Tag: ClubAsteria

  • DEVELOPING STORY: Awaiting Trial, Accused AdSurfDaily Schemer Andy Bowdoin Resurfaces As Pitchman For OneX, ‘Opportunity’ Flogged On Ponzi Forums; ‘I Believe That God Has Brought Us OneX To Provide The Necessary Funds To Win This Case,’ Indicted ASD Patriarch Claims; ‘This Program Can Provide You With Earnings Beyond Your Wildest Imagination . . .’

    AdSurfDaily President Andy Bowdoin told members yesterday that they could "earn $99,000 very quickly" in a program known as OneX. The Florida-based ASD patriarch claimed to hope he could fund his defense to U.S. securities-related charges through OneX, which appears to be tied to a Panamanian firm that uses a domain name with a Montenegro extension and may operate from Isle of Man in the Irish Sea.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: The PP Blog may have more on this developing story in the coming days.

    In a bizarre development, accused Ponzi schemer Andy Bowdoin of AdSurfDaily told webinar listeners yesterday that he intended to fund his criminal defense to charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities through a purported business opportunity known as OneX, the PP Blog has learned.

    OneX, which uses a domain extension assigned to the European country of Montenegro and a webserver apparently positioned in the Irish Sea nation of Isle of Man, is described in MLM-style web promos as a 4X4 matrix feeder program for a Panamanian investment firm and commodities enterprise known as QLxchange.

    Whether OneX or QLxchange have any securities or commodities registrations in the United States or other countries was not immediately clear.

    Serving as the webinar host, ASD figure Tari Steward, who is helping Bowdoin raise funds for Bowdoin’s criminal defense and is listed in Bowdoin court filings as a potential ASD witness, described OneX as a winner while introducing Bowdoin.

    OneX has “already proven to be hugely successful here in the U.S.A. and all around the world,” Steward said.

    Mixing commentary on his Ponzi case with his OneX sales pitch, Bowdoin, 76, managed to work in a dig against the federal judge presiding over the criminal case against him. Bowdoin also chided federal prosecutors in the District of Columbia.

    Saying he was pleased that his trial date had been set nearly a year from now in September 2012 and describing it as an act of divine providence made possible after prayerful introspection, Bowdoin suggested the judge and prosecutors were disappointed that Collyer’s busy scheduled did not permit an earlier trial date.

    Both “Judge Collyer and the prosecution was wanting the closest time possible because they didn’t want to give us much time to prepare,” Bowdoin claimed, shortly after greeting webinar listeners with a “Hi, Folks.”

    Isle of Man highlighted in red: Source: Wikipedia.

    And Bowdoin, who did not identify the operators of OneX or speak to whether the purported program was required to be registered to market securities and commodities to U.S. inhabitants, sang the praises of the firm.

    “This program can provide you with earnings beyond your wildest imagination . . .” he claimed.

    Bowdoin further ventured that OneX “will produce the legal fees we need and make each one of you a ton of money.”

    “Now, when you finish this webinar,” he continued, “you’ll be so excited that you won’t be able to stop thinking about it.”

    ASD members will “wake up in the morning thinking about [OneX],” Bowdoin claimed. “For the next three days, you’ll be thinking about it constantly.”

    At a May 2008 ASD “rally” in Las Vegas prior to the seizure of tens of millions of dollars from his personal bank accounts, Bowdoin — describing himself as a Christian “money magnet” — urged members to imagine payments from ASD flowing to them “constantly.”

    Federal prosecutions referenced Bowdoin’s Las Vegas remarks in the Ponzi indictment announced against him in December 2010. He has been free awaiting trial since his arrest.

    Bowdoin went on to claim in yesterday’s OneX pitch that “you’ll soon see how you can earn $99,000 very quickly.”

    As part of his OneX pitch, Bowdoin described the firm as “one of the greatest financial vehicles on the Internet today” and asked a series of questions:

    • “Do you want to get out of debt?”
    • Do you need to catch up on some house payments?”
    • “Do you want to pay cash in the next 90 days for a new automobile . . .”

