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Tag: Data Network Affiliates

  • FIRST, TRUMP, OPRAH, APPLE: Now, PP Blog’s ‘Breaking News’ Graphic Used In Video Pitch For Data Network Affiliates’ MLM Program

    A rep for Data Network Affiliates, an MLM program, copied the PP Blog's "Breaking News" graphic and used it in a video pitch that claimed DNA offered "Branded" iPhones from Apple. Reps for the company also have claimed Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump endorse the firm. It is common for some MLM purveyors to claim or imply business ties where none exisit as a means of disarming potential critics and of creating legitimacy by leeching off the brand names of well-known people and entities.

    A sales rep for Data Network Affiliates (DNA) used the “Breaking News” graphic from the PP Blog to supplement a sales pitch for a nonexistent cell-phone plan that  touted “unlimited” talk-and-text service for $10 a month, plus a free phone.

    The unauthorized use of the Blog’s intellectual property in a sales pitch raises troubling, new questions about the company and its purported army of multilevel-marketing (MLM) affiliates. DNA recently has claimed that churches have the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to pitch its products.

    DNA affiliates previously have implied that Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey endorse the company. Their images appeared for 10 consecutive minutes in a YouTube video for DNA, and affiliates also have implied the company had a special “branding” deal with Steve Jobs-led Apple.

    DNA, which previously used a free Gmail address to conduct customer service, has removed the address from its website. It has been replaced by a prompt that reads in part, “All other question (sic) or issues must be submitted to Data Network Affiliates through our Customer Support area in your DNA Back office available via the Support Tab on the Main Menu in all Affiliate Back Offices.”

    There is no effective way for nonaffiliates to contact the company. Earlier this year DNA affiliates repeatedly spammed the PP Blog.

    In an undated video that promotes DNA, the Blog’s “Breaking News” graphic was used to introduce a pitch for DNA’s purported “See Through IPhone.”

    “It’s (sic) very own Branded Iphones,” the pitch crowed.

    Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

    Even as the PP Blog’s “Breaking News” logo is being misused in a video slideshow for DNA, the company is instructing members to “make believe” its March launch never occurred. The firm reinstalled a launch countdown timer on its website, saying it will launch July 26. DNA actually launched March 1 after missing two February launch dates. The firm asked existing members in March to reimagine the launch as a “beta test,” even though it was advertised for weeks as a full launch.

    Dean Blechman, DNA’s original chief executive officer, resigned Feb. 24. The company withheld the news of his resignation for nearly a week, and Blechman later complained about the company’s “bizarre” conduct.

    Because DNA now is advertising a July 26 launch date, incoming members may not know the company actually launched in March — after Blechman’s resignation and after he described the firm’s behavior as puzzling.

    It is not believed that DNA has any affiliation with Trump, Winfrey or Apple. It is clear, however, that a DNA pitchman in a February conference call planted the seed that the company was well-connected.

    “This is the guy,” the pitchman said of the former DNA chief.  “He rolls with the Donald Trumps; he rolls with the big boys. I mean, you know, he has [inaudible] certain people on speed dial that’s incredible.”

    Blechman resigned within two days of the pitchman’s conference-call claim.

    On March 4, in an interview with the PP Blog, Blechman complained about DNA “bull” from a “backdoor guy.”

    He also complained that the company misspelled his name after finally announcing his departure six days after he left and then mangled the facts surrounding his departure.

    Weeks after Blechman resigned, the company suddenly announced in early April that it was in the cell-phone business, declaring “GAME OVER — WE WIN” despite the fact it had no experience in the industry. DNA started out as a company that collected license-plate information for entry in a database that purportedly could help the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children.

    DNA declared itself the world’s low-cost leader in cell phones, advertising a “free” phone with “unlimited” talk and text for $10 a month. By April’s close, the company announced that it had not even studied cell-phone pricing before releasing its plan, withdrawing the offer and blaming its inability to deliver on a vendor it apparently had not vetted.

    Meanwhile, the firm has done other odd things. An upgrade plan it initially named the Business Benefit Package — using the acronym BBP — later was dubbed the BBB. BBB is the acronym used by the Better Business Bureau.

    “6 OF THE 10 WILL BUY THE B.B.B. AND GET 1 OTHER TO BUY THE B.B.B. WITHIN 24 HOURS,” DNA declared last month.

    Since that time, DNA has repeatedly called the BBP package the BBB package.

  • EDITORIAL: MLM’s Great Race To The Bottom? While FTC, SEC, CFTC Warn About Affinity Fraud, Data Network Affiliates Says Its Mortgage-Reduction Program Is A ‘Church Fundraisers DREAM Come True’

    Apparently tithing, bake sales, quilting bees, church-sponsored dinners, flea markets and car washes by Christian teens to raise money for projects have gone the way of the dinosaur.

    Building on an earlier claim that churches have a “MORAL OBLIGATION” to pitch its purported mortgage-reduction program, Data Network Affiliates (DNA) now says the program is a “Church Fundraisers (sic) DREAM Come True.”

    Some DNA members are describing the program as a “Crusade to Help American Families Keep their Homes.”

    Just when you think you’ve seen it all in MLM, the company also claims it has been asked to sell “Funeral Caskets MLM”-style. In a pitch to members, DNA compares itself favorably to “FACEBOOK, GOOGLE & WALMART…”

    The company says churches can benefit from its bid to rid the mortgage world of “toxic” assets, defining its “exciting DNA Mortgage Reduction System” as the “ONLY ONE OF IT’s (sic) KIND” — one that allows “DNA to pay out $300 on The Front End in a TEN LEVEL PAY PLAN and up to $1600 on The Back End in a TEN LEVEL PAY PLAN.”

    “The line for DNA introducing products and services will be just as long” as the lines at Walmart, the company says. “Yesterday we got a call to sell Funeral Caskets MLM…”

    We wonder if selling human body parts MLM-style will be next — and we wonder if livers, kidneys, hearts, lungs and skin will be positioned as a moral imperative for clergy to hawk and wonderful products for churches to sell after registering as “PRO” affiliates for an opportunity to pocket commissions 10 levels deep.

    Although DNA has been pitching the mortgage-reduction program for only days, two testimonials from customers who purport to be happy DNA campers suddenly have materialized on the company’s website.

