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Tag: DNA

  • EDITORIAL: Animated Attack On Obama Goes Missing From MPB Today Affiliate’s Sales Arsenal; PP Blog Declines Request From Affiliate’s MLM Sponsor To Remove Story That Describes Bizarre Sales Pitch Painting President As Nazi

    Regular readers of the PP Blog know that it supports the efforts of President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to weed out the purveyors of schemes who brought the U.S. and much of the world economy to its knees. Obama is a Democrat.

    What readers may not know is that the Blog is written by a Republican who celebrates America’s entrepreneurial spirit, its market economy, its job-creators, its Great Defenders of Freedom, its Great Guardians of Liberty.

    The PP Blog concerns itself with matters of interest to readers who embrace online commerce and see the Internet as an outlet that is pivotal to future economic expansion. How wonderful would it be, say, if Americans and the other peoples of the world who are living in poverty could harness their entrepreneurial spirits and the power of the Internet to engage in legitimate commerce and elevate the standard of living worldwide?

    And how wonderful would it be if companies and individuals who already are benefiting from financial success could use the Internet to create a legitimate turbine that generates sustainable jobs that pay a pride-producing wage and freelance sales and vendor positions that create bright financial futures?

    Although the PP Blog focuses on business and generally avoids politics, today it makes an exception: When the President of the United States — regardless of party — is attacked to drive business to an online multilevel-marketing (MLM) firm, it must be noted for posterity that the MLM sphere has reached a new and deeply disturbing low.

    To call the anti-Obama, animated screed by an affiliate of MPB Today “tasteless” would be a gross understatement. It harms MPB Today, which is the subject of a “review” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture amid affiliate claims the company has been endorsed by the government. Various government agencies — regardless of what political party controls the White House and the Congress — have warned repeatedly for years that one of the scammer’s most important tools is the shovel that plants the seed that the government endorses a “program” or “business opportunity.”

    MLM “opportunities” are infamous for planting this cancer-spreading seed. Members of AdSurfDaily, for instance, planted the seed that President George W. Bush had given ASD President Andy Bowdoin an award for a lifetime of business achievement. Bowdoin fanned the pollination of the seed by taking his “award” on the road with him and even posing with it.

    The clear aim of the claim was to make prospects believe that ASD could not possibly be a scam because the President of the United States would not give an important business award to a scammer.

    It turned out that the “award” actually was a memento for making campaign donations to the National Republican Congressional Committee. In effect, Bowdoin had made the donations to the NRCC in return for banquet tickets. Records show that Bowdoin made the donations during a period of time in which federal prosectors say he was operating an international Ponzi scheme that perhaps ensnared more than 100,000 people.

    It is a virtual certainty that Bowdoin, who’d been charged with felonies in Alabama in a previous securities swindle and was given a suspended jail sentence, used Ponzi proceeds to make the donations.

    Harm spreads virally when such bogus seeds are planted and take root on the Internet.

    But getting back to the matter of the MPB Today affiliate’s Obama-bashing sales pitch . . .

    Walmart and Walmart’s Sam’s Club name now have been harmed because the MPB Today affiliate used the name of Sam’s Club in the animated attack, which painted Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as Nazis — with Obama as a cowering Nazi and Clinton as a drunken one wearing “puke colored” clothes purchased from Big Lots, a discount retailer.

    This occurred while other MPB Today affiliates were claiming that MPB, which dispenses Walmart gift cards to winners in the MPB 2×2 matrix cycler, was under “contract” with Walmart, that MPB members were “partners” with Walmart, that MPB sells food “vouchers” that can be exchanged for Walmart gift cards and that the MLM program was “Govt. certified with Food Stamps!”

    As incredible as it seems, Michelle Obama — the First Lady of the United States — was depicted in the affiliate’s animation as experiencing an embarrassing gas attack in the Oval Office after sampling “beans” at a Sam’s Club store. A dog depicted in the pitch more or less said that the First Lady was stinking up the joint.

    Good grief!

    The pitch also harms the image of U.S. business in general because it sends the message that “anything goes” in American Capitalism as long as it returns a profit, the precise message U.S. companies now under indictment or investigation were sending when they brought the financial sector to its knees.

    Meanwhile, it specifically harms online business. Much of the world already believes the Internet is one giant cesspit, in no small measure because of the business practices of certain MLM programs and affiliates of MLM programs.