    Bowdoin’s pitch also mixed in quotations from scripture.

    Based on its research, the PP Blog is reporting today that members of the purported Club Asteria business opportunity and the purported JustBeenPaid opportunity also have promoted OneX. An image of Club Asteria principal Hank Needham appeared in an ad for ASD in 2008. Meanwhile, web records show that Frederick Mann, the purported operator of JustBeenPaid, also was an ASD pitchman.

    Among the Club Asteria pitchmen who turned their attentions to OneX are “strosdegoz.” Club Asteria-related claims came under fire from CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, in May.

    Also participating in Bowdoin’s webinar was Rayda Roundy, whom Bowdoin described as a former ASD “trainer.”

    Roundy told listeners that a “pay it forward” strategy with OneX will help participants make money and help Bowdoin raise defense funds.

    OneX participants could create their own “bailout” program, Roundy claimed.

    After Bowdoin took back the webinar helm from Roundy, the ASD patriarch reminded members to send questions about OneX to a Gmail email address.

    And then Bowdoin said this:

    “Now, from time to time, people ask me, ‘Andy, how do you remain so peaceful?’ My answer is God.”

    He went on to claim that God had led him to his strategy of using OneX to raise defense funds.

    “I believe that God has brought us OneX to provide the necessary funds to win this case,” Bowdoin said.

     

  • Authorities In Virginia Neither ‘Confirm [N]or Deny’ That Investigation Into Club Asteria Is Under Way; Firm Whose Growth Was Fueled On Ponzi Boards Before Cashout Suspension And CONSOB Probe Is Not Registered To Sell Securities In The State

    Screen shot: The logo of Asteria Philanthropic Foundation, which also has been described as the Asteria Foundation. The foundation, according to its website, is an offshoot of Club Asteria, which described itself in June as a "cause" marketing company.

    UPDATED 4:14 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Club Asteria, the offshoot of Virginia-based Asteria Corp. and the apparent braintrust behind an emerging entity known as the Asteria Philanthropic Foundation, is not registered to sell securities in Virginia, the state said Thursday.

    Neither is Asteria Corp., according to state records.

    Citing confidentiality laws, the state declined to say Friday whether it was aware that CONSOB, the Italian Securities regulator, had opened a probe into Club Asteria-related matters earlier this year. The state also declined to say whether it had launched its own Club Asteria probe.

    “We cannot confirm or deny that an investigation is being conducted due to the prohibitions in Section 13.1-518 of the Code of Virginia,” said Katha Treanor, a spokeswoman for the State Corporation Commission (SCC). The commission oversees the Virginia Division of Securities & Retail Franchising.

    Among other things, the statute cited by Treanor forbids the state from disclosing publicly whether a probe is under way while empowering it to issue subpoenas, compel attendance at hearings and share information with other law-enforcement agencies.

    Club Asteria, which announced a cash crunch in June after it acknowledged in May that its PayPal account had been suspended, has described itself as a “cause” marketing company. A PowerPoint presentation for Club Asteria claimed the program offered a 25 percent “matching bonus,” along with”passive” income for Gold and Silver members that was “100% GUARANTEED.”

    Ponzi forum promos for Club Asteria claimed payouts came via wire from a Hong Kong entity known  as Asteria Holdings Limited. Club Asteria, which claimed to be a revenue-sharing program, has traded on the name of the World Bank.

    The news in Virginia developed as the General Counsel’s Office of the American Red Cross said it was opening a probe into the potential misuse of the Red Cross logo and name by the Asteria Philanthropic Foundation, which also is known as the Asteria Foundation and has issued at least one undated “press release” with a dateline of Reston, Va.

    Andrea Lucas, Club Asteria’s managing member, was quoted in the release. Among the oddities in the release is that the foundation announced its launch “today” — without putting a date on the release. Visitors to the site could form the impression that “today” literally meant the day they visited the site, regardless of the day of the week.

    Although the foundation has its own website at a .org domain and Club Asteria claimed in its October emagazine that the Red Cross was a “partner,” the Red Cross said Thursday that it had been unable “to confirm a [Club Asteria] link to the Red Cross.”