    “I was lost, and thought I had no where to go,” writes “Trish” on the website. “I was out of options then my real estate broker referred me to your program DNA Mortgage Reduction.”

    “Trish” did not identify the purported broker. Nor did “Trish” explain the purported broker’s affiliation with DNA and how DNA apparently was able in just days to gather her information, get it in the proper hands for a legal review of her case, study it for potential “DEFECTS,” conduct a “Forensic Audit,” draft the paperwork to be mailed to the lender being petitioned to write down her mortgage, wait for the lender’s presumably favorable response after assessing the value of the property and its legal position after being slapped by DNA’s paperwork, arrange for new loan documents to be drafted and vetted by attorneys on both sides, attested to by a notary and formally signed by all parties.

    Regardless, “Trish” described her DNA experience as a “miracle,” claiming that “I now have a new mortgage and my home is $24,000.00 lower principal balance. I am saving over $300.00 a month.”

    Before concluding her testimonial Trish made sure she thanked “Principal Mortgage!” It is unclear if “Principal Mortgage” is the name of DNA’s vendor.

    Meanwhile, in a testimonial purportedly authored by “Nichole,” the “DNA Mortgage Reduction” program and a person named “Mike” were given credit for saving “Nichole’s” home after she “prayed” about the matter.

    “I owe a lot to DNA Mortgage Reduction,” wrote the purported “Nichole.”

    “I now am secure in my home with a affordable mortgage and my kids do not have to move,” Nichole offered.

    Things apparently happened quickly for “Nichole.”

    “When I had gotten letters from the attorney that was going to my bank and copies from the bank responding I knew I was going to all right,” Nichole wrote. “They did exactly what they promised and lowered my principal balance and interest rate.”

    DNA has been pushing the purported mortgage-relief program for only days, including over the long July 4 weekend into which a U.S. banking holiday was sandwiched — and yet both “Nichole” and “Trish” claim their reliance on DNA has resulted in new mortgages with favorable terms.

    Incongruously, DNA’s own website says the process “takes 90 to 120 days.

    “The Lender will have 20 business days per RESPA to respond to the written request and 60 business days to resolve/settle this matter,” DNA says.

  • NEWS/NOTES: AdPayDaily Announces Tweak; Data Network Affiliates Asks Members To Participate In Imaginary Relaunch After Lecturing Churches On Their ‘MORAL OBLIGATION’ To Hawk MLM Program

    UPDATED 12:39 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) An upstart autosurf pushed by members of the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme has announced a confusing tweak in a confusing manner.

    In its announcement, AdPayDaily (APD) quoted 12 words from an attorney — and the quotation did not appear to be on the subject of legality. Rather, it appeared to be a general statement that all companies need sales to survive.

    Separately, a multilevel-marketing (MLM) company that claimed churches have a “MORAL OBLIGATION” to tell congregants about its $1,500 mortgage-reduction program that pays commissions 10 levels deep now is asking members to participate in an imaginary relaunch.

    Prospects willing to pay Data Network Affiliates (DNA) a fee to qualify for “Pro” status earn up to a “100% Matching Bonus” in the mortgage-reduction program, DNA said.

    In an email to members, DNA did not explain why it was lecturing churches on their purported moral duty to hawk an MLM program or instruct the churches on how to overcome sales objections if a minister, pastor or priest used a worship service or church facility to preach the gospel of DNA.

    DNA also did not explain if the clergy of non-Christian faiths had the same moral duty to flog a $1,500 MLM program targeted at people who could be on the verge of losing their homes.

    DNA supplemented the email with yet another email, asking members to imagine the company, which launched in March after missing at least two launch dates in February, was only now launching.

    “We are asking and calling on all DNA Leaders to FOCUS ON THE FUTURE… Make believe that July 26th, 2010 is the LAUNCH DATE for DNA…” the company said.

    In an apparent bid to drive home its point that an imaginary launch can be as effective as an actual launch, DNA again has added what it called a “NEW COUNTDOWN CLOCK” to its website.

    “OFFICIAL LAUNCH 7/26/2010,” DNA roared on its site. “Earn Up To $4500 Per Sale. LOCK IN YOUR POSITION NOW.”

    The message may be confusing to website visitors stopping at DNA’s site for the first time because it flatly states a launch is under way despite the fact DNA actually launched in March.

    A graphic that once advertised DNA Cellular, the company’s purported cell-phone arm, has been removed from the main page of the site. In April, DNA declared “GAME OVER — WE WIN” when it announced its purported cell-phone business that hawked a free phone with unlimited talk and text for $10 a month.

    The company later acknowledged that it studied cell-phone pricing only after announcing it had become the world’s pricing leader. It then withdrew the $10 offer, but members continue to promote it.

    In an email yesterday, DNA said it had learned “a lot of NOT TO DO kind of things” since it has been in business. It did not describe what it had learned not to do, choosing instead to inform members that “we have every guest you can have on tonight’s webinar” and urging members to focus on “the area of COMMISSIONS.”

    A previous guest on DNA’s conference calls has suggested that churches were wonderful places for members to record the license-plate numbers of congregants for entry into the company’s purported database. The same guest also recommended that DNA members record plate numbers at doctors’ offices.

    DNA has said its database could be used to locate abducted children.

    APD Tweaks Autosurf Pitch

    Saying it was relying on the advice of counsel, APD has tweaked its offer. In an announcement to members, the upstart surf provided a threadbare quote purportedly from its lawyer to explain the tweak.

    Here are the only words attributed to the attorney:

    “Every company needs new sales for survival and growth of the business.”

    And here is how APD explained the tweak after providing the 12-word quote:

    “To remain active and continue to earn commissions and viewing payments each month, all Reps are required to attract at least one new advertiser who makes a minimum purchase from outside funds of at least $100 or as an alternative an Advertiser/Rep can make a purchase of $100 from outside funds to qualify and remain active,” the company said.

    APD then pitched members on an 80/20 program.

    “[If] a Rep attracts a new advertiser who make (sic) a minimum purchase of $250 or more and the Rep rolls over at least 80% of the funds in their Cash account each month, they will earn a 20% commission for all additional sales in that month,” the company said. “10% of the commission will be paid with the sale and the remaining 10% will be paid on or before the 15th of the following month, assuming you qualify. Failure to qualify for two consecutive months will result in the deactivation of a Reps (sic) account.”

