URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve, a payment processor favored by HYIP scammers and other criminals, is offline — and there are reports that its operator is under arrest in Spain on money-laundering charges.
“We lost Huge $$$,” a poster on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum complained. The poster’s forum signature was advertising AdHitProfits, with a pitch of “125% – Superfast Earning.” It also was promoting GoldAllianceFunds, with a pitch of “4.5% for 45 Business Days.”
From The Tico Times, a newspaper published in Costa Rica (italics added):
Arthur Budovsky Belanchuk, 39, on Friday was arrested in Spain as part of a money laundering investigation performed jointly by police agencies in the United States and Costa Rica.
Costa Rican prosecutor José Pablo González said Budovsky, a Costa Rican citizen of Ukrainian origin, has been under investigation since 2011 for money laundering using a company he created in the country called Liberty Reserve.
Local investigations began after a request from a prosecutor’s office in New York. On Friday, San José prosecutors conducted raids in Budovsky’s house and offices in Escazá, Santa Ana, southwest of San José, and in the province of Heredia, north of the capital.
Budovsky’s businesses in Costa Rica apparently were financed by using money from child pornography websites and drug trafficking.
Separately, BehindMLM.com is reporting that Liberty Reserve’s website is throwing a server error. The PP Blog confirmed the site will not load and that there appears to be no page-source information on the landing page.
Recent scams that have used Liberty Reserve include JustBeenPaid/JSSTripler, “Expert Invest Group,” T2MoneyKlub (one of Ponzi schemer “Dave’s”) purported “programs,” Insectrio, Imperia Invest IBC and many more.
Imperia scammed deaf people, the SEC said in 2010.
EDITOR’S NOTE: Thanks to PP Blog reader “Tony” for pointing us to the British Columbia Securities Commission (BCSC) warning against the Lucra Fund and Goldenarium HYIP schemes. Earlier this month, BCSC issued a warning on the Profitable Sunrise scheme.
The British Columbia Securities Commission has issued warnings on HYIP “programs” known as Lucra Fund and Goldenarium. BCSC’s move follows on the heels of its move earlier this month to issue a warning against Profitable Sunrise.
All three “programs” had a presence on well-known Ponzi scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup. The Zeek Rewards “program,” which the SEC in August 2012 described as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme, also had a presence on the forums. So did many other collapsed schemes, including the $119 million AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, the $72 million Legisi Ponzi scheme and the alleged $70 million Pathway to Prosperity Ponzi scheme. P2P spead Ponzi misery to at least 120 countries, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
BCSC said it became aware of Lucra Fund on March 11 “after a BCSC staff member received a promotional e-mail.
“The sender of the e-mail wrote that Lucra Fund offered 5.5% daily returns, and promised a referral commission,” the agency said.
And, it noted, “[t]he Lucra Fund website stopped working soon afterwards.”
Among the talking points of Lucra Fund was that it employed “DDoS Protection By BlockDos,” according to a pitchman’s post at MoneyMakerGroup.
That appears to be the same firm that provided protection for Profitable Sunrise. The Profitable Sunrise website also has gone missing. (At the time of this post, the Profitable Sunrise website has been inaccessible for nine days.)
On March 19, BCSC said, the agency “became aware of what appears to be a BC-connected promotion of Goldenarium through Twitter. Similar to Profitable Sunrise, this high-yield investment promotion offered a minimum investment of $10 and high daily returns. It also offered a referral fee.
“The Goldenarium website no longer works, and people on numerous Facebook pages connected to the scheme are questioning whether the entity will reactivate its website,” BCSC said.
In August 2012, a pitchman on the DreamTeamMoney Ponzi forum described Goldenarium as “a company registered in England and Wales (United Kingdom) that “fulfills all the necessary requirements to provide a serious and highly reliable service to all our customers.
In order to accomplish that we not only strictly comply with both United Kingdom’s Law and International Law.”
Before its 2011 collapse, “Insectrio” used the logos of DreamTeamMoney, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup in sales pitches.
