argue that Scoville was telling investors one thing while telling PayPal another.

    Likely because of a court-imposed stay of litigation against Scoville and Traffic Monsoon while Scoville appeals judicial findings against him in the SEC case, neither Scoville nor Traffic Monsoon is named a defendant in the proposed class action.

    Named defendants are PayPal Inc. and PayPal Holdings Inc. Plaintiffs are Chukwuka Obi and Kingsley Ezeude. The case was filed May 4 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.

    From the complaint (italics added/light editing performed):

    The [Traffic Monsoon] scheme lasted from September 2014 through July 2016. During this time, Traffic Monsoon duped investors into believing it was “a specialized advertising and revenue sharing company” that operated a pay-to-click and Internet traffic exchange program. On its website, Traffic Monsoon falsely told investors that it was not selling investments or operating a Ponzi/pyramid scheme that would pay returns to existing investors with money from new investors . . .

    Traffic Monsoon also concealed from its investors that Scoville, its sole member and operator, had a prior history of defrauding investors through similar pay-to-click investment “businesses.” Unbeknownst to investors – but known to PayPal – Traffic Monsoon was not Scoville’s first fraudulent investment scheme disguised as a “pay-to-click” program. In fact, just as he did with Traffic Monsoon, Scoville ran his prior pay-to-click schemes with PayPal’s support and through PayPal’s infrastructure. Indeed, in 2011 PayPal had banned Scoville from using its services following allegations that Scoville was operating a substantially similar – and similarly fraudulent – “pay-to-click” investment scheme. Yet, despite its knowledge of Scoville’s past pay-to-click schemes and its knowledge that pay-to-click websites have Ponzi/pyramid scheme features, PayPal failed to enforce its own ban and allowed Scoville to open an account for Traffic Monsoon in September 2014, using PayPal’s infrastructure to perpetrate and profit from his new – but similar in its material respects – “pay-to-click” investment fraud.

    The 52-page complaint argues that the left hand at PayPal didn’t know what the right had was doing with respect to doing business with and applying policies to Scoville.

    From the complaint (italics added/light editing performed):

    PayPal was aware that Scoville had previously operated similar pay-to-click businesses that PayPal banned from using its services following allegations that the businesses were Ponzi/pyramid schemes. PayPal is also aware that pay-to-click businesses raise concerns regarding fraud and that some have Ponzi/pyramid scheme features. Indeed, PayPal has placed holds or bans on other pay-to-click businesses. Yet PayPal did not enforce its own ban on Scoville’s use of its services.

    By knowingly allowing Scoville’s new pay-to-click scheme, Traffic Monsoon, to use its services, PayPal departed from its own policy that prohibits the use of its services for “transactions that . . . support pyramid or ponzi schemes.” (PayPal Acceptable Use Policy.) . . .

    PayPal was aware that Traffic Monsoon was falsely representing to investors that it sold advertising services, not investments. Scoville told PayPal (but not investors) that Traffic Monsoon offered investments, which PayPal noted in PayPal Account 7752. When PayPal reviewed Traffic Monsoon’s website to verify the information provided by Scoville, PayPal learned that Traffic Monsoon was a pay-to-click scheme; represented to investors that Traffic Monsoon sold advertising services, not investments; and promised to make payments to investors in pyramid scheme fashion . . .

    PayPal also knew that Traffic Monsoon was a Ponzi/pyramid scheme. PayPal actively monitored Traffic Monsoon’s PayPal account. It was aware of each investment and each withdrawal from the account. PayPal was aware that Traffic Monsoon was making Ponzi/pyramid scheme payments to investors and that Traffic Monsoon’s Ponzi/pyramid scheme was growing exponentially in classic Ponzi/pyramid scheme fashion.

    PayPal told Bloomberg that it looked forward to refuting the claims.

    The complaint is posted on Dropbox.




