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Tag: HYIP fraud

MIRACLE? TalkGold Ponzi Forum Rejects Club Asteria Payment Claim From Serial Scammer ‘Ken Russo’ (AKA ‘DRdave’); CA Thread Moved To ‘Closed Programs And Scam Warnings’ Folder

Despite efforts by serial cash-gifting, cycler, HYIP and autosurf pitchman “Ken Russo” to prevent the TalkGold Ponzi forum from moving the 16-month-old Club Asteria thread to the scam folder, TalkGold did exactly that today. “Ken Russo,” known as “DRdave” on TalkGold, posted purported proof that he had been paid through Ponzi-friendly AlertPay on Aug. 5…

Aug 18, 2011
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…

May 17, 2011
BULLETIN: National Investment-Fraud Sweep Dubbed ‘Operation Broken Trust’ Nets 532 Defendants; AG Holder Says Capers Caused More Than $10 Billion In Losses; ‘Undercover Operations’ Part of Task Force Arsenal

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and members of President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force said this morning that a nationwide sweep known as “Operation Broken Trust” has netted 343 criminal defendants and 189 civil defendants. Among the targets of the sweep were purveyors of Ponzi schemes, affinity fraud, prime bank/high-yield investment scams, foreign exchange…

Dec 6, 2010
THE DAY ‘WINK-NOD’ DIED: Use Of ‘Money Magnet’ Line, ‘Rallies,’ ‘Ad Packages’ And ‘Rebates’ Backfires On Bowdoin; Grand Jury Uses Terms Repeatedly In Indictment; Prosecution Has Damning ASD Correspondence

History was made yesterday. “Wink-nod” marketing deceptions — the use of disingenuous language supplemented by willful blindness in the cancerous autosurf and HYIP trades to create plausible deniability — were pronounced dead by a grand jury sitting in the District of Columbia. Members of the insidious trade can thank ASD President Andy Bowdoin for the…

Dec 2, 2010
Egg-Themed Domains Used To Promote HYIPs That Flushed Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars Go Missing — Plus, An Update On Data Network Affiliates Amid Suggestion Thyroid Cancer Sufferers Can Benefit From Product Called ‘O-WOW TurboMune’

Four egg-themed domain names used to drive business to HYIPs that ended in spectacular flameouts and foreshadowed a warning from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have gone missing. The domains — including one that redirected to an HYIP site known bizarrely as Cash Tanker, which used an image of Jesus Christ to promote a…

Nov 21, 2010
Real HYIP Expert Says ‘Notion Of Secrecy’ In Commercial Fraud Meant To Discourage Reports To Law Enforcement; James Byrne Consulted With Government Before P2P Ponzi Case Was Filed

EDITOR’S NOTE: Here is the declaration of James E. Byrne, an expert with whom the government consulted in the Nicholas Smirnow/Pathway To Prosperity Ponzi scheme case. It is a remarkable read — one that provides a free education from an expert who has consulted with the FBI and Scotland Yard, among other prominent law-enforcement organizations.…

Jun 1, 2010
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,Â was heavily promoted on the Ponzi boards. The program also is known as Genius Investments. The program was…

Apr 19, 2010
BREAKING NEWS: FBI Tells Senate Judiciary Committee It Is Probing 314 HYIP Schemes Only Months After ASD Members Asked Panel To Probe Prosecutors

And to think that only months ago — in February 2009 — various members of AdSurfDaily wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee trying to elicit support for Ponzi schemes. The letter-writing campaign was spearheaded by “Professor” Patrick Moriarty and pushed by the Pro-AdSurfDaily Surf’s Up forum. But now the FBI has told the committee, led…

Dec 10, 2009
DISCUSSION: SEC: HYIP Defendant ‘Absconded’

Editor’s Note: This thread is designed to promote discussion on the practical value of the “rebates aren’t guaranteed” argument as applied by AdSurfDaily and other autosurfs. Does the argument hold any water? And could it be applied — and have a prayer of succeeding — in other situations in which federal agencies brought allegations of…

May 1, 2009