    If that continues to hold true, Club Asteria will receive a cease-and-desist order, the Red Cross said, noting that individuals do not have to go through Club Asteria to donate to the Red Cross. Earlier this year, Club Asteria encouraged members to recruit more affiliates willing to pay Club Asteria a fee to enable the company to provide earthquake relief in Japan.

    Last month, Club Asteria removed content from its emagazine that suggested that actor Will Smith had endorsed the purported business opportunity. Club Asteria did not explain why it had reconfigured the publication to remove Smith-related content. The removal occurred after the PP Blog sought comment from Smith’s publicist on whether the actor was aware his name and image were being used by Club Asteria.

    In the October issue of Club Asteria’s emagazine, a button that leads to a registration page for Club Asteria was placed inside a quotation from Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi, the slain Indian civil-rights champion, was assassinated in 1948. Club Asteria misspelled Gandhi’s name in the publication, which is the firm’s recruitment organ. The Red Cross logo appears both inside the publication and on the foundation’s .org site.

    It was unclear yesterday whether the foundation, which uses a Hong Kong address in a passage on its .org domain and a fax number with a Virginia area code, was registered as a charitable entity in Virginia. Charitable entities in the state are overseen by the Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs, a branch of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. (The PP Blog contacted the Office of Consumer Affairs on Friday to determine if the foundation is registered in Virginia, and expects to hear back Monday.)

    Among the claims on the .org domain was that the foundation has “tax exempt” status with the IRS, but a database maintained by the IRS appears to have no listing either for the Asteria Philanthropic Foundation or the Asteria Foundation.

    Records in Virginia show that two corporate business registrations for an entity known as Asteria Corp. were “terminated” — one on Nov. 2, 2009, another on May 4, 2010. The reasons behind the terminations and the registration details of the corporations were not immediately clear.

    On May 31, 2010, Asteria Corp. — using the services of a law firm — sent a check for $325 to the state via overnight courier (FedEx). The fee included $100 for expedited service, and the registration as a business entity was restored on June 8, 2010, according to records.

    Club Asteria was popularized in part by posts on Ponzi boards such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup, both of which are listed in federal court filings as places from which Ponzi schemes are promoted. A TalkGold thread shows that the first promo for Club Asteria was posted on April 5, 2010. The thread, which has been moved to the TalkGold scams folder, ultimately grew to 139 pages — with 10 posts per page.

    Meanwhile, on MoneyMakerGroup, the first Club Asteria post was dated May 29, 2010 — while Asteria Corp.’s corporate registration was listed as “terminated” in Virginia. That thread ultimately grew to 221 pages — with 15 posts per page.

    Two days later — on May 31, 2010 — Asteria Corp. sent $325 to the state and asked for expedited service to restore the firm’s corporate registration.

    Well-known Ponzi board hucksters such as “Ken Russo,” “10BucksUp” and “manolo” were among the Club Asteria cheerleaders. “Ken Russo” also is known as “DRdave.”

    Scores of Club Asteria promoters described the program as a “passive” investment opportunity that paid out anywhere from 3 percent to 10 percent a week. Earnings were described as guaranteed, and some promoters lured recruits by offering to return a portion of their monthly fees. The Ponzi forum promos and pitches by Club Asteria members on Blogs and websites led to questions about whether Club Asteria was selling unregistered securities and whether the firm had come into receipt of proceeds tainted by other schemes pitched on the Ponzi boards.

    CONSOB announced in May that it had blocked Club Asteria promos in Italy. Club Asteria acknowledged during the same month that its PayPal account had been suspended, blaming the development on members and later claiming it was experiencing a cash crunch.

    Weekly payouts to members first were slashed, and later were eliminated. Ponzi forum promoters remained busy, turning their attention to other purported programs, some of which have collapsed or are in a classic state of Ponzi decay. One of the programs with members in common with Club Asteria — JustBeenPaid — claimed it was moving to “offshore” servers and forced members to affirm they were not government spies or media lackeys.

