On The High Seas Of Facebook, The Search For New HYIP Blood In The Water Intensifies After ‘Profitable Sunrise’ Goes Missing
“HYIPs use an array of websites and social media — including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook — to lure investors, fabricating a ‘buzz’ and creating the illusion of social consensus, which is a common persuasion tactic fraudsters use to suggest that ‘everyone is investing in HYIPs, so they must be legitimate.’” — The Financial Industry Regulatory […]
Zeek Promoters Send Email To AdSurfDaily Members, Asking Them To Wire Money To Confessed Ponzi Schemer Andy Bowdoin’s Jailhouse Account In The District Of Columbia; Zeekers ‘Owe This Man A Great Deal Of Gratitude And More’ For Opening ‘Path To Success,’ Email Claims
UPDATED 8:42 A.M. EDT (JULY 14, U.S.A.) It’s beginning to look as though the Zeek Rewards’ MLM “program” has within it a large downline consisting of members of the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. And in what may go down as one of the most spectacular PR blunders in the history of multilevel marketing, some former ASD […]
UPDATE: Club Asteria, Cherry Shares, ‘JustBeenPaid’ Promoter ’10BucksUp’ Falsely Claims PP Blog Posts As ‘ISPY’ On MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi Forum; HYIP Apologist Taunts U.S. Law Enforcement In Bizarre Post
The bizarre descent into chaos of a failing “program” that claimed to be moving to “offshore” servers and once made its participants swear they were not government spies or media lackeys has gotten stranger yet. Poster “10BucksUp,” who’s now flogging the JustBeenPaid “program,” falsely claimed on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum today that the PP Blog […]
UPDATE: PowerPoint Presentation For Club Asteria Says ‘Passive’ Income ‘100% GUARANTEED’: Is ‘Ken Russo’ Tone Deaf? Promoter Brags About $321 Payment Sent By Wire While Another Laments Payment Of 30 Cents; Members Say They’ll Contact AlertPay
UPDATED 9:09 A.M. EDT (June 14, U.S.A.) A PowerPoint pitch titled “Asteria Corporation” raises serious questions about the nature of the business “opportunity” and may undermine Club Asteria’s own claims that members alone are to blame for the company’s apparent troubles. The document is slugged “[ClubAsteriaPresentation]” and attributed to Asteria Corp. and Andrea Lucas. It […]
As Promos On Ponzi Forums Continue And Members Claim IRS Recognition, Club Asteria Acknowledges That Its Members Used PayPal ‘To Cheat Fellow Members’; Says Fraudsters Were Turned Over To Unidentified ‘Authorities’; Existing Members Of Virginia-Based Firm Told To Use Offshore Processors
In June 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice used its Blog to warn about the emerging threat of “mass marketing fraud,” specifically citing the criminal allegations of a $70 million Ponzi fraud against Nicholas Smirnow of Pathway To Prosperity (P2P). P2P was promoted on the TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forums. A little over a month […]
WRETCHED, TAWDRY AND CHEAP: AdSurfDaily Members Now Targeted In Pitches For An MLM 2X2 Cycler — One That Trades On Walmart’s Name While Affiliate Offers ‘Blessings’
UPDATED 7:11 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) When U.S. District Judge James Rosenbaum sentenced Ponzi schemer Trevor Cook to a quarter of a century in federal prison earlier this week, the judge used some powerful words to describe Cook’s colossal fraud. Rosenbaum described the scheme that bilked investors out of at least $158 million as “wretched, tawdry […]
GO FINRA! Regulator Tackles Online HYIPs; Issues Warning On ‘Social Media-Linked Ponzi Schemes’; References P2P, Genius Funds, ‘Con Artists’ And ‘Bizarre Substratum’ Of Internet
EDITOR’S NOTE: It has become increasingly clear that regulators and the law-enforcement community are rallying around a common theme that web-based promoters are using discussion forums and social-networking sites in bids to sanitize HYIP Ponzi schemes by positioning them as attractive investment opportunities and even a thrilling form of gambling that pays commissions. Today the […]
Another HYIP Pushed By ASD Members Now DOA; Cypriot, Canadian Securities Regulators Issue Warnings About Genius Funds; Regulator Seeks Criminal Probe
Regulators in Cyprus have referred Genius Funds for criminal investigation and released a warning that the company “[is] not permitted to provide investment and ancillary services in the Republic.” Genius Funds, a darling of the HYIP world, was heavily promoted on the Ponzi boards. The program also is known as Genius Investments. The program was […]
PARTIAL LIST: Gold Nugget Invest (GNI) Just Latest Failed Scheme Promoted By AdSurfDaily Members; One Program After Another Pushed By Promoters Has Collapsed
EDITOR’S NOTE: This list summarizes several programs pushed by members of AdSurfDaily, a Florida company implicated in an alleged $100 million Ponzi scheme. In some cases, the programs were pushed prior to the seizure by the U.S. Secret Service in August 2008 of 15 bank accounts linked to ASD or Golden Panda Ad Builder, one […]
‘Egg’-Themed HYIP Domains Pitched By Surf’s Up Poster Registered In Last Name Of Man Dubbed A ‘Co-Conspirator’ In Scheme To Defraud Prepaid Wireless Company; Government Of Belize Issued Warning About HYIP Site
UPDATED 2:22 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A poster using the handle “joe” at the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum advertised four egg-themed domain names that redirected to four high-yield investment programs yesterday, saying in all-caps, “ALL MY EGGS ARE NOT IN ONE BASKET. “I MAKE $2000.00 A WEEK.” It is unclear if the poster has a license to […]