  • In Atmosphere Of Murkiness, Are Violations Of The Traffic Monsoon Asset Freeze Taking Place?

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Traffic Monsoon is a Utah company. The firm also has purported business operations in the United Kingdom and Dubai. Details about the offshore operations are murky.

    A claim from an apparent Traffic Monsoon affiliate appeared Monday (April 3) on Facebook that “Allied Wallet is making refunds of [Traffic Monsoon]  purchases made by credit cards or debit cards. Many people are getting this [sic] refunds.”

    In the same thread on the TrafficMonsoonupdates Facebook site, a poster claimed, “I received this in my bank today . . . 10.04% of my initial deposit to TM.” The apparent partial refund was marked “AW*TRAFFICM.”

    In July, U.S. District Judge Jill N. Parrish ordered all assets of Traffic Monsoon and operator Charles Scoville frozen. An October report by court-appointed receiver Peggy Hunt said that Allied Wallet had claimed it had approximately $7 million in Traffic Monsoon funds on deposit when the SEC filed its Ponzi action against the “program.”

    The asset freeze imposed by Parrish was further reinforced last week when she issued a preliminary injunction at the request of the SEC.

    From the preliminary injunction, which names Allied Wallet and other Traffic Monsoon vendors, including PayPal, Payza, Solid Trust Pay and JPMorgan Chase Bank (italics added):

    Each of the financial or brokerage institutions, debtors, and bailees, or any other person or entity holding Defendants’ Assets shall hold or retain within their control and prohibit the withdrawal, removal, transfer, or other disposal of any such assets, funds, or other properties.

    Why, then, are Traffic Monsoon members claiming Allied Wallet is issuing at least partial refunds? And if the refunds are taking place, are they in violation of the asset freeze?

    Allied Wallet did not respond to a request for comment Monday. Neither did the SEC or Hunt.

    But the docket of the SEC’s case against Traffic Monsoon now shows that Hunt filed a notice of a subpoena naming Allied Wallet on Tuesday. How things would proceed was not immediately clear.

    Hunt previously informed the court about a statement Scoville allegedly made about how Traffic Monsoon hooked up with Allied Wallet prior to the SEC action via a company that purportedly was given to him.

    From the statement, as contained in a transcript filed by Hunt last year (italics added):

    Well, the thing is is Traffic Monsoon in the UK was kind of formed in a way because, when we were in Dubai, that’s when we got set up with someone who knew people inside of Allied Wallet to help us get an Allied Wallet account set up. And when we were setting up Allied Wallet, Allied Wallet required us to have a registration in the UK.

    Scoville went on to say, “We had somebody who was there with us who said, I’ve got a UK company. We can change it to the Traffic Monsoon, and then we could use that registration so you can use Allied Wallet. So that’s Taheer and Amir, both of them are on that business registration, but technically they don’t own any of the company.”

    And, according to the transcript, Scoville said, “they were just giving me a company that they had already registered as a speedy process of just making sure that we have a business registration in the UK. But they put me on as the owner.”

    Scoville, according to the transcript, grew to have doubts about the U.K. operation because he could not confirm that staff or security personnel for which he was paying 6,000 pounds per month actually were working at the U.K. office of his own company.

    From the transcript (italics added):

    I went over there, and apparently, the person at the front desk didn’t know who I was, who asked to see the people that were working for Traffic Monsoon, and they said that there’s nobody there. So I don’t know all of the ins and outs of what’s going on there. I may have been scammed. I don’t know.

    Parrish has found that Traffic Monsoon operated as a Ponzi scheme, according to court documents. Scoville has said he will file an appeal.