    Frederick Mann, the purported braintrust behind JustBeenPaid, was a promoter for AdSurfDaily, the Florida firm the U.S. Secret Service said in 2008 was operating an international Ponzi scheme. JustBeenPaid is trading on the names of Warren Buffett and Oprah Winfrey — and even has an ad banner with an image of Mr. Spock,” the fictional spaceman from the Star Trek series.

    Hank Needham, who appears in Club Asteria videos and has been described as an owner of the company, also was an AdSurfDaily promoter, according to a 2008 promo for ASD.

  • INCREDIBLE: Month After Will Smith Debacle, Club Asteria Turns To Mahatma Gandhi To Drive Traffic — And Misspells Name Of Assassinated Champion Of Freedom While Turning Him Into A Pitchman; House Organ Also Includes Photo Of Richard Branson

    Last month, it was famed actor Will Smith. This month, it is Mahatma Gandhi, the civil-rights champion and beacon of freedom in India who was assassinated at a prayer meeting in 1948.

    After placing a “JOIN NOW” button under an image of Smith in its September house organ and later removing both the  image and a purported “interview” with Smith, Club Asteria has turned to Gandhi in its October issue.

    Although the promo features no image of Gandhi, it does include a quote attributed to him: “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

    The promo misspells the slain leader’s last name, and a “JOIN OUR MISSION” button appears directly below the quotation, which appears on Page 37 of the October house organ.

    Club Asteria became a darling of the Ponzi boards earlier this year before slashing payouts and later eliminating them. Promos for the firm were banned in Italy, and Club Asteria acknowledged its PayPal account had been suspended.

    The developments were blamed on members.

    Club Asteria and thousands of its members have traded on the name of the World Bank. The firm announced a cash crisis in June, comparing the situation to a run on the bank.

    A spread on Pages 26 and 27 of the October Club Asteria house organ features a photo of famed entrepreneur Richard Branson posing with a group of mostly younger people. An accompanying story asserts that a group of Club Asteria members conversed with Branson at an entrepreneurial event in Richmond, Va., “a few weeks ago.”

    “Both Richard Branson and Club Asteria share a common link and that link is GRATITUDE,” the story claimed.

    The story appears to have been written by a Club Asteria staffer. A “JOIN NOW” button appears on Page 27, though not directly below the image of Branson.

    Ponzi forum boosters such as “Ken Russo” repeatedly sang the praises of Club Asteria.

    The PP Blog reported yesterday that a separate program promoted on the Ponzi boards — Just Been Paid — was using images of Oprah Winfrey to drive traffic. JustBeenPaid also is using images of Warren Buffett.

    In 2008, a “program” with the bizarre name of Cash Tanker used images of Jesus Christ in sales pitches. Cash Tanker ultimately tanked.

    Many of the “programs” on the Ponzi boards — Club Asteria, Just Been Paid and AdSurfDaily, for instance — have or had promoters and members in common. Promo posts for Cash Tanker appeared on the now-defunct, pro-ASD “Surf’s Up” forum, and Club Asteria executive Hank Needham has been linked to promo for ASD.

    The October 2011 Club Asteria house organ, which includes the Gandhi quote and attached  sign-up button and the image of Branson with a sign-up button on the same page, also features a photo of Needham. A button below the Needham photo reads, “ABOUT COURAGE.”

     

     

  • UPDATE: YouTube Is Removing Videos For ‘JustBeenPaid,’ Program Hawked By Serial Hucksters; MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi Forum Poster Suggests His Hundreds Of YouTube Accounts Will Enable Him To Circumvent Video Removals

    YouTube is removing videos for JustBeenPaid, a “program’ linked to Frederick Mann and popularized by scammers on Ponzi boards such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.

    JustBeenPaid promos feature claims of remarkable returns.

    The removed videos carry messages such as “This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube’s policy against spam, scams, and commercially deceptive content” and “This video is no longer available because the YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated.” Some JustBeenPaid videos remain on the popular video site. It was unclear if YouTube plans to remove all of them.