    In the past, private attorneys who have sued autosurfs have described so-called 80/20 or “rollover” programs as an effort to mask the true nature of the programs by minimizing the outflow of cash — in effect, trapping money in the system to achieve the mirage of sustainability.

    When the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf announced a suspension of payouts in June 2009, it said that an 80/20 program would become mandatory if it ever dug itself out of the trench it created. Purported ASD “trainers” routinely promoted an 80/20 program.

    See earlier stories on APD here and here. See earlier story on DNA here.

  • DATA NETWORK AFFILIATES: Churches Have ‘MORAL OBLIGATION’ To Pitch Members On Firm’s ‘Mortgage Reduction’ Program; Purported Data And Cell-Phone Firm Venturing Into Foreclosure-Rescue And ‘Resort’ Businesses

    A multilevel-marketing (MLM) company that positioned itself as a firm that collected data that could be used by law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program to rescue abducted children — and later declared itself the world champion of cell-phone pricing — may be entering the foreclosure-rescue and real-estate businesses, members said.

    News about the purported moves of Data Network Affiliates (DNA) follows on the heels of federal sweeps in which 1,215 defendants were charged criminally in real-estate fraud cases and the FTC banned more than a dozen companies from selling mortgage-relief services.

    One of the firms charged by the FTC was assessed an $11.4 million fine when it was found to be in contempt of court for violating previous sanctions, the FTC said.

    In the FTC cases, enrollees in the purported mortgage-relief programs were charged “up-front fees and made false promises that they could get their loans modified or prevent foreclosure,” the agency said.

    DNA has advised members that it intends to charge a fee of $1,500 and that some affiliates can earn commissions by recruiting hard-hit homeowners into a program known as “DNA Mortgage Reduction.”

    In an email to members, DNA suggested that churches were an excellent place from which to recruit members into the mortgage-reduction program (italics and bold added):

    “DNA Mortgage Reduction is a SUPER BIG HIT… Sorry only for USA Properties for now… Even the smallest package upon the $1500 payment once we know the person has a case… (remember it is 100% free to see if a person qualifies for the program)… Pays a MINIMUM to ALL Affiliates $100 1st level; $5 on levels 2 to 9; and $50 on level 10… Plus the PROS earn up to 100% Matching Bonus…

    “REMEMBER that is the smallest package for homes up to $125,000… There are so many Million Dollar homes out there that qualify and for them the fee is less than ONE MORTGAGE PAYMENT… We estimate that DNA will have tens of thousands of home owners who will purchase this package once they find out they qualify for such… THE SAD NOTE IS: that 9 out of 10 people who do qualify don’t even know this service exist… THAT IS WHERE YOU COME IN… Our DNA Vendor is even offering incentives of $1,000 to $10,000 CASH BONUSES to DNA Affiliates who personally reach multiple sale quantities within a 90 day period…

    “THINK OF ALL THE CHURCHES… They have a MORAL OBLIGATION to let their Church Members know about this DNA OFFER… There are Churches that could turn in 100 to 1000 applications in 30 days… ALWAYS REMEMBER IT IS 100% FREE TO FIND OUT IF YOU HAVE A CASE… Statistics say that 85% of all mortgages written from 1996 to 2006 will qualify…”

    How DNA arrived at the conclusion its $1,500 mortgage-reduction program was a “SUPER BIG HIT” when it appears to be only days old was unclear. Also unclear are how DNA arrived at the conclusion that churches have a “MORAL OBLIGATION” to point members to DNA, how DNA arrived at its estimate that “tens of thousands of home owners” will purchase its package and the source of the “statistics” DNA used when advertising that “85%” of mortgages written between 1996 and 2006 “will qualify.” The name of DNA’s “vendor” also was unclear.

    DNA, which is believed to have no ability to help either law enforcement or the AMBER Alert system and no capacity to deliver cell-phone service despite YouTube claims it had a branding deal with Apple’s IPhone and could offer “unlimited” service for $10 a month  — also recently has pitched members on an “opportunity” called the “DNA Resorts Program,” members said.

    The program also has been referred to by DNA as the “DNA SPA & Resort” program,  which purportedly features a “No Interest Easy 24 Month Payment Plan” of $625 a month. DNA is soliciting members to spend $14,995 on the resorts program, suggesting that some prospects will put the entire amount on a credit card.

    Meanwhile, in an earlier pitch for the purported mortgage-reduction program, DNA suggested applications would be vetted to determine if “Mortgage Compliance Violations” had occurred. (Italics added.)

    “Are you a Victim of Deceptive Predatory Lending Practices?

    “Is your Value of your home UPSIDEDOWN?

    “Find out if you may be a Victim of Mortgage Compliance Violations involving Predatory, Deceptive, Discriminatory and Unfair Lending and Servicing Practices. These Unfair Lending Practices have placed thousands of HOMEOWNERS all over the United States into Non-Affordable Mortgage Programs.”

    DNA, whose domain registration data is hidden behind a proxy in the Cayman Islands but lists a street address in Boca Raton, Fla., on its website, may be venturing into even choppier waters with its mortgage and resort pitches.

    “The possibility of losing your home to foreclosure can be terrifying,” the FTC says. “The reality that scam artists are preying on the vulnerability of desperate homeowners is equally frightening. Many so-called foreclosure rescue companies or foreclosure assistance firms claim they can help you save your home. Some are brazen enough to offer a money-back guarantee. Unfortunately, once most of these foreclosure fraudsters take your money, you lose your home, too.”

    Read details about recent mortgage-relief scams targeted by the FTC.

    DNA says it is promoting its mortgage-reduction and resort programs in a webinar and that it believes “9 out of 10 people who attend this upcoming DNA Webinar will say ‘YES’ to DNA.”

    The “one” who says no will be offered the “FREE DNA PSYCHIATRIC DISCOUNT PLAN,” DNA said in an email to members.

  • UPDATE: June Ends With No Cell-Phone Plan From Data Network Affiliates; Company’s ‘Nature Of Business’ Under Review By BBB

    June closed with no cell-phone package from Data Network Affiliates (DNA), despite claims on YouTube that the firm offers “unlimited” talk and text with a free phone for $10 a month.