  • ‘Traffic Hurricane’ Members Beware: Preliminary Injunction Prohibits Traffic Monsoon, Scoville From Benefiting From ‘AdPack’ Businesses

    2ND UPDATE 6:58 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Here’s a news flash for individuals who joined a “program” called Traffic Hurricane with the belief they somehow were helping the defense of Charles Scoville and Traffic Monsoon: Both Scoville and Traffic Monsoon  are “prohibited from soliciting, accepting, or depositing any monies obtained from actual or prospective investors, individuals, customers, companies, and/or entities, through the Internet or other electronic means for Traffic Monsoon or a business model substantially similar to Traffic Monsoon’s sale of AdPacks.” (Bold emphasis added.)

    The quoted passage is from the very first paragraph of a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Jill N. Parrish March 28 against Traffic Monsoon and Scoville. The order effectively bars Scoville from being an owner, silent partner or beneficiary of an adpack business.

    Though the passage doesn’t specifically reference Traffic Hurricane, it is known that Traffic Hurricane operates over the Internet and surfaced after the SEC brought Ponzi charges against Traffic Monsoon in July 2016 and that Traffic Hurricane traded on a theme of assisting Scoville and Traffic Monsoon with defense costs.

    In August 2016, the PP Blog reported that Traffic Hurricane was a reload scheme targeting Traffic Monsoon participants.

    Huyugadal!!

    Ernie Ganz, a onetime associate of Scoville’s, reportedly is the operator of Traffic Hurricane. Earlier this month BehindMLM reported on a falling out between Ganz and Scoville.

    Peggy Hunt, the court-appointed receiver for Traffic Monsoon, once subpoenaed Ganz, according to BehindMLM.

    Hunt today published the March 28 preliminary injunction that includes the adpack ban.

    Because the prohibition appeared in the very first paragraph of the preliminary injunction, it appears as though the judge, the receiver and the SEC are aware of reload schemes aimed at members of Traffic Monsoon.

    The receivership website today announced that Parrish had “found that Traffic Monsoon, LLC operated as a Ponzi scheme.”

    Some supporters of Traffic Monsoon and Scoville have claimed on Facebook that that never happened.

    This document on the receivership website today says that it did happen, and Hunt urged Traffic Monsoon members to review the March 28 court rulings against Traffic Monoon and Scoville “in their entirety.”




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  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Judge Maintains Traffic Monsoon Receivership And Asset Freeze, Grants SEC’s Request For Preliminary Injunction

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: A federal judge in Utah has denied the request of Charles Scoville and Traffic Monsoon to set aside the Traffic Monsoon receivership and has granted the SEC’s motion for a preliminary injunction that continues an asset freeze ordered in July 2016.

    “The evidence clearly points to the fact that Traffic Monsoon’s explosive growth was driven by members purchasing and repurchasing AdPacks in order to obtain the incredible returns on their investment, not by intense demand for Traffic Monsoon’s services,” U.S. District Judge Jill N. Parrish ruled. “Indeed, many AdPack purchasers had no interest in the website visits Traffic Monsoon offered, and Traffic Monsoon only ever delivered a fraction of the clicks it promised to deliver. In short, the economic reality of the AdPack purchases is that they were investments.”

    From a footnote in the judge’s ruling (italics added/light editing performed):

    One of the unique aspects of Traffic Monsoon that differentiates it from other Ponzi schemes is that members had to continually reinvest in the scheme by rolling over the profit from fully matured AdPacks into the purchase of new AdPacks. This amounted to a shell game in which an initial investment of a sum of money would continually cycle among the members’ accounts.

    A large portion of an initial investment would be distributed to other members as either revenue sharing or a commission. Then the members that received the revenue sharing payments or commissions would reinvest it by rolling it over into new AdP[a]ck purchases. Under this system, the same dollar could be distributed to member accounts as revenue sharing or a commission many times, until either Traffic Monsoon withdrew it as profit or a member withdrew it from his or her account.

    This explains why the members had a relatively small amount in their accounts when the court entered the TRO—$34.2 million—while the number of outstanding AdPacks, if allowed to mature, would amount to $243.9 million. So long as the members, encouraged by a continual flow of money into their accounts, reinvested most of their money rather than withdrawing it, a relatively small amount of money continually redistributed among the members through revenue sharing could fuel much greater expectations as to the near-future value of the AdPacks.