    JustBeenPaid appears to feed itself through a “program” called JSS Tripler and also appears to be tied to something called Synergy Surf. The program, which is foundering, became a Ponzi darling in the days after Club Asteria slashed payouts and then suspended them altogether earlier this year.

    Ponzi forum posts identity Mann as the JustBeenPaid braintrust.

    There is a claim today on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi cesspit that JustBeenPaid members were provided the likenesses of celebrities to promote the “program.”

    Just last month, an image of actor Will Smith was featured in a Club Asteria promo. The image was removed after the PP Blog contacted Smith’s publicist. It is common for fraud schemes to trade on the names of celebrities and to plant the seed that celebrities endorse a specific program when no such endorsement exists.

    One apparent Just Been Paid fan on MoneyMaker Group suggested his control over hundreds of YouTube accounts would enable him to circumvent any ban YouTube enacts against Just Been Paid.

    “No sweat, I own over 500 Youtube accounts, so I’ll just keep making videos like normal, plus I can always use Viddler and Windows movie maker and facebook video as well,” MoneyMakerGroup poster “gtprosperity” claimed.

  • Image Of Famed Actor And Grammy-Winner Will Smith Appears In Club Asteria House Organ Just Above ‘JOIN NOW’ Button; No Immediate Comment From His Publicist

    "ABOUT US" and "JOIN NOW" buttons — each punctuated with exclamation points — appear below this image of actor Will Smith in Club Asteria's September 2011 house organ. The PP Blog has cropped this screen shot not to show Smith's face, but his face appears in the Club Asteria promo.

    UPDATED 1:47 P.M. EDT (U.S.A. OCT. 29, 2011.)  An image of famed actor and rapper Will Smith appears in Club Asteria’s September house organ, an online glossy used by the firm to recruit affiliates across the world. It was unclear if Smith had knowledge of the promo or had authorized Club Asteria to use his likeness.

    A link to the publication featuring the image of Smith appeared on the TalkGold Ponzi forum yesterday. TalkGold is referenced in federal court filings as a place from which international fraud schemes are promoted.

    Smith’s publicists at the 42West agency in Los Angeles had no immediate comment on the promo when contacted today by the PP Blog, which provided a link to the Club Asteria publication. The entertainer’s image appears on Page 7 of the September gusher.

    Buttons using the words “LEARN MORE!”  “ABOUT US! and “JOIN NOW!” appear a short distance below the image of Smith. But readers who press the buttons do not receive information about Smith. Rather, the buttons forward to Club Asteria’s website. The “JOIN NOW” button, for instance, takes readers to Club Asteria’s registration page.

    The presence of the image of Smith, the wording and design of the page and the positioning of the buttons lead to questions about whether the “Independence Day” and “Men in Black” star had endorsed the purported Club Asteria opportunity or whether Club Asteria was trying to create the impression among readers that he was a spokesman for the company.

    In May, Club Asteria promotions were banned in Italy by the Italian securities regulator CONSOB. The agency has published its orders and findings on Club Asteria affiliate websites in Italy.

    It is common for shady promoters of multilevel-marketing (MLM) “opportunities” to plant the seed in promos that a particular product or service is endorsed by a celebrity when no actual endorsement exists.

    A headline of “Will Smith Inspires the World With Enthusiasm for Life, Work & People!” appears above the image of Smith in the Club Asteria promo.

    A deck below the headline uses these words, “An Interview With Will Smith,” suggesting that Club Asteria itself had a direct connection to him. In a short blurb below the deck, readers are told that the “interview” and “discussion” with Smith will inform them about the wisdom he gained “throughout his journey to success” and that Smith will explain “the importance of extraordinary dreams.”

    A button to a video —  apparently one that appeared on YouTube and is being reframed inside the house organ — appears below the image of Smith. When clicked, the video loads footage of an interview with Smith conducted by 60 Minutes reporter Steve Kroft (NOTE: This paragraph was edited on Oct. 29, 2011, to reflect that Kroft, not Scott Pelley, conducted the 60 Minutes’ interview.) As the video proceeds, it loads footage of Smith being interviewed by broadcaster Charlie Rose. It then works in footage of a Smith interview on NBC’s Today show and a Smith interview on the “Ellen” show. Footage from other shows also are spliced into the video.