    Separately, the Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the Caribbean now says it is looking into the “nature” of DNA’s business and assigned the firm an opening grade of “C-” on its 14-step ratings scale. In recent weeks, DNA, whose website is registered behind a proxy in the Cayman Islands, has listed a street address in Boca Raton, Fla.

    It is not unusual for the BBB to give a company an acceptable rating while it is gathering information and then adjust the rating based on the information it collects. Narc That Car (Crowd Sourcing International) once had a “B-” rating from the BBB. Narc/CSI’s rating eventually was lowered to “F,” but could have remained stable at “B-” or even improved had the organization been satisfied by the explanations it received from the Dallas-based company.

    The information the BBB now has on DNA can aptly be described as threadbare. No complaints have been filed against the firm, according to the BBB. The BBB’s listing for DNA first appeared in late June.

    Like Narc/CSI, DNA purports to be in the business of paying members to record the license-plate numbers of automobiles for entry in a database. The BBB has raised pyramid concerns about the business model Narc/CSI employs.

    DNA originally positioned itself as the “free” alternative to Narc/CSI, which charges “consultants” an up-front fee of $100 to qualify to become data-gatherers and earn the right to recruit other “consultants” and receive commissions based on their recruiting prowess. Like Narc/CSI, DNA said its database product would be helpful to law enforcement and also could be used as a tool to locate abducted children.

    Although positioning itself as “free” and signing up members by the tens of thousands, DNA later pitched a $127 upgrade that purportedly would make it easier for members to enter plate data. The company described its “free” data-entry module as a clunker in an email to members. The company later pitched members on a purported “magnetic” healthcare product and also said it offered “juice.”

    DNA has been associated with a series of communications that even its former chief executive officer described as bizarre. The former CEO, Dean Blechman, resigned Feb. 24 while the company was in prelaunch. Blechman said the firm delayed his resignation announcement for nearly a week, and then butchered the announcement when it finally was issued in early March.

    By April, DNA said it had entered the cell-phone business, declaring “GAME OVER — WE WIN” despite the fact it appears to have had no experience in the cell-phone industry. The company announced it would offer unlimited talk and text with a free phone for $10 a month, but then withdrew the announcement three weeks later, saying it had not studied cell-phone pricing prior to advertising its purported $10 plan.

    The $10 plan was advertised by DNA pitchmen on both Craigslist and YouTube. Some videos on YouTube implied that DNA was offering a branded I-Phone from Apple for $10 a month. Apple did not respond to requests for comment on DNA’s purported branding program.

    DNA, which has used a free Gmail address to conduct customer service, has published an image of an I-Phone for weeks. DNA’s website advertised “Full Operations” for cell phones beginning in “June 2010.” A link on that page leads to a page that incongruously says, “DNA Cellular Begins Full Service May 2010.”

    Visit the BBB’s early listing on DNA.

  • WebsiteTester.Biz Pitched On Reborn GoldenPandaAdZone Forum, Plus MoneyMakerGroup, TalkGold And Other Ponzi Havens

    EDITOR’S NOTE: This story originally was published June 30. The PP Blog later encountered a database problem, which caused the site to go down and resulted in the temporary loss of some data. The data now has been retrieved.

    This story is about a new site known as “WebsiteTester.biz,” but some background is in order.

    It turns out that the April reports of the demise of the Golden Panda Ad Zone Forum, which changed its name to the Online Success Zone (OSZ), were premature.

    OSZ now is back online — and a poster is pitching  “WebsiteTester.biz,”  which appears to be promoting itself as an upstart advertising “testing” platform.

    Positioning surfing sites as testing platforms dates back at least to the CEP Ponzi scheme. Last summer, the failed AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf, which had close ties to the AdSurfDaily autosurf, was trying to reposition itself as an ad-testing site.

    Just prior to going offline in April, OSZ was pushing Narc That Car and Data Network Affiliates, two highly questionable companies  whose membership roster includes people linked to alleged Ponzi or pyramid schemes. OSZ got its start as the Golden Panda Ad Zone forum after the U.S. Secret Service seized more than $80 million from ASD and its purported “Chinese” autosurf companion, Golden Panda Ad Builder.

    During the summer of 2008, with ASD at its zenith and about to be accused of operating a Ponzi scheme, a predecessor to the INetGlobal autosurf also was coming online. INetGlobal eventually morphed into a surf site that largely targeted Chinese members, according to the Secret Service, which is investigating INetGlobal as its operator, Steve Renner, is in federal prison serving time for income-tax evasion.

    The ASD and Golden Panda money was seized amid allegations of wire fraud, money-laundering, selling unregistered securities and operating a Ponzi scheme. A forfeiture complaint in the case alleged a conspiracy with unnamed participants, and ASD was sued separately under the federal racketeering statute by members who also alleged a conspiracy was under way.

    Participants’ marketing of WebsiteTester.biz. occurs against the backdrop of a forceful statement by federal prosecutors in Illinois that virtually all HYIPs are Ponzi schemes. Autosurfs are a form of an HYIP program.  The business model of WebsiteTester.biz is unclear, and the company has not been accused of wrongdoing.

    In the Illinois case, Pathway To Prosperity (P2P) was alleged to have operated a global Ponzi scheme that gathered more than $70 million and fleeced more than 40,000 people. Nick Smirnow, P2P’s operator,  has a criminal past dating back to at least 1979, including convictions for breaking and entering, driving the getaway car in a robbery and cultivating and selling drugs. He also told a colleague he was involved in a double homicide in Canada and claimed to have ties to organized crime in Ontario, according to court filings.

    Posts on forums such as ASA Monitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup sought to sanitize the P2P scheme, authorities said. This important piece of information seems to have escaped the OSZ forum, which apparently continues to operate on the theory that HYIPs, autosurfs and cash-gifting programs somehow are a legitimate form of commerce.

    Incongruities abound in the autosurf and HYIP universes. “WebsiteTester.biz,” the apparent new darling of Ponzi boards such as OSZ, has a domain that is registered behind a proxy. It is unclear if any of its early boosters even know who owns the company or could name a single executive or a board member. Because the site’s business model is unclear, promoters are pitching a program they know virtually nothing about.

