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Tag: Jeff Long

  • No Immediate Comment From Zeek Receiver On Third-Party Lawsuit That References Zeek Pitchman T. LeMont Silver And 100 ‘Does’; MLMers Sue Each Other — And Receiver’s Law Firm Represents Plaintiffs In One Of The Cases

    gofunplacesUPDATED 8:48 A.M. EDT (MARCH 24, U.S.A.) Oz at BehindMLM broke the news that eAdGear Inc. and GoFunPlaces Inc. have sued Randal Williams and JubiMax LLC (and others) — and that Williams earlier had sued eAdGear and GoFunPlaces (and others).

    You’ll see a reference to Randal Williams in this August 2011 PP Blog story about a scheme known as “Fast Profits Daily,” a cycler matrix pitched in part from the Ponzi boards. Fast Profits Daily had promoter ties to Jeff Long’s AutoXTen cycler matrix. Two of the infamous claims surrounding AutoXTen was that $10 could fetch $200,000 very quickly and that the “program” was suited for churches.

    Long was fresh from the NarcThatCar and DataNetworkAffiliates MLM scams when AutoXTen was gaining a head of steam. (Memory Lane: DNA misspelled the name of its own departing CEO while at once claiming domain registration in the Cayman Islands, a tax haven.)

    There is plenty of offshore intrigue in the developing stories about eAdGear/GoFunPlaces/Williams/JubiMax matters, too.

    As for Fast Profits Daily? Well, it claimed that “ALL Purchases are FINAL and NO REFUNDS or CHARGEBACKS are allowed. Any attempts to acquire a refund or chargeback constitute theft and fraud, and are grounds for legal prosecution.”

    Pardon us while we vomit as we remember recent MLM history and the interconnectivity of schemes and report on some new history in the making . . .

    The stories by Behind MLM on the allegations flying between parties in the matters pertaining to eAdGear, GoFunPlaces, Williams and JubiMax aren’t apt to make the trade feel any better about itself, perhaps particularly since at least 30 regulatory agencies have issued cease-and-desist orders or Investor Alerts on the Profitable Sunrise scheme.

    MLMers rushed to Profitable Sunrise, too. This they did both before and after after the August 2012 Ponzi complaint by the SEC against the Zeek Rewards “program.” And they did it after the attorney general of North Carolina issued a warning on “reload scams.”

    The PP Blog yesterday sought comment from the Zeek Rewards receivership on the actions involving eAdGear, GoFunPlaces, Williams and JubiMax.

    That’s because eAdGear once filed a lawsuit against ZeekRewards.com, amid some strange circumstances.

    And it’s also because McGuireWoods, the law firm for the Zeek receivership, also is representing eAdGear and GoFunPlaces in their lawsuit against Williams and JubiMax and 100 “Does.” (It is not the Charlotte-based Zeek receivership suing Williams, JubiMax and the Does, it is Los Angeles-based attorneys from the same national law firm hired by the Zeek receiver.)

    Whether Kenneth D. Bell, the receiver in the Zeek case, was aware of the McGuireWoods-managed lawsuits against Williams and JubiMax is unclear. The receivership did not immediately reply to emails seeking comment.

    Also unclear is whether the lawsuits could pose any conflict for the receivership.

    In the eAdGear/GoFunPlaces lawsuit against Williams/JubiMax, the firms raise the name of T. LeMont Silver in the body of the complaint.

    Silver is a former Zeek pitchman who participated in a conference call with Zeek figure Robert Craddock to condemn the SEC and the receiver for their actions in the Zeek Ponzi case.

    Silver recently has been musing about “asset protection things” — this after the Zeek receiver has publicly stated that he has “obtained information indicating that large sums of Receivership Assets may have been transferred by net winners to other entities in order to hide or shelter those assets.”

    Meanwhile, former Zeek pitchman Gregory Baker also participated in conference calls with Craddock. After Zeek, Baker became a pitchman for GoFunPlaces.

