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Tag: Cherryshares

  • MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi Forum ‘Temporarily’ Closes ‘JustBeenPaid’ Thread After Bickering Between Former Club Asteria Pitchman And Pitchman For ‘New’ Program Trading On JustBeenPaid’s Name

    We’ve mentioned it before — and we’ll mention it again. In July 2010, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) described the HYIP sphere as a “bizarre substratum of the Internet.”

    It was as good a description as any, and here is yet another case in point:

    The MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum said today that it “temporarily” closed its thread for the “JustBeenPaid” Ponzi scheme owing to bickering between “10BucksUp” and “lolalola.” JustBeenPaid, which is trading on the names of Warren Buffett and Oprah Winfrey, makes users affirm they are not government spies and purportedly began a transition in August to “offshore” servers. Members have been grumbling for weeks.

    “10BucksUp” rose to Ponzi forum prominence earlier this year through his efforts to promote the Club Asteria HYIP, which is trading on the names of the World Bank and the American Red Cross. “10BucksUp”  also promoted the JustBeenPaid HYIP while discouraging members from filing chargebacks with AlertPay for the good of all JustBeenPaid investors.

    “lolalola” now is hawking something called JSSTRIPLER2 or T2, which apparently is trading on the name of JustBeenPaid’s purported JSS Tripler arm.

    Although “10BucksUp” insists the purported new program is merely a “copycat” of the JustBeenPaid program, “lolalola” claims that, “[F]rom what I understand from the Admin is they did not trademark the brand or do they hold a copyright on the name… so he is free to use it.”

    In essence, two fraud programs now appear to be trading on the same name — but both “10BucksUp” and “lolalola” appear to be more concerned about clashing with each other than whether the schemes have (or are) stealing cash on a grand scale.

    Or something like that . . .

    “lolalola” is simultaneously promoting something called Zeek Rewards.

    “10BucksUp” recently has promoted Club Asteria, JustBeenPaid, Ad2Million and Cherry Shares. All of the programs are in a state of decay or outright disappearance. Cherry Shares is cited in litigation in Canada, and Club Asteria is cited in litigation in Italy.

    MoneyMakerGroup is listed in U.S. federal court filings as a place from which Ponzi schemes are promoted. So is TalkGold, another Ponzi forum.

  • BULLETIN: Quebec Regulators Reference Cherryshares And Mega Pension Plan — Two ‘Programs’ Pushed On Ponzi Boards — In Freeze And Cease-Trade Orders Against 3 Canadian Promoters, 2 Companies

    BULLETIN: The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) has obtained freeze and cease-trade orders against three Quebec residents and two business entities — and has shut down at least one website amid allegations that an international marketing scam was under way.

    At least two of the programs referenced in AMF’s action were promoted on the TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forums: Cherryshares, an HYIP darling that collapsed last year, and Mega Pension Plan.

    Cherryshares was a paid advertiser on the Ponzi forums. It vanished under mysterious circumstances in December.

    AMF described the scams as insidious because the promoters didn’t ask for big money from individual investors, instead relying on relatively small sums to add up to a larger sum.

    “These seemingly modest amounts add up to anything but,” according to an AMF news release.

    Named in the AMF action are Warren English of Laval, and Alain-André Desarzens and Michèle Amiot of Rimouski. Desarzens and Amiot are married, AMF said.

    “Messrs. English and Desarzens had issued a mass e-mailing to thousands of potential investors with promises of pocketing a lot of money fast,” AMF said.

    Using different email addresses, English and Desarzens promoted “numerous investments,” including Cherryshares and Mega Pension Plan, AMF alleged.

    “They offered thousands of investors around the world, including two Quebeckers, the opportunity to generate possible returns ranging from U.S.$1,000 to $90,000 on a minimum investment of between U.S.$10 and $300,” AMF alleged.

    Even as he was soliciting  new prospects, English was under a cease-trade order issued by the Ontario Securities Commission in 2003, AMF said.

    Desarzens, meanwhile, was under a cease-trade order issued by the Pennsylvania Securities Commission in 1999, AMF said.

    English used some of the funds from the Mega Pension Plan scam to acquire a “luxury condominium” in Laval, AMF said.

    “Based on the data gathered by the AMF, Mr. English moved nearly $525,000 between his accounts and those of his company, Méga International Business,” AMF said.

    All in all, Desarzens allegedly acquired $875,000 as a result of scamming.

    No breakdown of which scam was more profitable was provided, but some of the cash ended up with Desarzens’ spouse — and some of it ended up with a Desarzens-controlled entity known as Institut des médecines universelles, AMF said.

    A website linked to Desarzens — www.myleads.8k.com — was ordered shut down.