    The mere fact the “opportunity” is being pitched on the Ponzi boards shows, at a minimum, that promoters instinctively turned to the cesspools to drive business to the company.

    On its website, Website Tester, which purportedly is in prelaunch,  says this (italics added):

    “FINALLY . . . This is the business you have waited for so long:

    “It is completely free, you earn through EVERYBODY who registers after you, even if you do not sponsor people; you must not sell or buy anything. Guaranteed!

    “The faster you register, the more can be your potential income, even if you do nothing else than register for free . . .

    “How does it work? – It’s simple!

    “A market research company from the USA is searching for internet users all over the world, who get paid for testing websites and giving a short opinion. You also can earn up to 1,000 US$ per month working 1 to 10 hours weekly.

    “Even if the job as a website tester is not for you, you can earn two passive incomes month after month.”

    Excuse us while we vomit.

    Based on information on the landing page of WebsiteTester, the upstart company appears to have a tie to an upstart, Las Vegas-registered company known as Alpha Market Research Inc.  Alpha Market appears to have a Twitter site from which it relentlessly links to self-produced news releases that are posted on PRLog.org, a free press-release distribution service.

    Hey, did you see how the SEC described a scam yesterday that allegedly relied on Twitter and Facebook to help line up people to be fleeced in a securities swindle?

    Here is a paragraph from one of Alpha Market’s PR gems:

    “Global marketing is nothing but marketing done on national and international level and which involves understanding the similarities, dissimilarities and taking advantage of the opportunities to attain the goal.”

    Here is another gem:

    “When you buy something from eBay, Amazon.com or any online store, you’ve participated in e-commerce.”

    Meanwhile, here is yet another:

    “If you do not have a ghostwriter writing your blog content, then it means you will need to spend some time writing some blog posts.”

    Separate from its news releases, Alpha Market says this (italics added):

    “Potential clients who are disturbed by trifles during the ordering process are often unaware of exactly why. For you, the entrepreneur, the big questions remain: why did the potential client visit your website and why did they accept or not accept your offer?

    Alpha Market Research, Inc. starts exactly at this point: we make your website available for thousands of AMR website-testers, assigned in groups of age and interest – this way we get detailed feedback with an honest evaluation of your website.

    Like WebsiteTester.biz, AlphaMarketResearch.com is registered behind a proxy. The Alpha Market site was registered May 28, according to records. The Web Tester site was registered five days later, on June 2. Alpha Market’s Twitter site appears to date back to June 4.

    The buzz about Website Tester also is occurring against the backdrop of the launch of yet-another surfing company: AdPayDaily (APD).

    APD, which appears to have promotional ties to ASD and AVG, is running an AVG-like series of promotions that offer bonuses.

    Interestingly, APD, which appears to have only about 550 members despite virtually nonstop flogging for weeks, now says members can send in as much as $10,000.

    Website Tester, at the moment, appears just to be gathering names — and generating excitement by publishing the names of the latest registrants on the left side of its landing page. The names suggest the enterprise is attracting many people from outside the United States, but it is far from clear if anything about the company is real.

  • Two-Thirds Of Poll Respondents Rate Data Network Affiliates’ Pitch A ‘Complete Failure’; Nearly 90 Percent Rate It ‘Poor’ Or Worse

    UPDATED 11:53 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The sales pitch of a multilevel-marketing (MLM) company that plucks the heartstrings of members by suggesting it can help law-enforcement and the AMBER Alert program locate abducted children has been rated  a “Complete Failure” by 66 percent of respondents in a PP Blog Poll.

    Meanwhile, 88 percent of respondents rated Data Network Affiliates’ message “Poor” or worse.  Only 12 percent rated the sales pitch either “Good,” “Very good” or “Exceptionally professional.”

    Separately, some DNA members said the firm, which had been barraging them with sales pitches, has been less communicative in recent days. The company has been mysterious from the start, registering its domain name behind a proxy in the Cayman Islands while incongruously suggesting its services could be beneficial to the U.S. government.

    DNA initially explained that its domain was registered privately in the Caymans to prevent management from having to “put up with 100 stupid calls a day.”

    Customer service has been conducted via a free Gmail address for months, although the firm in recent weeks has published a street address in Boca Raton, Fla.

    Fifty votes were cast in the PP Blog Poll, which was unscientific. Despite the low turnout, the poll results suggest that respondents were deeply turned off by the DNA sales pitch — to the point of revulsion. Regardless, 8 percent of respondents rated the pitch an “A,” meaning they viewed at as “Exceptionally professional.”

    Some PP Blog posters have speculated that voters might have rated the pitch “Exceptionally professional” because it deliberately was crafted by MLM hucksters to recruit members into an insidious lead-capture system through which they’d be pitched relentlessly on products other than DNA’s purported database product.

    Under this theory, the pitch was deemed “Exceptionally professional”  because it achieved the dubious purpose of lining up people by the tens of thousands to be fleeced.

    DNA, whose members have claimed Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey endorse the company even though there is not a shed of evidence that the claim is true, purportedly has attracted more than 130,000 members. It is possible that some or all of the 8 percent of respondents who rated the sales pitch “Exceptionally professional” believe the pitch has merit beyond its ability to suck people into an insidious system.

    The database product purportedly is being built by members who appear in the parking lots of doctors’ offices, churches and giant retailers such as Walmart and Target to write down license-plate numbers or take photos with cell phones or video cameras of license plates for entry in the database.

    One of DNA’s leading pitchmen on conference calls has described the parking lots of medical facilities, places of worship and retail stores as wonderful places to gather data. He further suggested that members should behave in an inconspicuous fashion when gathering the data.

    DNA delayed its launch date twice in February. After its “free” data-collection program purportedly got under way in March, the company quickly began pitching other products to members, including a $127 upgrade that purportedly would improve the ability of “free” members to enter license-plate data into the system.

    The company said its “Pro” data-entry module was better than its “free” module. Prior to the introduction of the “Pro” module, “free” members did not know they would be receiving a data-entry tool the company itself described as a clunker.

    News about the “Pro” module began to spread March 10, only days after DNA told members who listened to an “Oscar” night conference call that the company’s “free” affiliates would “receive the same kind of commitment and respect from our DNA management team” as paid members received.

