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Tag: Michael Anthony DeBias

  • UPDATE: Promoted On Ponzi Forums And Twitter, Mysterious BizOp Known As WebsiteTester.Biz Reports Troubles With Launch, Relaunch; Same Forums Continue To Pitch MPB Today

    A Nevada-based business that appears to have collected the names and email addresses of 400,000 people worldwide scrubbed its launch and then scrubbed its relaunch, blaming it on technical difficulties.

    Websitetester.biz now says it will be back online “Sunday afternoon.”

    Although Alpha Market Research, the purported parent company of WebsiteTester.biz is registered as a corporation in Nevada, websites associated with the entities are registered behind a proxy and a video from the firms’ purported CEO included only his purported voice and no images of his face.

    Other promos for the purported business fracture the English language, featuring awkward prose such as “Potential clients who are disturbed by trifles during the ordering process are often unaware of exactly why.”

    Promos have claimed the purported program is free and that registrants can make money, but the company’s business model is far from clear.

    “It is completely free, you earn through EVERYBODY who registers after you, even if you do not sponsor people; you must not sell or buy anything. Guaranteed!” a promo claimed.

    Registrants expected WebsiteTester to launch Sept. 1. That launch date was delayed, and the company announced a new launch date in mid-September. WebsiteTester then announced it had  encountered “unexpected server difficulties” with the relaunch, leading to grumbling among confused members.

    Alpha Market has more than 19,000 Twitter followers, despite its mysterious nature and a pattern of announcing launches and delays.

    The company has purported to provide jobs that pay up to $25 per hour for testing websites. It also describes “potential income” and asks members to recruit other members, even though the company exists in a sea of incongruity and uncertainty.

    Affiliates have claimed there is no downside to registering because the purported “opportunity” is free. Regardless, the company now appears to have gathered information such as names and email addresses from hundreds of thousands of people across the globe — this while citing an anonymous news release on a free publicity site as an authoritative source of information about the firm.

    The news release has been republished on forums that are infamous for promoting Ponzi schemes. The forums have been referenced in court filings in both criminal and civil cases. The ASAMonitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forums all have promos for WebsiteTester.

    Among the other business “opportunities” now being promoted on the Ponzi forums is MPB Today, a Florida-based, multilevel-marketing (MLM) company that purports to be in the grocery business.

    Michael A. DeBias is listed in Nevada corporation records as director, treasurer, secretary, and president of Alpha Market Research Inc., WebsiteTester’s purported parent. The address listed for Alpha Market Research — 3651 Lindell Rd.,  Las Vegas, NV. — appears to be the address of a company that offers “virtual office” services, meaning Alpha Market may not actually be located in Las Vegas.

  • WebsiteTester.biz Delays Launch; Produces Video With Voice, But No Faces; Sends Members To News Release By Unnamed Author; Mysterious Firm Has 18,000 Twitter Followers

    UPDATED 7:26 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) A Nevada company that advertises “job” openings and is being promoted on Ponzi forums such as TalkGold, MoneyMakerGroup, ASAMonitor and DreamTeamMoney has delayed its launch.

    WebsiteTester.biz made the announcement on its website. Forum posters across the world had expected the launch to be under way fully today, but Website Tester says the launch now will be delayed until the company records 400,000 registrations.

    The mysterious firm says it has 375,000 registrants.

    Adding another layer of mystery, the company posted a video on its website that purports to feature the voice of Michael Anthony DeBias, the “CEO.” Michael A. DeBias is listed in Nevada corporation records as director, treasurer, secretary, and president of Alpha Market Research Inc., the apparent parent company of Website Tester.

    The address listed for Alpha Market Research — 3651 Lindell Rd.,  Las Vegas, NV. — appears to be the address of a company that offers “virtual office” services, meaning Alpha Market may not actually be located in Las Vegas. Promotional material attributed to Website Tester has featured awkward phrasing, including this curious sentence:

    “Potential clients who are disturbed by trifles during the ordering process are often unaware of exactly why.”

    The video includes audio that purports to be of DeBias’ voice, but does not show his face. The video does not explain why a company that is asking people from across the world to register and provide private information — and says citizens of 140 countries have done so — is not showing the face of its CEO.

    Meanwhile, a link at the Website Tester site is adding yet-another layer of mystery. Under a headline of “WebsiteTester.biz – Is it a Scam or Real Business,” the company is sending registrants and prospects to a purported news release posted on PRLog.org, a free news-release service.

    The news release is by an author who did not provide a name, but purported to have conducted an interview with DeBias. The news release author claimed that he or she had conducted “the first official interview” with DeBias.

    Why the author of the news release chose to remain anonymous was unclear. Why WebsiteTester would send traffic to a news release written by an anonymous author also was unclear.

    “We contacted the initiator, Alpha Market Research, Inc. (AMR), to find some answers,” the news release began.

    Although the news release used the word “We,” it did not define who “We” is — an individual, a company, a WebsiteTester affiliate, a company employee. The release included a link to yet-another anonymous release. The domain-registration data for the second anonymous release is unclear, meaning the ownership of the domain cannot be determined immediately.

    Meanwhile, the websites of both WebsiteTester.biz and Alpha Market Research are registered behind proxies. Separately, Alpha Market Research’s Twitter site shows 18,178 followers.

    Precisely what Website Tester and Alpha Market Research do remains unclear — weeks after the prelaunch hoopla began. The launch delay now apparently extends the hoopla.