    Club Asteria reportedly recruited more than 300,000 members in a worldwide promotional blitz that traded on the name of the World Bank. Hundreds — if not thousands — of promos for the firm claimed Club Asteria was a program that provided a weekly return on investment of between 3 percent and 10 percent. The offers were targeted at the world’s poor, with Club Asteria positioned as a company that could lift them out of poverty.

    Club Asteria was widely promoted on forums associated with Ponzi schemes and the sale of unregistered securities. Members said Club Asteria first slashed weekly payouts to members in the spring and then eliminated them. Club Asteria announced in May that its PayPal account had been frozen, a development it blamed on members.

    In various promos prior to the PayPal freeze, Club Asteria affiliates preemptively denied Club Asteria was operating a Ponzi scheme. Club Asteria managing member Andrea Lucas, whom the World Bank said in March once held a staff position at the bank, last worked for the bank in 1986 — 25 years ago.

    Lucas was described in promos for Club Asteria as a former “Director,” chairman and vice president of the World Bank. Images of Hank Needham, another Club Asteria principal, appeared in 2008 promos for AdSurfDaily.

    In August of that year, the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars from the personal bank accounts of ASD President Andy Bowdoin, alleging that he was presiding over an international Ponzi scheme.

    Bowdoin was arrested on criminal charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and selling unregistered securities in December 2010. His trial is pending. Like Club Asteria, ASD also was promoted on Ponzi boards such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup, which is listed in federal court filings as a place from which the alleged Pathway To Prosperity and Legisi Ponzi schemes were promoted.

    ASD, Pathway To Prosperity and Legisi created tens of thousands of victims globally and fraudulently obtained a combined total of about $250 million, according to court filings.

  • AlertPay Says It Was Targeted In DDoS Attack Last Week; Unclear Who Launched Assault; Site Processed Payments For Club Asteria And Other Collapsed HYIP And Money-Cycler ‘Programs’ Promoted On Ponzi Boards

    UPDATED 9:45 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) AlertPay, a Canadian payment processor referenced frequently on Ponzi boards such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup, announced on its Blog that it was subjected to a “large” DDoS attack last week that affected customers’ ability to access the site.

    In a Blog post dated Wednesday, the company said the DDoS attack began on Aug. 16.

    “We have measures in place to mitigate such attacks but when the intensity of the attack traffic peaks, said measures can occasionally drop legitimate traffic to the site,” AlertPay said. The firm’s website appears to be loading quickly today.

    No customer information was compromised in the attack, AlertPay said. The firm did not say whether it had identified a suspect in the attack or whether the attackers had provided a reason for targeting the firm.

    “Solving an issue like this unfortunately takes a bit of time to tweak appropriately so please bear with us while we attempt to adjust our filters and improve the situation,” the company said.

    AlertPay processes payments for Club Asteria, according to Club Asteria members who complained when Club Asteria reported earlier this year that it had suspended member cashouts after acknowledging its PayPal account had been frozen. Some Club Asteria members reported on the TalkGold Ponzi board that they continued to be paid through AlertPay after the PayPal freeze and despite the payout suspension Club Asteria had announced.

    Club Asteria traded on the name of the World Bank, targeting a purported Club Asteria “revenue sharing” offer to the world’s poor.

    Promotions for Club Asteria claimed the Virginia-based firm had recruited more than 300,000 members, was gaining thousands of new members each week and was on target to register 1 million members by the end of 2011.  Some Club Asteria members simultaneously were promoting a purported “opportunity” known as Centurion Wealth Circle.

    In short order, Centurion’s website then disappeared amid reports of a Ponzi collapse, but later reappeared. Reports soon surfaced that Centurion intended to implement a feeder cycler known as “The Tornado” to prop up its original, collapsed cycler. Members claimed AlertPay processed payments for both Centurion and “The Tornado.”