     

     

  • ‘AutoXTen,’ Ponzi Forum Darling And Scheme Linked To Former DNA And Narc That Car Pitchman Jeff Long, Goes Missing After Long Traded On Patriotism And Claimed ‘Opportunity’ Was Appropriate For ‘Churches’

    AutoXten came out of the gate during the summer, amid claims $10 could turn into nearly $200,000. Promos claimed the "opportunity" was using Canada-based AlertPay to avoid PayPal restrictions and that AutoXten was suited for "churches."

    AutoXTen, the absurd matrix cycler that came to life this summer even as the state of Oregon was issuing a public warning against pyramid schemes and ordering a $345,000 penalty against a cycler pitchman, has gone missing.

    The AutoXTen website is registered in the name of Jeff Long, an MLM huckster who sang the praises in 2010 of both the Narc That Car (NTC) and Data Network Affiliates (DNA) license-plate schemes before abandoning both programs and warning his followers to “Stay away from ‘EZ MONEY’ pitches and claims.”

    Long, though, appeared not to have followed his own advice. After the failures of Narc That Car and DNA, AutoXTen came out of the gate with a claim that members could “Turn $10 into $199,240.”

    Prior to the apparent collapse of AutoXTen, remarks attributed to Long on the AutoXTen help desk claimed the program was appropriate for “churches.” DNA made similar claims about one of its “programs” last year.

    In 2010, Jeff Long's YouTube video for Narc That Car was referenced by Fox News 11 in Los Angeles as part of the station's Narc coverage. The original Narc video was repurposed by Long into a YouTube text pitch for DNA, but later edited to insert an announcement Long had left both Narc and DNA.

    DNA’s website also has gone missing. The DNA program was associated with MLM huckster Phil Piccolo, as was a program known as One World One Website (OWOW). OWOW emerged last month as a launch ground for the emerging Text Cash Network (TCN) scheme.

    Despite the appearance online of a photo of a glistening building in Boca Raton, Fla., with the words “TEXT CASH NETWORK” affixed in large letters near the crown of the building, the Boca Raton Police Department said Wednesday that the company’s name does not appear on the building.

    Questions have been raised about whether Long performs any due diligence on the “opportunities” he embraces or blindly defaults to the company line or manufactures a convenient truth while recruiting participants by the hundreds into scheme after scheme.

    Long was among the conference-call cheerleaders for DNA, along with Joe Reid, who went on to become a cheerleader for TCN.

    Reid also was a cheerleader for OWOW, a company Piccolo positioned as the provider of a “magnetic” product that could prevent leg amputations and help tomatoes grow to twice their normal size.

    This video in which Jeff Long was driving an automobile and pitching the MLM license-plate schemes of DNA and Narc That Car was edited to insert the red balloon and annoucement from Long that he had dumped both DNA and Narc — and to warn prospects to stay away from "EZ MONEY'" MLM schemes. Long then turned to AutoXTen amid claims the firm's matrix cycler could turn $10 into nearly $200,000 and was appropriate for "churches."

    Whether Long participated in OWOW and TCN was not immediately clear. What is clear is that the AutoXTen website is not resolving to a server only months after the purported miracle program’s launch.

    When pinged, both the AutoXten and DNA websites are returning this message: “Unknown error: 1214.”

    Both NTC and DNA carded scores of “F” from the Better Business Bureau. Some NTC members then attacked the BBB, and DNA changed the name of one of its purported offerings to “BBB” in an apparent bid to trick search engines.

    AutoXTen was hawked in part through posts on Ponzi forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.

    AutoXTen gained a head of steam in part through promos by well-known Ponzi forum pitchmen “Ken Russo” (as “DRdave”), and “manolo,” both of whom also promoted Club Asteria.

    Club Asteria, which purports to have a philanthropic arm, suspended member payouts months ago and acknowledged its PayPal account had been suspended.

    An AutoXTen email attributed to Long, Scott Chandler and Brent Robinson as the opportunity’s “Founders/Owners” also shows the firm traded on U.S. patriotism.

    “This weekend here in the United States of America, we celebrate our freedom and independence as a nation and a Country,” the email read in part. The email was posted on the TalkGold Ponzi forum by “manolo” on July 1, 2011, during the run-up to the Independence Day holiday in the United States.