    At the same time, it harms the Republican party, which is trying to make gains in the upcoming midterm elections. It would be easy, for example, for the Democrats to seize on the message that the sales pitch for MPB Today is just another example of wretched GOP excess and hatred embedded in code. The most bizarre thing about the pitch is that it seems to presume that it is a perfectly acceptable business practice to alienate MPB members and prospects who might be Democrats and Obama supporters — as well as Republicans who actually respect and admire the President even if they disagree with his policies and do not share his political philosophy.

    Even though the MPB Today affiliate’s precise party or political affiliation is not known, it seems clear that the affiliate sees nothing wrong with mixing business with inflammatory, divisive politics,  and is not enthusiastic about the current Democratic leadership. In this sense, it also harms the Democratic party. Political pranksters and Obama opponents could paint the MPB pitchman as a Democratic saboteur or a Tea Party activist seeking to create dissension in the ranks, something that could inure to the benefit of Republicans.

    Most of all, though, the pitch hurts America. Much of the world looks to America for both financial and moral leadership. What the world got in the context of the promotion for MPB Today is yet-another impossibly ham-handed attempt to sell an MLM product at any price — even at the price of American prestige.

    Segments of the MLM trade already are infamous for their inability to sell products without lying, for resorting to gutter tactics, for using sales pitches to reimagine products as something they are not and for setting the stage for tens of thousands of people to get fleeced in one spectacular scam after another that goes “viral” on the Internet.

    Today the PP Blog received a request from a person who described herself as the sponsor of the MPB Today affiliate who produced the anti-Obama screed to “delete” the Blog’s stories on the reprehensible sales pitch.

    “The animated short video on MPB with Hilary and Obama was created by a member I sponsored into MPB and the film has since been taken down,” the sponsor noted. “The member agrees it may have been in poor taste and chose to delete it. Please do the same.”

    Welcome to the often-bizarre world of MLM — a world in which the affiliate who authored a political attack on the President of the United States to gain payments from a 2×2 cycler matrix pushed on known Ponzi forums such as ASAMonitor  “agrees” only that the pitch “may have been in poor taste” and the dutiful sponsor seeks to make sure the the record gets deleted.

    Although the PP Blog verified that the sales pitch had been deleted from the animation site, the Blog is declining to delete its coverage of the matter. All people engaged in MLM need to see it. If they are interested in being taken seriously, they need to condemn it.

    MPB Today should issue a statement that condemns it.

    In May 2009 — just days after the Obama administration announced a crackdown on international financial fraud — the PP Blog received a request from KINGZ Capital Management to delete a story about the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf’s claim that it had secured KINGZ as an offshore wire facilitator to make it easier for Americans (and other peoples of the world) to send money to an obvious Ponzi scheme that had risen from the ashes of ASD, yet another Ponzi scheme

    The PP Blog declined the request. KINGZ later was banned by the National Futures Association for turning a blind eye to the actions of Trevor Cook, a now-convicted felon who operated an international Ponzi scheme that caused investor losses of at least $158 million. The scheme traded on religion. A federal judge called it “wretched, tawdry and cheap.”

    History will record that AVG made the claim about  its new relationship with KINGZ on the very same day in May 2009 that Obama himself announced the fraud crackdown. By June 25, 2009, AVG suspended autosurf cashouts, taking an unknown sum of money sent in by members with it. It is known that many AVG members also were members of ASD, the subject of a racketeering lawsuit and two federal complaints that sought the forfeiture of more than $80 million. The government won both forfeiture cases. The decisions by U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer now are under appeal by Bowdoin.

    It also is known the ASD victims have been targeted in promotions for MPB Today. If that’s not enough, it also is known that at least one MPB Today affiliate’s pitch page includes links to at least 100 “surfing” programs, as well as a link to Data Network Affiliates (DNA).

    DNA, yet another MLM program, purports to collect license-plate data that can aid law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children. Even as DNA and affiliates are claiming to be interested in helping law enforcement, the company says it is selling a spray product that prevents cameras from snapping photographs of license plates at intersections that use electronic systems to enforce traffic laws.

    As DNA is doing this, it also is telling churches that they have the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to recruit affiliates for a purported mortgage-reduction program targeted at people who are facing foreclosure. Meanwhile, MPB Today also is targeting foreclosure subjects in sales pitches, and some MPB affiliates are using religion in sales pitches to attract MLM members.