In August 2011, the PP Blog wrote about the collapse of a bizarre “program” known as Insectrio that advertised an “Egg” plan purported to pay 103 percent after one day, a “Larva” plan purported to pay 120 percent after five days and other plans advertised to pay even more. It was enabled by the offshore processors LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney, two of the processors used by Profitable Sunrise.
LibertyReserve and Perfect Money also are referenced in the SEC’s October 2010 fraud complaint against Imperia Invest IBC, a scheme that targeted deaf investors. Imperia also had a presence on the Ponzi boards.
Insectrio used the logos of DreamTeamMoney, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup in promos.
In July 2010, after the collapse of the P2P and Genius Funds HYIP schemes, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued a warning about HYIP schemes, pointing out that they trade through social media.
FINRA specifically warned about websites that “Rank the latest programs and provide details of ‘payout options.’” At the same time, it warned about sites that “Allow web designers to buy ready-made HYIP templates and set up an ‘instant’ HYIP.” Meanwhile, it warned about sites that “Blog, chat and ‘teach’ about HYIPs.”
“Some HYIP ‘investors’ proffer strategies for maximizing profits and avoiding losses — everything from videos showing how to ‘make massive profits’ in HYIPs and ‘build a winning HYIP portfolio’ to an eBook on how to ‘ride the Ponzi’ and get in and out before a scheme collapses,” FINRA said.
“Other HYIP forums discuss how to enter ‘test spends,’ how to identify new HYIPs to maximize one’s chances of being an early stage payee and even how to check when a HYIP’s domain name expires so you can guess how long it might pay returns before shutting down,” FINRA noted.
Read BCSC’s March 22 Investor Alert against Lucra Fund and Goldenarium. (The document references the earlier warning against Profitable Sunrise.)
Andrey C. Hicks, accused civilly by the SEC last week of orchestrating a domestic and offshore fraud, now has been charged criminally with wire fraud, federal prosecutors in Massachusetts said.
Kardashian and Humphries have been married barely two months. The divorce papers were filed today: Halloween Day. TMZ said Kardashian cited “irreconcilable” differences” with Humphries.
Hicks operated a purported hedge fund known as Locust Offshore Fund Ltd. and an entity known as Locust Offshore Management LLC of Delaware.
“Locust” is a term associated with a destructive bug capable of wiping out vegetation. How the firms allegedly operated by Hicks got their names was not immediately clear.
Trading on the names of destructive insects, however, is not unprecedented in the fraud sphere.
In May, a bizarre firm known as “Insectrio” was promoted on Ponzi scheme forums such as TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup and DreamTeamMoney. Insectrio apparently collapsed in late August.
The SEC said Hicks made up two degrees from Harvard as part of his “Locust” scam, which involved more than $1.6 million, according to court filings.
The 'Insectrio' HYIP used the logos of the MoneyMakerGroup, TalkGold and DreamTeamMoney Ponzi forums in its sales pitch.
UPDATE:(UPDATED 11:53 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) RealScam.com is reporting that the website of a bizarre HYIP known as “Insectrio” will not resolve.
As the PP Blog reported on May 27, Insectrio was emerging as a darling on the Ponzi boards. The purported “opportunity” even used a graphic showing the logos of TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup and DreamTeamMoney in its vomitous sales pitch.
Insectrio advertised an “Egg” plan purported to pay 103 percent after one day, a “Larva” plan purported to pay 120 percent after five days and other plans advertised to pay even more. It was enabled by the offshore processors LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney, both of which are listed in the SEC’s October 2010 complaint against Imperia Invest IBC as processors that allegedly gathered money for Imperia.
Imperia was accused to stealing millions of dollars from deaf people. Its “program” also was promoted on the Ponzi boards.
Efforts to popularize Insectrio on the Ponzi boards were beginning at roughly the same time the popularity of Club Asteria was waning on the fraud cesspits. Club Asteria targeted its offer to the world’s poor. It reportedly suspended payouts weeks ago, although some members of the Ponzi boards say they continue to get paid through AlertPay, a Canadian processor.
We’ve previously noted that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has described the HYIP sphere as a “bizarre substratum of the Internet.”