    Early reports on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum about the effectiveness of “The Tornado” in reversing the financial course of Centurion are confusing. Accompanying those reports are confusing reports that a second version of “The Tornado” is coming soon and that Centurion will contact “free” members to make sure they have a chance to pay Centurion for a membership “upgrade” that will permit them to get in on the action.

    Prior to its reappearance after an absence of days, Centurion’s DNS information suggested that the firm’s website had been disabled for spamming.

    Centurion, according to the MoneyMakerGroup post, now says its first implementation of “The Tornado” resulted in “13 HUNDRED POSITIONS earning many members good commissions & bonuses all round.”

    The firm, according to the MoneyMakerGroup post, did not say how much money it gathered in the first use of “The Tornado.”

    But a second implementation of “The Tornado” will be tweaked to make it even more “exciting” than the recently completed first, according to the MoneyMakerGroup post, which was dated today.

    “The next Tornado will run for 24 hours only,” Centurion was quoted in the MoneyMakerGroup post as saying. “It will consist of just one phase at 200%. The most exciting part is [. . .] we will run a a (sic) two way cycler that wont (sic) cross over each other. What this means is when the left-to-right cycler meets the right-to-left cycler they will both start again!!

    “This spreads the profits more evenly and ensures more positions profit – especially the later entries!” Centurion was quoted as saying. “All entries in the Tornado are worth 2 Product Tokens and these will be added to members main account! A Brand NEW Wealth Creation System is coming – Premium Members Only!”

    Earlier this year, AlertPay processed payments for Exotic FX, another program widely promoted on the Ponzi boards. Some Club Asteria members also promoted Exotic, which billed itself a “PRIVATE ASSET HAVEN.”

    Exotic appears to have collapsed in the spring, roughly at the same time Club Asteria was collapsing. The dollar value of Exotic member losses is unclear, and the firm’s website no longer loads. There were reports that AlertPay had blocked Exotic’s access to funds prior to the collapse. Exotic’s domain now resolves to a page that beams ads.

    AlertPay also processed payments for Pathway to Prosperity, which the U.S. Postal Inspection Service described last year as a collapsed $70 million Ponzi scheme that had spread to 120 countries over the Internet and created 40,000 victims.

    Separately, AlertPay’s name is referenced in U.S. Secret Service allegations against AdSurfDaily, an autosurf  company accused of propping itself up by creating at least three other feeder Ponzi schemes after its original Ponzi scheme collapsed in 2007. The ASD scheme allegedly gathered at least $110 million though a series of payment processors. The firm also used Bank of America to collect payments, according to filings by federal prosecutors and a private racketeering lawsuit brought against ASD President Andy Bowdoin by three ASD members in January 2009.

    Hank Needham, a Club Asteria principal, also was an ASD pitchman, according to web records. Club Asteria launched in the aftermath of the Secret Service seizure of tens of millions of dollars from Bowdoin in 2008.

    Like Club Asteria, Centurion Wealth Circle, “The Tornado,” Exotic FX and Pathway To Prosperity, ASD also was promoted on the Ponzi boards.

    It is common on the Ponzi boards for members to promote two or more fraud schemes simultaneously. One Club Asteria member who also promoted Centurion has claimed he participates in 35 forums.

  • PRIMING THE PUMP: TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup Publish String Of ‘I Got Paid’ Posts From Club Asteria Members; ‘It’s No Scam Now,’ Poster Declares

    Two forums listed in federal court documents as places from which Ponzi schemes are promoted have published a series of “I got paid” posts from commentators who say they are members of Club Asteria (CA).

    The “I got paid” posts on MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold appeared after CA members had complained publicly about not getting paid and fretted about the firm’s slow-loading website.

    Both the complaints and the “I got paid” posts lead to questions about whether CA’s revenue stream is polluted by Ponzi proceeds.

    “It’s no scam now,” a poster on MoneyMakerGroup confidently opined after the “I got paid” posts began to appear. A link under the comment led to the affiliate’s CA registration page,  which implied prospects were receiving guidance from an “Investment” company or professional financial adviser.