    Both MPB Today and DNA are operating in Florida, which has one of the highest concentrations of foreclosures in the United States and is near the top of the list in U.S. bank failures.

    So, no. The PP Blog will not delete its coverage of the MPB Today affiliate’s attack on Obama.

    All of America — all of the world and all of the MLM universe — needs to see that the President of the United States was right in May 2009 when he announced the fraud crackdown and was right in November 2009 when he announced the formation of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.

    The PP Blog has no doubt — none whatsoever — that corrupt elements within the MLM universe are doing everything in their power to use the Internet to bleed wealth from hard-working Americans and other hard-working peoples of the world, and that the corrupt transfer of wealth is leading to losses of billions of dollars globally. Simply put, these reprehensible — if not downright criminal business practices — are a money grab on a colossal scale.

    Proceeds from fraud schemes are difficult to trace. Money moves at the speed of an electronic impulse. Any number of nefarious enterprises, including narcotics traffickers, organized crime and terrorist groups, could be tapping into the fraud stream. There is no doubt that some of the criminal enterprises are dressed up as legitimate MLMs or employ a direct-sales business model that pays commissions to attract new money.

    Stand strong, Mr. President. Your efforts to turn off this criminally gushing Ponzi and fraud spigot not only are commendable, but also are in the interest of U.S. national security, the safeguarding of which is your highest duty to the American people.

    The photos below are for posterity. We are publishing them even as we wonder if nothing is off limits if it helps an MLM offer convert — and even as we wonder why the MLM trade seems so willing to repeatedly attribute its image problem to only a “few bad apples” while simultaneously calling the industry’s critics “haters.”

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  • MPB Today Affiliate Website That References Food Stamp Program Has Links To At Least 100 ‘Surfing’ Programs — Some Of Which Already Have Gone Belly-Up; ‘Ken Russo’ Defends Program On Ponzi Forum

    A promotional website for the MPB Today multilevel-marketing (MLM) program specifically references the U.S. Food Stamp program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and includes links to at least 100 “paid to surf” programs, including programs that use domains registered offshore and programs that appear already to have failed.

    Separately, an MPB Today affiliate is using a YouTube video to inform prospects that they are better off not buying groceries from a Florida-based company linked to the MLM program. Instead, the affiliate suggested, incoming members should follow the herd and not purchase groceries from Southeastern Delivery in a bid to earn a higher payout later from MPB’s 2×2 cycler matrix.

    “When you join MPB Today, you buy or purchase a $200 food voucher — food voucher,” stressed the affiliate in a video pitch. “That puts you into the business.

    “You can purchase food with that voucher,” he continued. “Or you can wait and do the business and exchange that voucher for a Walmart gift card . . . which I did and everybody else is doing.”

    During the portion of the video in which the affiliate was stressing the importance of following the herd — a snippet of about 60 words — the word “voucher” was used four times. The use of the word — coupled with a published statement by MPB Today that it charges up to 50 percent of the cost of the order to ship groceries and ships only “dry-goods” — gives rise to questions about whether MPB Today actually has a product behind the business “opportunity.”

    “We ship ONLY non-perishable dry-goods only,” MPB Today stresses on its website, using the word “only” twice in a seven-word sentence. Because the firm’s purportedly high shipping costs, dry-goods “only” policy and lack of dollar-stretching generic products, questions have been raised about whether the firm and its affiliates are deliberately steering members to the matrix program and seeking to minimize or eliminate grocery orders from outside its base of operations in Pensacola.

    The video first was referenced by “Ken Russo” on the Ponzi-pushing ASAMonitor forum as a “very concise . . . presentation” that outlines the advantages of the MPB Today program.

    “Ken Russo,” who also pushed the Regenesis 2×2 cycler program that became the subject of a U.S. Secret Service probe last year that featured undercover operatives and the surveillance of a Dumpster into which business records were tossed, opined on the ASAMonitor Ponzi forum that he has “concluded that MPBToday is one of the best and most practical programs I have ever seen in the network marketing industry.”

    In April 2009, while pitching Regenesis on ASAMonitor, “Ken Russo” observed that “ReGenesis is an excellent program which lends itself to a team effort approach which will greatly enhance the Automated Recruiting System that they provide to ensure that each and every member is credited with 2 personal referrals.”