    But once the money ceased to continually recycle among the member accounts, as happened when the court entered the TRO, there wasn’t enough money to pay what experience had led the members to believe their AdPack investment would be worth after a short 55-day wait. That is why Traffic Monsoon had only about $60 million in assets to cover outstanding AdPacks that would be worth $243.9 million if they had matured, even though member account balances amounted to only $34.2 million.

    More . . .




  • REPORTS: Traffic Monsoon Pitchman Who Urged ‘RIOT’ And Called Receiver ‘Lying Cow’ Later Accused Of Kicking Woman ‘To The Head’

    Some promoters of Traffic Monsoon have engaged in heated rhetoric. This is a screen shot of a hijacked image that depicts President Trump as a supporter of the “program” the SEC has called a massive Ponzi scheme.

    UPDATED 1:36 P.M. ET U.S.A. Jose Nunes, the Traffic Monsoon pitchman who last fall used a slogan of “RIOT” to support the company and called the receiver in the SEC’s Ponzi case a “lying cow,” later reportedly was involved in domestic-violence incidents in November and January.

    A Feb. 6 report in the North Wales (U.K.) Daily Post says Nunes, 42, of Llanrug, was accused of carrying out “repeated acts of violence” against the woman, including kicking her “to the head” in front of their daughter.

    The most recent attacks reportedly marked at least the third time Nunes had been accused of assaulting the woman. According to the Daily Post, Nunes pleaded guilty to assaulting her in 2011.

    A purported “Revenue Shares Matter” campaign backed in September by Nunes featured a flaming graphic with the word “RIOT” in all-caps. By October, Nunes was calling Utah attorney Peggy Hunt — the receiver in the July 2016 Traffic Monsoon case — “Piggy,” a “[b . . . h” and a “Lying cow.”

    Attacks against his former girlfriend allegedly followed in November and January. The newspaper account of Nunes’ most recent alleged assaults does not report specific reasons or dates on which they occurred, but stress has been high in some Traffic Monsoon circles.

    Some supporters of Traffic Monsoon have been awaiting impatiently since November for key rulings from U.S. District Judge Jill N. Parrish.

    Rhetoric among some supporters of the “program” has been over-the-top. One effort in support of Traffic Monsoon on a Facebook site featured a hijacked photo of President Trump displaying a bogus executive order shutting down the SEC and declaring the agency “full of shit” and “useless.”

    The SEC alleged that Traffic Monsoon’s claim that it was a successful advertising business was “merely an illusion” and that 99 percent of the “program’s” revenue was derived from new investor funds.

    Traffic Monsoon operator Charles Scoville — who once appeared in a promotional photograph with Nunes — contends no Ponzi existed. He has asked Parrish to shut down the receivership and to dismiss the charges.




  • Bogus Magazine Cover Depicts Alleged Ponzi Schemer Charles Scoville Of Traffic Monsoon As 2016’s Best CEO

    This bogus Forbes' cover says Charles Scoville was 2016's BEST CEO. (Red markings by PP Blog.)
    This bogus Forbes’ cover says Charles Scoville was 2016’s BEST CEO. (Red markings by PP Blog.)

    DISCLOSURE: The PP Blog is a Google publisher.

    A bogus cover of Forbes magazine circulating on Facebook depicts SEC Ponzi defendant Charles Scoville of Traffic Monsoon as the “BEST” CEO of 2016 — all while misspelling his last name.

    The image, which falsely showcases the Forbes’ issue as a “LIMITED EDITION,” appears today on the “TrafficMonsoonupdates” page on Facebook, a cheerleading site for the alleged Ponzi scheme. The post comes at a time that both Facebook and Google have been criticized for not screening out fake news during the recent U.S. presidential election.