    DNA said its “Pro” module was part of a Business Benefits Package (BBP).

    “Upon close inspection of the B.B.P. you will find a minimum of 10 times the cost of such package to the end user in value savings and benefits,” DNA said in an email to members. “The two that stand out the most is (sic) the FREE 1000 REWARD DOLLARS with FREE REFILLS and the $402 Travel Agent Value Package for only $49.”

    In recent weeks, DNA mysteriously referred to its BBP package as the “BBB” package. Precisely why DNA would change the acronym of its package to the acronym associated with the Better Business Bureau was unclear.

    “6 OF THE 10 WILL BUY THE B.B.B. AND GET 1 OTHER TO BUY THE B.B.B. WITHIN 24 HOURS,” DNA declared earlier his month.

    Earlier, in April, the company announced that it was in the cell-phone business. The announcement came out of nowhere, and DNA boldly declared, “GAME OVER — WE WIN.”

    Without doing any checking, members raced to YouTube and Craigslist to announce that DNA was offering an unlimited cell-phone talk and text plan for $10 a month and, for $19.95 a month, was offering unlimited talk, unlimited text and 20 MB of data.

    DNA, which had no experience in the cell-phone business and yet declared it had slayed all competitors, later announced it had not researched pricing prior to announcing the plan.

    “[W]e found that there are no such service plans to be found by any carrier, anywhere on the planet, by any company in the industry,” DNA said in an email to members that un-announced the announcement weeks earlier of the $10 unlimited plan.

    DNA insisted it would have a new plan by May, but May passed without such a plan. The company then said it would have a plan in June. No such plan has emerged.

    A video on YouTube implied that DNA had a branding deal with Apple’s iPhone and that the phone would be called the “DNA iPhone.” The video asserted that DNA is the “ONLY Network Marketing Company With Branded iPhones.”

    Meanwhile, a separate YouTube video implied that DNA not only had an iPhone, but that the iPhone came with a “No Term Contract” for $10 a month.

    “You are Not in Kansas Anymore!” the second video screamed. “This is Global Baby!”

    Apple, which is known to defend its brand and intellectual property vigorously, did not respond to the PP Blog’s request for comment on the claims.

    DNA also has bragged about something called “RETIRE BY CHRISTMAS 2010 with DNA
    in “3″ to “6″ steps . . .” and various guarantees, including a purported “$100,000 DNA Minimum Income Guarantee” and a purported “$1,000,000 DNA Minimum Income Guarantee.”

    It is possible that the purported “income guarantee” exceeds the revenue DNA has posted to date. Like Narc That Car (Crowd Sourcing International), DNA’s purported Dallas-based competitor, the company publishes neither revenue figures nor the names of purported clients of the database product.

    The BBB has raised pyramid concerns about Narc/CSI.

    DNA also has urged members to imagine themselves driving 10,000 miles a year in pursuit of their DNA businesses to qualify for an IRS tax write-off of $5,000.

    In 2009, an MLM company known as YourTravelBiz (YTB) was enjoined in California from making tax claims under the terms of settlement of a pyramid-scheme lawsuit by Attorney General Jerry Brown that ordered the firm to pay $1 million.

    DNA has acknowledged that Phil Piccolo is part of its organization, and web records suggest Piccolo was actively involved in YTB. Separately, Narc That Car President Jacques Johnson was a director in YTB, according to court filings.

  • EDITORIAL: Grab Your Umbrella And Air Freshener: Data Network Affiliates’ Vomit Spigot Wide Open And Raining Down On World Of MLM

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Readers with queasy tummies are duly cautioned that this post is on the subject of MLM vomit. No, the troops aren’t packaging and selling regurgitated stomach juice and chunky bits that pay commissions 10 levels deep — at least not yet. This post discusses MLM advertising vomit as practiced by Data Network Affiliates, which has declared that a mysterious practitioner known as “Mr P” is promoting the “D.N.A. 1000 Team.” Mr. P is said to be a “19 Time Million Dollar Earner” who “Holds Every MLM World Recruiting Record.”

    Here, now, our take on the vomitous pitch . . .

    Incoming! If you are a member of Data Network Affiliates (DNA), you have a duty to grab your umbrellas, air freshener and garden hose and warn your downline to do the same. It has become clear that the company has turned its vomit spigot wide open.

    Yesterday’s vomit attack followed on the heels of a vomitous flurry late last month that prompted members to imagine themselves racking up 10,000 miles while recording license-plate data for the company.

    “Imagine driving 10,000 miles for your DNA Business = up to a $5,000 Tax Deduction,” DNA prompted members in May.

    If you are a member of DNA — and if you are a multilevel-marketing (MLM) aficionado or one of the industry’s so-called servant-leaders — you have a duty to warn all potential prospects to be prepared for sustained email vomit attacks. Advise them that, if they intend to open the emails, to make sure the laptop on their home-office network works outdoors.

    Under no circumstances should DNA emails be opened indoors. The vomit they project can damage your carpeting, furniture, curtains and fixtures, all while stinking up the inside of your home, perhaps forever. Remember: A stink-removal crew is expensive, and there’s no guarantee the stench will fully dissipate. You could awaken in the middle of the night six years from now, take a sniff and again reach the horrifying conclusion that, yep, its still there.

    Important: Open DNA’s emails only outdoors. The initial burst of pressure from the vomit will be sufficient to pump it on an arc away from your laptop, and your laptop’s built-in vomit seal will protect it from damage. The seal will close instantly when it senses a temperature drop in the the hot-air belch that accompanies the vomit, thus protecting your computer from drips and embarrassing streaks from run-off.

    Open the emails quickly and step back. Be prepared: It may take up to three minutes for the vomit to stop gushing. Have the umbrella at the ready in case you were unable to step back quickly enough and got caught in the vomit storm.

    After the storm subsides, use the garden hose to clear the umbrella of both liquid and chunky vomit. Apply the air freshener liberally to the umbrella. Let it dry. Repeat the process as necessary or buy dollar-store, disposable umbrellas in bulk. Hint: A dollar store also is a great place to buy air freshener in bulk.