    “We want to wish EVERYONE a HAPPY Independence weekend, please be safe, have fun and as you are celebrating, know that you are also celebrating your new life should you choose to step into it here with AutoXTen!” another part of the email exclaimed.

  • UPDATE: MLM Pitchman Jeff Long Warned Against ‘EZ MONEY Pitches’ When He Fled DNA, Narc That Car Last Year; Long Now Promoting AutoXTen Cycler Amid Claims That Members Can ‘Turn $10 into $199,240’

    This video in which Jeff Long was driving an automobile and pitching the MLM license-plate schemes of DNA and Narc That Car was edited to insert the red balloon and annoucement from Long that he had dumped both DNA and Narc — and to warn prospects to stay away from "EZ MONEY'" MLM schemes. Long now is promoting AutoXTen amid claims the firm's matrix cycler can turn $10 into nearly $200,000 and is appropriate for "churches."

    Jeff Long, one of the purported founders of the AutoXTen matrix-cycler scheme, warned his followers last year to “Stay away from ‘EZ MONEY’ pitches and claims.”

    A year later, Long appears to be ignoring his own advice.

    The 2010 warning appeared in a YouTube video Long edited after he had led his troops into registering for the Narc That Car and Data Network Affiliates’ (DNA) license-plate MLM schemes. Long first joined Narc, but quickly abandoned it in favor of DNA. He then touted DNA online and hawked the Phil Piccolo-associated scheme in a DNA sales-hype conference call.

    Long, billed as DNA’s top recruiter,  then abandoned DNA. Both Narc and DNA came under Better Business Bureau and media scrutiny, and Long’s YouTube video became part of a Fox News local affiliate’s scam coverage. (See graphic below.)

    Eventually Long edited the video to insert an announcement in a red balloon with white type that he no longer was with either DNA or Narc and to warn about “EZ MONEY” claims.

    But Long now has emerged this year as a central figure in the AutoXTen cycler scheme.

    One promo for AutoXTen claims members can “Turn $10 into $199,240.”

    In 2010, Jeff Long's YouTube video for Narc That Car was referenced by Fox News 11 in Los Angeles as part of the station's Narc coverege. The original Narc video was repurposed by Long into a YouTube text pitch for DNA, but later edited to insert an annoucement Long had left both Narc and DNA.

    Remarks attributed to Long on the AutoXTen help desk claim that AutoXTen is appropriate for “churches.” DNA made similar claims about one of its “programs” last year. After Long pulled out of both DNA and Narc after reportedly recruiting hundreds of participants, he noted in his YouTube red balloon that he hoped affiliates would “Be Blessed!”

    Officials in Oregon yesterday announced a $345,000 penalty against cycler pitchman Kristopher K. Keeney, saying he was promoting a “pyramid scheme” and acting as an unlicensed seller of securities — while selling unregistered securities and lying to prospects of a collapsed matrix known as “InC” or “I need Cash.”

    Keeney’s Oregon fine was broken down as follows, according to the state:

    $100,000 for 221 violations of ORS 59.055 for “selling unregistered securities.”

    $15,000 for 1 violation of ORS 59.055 for “offering to sell unregistered securities in Oregon.”

    $100,000 for 221 violations of ORS 59.165(1) for “selling securities without a license.”

    $30,000 for the “untrue statements of material facts made in connection with the sale of securities” in violation of ORS 59.135(2).

    $100,000 for the “omissions of material facts in connection with the sale of securities” in violation of ORS 59.135(2).

  • Ponzi Forum Pitchfest Begins For ‘Fast Profits Daily; ‘Any Attempts To Acquire A Refund Or Chargeback Constitute Theft And Fraud, And Are Grounds For Legal Prosecution,’ Matrix Cycler Says

    UPDATED 2:49 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A pitchfest for an apparent cycler matrix called “Fast Profits Daily” has begun on the TalkGold Ponzi forum. Fast Profits Daily shares a street address in Delaware with another apparent matrix program known as “2X2 Prosperity Formula” and a purported vacation program known as “DREAM STYLE VACATIONS, LLC,” according to research.