    By August 2009, the Secret Service had applied for and executed search warrants in the Seattle area as part of its probe into Regenesis, according to court documents. The agency informed a federal judge that it had kept certain subjects under surveillance for five weeks and that it had linked the scheme to a securities fraudster who had been released from federal prison in January 2009.

    The agency laid out allegations of an elaborate fraud involving multiple individuals, multiple bank accounts, multiple addresses and multiple company names. Agents said they observed complaint letters directed at the firm being discarded into a Dumpster that was kept under constant surveillance.

    Also found in the Dumpster were copies of checks sent in by customers, other documents that included customers’ names and information to identify them personally, complaint faxes sent by customers and a letter from a law firm complaining about false, misleading and deceptive advertising, according to court filings.

    In the promo that specifically referenced the Food Stamp program, meanwhile, the affiliate claimed that MPB Today sells “prepaid” groceries.

    “This grocer is so legitimate that they are legally authorized to accept payment via EBT,” the affiliate claimed. “EBT is an abbreviation for Electronic Benefits Transfer which is the method now used for distributing the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As of Oct. 1, 2008, SNAP is the new name for the federal Food Stamp Program. One word —> LEGITIMATE !”

    The clear implication of the claim is that, because the government approved Southeastern Delivery to accept Food Stamps, the MLM program also passes muster. The word “voucher” also is used on the Food Stamp pitch page, and the page includes links to multiple autosurfing sites and other highly questionable business opportunities.

    One of the programs pitched on the page is Data Network Affiliates (DNA), which purports to collect license-plate data that can aid law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children. Like MPB Today, some affiliates of DNA used an image of Donald Trump to pitch the purported license-plate data program. Trump’s image appeared for 10 continuous minutes in a pitch for DNA, while a narrator said the company had “incredible” people on speed dial. DNA, which lists an address in Boca Raton, Fla., uses a domain registered behind a proxy in the Cayman Islands and says it can help members avoid traffic tickets by providing them a protective spray that purportedly shields intersection cameras from taking pictures of license plates, has an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau for not responding to customer complaints.

    DNA once claimed that churches have the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to help it pitch a purported mortgage-reduction program. Florida is plagued by mortgage fraud — and scammers who are targeting foreclosure subjects.

    MPB Today is targeting foreclosure subjects in a video sales pitch. Trump’s image was removed from the MPB Today website Tuesday.

    In a video accessible from the page in which the MPB Today Food Stamp claim is made, another affiliate is shown cashing his check from Southeastern Delivery at an FDIC insured bank. The video captures the voice of the bank teller.

    In this YouTube video, an MPB Today affiliate cashes his check from Southeastern Delivery at an FDIC-insured bank. The page from which the video is accessible shows August prices for Southeastern Delivery, which appears to have no money-stretching generic products. Among the name-brand products listed was Starbucks coffee — $14.28 for 20 ounces of House Blend.

    The affiliate then was videotaped inside a Walmart store making a purchase with a Walmart gift card sent to him by the MLM program. This section of the video captured the face of a Walmart employee.

    Later, the affiliate was taped inside a taco store. In an apparent gag, the affiliate attempted to pay for his purchase with a Walmart gift card. This section of the video showed the faces of at least three taco-store employees. The employees, whose faces now are on YouTube along with the face of the Walmart employee and the voice of the bank employee, appear to be confused about what is happening.

    It is unclear if any of the workers knew they were being videotaped or audiotaped for an affiliate’s commercial for MPB Today.

    MPB removed an image of a Walmart store from its website Tuesday. Walmart has not responded to questions posed by the PP Blog. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is conducting a review of claims made about the MPB Today program.

  • DEVELOPING STORY: Online Claims About Acai Berry On FTC’s Radar Screen; Agency To Announce Action Against ‘Internet Marketers’ Next Week In Chicago (Oprah’s City)

    In this YouTube promo for Data Network Affiliates (DNA), the images of Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey streamed for 10 continuous minutes. There is no evidence that either celebrity endorsed the company. Claims also were made on YouTube that Apple Inc. had a special "branding" relationship with DNA. No evidence to support the claim has surfaced.

    In 2009, Oprah Winfrey sued more than 40 companies for trademark infringement amid claims they were fleecing the public by implying she endorsed their Acai berry products.