  • Data Network Affiliates Asks Members If They Know About Their ‘DNA Tax Benefits’; Pitch Highlights Mileage Deduction; Firm Quotes IRS In First Paragraph Of Email

    An email DataNetworkAffiliates’ (DNA) members received today led with a pitch that participating in DNA could result in large tax deductions for mileage.

    DNA purports to be in the business of paying members to record license-plate numbers for entry in a database that would be potentially useful to law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program for abducted children. The company also purports to be in the cell-phone business and other businesses such as juices and magnetic sleep systems.

    Today’s email to affiliates suggested that people who racked up mileage while recording plate numbers for DNA could qualify for large, business-related tax write-offs.

    “Did you know about your DNA Tax Benefits . . .” the DNA pitch began. “Imagine driving 10,000 miles for your DNA Business = up to a $5,000 Tax Deduction… “IRS Announces 2010 Standard Mileage Rates” IR-2009-111, Dec. 3, 2009… and this is just one of many…”

    DNA did not explain what “one of many” meant. The line that trailed off with the ellipses, however, was in the context of tax deductions. The headline on the email was titled, “DNA = FREE = A Great Opportunity with Great Tax Benefits.”

    DNA then published snippets from an IRS news release with a Washington dateline. Because DNA’s email included only snippets of the IRS release — and because DNA added commentary to the email and appears not to have distinguished its words from the words of the IRS — members could become confused about whether the IRS was talking or whether DNA was talking.

    DNA’s email instructed members to “[c]heck with your accountant to find out what you DNA Business will allow you to legally write off . . .”

    Here is the full IRS news release from Dec. 3 (italics added):

    IR-2009-111, Dec. 3, 2009

    WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2010 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

    Beginning on Jan. 1, 2010, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

    * 50 cents per mile for business miles driven
    * 16.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
    * 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

    The new rates for business, medical and moving purposes are slightly lower than last year’s. The mileage rates for 2010 reflect generally lower transportation costs compared to a year ago.

    The standard mileage rate for business is based on an annual study of the fixed and variable costs of operating an automobile. The rate for medical and moving purposes is based on the variable costs as determined by the same study. Independent contractor Runzheimer International conducted the study.

    A taxpayer may not use the business standard mileage rate for a vehicle after using any depreciation method under the Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) or after claiming a Section 179 deduction for that vehicle. In addition, the business standard mileage rate cannot be used for any vehicle used for hire or for more than four vehicles used simultaneously.

    Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

    Revenue Procedure 2009-54 contains additional details regarding the standard mileage rates.

    Here is the portion of the email concerning tax write-offs DNA sent today (italics added):

    WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued the 2010 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving purposes.

    Beginning on Jan. 1, 2010, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be:

    * 50 cents per mile for business miles driven
    * 16.5 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes
    * 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations

    Taxpayers always have the option of calculating the actual costs of using their vehicle rather than using the standard mileage rates.

    Check with your accountant to find out what you DNA Business will allow you to legally write off…

    DNA spent the balance of the email on topics such as a “Travel Agent Package,” a “Back Relief System,” a “Foot Insole System,” cell phones, juices and other offerings.

    “CHECK OUT YOUR BACK OFFICE YOU CAN BUY $59.95 DNA MAGNETIC PRODUCTS FOR $19.95 AND THEY ARE CHEAPER BY THE DNA DOZEN . . .” DNA said. “BUY THE BACK RELIEF SYSTEM TODAY IT IS A GREAT DNA PRODUCT TO DEMONSTRATE . . .

    “I”N FACT YOU SHOULD BUY A DOZEN . . . GIVE THEM TO TEN FRIENDS OR 5 COUPLES TO TRY . . . THEY WILL MOST LIKELY BUY THEM AND . . . SIGN UP FOR FREE & START SELLING THEM . . .”

    DNA did not explain how it had arrived at the conclusion that people shown the products “most likely” will buy them.

    DNA, which uses a domain registered in the Cayman Islands and conducts customer service with a free gmail address, also did not say why it chose to highlight the tax advantages of repping for the company over the advantages of any actual product offered by the firm.

    The DNA program — and also a similar program operated by a company known as Narc That Car and Crowd Sourcing International — potentially could lead to tax challenges by the United States because of claims made by promoters and the nature of the business itself.

    Both DNA and Narc purport to pay members to record license-plate numbers. Both firms are multilevel-marketing (MLM) programs and have encouraged participants to write down plate numbers or record them on cell-phone cameras at retail outlets such as Walmart, Target, Giant Eagle and others.

    Promoters also have been encouraged to record plate numbers at places such as churches and doctors’ offices.

    The approach has led to questions about whether members would engage in tax abuses such as claiming trips to the grocery store and places of worship as deductible business miles because they recorded plate numbers while in parking lots. Because members have been encouraged to use cell phones and cameras to record plate numbers, a second tier of potential tax abuse could open up, with members trying to write off the costs in whole or in part of any item that had even a tenuous link to the purported business of recording plate numbers.

    There also are questions about whether DNA and Narc members could engage in grandiose frauds such as attending a funeral thousands of miles away and seeking to deduct the trip as a business expense because plate numbers were recorded at the destination site.

    Neither DNA nor Narc publish the names of purported clients of the database products. Affiliates have published purported “training” videos on YouTube that encouraged prospects to record plate numbers virtually anywhere. Some of the videos have suggested that members should behave inconspicuously while recording numbers — for example, driving to the parking lot of a retailer and remaining in the car while recording the plate numbers.

    Details about the propriety, safety and legality of the DNA and Narc programs have been given short-shrift in the purported training videos. It is known that members of an alleged Ponzi scheme known as AdSurfDaily have promoted DNA and Narc, and ASD has been linked to people who participate in tax schemes.

    Parts of DNA’s email today that did not deal with taxes appeared to have been copied from earlier emails and pasted into today’s email. DNA, for example, said today it was “CELEBRATING 69 DAYS IN BUSINESS . . .”

    Earlier emails made the same claim about a celebration for 69 days in business. DNA also celebrated a “Two Month Anniversary.”

  • POLL: How Would You Rate The MLM Sales Pitches Of Data Network Affiliates On Scale Of ‘A’ To ‘F’?