    Why the businesses all use the same address and whether they are affiliated entities was not immediately clear.

    Meanwhile, the emerging Fast Profits Daily cycler matrix appears to have links to the AutoXTen cycler matrix and lists Scott Chandler, Randal Williams and Brent Robinson as pitchmen-in-chief on its landing page.

    Chandler, Williams and Robinson are “three of the world’s most famous network marketers,” according to the landing page. Until recently, Chandler and Robinson also were associated with AutoXTen, the Jeff Long-promoted scheme enabled by AlertPay.

    Long , a former pitchman for Data Network Affiliates and NarcThatCar, said on the firm’s web-based help desk that AutoXTen was suited for churches. The AutoXTen help desk also declared that the firm was relying on AlertPay to avoid PayPal “limits.”

    Early info about Fast Profits Daily is bizarre, incongruous and confusing. The PP Blog visited the site yesterday. A launch countdown timer indicated the launch would occur within three hours, conflicting with a printed message that the launch would occur in days.

    Today the countdown timer says the launch will occur in fewer than 10 hours. Like yesterday’s countdown timer, the information conflicts with the “days” printed message.

    Precisely what Fast Profits Daily is selling is unclear. Website visitors are told that “160 countries” will be involved in an “unprecedented opportunity of a lifetime.” The site also publishes a conflicting report that 140 countries are involved.

    “Turn a ONE-TIME $50 or $250 into $1,000, $5,000 even $35,000 over and over monthly, weekly, even daily,” the site advertises.

    On a separate page, the site declared in red type that “ALL Purchases are FINAL and NO REFUNDS or CHARGEBACKS are allowed.

    “Any attempts to acquire a refund or chargeback constitute theft and fraud, and are grounds for legal prosecution,” the site continues. “Purchaser will be liable for all legal and administrative cost associated with the chargeback and minimum penalty of $500USD. Plus any unused services shall be forfeited upon expiration or termination of services.”

    The Fast Profits Daily site also has a headline in red titled, “TRAVEL RELATED REFUNDS / CANCELLATIONS:” Separately, the DREAM STYLE VACATIONS site, which says it accepts AlertPay and Sold Trust Pay, has a headline in red titled, “Travel Related Cancellations/Refunds:” The headline wording is the same as the wording on the Fast Profits Daily site, except the words “cancellations” and “refunds” are transposed.

    Fast Profits Daily did not say whether it intended to prosecute senior citizens and other vulnerable individuals who may come to believe they’d been ripped off and filed a dispute or chargeback.

    Although Fast Profits Daily did not reveal the choice of law under which the firm operates, its servers appear to resolve to Dallas. The website domain is registered behind a proxy, but the website itself lists its address as:

    PMB 6747
    2711 Centerville Rd., Ste 120
    Wilmington, DE 19808
    USA

    As noted above, the same address is associated with 2X2 Prosperity Formula. The 2X2 website features a photo of an orange sports car, a luxious home (or perhaps a rental property) — and a happy family, including young children, walking along a beach with an ocean in the background. Also as as noted above, a third “opportunity” known as “DREAM STYLE VACATIONS, LLC” uses the same address.

    A promo for Fast Profits Daily was posted on the TalkGold Ponzi forum two days ago. Separately, the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum has a thread for 2X2 Prosperity Formula that appears to have been established in February 2009. Based on the post count in MoneyMakerGroup’s 2X2 thread, the “program” appears not to have gained much traction — but its website remains active.

    Like the Fast Profits Daily site, the site for 2X2 Prosperity Formula also appears to be hosted in Dallas.

    UPDATE 2:49 P.M: This thread at MLM.com may be useful.