    Scoville, of Utah, was not named the best CEO by Forbes either before or after the SEC alleged in July that he was at the helm of a Ponzi scheme that had gathered more than $207 million and had affected at least 162,000 investors across the globe.

    And despite the implication that Forbes had named Traffic Monsoon the “BEST TRAFFIC EXCHANGE IN THE WORLD,” no such thing happened. The SEC’s case against Scoville and his company is still being actively litigated, according to the website of the court-appointed receiver for Traffic Monsoon.

    It is not unusual for promoters of HYIP schemes to claim major publications have lauded them or even that U.S. Presidents supported them. Prior to its 2014 collapse, the TelexFree Ponzi- and pyramid scheme wrapped logos of local TV stations into its promos to imply endorsement. TelexFree may have generated more than $3 billion in illicit transactions.

    In 2008, the $119 million AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme falsely claimed then-President George W. Bush had given ASD operator Andy Bowdoin a special award for business achievement. An ASD knockoff scam known as AdViewGlobal fraudulently traded on the logos of Forbes and other publishers in 2009.

    A current fraudulent scheme known as OneCoin also has traded on the name of Forbes, according to BehindMLM.com. Earlier, promoters of the WCM777 scam implied the endorsement of the Wall Street Journal.




  • 2 New Lawsuits Filed Against Traffic Monsoon

    Charles Scoville
    Charles Scoville

    3RD UPDATE 4:21 P.M. EDT U.S.A. Two new lawsuits were filed yesterday in Utah federal court against Traffic Monsoon and Charles Scoville. The separate complaints allege breach of contract, with Rizwan Naseer Puri and Pokhunduth Vickash Thoree listed as the plaintiffs.

    The development appears to mark the first instances of private individuals suing Scoville and his company in a U.S. court.

    A listing for a U.K. solicitor named Pokhunduth Vickash Thoree exists at the Law Society, and the London address on the complaint against Traffic Monsoon and Scoville is the same as the address of the lawyer.

    Thoree contends in the complaint that he paid the defendants $138,350 for 2,777 “Ad Packs” between May 10 and July 25, 2016, expecting to be paid $1 a day per ad pack. The SEC sued Traffic Monsoon and Scoville on July 26, alleging securities fraud and a Ponzi scheme.

    In addition to seeking the return of his $138,350 outlay, Thoree wants $149,958 for lost ad-pack earnings and an additional $120,000 for “emotional distress, anxiety, depression, insomnia, Guilt and frustration caused to him by the Defendants,” according to the complaint.

    Meanwhile, the complaint seeks prejudgment interest of 8 percent a day on $408,808 allegedly owed to Thoree by Traffic Monsoon and Scoville. Contrary to Scoville’s view that Traffic Monsoon was not offering an investment, Thoree identifies himself as an individual who “invested into their business.”

    He further contends that Traffic Monsoon was openly promoted as an investment opportunity.

    Scoville may be facing court action on a third front. At least two class-action firms in the United States are investigating Traffic Monsoon. No complaints have been docketed to date.




  • DEVELOPING STORY: Possible Traffic Monsoon Data Breach

    trafficmonsoonlogoDEVELOPING STORY: During its routine reporting today, the PP Blog observed information that strongly suggests a data breach occurred at Traffic Monsoon or within a sponsor’s organization — possibly in the summer of 2015.

    The SEC, which charged Traffic Monsoon and alleged operator Charles David Scoville of Utah last month with running a massive, cross-border Ponzi scheme, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Traffic Monsoon allegedly gathered at least $207 million.

    If a breach can be substantiated, it would mean that certain personally sensitive information of at least hundreds of Traffic Monsoon participants has been compromised. The information appears initially to have been published on a website with an Arabic audience. The site also includes certain information in English, including what we’d describe as purported PayPal payment “proofs” for various amounts.