    By now you’ve likely heard about Data Network Affiliates, a multilevel-marketing (MLM) company that launched by telling prospects it was in the business of recording license-plate numbers useful for the AMBER Alert program and then morphed virtually overnight into a purported cell-phone business.

    “GAME OVER — WE WIN,” DNA told members in a message that offered unlimited cell-phone service for $10 a month. Within three weeks, however, DNA acknowledged that it could not offer such pricing.  In an email to members, the company conceded that its earlier message announcing that it had conquered the cell-phone business within days of entering it was a mistake.

    For good measure, DNA blamed an ambitious reseller for making it believe it could offer unlimited service for $10 a month, while also revealing it hadn’t researched cell-phone pricing structures prior to announcing it had conquered the trade.

    Today the PP Blog is publishing a new poll that asks readers to rate DNA’s sales pitches. Some readers may wish to search the PP site before responding to the poll. The search function is in the upper-right corner of the Blog.

    Today is May 25, 2010. As of the publication of this post, the poll is in the right sidebar, and also enclosed within the post.

  • GONE TOO FAR? Video Implies Data Network Affiliates Has Branding Deal With Apple’s ‘iPhone’; Separate Video Implies Phone Available For $10 A Month With No Contract; No Immediate Comment From Apple

    A YouTube video pitch for DataNetwork affiliates claims the company is offering a branded iPhone.

    Have DataNetworkAffiliates and its multilevel-marketing sales force finally gone too far?

    Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump now have company on the list of famous names DNA promoters claim have ties to the firm — and this time the name is bigger and has even deeper pockets than Oprah or The Donald: Apple Inc., the inventive, Steve Jobs-led electronics behemoth that brought the world the Macintosh, the iPod, the iPad, iTunes and the iPhone.

    A video on YouTube asserts that DNA is offering a branded iPhone dubbed the “DNA iPhone.” Meanwhile, the video asserts that DNA is the “ONLY Network Marketing Company With Branded iPhones.”

    Video asserts that DNA is the "ONLY Network Marketing Company With Branded iPhones."

    The video provides no substantiation of the claims and does not show such a branded iPhone. Regardless, a URL at the YouTube site encourages viewers to register for DNA and “JOIN A FREE BUSINESS AND MAKE INCREDIBLE RESIDUAL INCOME.”

    It is far from clear that DNA has any business relationship at all with Apple, despite the claim it was selling DNA-branded iPhones. A separate YouTube video that appears to have been posted by another DNA member implies that DNA not only has an iPhone, but that the iPhone comes with a “No Term Contract” for $10 a month.

    “You are Not in Kansas Anymore!” the second video screams. “This is Global Baby!”

    Apple, which is known to defend its brand and intellectual property vigorously, did not respond immediately to the PP Blog’s request for comment. It

    A second video implies the iPhone comes with a price tag of only $10 a month with no contract

    is not believed that DNA, which uses a domain registered in the Cayman Islands and has conducted customer service for months with a free gmail address, has any licensing agreement with Apple for cell-phone marketing, pricing or the use of Apple’s intellectual property.

    Images of iPhones, however, appear in the YouTube promotions and on DNA’s website. A picture of an iPhone G3 and other phones is featured prominently on the DNA site, below a headline of “Introducing UNLIMITED Talk, UNLIMITED Text with UNLIMITED Data Plans: DNA Cellular Begins Full Service May 2010.”

    Neither Winfrey nor Trump’s organizations responded to requests for comment from the PP Blog when contacted in February to determine if either celebrity had endorsed DNA or authorized their images to be used in promotions for DNA. Images of Winfrey and Trump appeared for 10 continuous minutes in a YouTube video for DNA.

    One DNA promoter claimed during a conference call earlier this year that the company had “certain people on speed dial that’s incredible.”

    Apple was made aware of the DNA iPhone claim on YouTube by both email and telephone earlier today.

    The iPhone claim in the DNA promos is included among a series of claims — all of which raise questions about licensure, the use of trademarks and other intellectual property and the often seedy or disingenuous practices of multilevel-marketing (MLM) companies and affiliates who attempt to attach their names to famous entities and individuals to create legitimacy by osmosis.

    DNA, which has been in business for only months, did not even start out in the cell-phone trade. Rather, the company told members that it was in the business of recording license-plate numbers for entry in a database that potentially could be helpful to law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program.

    Claims that DNA could help the U.S. government and law enforcement locate abducted children were made despite the fact the company uses a domain registered offshore and conducts support through gmail, apparently by using an autoresponder.

    In a bizarre response to concerns about the Cayman Islands domain, the company said it had chosen “privacy” protection on the domain for $5 “to prevent management from having to “put up with 100 stupid calls a day,” a member told the PP Blog.

    Virtually overnight the company morphed into a purported cell-phone business, declaring “GAME OVER – WE WIN” and bragging “DNA goes CELLBALISTIC with TALK & TEXT Unlimited $10 Monthly with FREE PHONE . . . D.N.A. HITS 100,000 SIGN UPS in 60 DAYS . . . D.N.A. GOES CELLBALISTIC WORLD – WIDE . . . A TEN BY TEN EQUALS MORE MONEY THAN YOU CAN SPEND . . . If you thought finding ten people to write down 20 plates was easy . . . wait until you offer TALK and TEXT UNLIMITED FOR $10 A MONTH WITH FREE PHONE.”

    DNA plants the seed on its own website that the iPhone is in its product lineup.

    Within three weeks of making the claim that it had conquered the cell-phone business, DNA admitted it could not offer unlimited talk and text with a free phone for $10 a month. Incredibly, the company said it researched pricing only after announcing the $10 plan.

    DNA then sent members a pitch for a product known as the “DNA Sleep System,” offering “50% off” a purported price of nearly $2,000.

    “This sleep system has 400% Deeper Penetration than it’s predecessor with new ‘Three Dimensional Magnetic Fields’ The First of Its Kind with Patented Technology!” DNA said.

    “The D.N.A. OUTFRONT Magnetic Sleep System is 400% more powerful than anything currently in the marketplace. Out of everything under the D.N.A. Opportunity this is one of the most exciting and more profitable items which will be listed with DNA CONNECTS.”

    Members of DNA continue to promote the $10 plan and to make liberal use of the names of famous people and products across the web.