    Winfrey, an American television and business icon, is based in Chicago. Harpo Productions, which produces The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Dr. Oz Show, filed the infringement lawsuit on behalf of Winfrey and Dr. Mehmet Oz, a heart surgeon.

    “Neither Ms. Winfrey nor Dr. Oz has ever sponsored or endorsed any acai, resveratrol or dietary supplement product and cannot vouch for their safety or effectiveness,” Harpo said on the Oprah website last year. “It is our intention to put an end to these companies’ false claims and increasingly deceptive practices.”

    Oz issued a statement last year on the Oprah site, saying scammers were using his name to swindle the public.

    “The companies that are using my name to hawk these products are duping the public,” Oz said. “I do not endorse any of these products. By falsely presenting products as ‘scientifically proven’ and endorsed by well-known figures, these companies do a gross disservice to the public health and could even pose a danger to those who believe their false and unproven claims. I am taking this step in the interest of public safety. I feel compelled to stand up against these companies and their deceitful practices.”

    The Federal Trade Commission announced today that its Chicago office will announce an “action against Internet Marketers of Acai berry weight-loss pills and ‘colon cleansers.’” The FTC announcement is expected Monday.

    It was not immediately clear if the agency’s decision to announce the news in Chicago was a coincidence. What is clear is that Winfrey’s name often is appropriated by scammers or purveyors of questionable “business opportunities” and products and services in a bid to leech off her brand  and drive sales.

    It also is clear that Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan is taking action against firms that falsely state or imply their products are endorsed by celebrities. The names of Winfrey and Oz are mentioned in three lawsuits Madigan filed last year.

    Other celebrity names mentioned in the Illinois lawsuits, which alleged deceptive trade practices for the manner in which products were marketed and customers were approached and billed, include Rachel Ray, Gweneth Paltrow, Courtney Love and Eva Longoria-Parker.

    Madigan said scammers linked the names of celebrities to purported deals that involved free trials and claims of weight loss.

    “For thousands of dieters, the quest for a miracle product has become a nightmare,” Madigan said last year. “Far too often, consumers end up losing their money — not  weight — in these deals.”

    The attorney general did not mince words when describing bogus marketing practices.

    “We must hold these Internet scammers accountable for their role in a seedy marketing game that steers unsuspecting consumers to online schemes,” Madigan said. “We also need to send a clear message to other marketers and networks in the business of designing misleading, traffic-enticing schemes.”

    Earlier this year, Winfrey’s image appeared for 10 consecutive minutes in a YouTube video pitch for Data Network Affiliates (DNA), which purports to assist law enforcement in locating abducted children. The image of Donald Trump, another American business and entertainment icon, appeared in the same pitch.

    Other YouTube pitches for DNA implied that the company had a special, cell-phone branding deal with Apple Inc., which brought the world the iPhone.

    Neither the Winfrey organization nor the Trump organization returned calls from the PP Blog earlier this year. Apple also did not return calls.

    It is common for multilevel-marketing (MLM) participants to make fantastic claims about products, including false claims they are endorsed by celebrities and captains of industry.

    The ad for DNA that included Winfrey’s image appeared months after she filed the lawsuit in the Acai berry cases last year. One DNA pitchman said in a conference call earlier this year that the company  had “certain people on speed dial that’s incredible.”

  • BULLETIN: Data Network Affiliates Gets ‘F’ From BBB After Purported Data Firm Did Not Respond To Complaints

    BULLETIN: The Better Business Bureau of Southeast Florida and the Caribbean has given Data Network Affiliates (DNA) an “F” rating after the company failed to respond to complaints.

    DNA, a purported multilevel-marketing (MLM) firm, publishes a street address in Boca Raton, Fla., on its website. The BBB’s file on DNA lists the Boca Raton address.

    DNA now joins Dallas-based Narc That Car, also known as Crowd Sourcing International, in the lineup of purported license plate data gathering firms to have received an “F” from the BBB. The “F” rating is the BBB’s lowest on a 14-step rating scale.

    Separately, bizarre events at DNA continue to occur. Earlier this year, DNA purported to be in the business of gathering license-plate numbers to assist law enforcement in locating abducted children. In a conference call, a DNA pitchman criticized the AMBER Alert program, claiming it had a bloated budget. The same pitchman recommended that members gather license-plate data at “churches” and “doctors’ offices,” triggering concerns that DNA’s business model could lead to untenable invasions of privacy.