    What’s clear at the moment is that the website uses the term Traffic Monsoon as two of the words that form its name. Information on the site suggests certain Traffic Monsoon participants in the United States, the Netherlands, Latvia, South Africa, India, Sweden, Malaysia, Germany, Canada, Serbia, Romania, Israel, Indonesia, the United Kingdom, Australia, the Philippines, Belgium, Argentina and other nations may have been affected.

    This would not be the first time a “program’s” database has leaked onto the web. It previously has happened with cash-gifting schemes, perhaps particularly if sponsors were maintaining their own databases of recruits and did not secure them properly.




  • SEC Declines Comment On Whether It Contacted Traffic Monsoon Pitchman Sunil Patel About Saturday Rally In England

    Sunil Patel: From Facebook video.
    Sunil Patel: From Facebook video.

    Traffic Monsoon pitchman Sunil Patel has promised “security” at a “Revolution Day” rally Saturday in the area of Brighton Beach/Brighton Pier in England to advocate for the alleged Ponzi scheme.

    In a video post today on Facebook, Patel claimed the SEC has contacted him about the event.

    The SEC this afternoon declined to comment on Patel’s claims and his public efforts to get Traffic Monsoon participants to sign a sworn “affidavit” that declares the agency a “third-party interloper.” The Sussex Police did not immediately respond to a PP Blog inquiry about the event. There may be scores of Traffic Monsoon victims in England, potentially setting the stage for trouble between supporters of the SEC’s action and supporters of the “program.”

    Last month the SEC alleged that “more than 99% of Traffic Monsoon’s revenue is derived from new investor funds, making claims that it is a successful advertising business merely an illusion.” A federal judge imposed an asset freeze.

    The SEC’s action against Traffic Monsoon and alleged operator Charles Scoville of Utah is the most recent of several major cases the agency has brought against “programs” that operate across borders. Others include TelexFree, Zeek Rewards and WCM777.

    Combined, the schemes are alleged to have resulted in billions of dollars of illicit business. Some of the funds were fraudulently moved to the far corners of the world.

    On Tuesday from Washington, the Justice Department announced that a money-mover in the Zeek case had been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for obstruction of justice for fraudulently moving a pile of cash offshore. Jaymes Meyer, the operator of Preferred Merchant Solutions, was convicted on charges of trying to hide millions of Zeek dollars from the SEC, the court-appointed receiver and government investigators.

    The SEC charged Zeek in August 2012.

    Patel says that Traffic Monsoon participants from all over the world will attend Saturday’s Brighton event. How many of them will consult legal counsel before signing affidavits is unknown.

    Some Traffic Monsoon participants say they’ve already moved to a “program” known as Traffic Hurricane. The SEC previously has voiced concerns about “whack-a-mole.”

    NOTE: Our thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.




  • ‘TRAFFIC HURRICANE’: Reload Scheme Targets Traffic Monsoon Participants And Tries To Gag Reporters

    traffichurricanelogoIn the aftermath of the SEC’s Ponzi action against Traffic Monsoon last month, a website styled TrafficHurricane.plus has gone live and has a sign-up page. Ponzi-friendly Payza and SolidTrustPay are the listed money-movers.

    There are many items of interest on the Terms page, including exceptionally awkward English syntax and a preemptive bid to gag reporters.

    On the syntax front: “You are under the money laundering prevention law . . .”

    On the effort-to-gag front: “If you are not a member you are prohibited from modifying, copying, distributing, transmitting, publishing, selling, creating derivative works and / or using any information available on and / or through TrafficHurricane.”

    The PP Blog accessed the Traffic Hurricane page from the United States today. Given the Traffic Monsoon example and other examples in recent years, U.S. law enforcement may deem the offer as an offering of securities targeted at unaccredited investors in the United States and elsewhere.