  • Is Ponzi Legend ‘Ken Russo,’ AKA ‘DRdave,’ Now Performing PR Work For Club Asteria In Wake Of Negative Findings By Italian Regulator? Infamous Forum Pitchman Who Claims To Have Received Thousands Of Dollars Via Wire From Firm Posts 854-Word Club Asteria Puff Piece On TalkGold

    Club Asteria promoter "Ken Russo," aka "DRdave," posted this purported $1,311 payment from Club Asteria June 2 on the TalkGold Ponzi forum.

    Club Asteria updated its news website yesterday for the first time since July 21, a period of more than a month. But the Virginia-based company did not address a new order issued Monday by the Italian regulator CONSOB in its three-month-long investigation into how Club Asteria was promoted in Italy.

    And neither did Club Asteria promoter “Ken Russo,” who simply copied the entire 854-word puff piece Club Asteria posted on its news website yesterday and pasted it into the Club Asteria thread at the TalkGold Ponzi scheme and criminals’ forum.

    Whether “Ken Russo” understands that legitimate companies would be aghast if their affiliates trolled for business and performed PR outreach on known Ponzi forums linked to international fraud schemes that have gathered huge sums of money is unclear. What is clear is that “Ken Russo” is using TalkGold as a cheerleading outlet for Club Asteria — even as he uses it to cheer for other schemes.

    Whether Club Asteria will take any sort of action against “Ken Russo” for trolling for business on TalkGold or reproducing 854-word Club Asteria PR pieces verbatim on a known Ponzi forum is not known. “Ken Russo” is hardly the only known Ponzi pimp who has led cheers for Club Asteria on the Ponzi boards, and Club Asteria has benefited from the Ponzi board cheerleading though a series of “I got paid” posts and reports that the firm’s membership roster had swelled into the hundreds of thousands.

    Club Asteria now is conceding that it is having trouble launching a suite of new products — and that the delay in launching the suite could extend for another 60 days. Club Asteria buried the news about the specific length of the delay in the fourth paragraph of the puff piece “Ken Russo” regurgitated on TalkGold, after congratulating itself in the first paragraph for its diligence in implementing a new scheme and assuring members “how anxious and excited we all are to see all these new items being produced, tested and the logistics worked out so they can be introduced to our members.”

    “Ken Russo” posts as “DRdave” at TalkGold, which is referenced in U.S. court filings as a place from which Ponzi schemes are promoted. He is a figure who elicits nearly constant criticism from the antiscam community for turning a blind eye to fraud schemes while seeking to create plausible deniability of any personal responsibility for permitting fraud to mushroom globally by accepting claims made by “opportunity” sponsors at face value and not questioning obvious incongruities.

    If an “opportunity” claims a unique ability to pay spectacular, higher-than-market returns with an accompanying, unverifiable claim that external income streams enable the returns — often in the mind-blowing region of hundreds of percent on an annual basis — “Ken Russo” accepts the claim at face value and parrots it.

    On Talk Gold, “Ken Russo” made a claim about Club Asteria that projects to an annual payout of more than 200 percent. Other promoters have claimed Club Asteria had the capacity to pay out more than 500 percent annually — all while claiming Club Asteria also paid affiliate commissions to recruiters. The confluence of payout schemes — combined with the lack of any verifiable information on Club Asteria’s sales figures and income streams and the highly public presence of known Ponzi scheme promoters — strongly suggest that Club Asteria was conducting a global Ponzi scheme

    “Ken Russo” previously has claimed on TalkGold to have received thousands of dollars in compensation via wire from Club Asteria, including payments received after Club Asteria’s PayPal account was frozen in May and after CONSOB opened its probe during the same month. Some Club Asteria members, including “Ken Russo,” have claimed they were paid through AlertPay, a payment processor based in Canada.

    The full effect of Monday’s order by CONSOB remains unclear because a reliable English translation was not immediately available. The PP Blog has asked both CONSOB and Italy’s Embassy to the United States to provide one, owing to the virality Club Asteria achieved worldwide and the presence of thousands of Club Asteria promos in English. TalkGold features a 137-page thread in English on Club Asteria.

    Neither CONSOB nor the Embassy has declined the Blog’s request, which may signal that an official translation could be released in the coming days. CONSOB raised concerns in May that Club Asteria was being promoted illegally in Italy on websites, forums and social-media outlets such as Facebook.