    It is far from clear that DNA has any capacity to help law enforcement locate missing kids. The company’s domain name is registered in the Cayman Islands. Earlier this year, DNA claimed the offshore address was arranged through a domain registrar so company executives would not have to put up with “stupid” calls.

    DNA later declared itself the world’s low-price leader in the cell-phone business, before acknowledging that it had not studied pricing before announcing it could offer an “unlimited” plan for $10 a month, including a free phone.

    DNA later said it also had ventured into the businesses of selling a purported spray to be applied to license plates that would prevent motorists from getting tickets if they ran a red light at an intersection equipped with a camera — all while purporting to support law enforcement.

    The company also announced it had ventured into the mortgage-reduction business, claiming churches had the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to support the program.

    In July, DNA asked existing members to pretend the company had not launched in March, asking them to “Make believe that July 26th, 2010 is the LAUNCH DATE for DNA…”

    DNA than rescheduled the make-believe launch to Aug. 9. It is unclear if the imaginary launch occurred as advertised.  A countdown timer set for Aug. 23 now appears on the website.

    Meanwhile, the company appears to have renamed its Business Benefit Package, which once used the acronym BBP, to the BBB. BBB is the acronym used by the Better Business Bureau.

    DNA regularly employs capital letters to stress sales points in pitches to members.

    “Please attend our next WEBINAR it will CHANGE YOUR LIFE,” DNA said in a recent email, which also included a pitch for products described as the “DNA Photo Blocker & The DNA $5.95 TELE-FAX BOX.”

    It was not immediately clear if the product advertised as “DNA Photo Blocker” was the same product previously advertised as “DNA Protective Spray.”

    Visit the BBB site.

  • DNA Now Says It Is Selling ‘Protective Spray’ To Block ‘Wrongful Ticketing’ From Red-Light Cameras; Simultaneously Announces ‘Alert Button’ To Protect Abducted Children

    A Florida multilevel marketing (MLM) company that says its license-plate data system can help law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program locate abducted children now says it is working against cities “worldwide” in their efforts to enforce traffic laws.

    Data Network Affiliates (DNA) announced that it was offering “DNA Protective Spray” by the case to distributors. The spray is applied to license plates to obscure the view of cameras that take photographs of cars that run red lights. DNA said the spray protected against “wrongful ticketing by city cameras worldwide.”

    DNA did not explain the incongruity of saying it supported law enforcement in its efforts to locate abducted children while at once working against law enforcement in its efforts to enforce traffic laws.

    Even as DNA was announcing the availability of its purported “Protective Spray,” the company announced it soon would adopt a browser-based “DNA World Wide Alert Button” to let members know when a “child is reported missing in your immediate area.”

    DNA purports also to be in the mortgage-reduction business, claiming it is the “MORAL OBLIGATION” of churches to spread the word about the money-making program and perhaps use it to raise church funds.

    This morning the Federal Trade Commission announced three settlements in cases that banned “deceptive marketers” from selling mortgage-relief services. In one of the cases, a judgment of $11.5 million was entered against one of the marketers. A judgment of $6.2 million was entered in the second case, and a judgment of nearly $5.3 million was entered in the third case.

    DNA said distributors would be able to order its protective spray “very soon.”

    “This product has sold millions for $29.95 a can which is good for up to 3 or 4 applications when done properly,” DNA said.

    The product falls under the umbrella of a series of products that purportedly can help DNA members “RETIRE BY CHRISTMAS 2010,” the company said.

    DNA also said it soon would offer “The New DNA Phone & Fax Module,” which purportedly “will make MAGIC JACK & SKYPE OBSOLETE.”

    In April, DNA announced that it was offering an “unlimited” cell-phone plan with a free phone for $10 a month. The company later withdrew the offer, acknowledging it had not studied cell-phone pricing before announcing it had become the world’s low-price leader.

    Some DNA members have implied the company was backed by Oprah Winfrey, Donald Trump and Apple Inc. No evidence to support the claims has emerged.

    DNA has compared itself favorably to Walmart, Google, Facebook and Amway. Curiously, the company once claimed it offered a Business Benefit Package, which it dubbed the BBP. The company now appears to be referring to the package as the BBB, using the acronym associated with the Better Business Bureau.