    This Club Asteria affiliate's sign-up page is accessible from a link on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum. The registration page implies that CA prospects are receiving guidance from a professional "Investment" company or adviser. In May 2010, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service identified MoneyMaker group as a site from which the alleged Pathway To Prosperity Ponzi scheme was pushed. Pathway To Prosperity gathered more than $70 million, creating about 40,000 victims from "all of the permanently inhabited continents of the world," according to federal court filings in the Southern District of Illinois.

    Separately on MoneyMakerGroup, another CA poster declared, “I am in over 35 forums and everyone is posting paid.”

    In July 2010, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued an alert about investment scams and how they spread on the Internet.  Separately, court filings from May 2008 in the SEC’s case against an alleged $70 million Ponzi scheme known as Legisi include a handwritten note from a Legisi enrollee.

    “Money Maker Group.com,” the note read in part. The note was part of a 267-page evidence exhibit the SEC presented a federal judge. The SEC alleged that Legisi created thousands of victims.

    On both MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold, posters have repeatedly noted that CA payments come from “Asteria Holdings Limited (Hong Kong).”

    CA says it accepts money through SolidTrustPay and AlertPay, both of which are Canada-based payment processors. Both companies are referenced in federal court filings in the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, which the U.S. Secret Service said gathered at least $110 million and created as many as 40,000 victims.

    ASD also was promoted on MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold. Solid Trust Pay and AlertPay also are referenced in court filings in the Pathway To Prosperity Ponzi case.

    CA also notes that it conducts business with CashX, another Canadian firm. When the ASAMonitor Ponzi scheme and criminals’ forum mysteriously vanished in October 2010, the site’s landing page initially redirected to CashX.

    Some CA members are selling the “program” by describing what it is not. It is not a Ponzi scheme, and it is not an investment, they claim.

  • UPDATE: Club Asteria Members Use TalkGold Ponzi Forum To Announce That Firm Now Has More Than 200,000 Members; Separately, Some Members Grumble About Missing Payouts

    EDITOR’S NOTE: The adjective-inspiring story below is made possible by the incongruous behavior of online pitchmen who operate in an environment the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) described last year as a “bizarre substratum of the Internet.”

    Two promoters of Club Asteria, a business “opportunity” purportedly operated by a woman variously described as a former “Chairman,” former “Director” and former “Vice president” of the World Bank, have announced on the TalkGold Ponzi scheme forum that they’ve enrolled new recruits and that Club Asteria now has more than 200,000 members.

    “Ken Russo” advised TalkGold members that he had enrolled Club Asteria (CA) member No. 198920. A short time later, TalkGold member “manolo” announced he had enrolled CA member “200,600+”

    “It’s Official,” “manolo” declared. “Club-Asteria has over 200,000 Member!” (sic)

    The World Bank said last week that it once employed a woman named Andrea Lucas as director of the management systems and account department. The bank described the position as a staff job, and said Lucas worked in Washington, D.C.

    In this promo, Club Asteria is said to have been founded by a "former world bank Chairman." In a separate promo, Club Asteria is described as a site of "World Bank's former Vice president Andrea Lucas." The claim is made in a bold headline that features 24-point type.

    In MLM-style promotions, scores and scores of Club Asteria members globally have implied Lucas was a member of the World Bank’s board of directors. The World Bank, though, said that Lucas never was on the board of directors and had left her job at the bank in December 1986, nearly 25 years ago.

    Other Club Asteria members have described Lucas as a former chairman and vice president of the World Bank. At least one online promo for Club Asteria implies that Lucas is a current director of the bank.

    Get a “life time income wth (sic) help of world bank director,” the promo prompts viewers.

    On the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi board today, Club Asteria members are complaining about cashout requests that have not been honored, slow or absent customer support and server troubles.

    Last week, Club Asteria asked members to put “a little extra effort into your Club-Asteria business over the next 15 days. We are asking you now to just use one extra hour each day to focus on the things that generate additional revenue, such as product and service sales as well as memberships.”

    The request was part of a promo on “HOW WE CAN HELP THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN” after the devastating earthquake and tsunami.

    Read a July 2010 story about an alert issued by FINRA.