    Club Asteria said in June that it was experiencing a cash crunch and that its revenue had plunged “dramatically,” blaming members for events and comparing the situation to a  bank run. Club Asteria first slashed members’ weekly cashouts from an apparent norm of between 3 percent and 4 percent a week, and then suspended cashouts altogether.

    Some Club Asteria members claimed that the company paid out up to 10 percent a week, and scores of promoters globally are believed to have offered prospects inducements to join, including the partial reimbursement of sign-up fees. Many — if not most — of those members likely locked in losses for both themselves and their downlines by offering the inducements because their costs could not be retired after Club Asteria itself suspended cashouts.

    It is common on the Ponzi boards for posters to offer inducements as a lure to attract prospects to join schemes of all stripes. When “Ken Russo” was promoting the purported MPB Today “grocery” program on the Ponzi boards last year, he advertised that one of his downline members was offering prospects cash rebates of $50 to join MPB Today.

    An untold number of Club Asteria promoters offered similar inducements to their prospects while encouraging new enrollees to do the same, a situation that could have caused Club Asteria’s coffers to fill with cash. It is not known if Club Asteria affiliates who pledged to partially reimburse their recruits sign-up fees have honored their pledges in the aftermath of the firm’s decision to suspend weekly cashouts.

    What is known is that the Club Asteria offer was targeted at the world’s poor — and that the firm may have gained penetration in 150 or more nations. Italy is believed to be the first nation to publicly ban Club Asteria promoters.

    Club Asteria promoter "Ken Russo," aka "DRdave," posted this purported payment of $5,462.80 from AutoXTen July 13 on TalkGold

    When not regurgitating Club Asteria fluff on TalkGold, “Ken Russo” is helping an “opportunity” known as AutoXTen gain a head of steam on TalkGold. On July 13, “Ken Russo” claimed on TalkGold to have received a payment of “$5462.80” via AlertPay for “AutoXTen.”

    “Thanks AutoXTen!” “Ken Russo wrote, posting as “DRdave.” Join us today! Just $10 to get started!!”

    AutoXTen has been linked to Jeff Long, a pitchman for both the Data Network Affiliates (DNA) and Narc That Car MLM schemes last year. DNA, in turn, was linked to serial MLM pitchman Phil Piccolo, known online as the “one-man Internet crime wave.”

    Both DNA and Narc That Car carded an “F” grade from the Better Business Bureau, the BBB’s lowest score. Some promoters then attacked the BBB.

    Long now says the AutoXTen scheme is appropriate for churches — a claim DNA made about its scheme.

    “Ken Russo” also is promoting Centurion Wealth Circle, an AlertPay-enabled scheme whose earlier cycler scheme collapsed. Centurion, which also was widely promoted on Ponzi boards such as TalkGold, now is attempting to revive itself by incorporating a new cycler known as “The Tornado.”

    On July 13, ClubAsteria promoter "Ken Russo," aka "DRdave," posted these purported payments from Centurion Wealth Circle totaling $276 on TalkGold.

    On July 11, two days before he reported a payment of “$5462.80” from Long’s AutoXTen scheme, “Ken Russo” reported on TalkGold (as “DRdave”) that he had received three Centurion payments totaling $276.

    This claim followed on the heels of claims by “Ken Russo” (as “DRdave”) that he had received $2,032 from Club Asteria between late May and late June.

    The claims raise the prospect that multiple schemes, including Club Asteria, AutoXTen and Centurion, have come into possession and redistributed money from other fraud schemes promoted on the Ponzi boards.

    And because “Ken Russo” is hardly alone in his Ponzi forum efforts to promote Club Asteria and any number of schemes in addition to Club Asteria, it raises the prospect that every single one of the schemes is shuffling fraud proceeds back and forth.

    “Ken Russo,” for example, could have used proceeds from any number of schemes to join Club Asteria and any number of emerging schemes — with his downline members doing the same thing.