  • LockInYourFreeSpot.com A ‘New DNA URL,’ Company Says: Will Members Transfer Their Prospect Lists To MLM Firm?

    Data Network Affiliates (DNA) is asking members to drive traffic to yet-another URL: LockInYourFreeSpot.com.

    LockInYourFreeSpot.com is at least the third URL DNA has featured this year in bids to recruit members into a multilevel-marketing (MLM) program that purportedly offers everything from license-plate data to cell-phone service and juices.

    Why DNA, which says it is launching Aug. 9 even though it actually launched in March, wants members to pump traffic to another website was not immediately clear.

    Such approaches have been associated with a controversial marketing practice that is a form of email harvesting — i.e., a company instructs its member database to spotlight a “free” opportunity, and then existing members email their individual databases and prospect lists, in effect transferring their lists to the company fishing for names to add to its database.

    The results can be painful:

    • Marketing lists of existing customers — whether the customers have big lists or small ones — can become less effective or rendered wholly ineffective because prospects’ names have, in effect,  been transferred to the bigger organization.
    • The bigger organization can use the names it gleaned from its own customers to sell against them or get the first “crack” at prospects when something new comes along.
    • Marketers large and small who, in effect, transfer their lists to the bigger organization by promoting its “free” opportunity can lose credibility, especially if the bigger organization pounds its ever-expanding database with offers that are not credible or if people whose names have been transferred discover that the “free” offer is worthless or that the word “free” was used to lure them into spending money.
    • Longtime relationships can become fractured when a prospect realizes a company or individual marketer with whom he or she has an existing relationship put no thought into a promotion for a “free” opportunity for a larger organization and subjected the prospects to a barrage of email from the larger organization.
    • The marketing “noise” level increases and the effectiveness of email marketing decreases — i.e., prospects lured by the “free” offer eventually realize they’ve joined yet another marketing list at the suggestion of someone who put no thought into the action of extending the invitation. Less and less email actually gets opened and read because prospects find themselves in a never-ending state of getting pitched.
    • Marketers make less money because they’ve diluted their own lists and angered prospects by effectively transferring their names to a bigger company. The bigger company then brags about the size of its list, positioning it as social proof of legitimacy even through the means of acquiring the list might have been underhanded.

    Unlike DNA’s two principal domains — DataNetworkAffiliates.com and TagEveryCar.com — the new LockInYourFreeSpot.com uses a U.S. address in its domain registration. The other domains use an address in the Cayman Islands. DNA  previously explained that the Grand Cayman domain registration was a bid to prevent management from having to put up with “stupid” calls.

    LockInYourFreeSpot.com lists an address in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The domain name is registered to Data Network Affiliates Inc.

    At the moment, Florida records appear to show no company named Data Network Affiliates Inc. operating in the state. A company known as Data Network Affiliates LLC is registered in Nevada.

    In an email to members, DNA pointed out that its LockInYourFreeSpot.com domain is not yet working, but suggested it “should be operational in a few days . . .  if not sooner.”

    DNA suggested a number of “SIMPLE MESSAGES” its existing members could send to prospects in their individual databases. Here, in part, is one of them (italics added):

    DNA SAVE YOUR HOME PROGRAM
    DNA DEBT REDUCTION PROGRAM
    LOCK IN YOUR FREE SPOT
    LAUNCHES 08/09/2010
    100 PRODUCTS @ $19.95 EACH
    OVER $12 GOES TO 10 TIER PAYOUT
    PAYS 100% MATCHING BONUSES
    Takes Only 2 Questions & 2 Minutes
    (your username . lockinyourfreespot .com)

    In recent weeks, DNA has claimed churches had the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to pitch its purported mortgage-reduction program. It was not immediately clear if the “SAVE YOUR HOME PROGRAM” referenced in the email above was the same program as the mortgage-reduction program.

    DNA also suggested that its existing members, when emailing their databases, should tell prospects that LockInYourFreeSpot.com will “PUT 100,000 PEOPLE IN YOUR POWER LEG GUARANTEED.”

    At the same time, DNA said LockInYourFreeSpot.com can help prospects “RETIRE BY CHRISTMAS 2010.”

    Another suggestion positioned LockInYourFreeSpot.com favorably with “FACE BOOK” and
    “GOOGLE” and “WALMART,” describing it as “AMWAY ON STEROIDS.”

  • 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.