    Traffic Hurricane has the hallmarks of a securities reload scheme and reportedly is hosted on the same server as TrafficMonsoon.plus, which appears to have been an earlier effort to launch a reload scheme. TrafficMonsoon originally operated at TrafficMonsoon.com, but that page now resolves to the website of the court-appointed receiver in the TrafficMonsoon case.

    In the HYIP sphere, reload schemes are somewhat common and provide a means by which victims get scammed a second time. Such schemes typically surface when a initial scheme displayed an incredible ability to gather money and line up suckers. Promos for Traffic Hurricane already are running on Twitter.

    The SEC said Traffic Monsoon rounded up more than $207 million. The agency’s complaint says the “program” had more than 162,000 investors.

    Apparently only in operation for a couple of days, Traffic Hurricane this morning said on its landing page that it already had 5,111 members. Like Traffic Monsoon, Traffic Hurricane says it is an “advertising” program.

    The situation is reminiscent of the 2008 AdSurfDaily “advertising” Ponzi scheme shut down by the U.S. Secret Service. ASD sparked at least three reload schemes, including one called AdViewGlobal. Investigators later linked ASD President Andy Bowdoin to AdViewGlobal. Because of AdViewGlobal, a federal judge revoked Bowdoin’s bond in the ASD Ponzi case.

    Charles Scoville, the alleged operator of Traffic Monsoon, has not been charged criminally. It is unclear whether a criminal investigation is proceeding on a parallel track with the SEC’s civil action against Scoville and Traffic Monsoon, but similar schemes have triggered criminal probes.

    BehindMLM.com, quoting TrafficMonsoon cheerleader Sharon James, is reporting Ernie Ganz is behind Traffic Hurricane.

    Other than the core business model and the reload schemes, TrafficMonsoon is like AdSurfDaily in other key ways.

    Traffic Monsoon supporters on social-media sites, for example, virtually are confessing their desire to engage in securities fraud on a global scale. Any number of them are using ASD-like arguments such as “we aren’t selling securities because we announced we weren’t selling securities” and payouts were never guaranteed.

    There also are ASD-like petition drives and various efforts to raise funds to fight the U.S. government. (See June 16, 2011, PP Blog editorial,  “The AdSurfDaily Solution.”)

    Like Traffic Hurricane, the AdViewGlobal knockoff scheme also tried to gag critics.




  • Private Attorneys Now Investigating Traffic Monsoon

    Charles Scoville: From YouTube.
    Charles Scoville: From YouTube.

    UPDATED 1:15 P.M. EDT U.S.A. It has happened in previous cases involving alleged violations of federal securities laws, and now it’s happening with Traffic Monsoon.

    “The Peiffer Rosca Wolf law firm is investigating Traffic Monsoon, LLC and Charles Scoville’s alleged Ponzi scheme on behalf of investors – whom Traffic Monsoon called ‘members,’” the firm said in a PR release today.

    How the firm would proceed is unclear. The announcement, however, potentially means Traffic Monsoon and Scoville will be facing litigation on a front separate from the Ponzi case filed by the SEC on July 26.

    After the 2008 AdSurfDaily Ponzi case was filed by the U.S. Secret Service, private attorneys filed a racketeering complaint against ASD operator Andy Bowdoin (and others) that helped out a second Ponzi scheme known as AdViewGlobal.

    Class-action attorneys also filed complaints in the TelexFree and Zeek Ponzi- and pyramid cases. Certain TelexFree-related actions alleged racketeering and referenced a “program” similar to Traffic Monsoon: My AdvertisingPays. There also were counts of fraud against TelexFree principals and some individual promoters.

    Even if they don’t result in a recovery, the actions filed by private individuals — as opposed to government plaintiffs — force defendants to confront litigation on multiple fronts. Defense costs may soar.

    “The Peiffer Rosca Wolf lawyers are preparing to take action and seek compensation on behalf of those who invested in the alleged Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Traffic Monsoon and Scoville,” the firm said.

    Traffic Monsoon gathered at least $207 million, according to the SEC.