  • Former DNA/Narc That Car Pitchman Jeff Long Now Says Churches May Join Matrix Known As AutoXTen; Company Says It Uses AlertPay To Avoid PayPal ‘Limits’; Web Pitchmen Say $10 May Fetch Nearly $200,000

    U.S.-based MLM pitchman Jeff Long is one of the purported founders of an “opportunity” known as AutoXTen that is collecting money through Canada-based AlertPay and says churches may join the AutoXTen matrix. Early promos for AutoXTen claim members can “Turn $10 into $199,240.”

    Long’s recent flops include Narc That Car, which came under fire from Fox News outlets, and Data Network Affiliates (DNA), a Phil Piccolo-affiliated firm that claimed it was the “MORAL OBLIGATION” of churches to pitch a purported mortgage-reduction program.

    Long himself says churches may join AutoXTen, according to a post bearing Long’s photo on what is billed the AutoXTen Help Desk.

    “Yes a church can join, there would be no issue with this,” the post under Long’s name and photograph read.

    Both Narc and DNA purported to pay members for recording the license-plate numbers of automobiles. After leaving Narc last year and quickly setting up shop with DNA, Long also left DNA.

    AutoXTen appears to be a matrix program.

    “We are only accepting Alertpay,” according to the AutoXTen Help Desk. “Paypal limits the amount of transactions we can make per day, and we would have to cap people off from becoming paid members. ”

    Still in its early days, AutoXTen has claimed a “malicious hack” into its database that “altered and in some cases deleted member data,” according to an email members received in late July.

  • Data Network Affiliates’ CEO Warns Critics: ‘They Better Be Very, Very Careful’

    UPDATED 10:31 A.M. ET (U.S.A.) The chief executive officer of Data Network Affiliates (DNA) has come out swinging against critics, threatening to take legal action.

    “There are some distractions I’m hearing about out there,” said CEO Dean Blechman.

    An audio recording of Blechman’s remarks is posted on DNA’s website. Two DNA pitchmen warmed up listeners by exchanging compliments with each other and lauding Blechman for nearly seven minutes before he offered his remarks.

    Blechman described DNA as his “unbelievable vision” — for which he had come out of retirement to make come true. “I have a chance to make that really happen,” he said.

    “My 30 years of my reputation in business stands for itself, no matter what distractions are out there towards Data Network Affiliates,” Blechman said, after mentioning his background in the natural-products industry with a company known as TWIN LAB.

    Without specifying the distractions and what the critics have gotten wrong, Blechman suggested he’ll sue, targeting his remarks at “everyone that’s a distraction out there and anyone that’s printing stuff on the Internet or anywhere.”

    “I’ll tell you one thing,” he warned in the recording. “They better be very, very careful of what they write . . . [b]ecause I have every intention of policing and pursuing every legal ramification . . . against anybody that’s reporting any information inaccurate to try to tear down what I’m trying to build here.”

    DNA’s domain lists a Cayman Islands address, as does a companion domain: TagEveryCar.com. A “Contact Us” link at the bottom of the DNA website resolves to a page that says, “Contact Data Network Affiliates[:] Information is coming soon!” The TagEveryCar domain redirects to the DNA website.

    DNA has delayed the program launch twice this month, and now says it will launch March 1. DNA says it is building a database of license-plate numbers.

    In recent days, critics have raised issues ranging from propriety, affiliate training, safety and privacy to the ownership of the company and why the domains listed offshore addresses. A multilevel-marketing firm, DNA says it has signed up more than 37,000 participants to gather license-plate numbers.

    Pitchmen for the company have identified the parking lots of Walmart, Target, churches, doctors’ offices and “anywhere” cars are parked as sources of plate data.

    Promoters have provided little instruction on matters such as whether DNA members are required to obtain the permission of store managers, church pastors and physicians before recording the plate numbers of patrons or congregants or patients, whether members should obtain additional insurance protection or consult with an attorney before entering the license-plate number recording business and how members are required to behave if confronted by store managers and patrons, church pastors and congregants, doctors and patients and police.