That substratum now is getting crazier yet.
Three weeks ago, Club Asteria was a great darling of the Ponzi boards. But weekly payout rates that purportedly have been slashed — coupled with a purported freeze of Club Asteria’s PayPal account — appear to have put the “program” in a death spiral.
Club Asteria stopped short of announcing it had placed a call to the coroner, but did announce a “downward spiral,” according to a post on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi scheme and criminals’ forum.
Not to worry, though: Some Club Asteria promoters on the Ponzi forums have turned their attentions to JSS Tripler, whose site appears to be accessible through multiple domains, including a site known as JustBeenPaid (JBP).
JBP appears to be tied to something called Synergy Surf, which appears to be another darling of the Ponzi boards.
“I buyed (sic) new 8 positions for that,” a MoneyMakerGroup poster announced.
JPB encouraged enrollees to “[s]et up your AlertPay account and fund it, or link your credit card to it,” according to web records.
These instructions also were provided.
Upgrade in JBP by making your $10 or $20 payments.
Enter your AlertPay email address in the JBP Member Area.
Buy and/or sponsor downline members.
Study and apply ‘Upgrade Your Brain’ and the ‘Big Success Breakthrough’ — see ‘Access Our Products’ in your JBP member area.
Make JBP’s Synergy Surf (JSS) your primary moneymaker.
In the spring of 2009 — as the AdViewGlobal (AVG) autosurf was in its death throes before a fatal gurgle — the AVG braintrust pointed the finger of blame at the membership.
Other surfs that launched in the aftermath of the seizure of tens of millions of dollars from Florida-based AdSurfDaily did the same thing. These included AdGateWorld, which once referenced ASD in what appeared to be a copy-and-paste lift from ASD’s Terms of Service, and BizAdSplash, whose purported “chief consultant” was ASD/Golden Panda Ad Builder figure Clarence Busby.
Fast forward two years, and Club Asteria, which lists Andrea Lucas as managing director, appears to be doing the same thing — along with serving up some Busby-like syrup for the soul:
“Greed is a very powerful motivation, but the kindness, generosity and goodness in all of us all are even more powerful,” Club Asteria is reported on MoneyMakerGroup to have intoned.
“The challenges that we are facing recently have been caused by a small percentage of our members misusing their membership privileges,” Club Asteria is reported to have told members. “As any good company would have done to protect their members and future members, we had to reinforce our Code of Ethics and Conduct, to ensure that our message of a better life for all of us is presented honestly and accurately.
“We are working very hard to make sure that any benefit from Club Asteria and all of our products and services are accurately represented. Any company, no matter how good their products and services are, can be destroyed with misleading information, bad publicity, false rumors and inactivity of their members/customers.”
Two years ago, AVG’s death spiral began as the ASD grand jury was meeting in the District of Columbia. The surf first slashed payouts — something Club Asteria reportedly is doing right now — and then eliminated them altogether, while at once announcing an 80/20 program would become mandatory after AVG completed an audit of itself.
One of the issues complicating matters for AVG was the purported misuse of a member-to-member cash button. Club Asteria members also purportedly misused a money-transfer facility.
“Bizarre substratum of the Internet” just about covers it — except for the heartache and myriad nightmares created by the various HYIP darlings, of course.
Thinking Outside The Box
Our friends at RealScam.com report another nightmare in the making. It’s bizarrely called Insectrio — and it bizarrely has an “Egg” plan purported to pay 103 percent after one day, a “Larva” plan purported to pay 120 percent after five days and other plans advertised to pay even more.
The sales pitch for Insectrio, apparently an emerging HYIP, touts MoneyMakerGroup, TalkGold and DreamTeamMoney.
Given JBP’s prompt for enrollees to “upgrade” their brains — which we view as a prompt to think outside the box — the PP Blog concludes this post by providing readers an outside-the-box way to look at the Insectrio offer:
InSECtrio.
Indeed, the three letters centering the HYIP’s name are real attention-getters.
URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve, a payment processor favored by HYIP scammers and other criminals, is offline — and there are reports that its operator is under arrest in Spain on money-laundering charges.