    Lionel Cesaire, one of the DNA pitchmen who introduced Blechman in the recording, previously described DNA as a company with members who would record the license-plate number of a hypothetical “red corvette” parked at Walmart at noon, a “doctor’s office” at 1 p.m. and “somewhere else” at 4 p.m.

    Privacy advocates may take a dim view of the approach, raising concerns about both propriety and legality. Some DNA members have recommended that affiliates record plate numbers with video cameras. Such information easily could end up on the Internet, exposing people to invasions of privacy and triggering lawsuits. At the same time, DNA members who collected information for the company could stockpile it and offer it for sale to other companies.

    Blechman thanked Cesaire for his introductory remarks, but did not reference Cesaire’s remarks in a previous conference call about recording numbers at churches, store parking lots and doctors’ offices.

    In a promotional video on YouTube, Florida-based DNA promoter Jeff Long — whom DNA says has recruited more than 700 members — suggested prospects should behave “inconspicuously” when snapping photographs of license plates at stores such as Walmart with iPhones, Blackberrys and notepad computers.

    Cesaire also has used the word “inconspicuous” when describing the recording of plate numbers, suggesting that members might want to be seated in their cars when writing down plate numbers in retailers’ parking lots.

    Describing his own experience collecting plate numbers at Walmart by taking pictures of them while strolling through the parking lot, Long said in a DNA promo on YouTube that store patrons looked at him “weird.”

    “People looked at me kinda weird. But I didn’t care. You kind of do it inconspicuously. . . . because . . . you know, everybody, ‘Why are you taking a photo of my car?’” Long said.

    As Long’s video narration continued, he said, “Who cares what people think? Who cares what people are going to . . . look at you weird? Whatever. Because as you do this, and you record 20 license plates, the company’s going to pay you $25.”

    The video promo continues to appear on YouTube. A similar video featuring Long in which the words referenced in the paragraphs above appear to have been edited out was removed from YouTube “by the user” in the past several hours, according to the YouTube site.

    The video also was removed from a webpage operated by an individual DNA affiliate believed to have spammed the PP Blog Thursday.

    A link to the now-removed YouTube video was sent to the PP Blog in a pure spam post Thursday at 10:05 p.m. The sender targeted a DNA discussion thread, but attempted to post an ALL-CAPS sales pitch (italics added):

    “WANT TO JOIN DNA’s TOP TEAM AND LEARN THE TRADE SECRETS OF BUILDING A HUGE ORGANIZATION FAST AND FREE?

    TO QUALIFY YOU MUST REGISTER TO BECOME A FREE AFFILIATE AT
    [**SPAMMING LINK REMOVED BY ADMIN**]

    SEE YOU AT THE TOP!

    Later, a possible shill entered the thread, saying he was “tryin to sign up.” After that, a third poster left a sales URL in the same thread. The PP Blog attempted to contact DNA through its website to report the spam, but the site did not have a contact form.

    In the recorded conference call, Blechman said members should be confident in the program.

    “I am leading this company; I’m the CEO. I’m in charge. Every big decision is made by me and my partner, Arthur Kurek.

    Kurek is president and chief financial officer of DNA, Blechman said.

    In the call posted on DNA’s website, Blechman did not address any of the issues raised by critics. It is unclear if he approves of the Jeff Long video and Long’s plate-number collection method. Long has been identified in a DNA conference call as the company’s top recruiter.

    Long recorded a similar video to recruit members for Narc That Car. The headline on the video now says, “NARC That Car – Don’t Join!” In the upper-right corner of the YouTube site, this message appears:

    “This video talks about NARC That Car… IF YOU ARE PLANNING ON MARKETING THIS BUSINESS ON THE INTERNET DO NOT JOIN!!!!! NarcThatCar CANCELED AND DISABLED My distributorship because I put this video on YouTube…I’m now the #1 leader and sponsor in their BIGGEST COMPETITOR’S BUSINESS…DataNetworkAffiliates. Again…don’t join NarcThatCar if you plan on marketing on the internet!!!!!!”

    Narc That Car is a Dallas-based business. Like DNA, Narc That Car says it is in the business of gathering license-plate data.