The first seven letters of this MPB Today affiliate site spells the name of Walmart.
UPDATED 2:10 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Walmart’s name is being used in a domain registered Aug. 27 that promotes the MPB Today multilevel-marketing (MLM) company.
The domain name begins with Walmart’s name, although the website is not registered in the retail giant’s name. Instead, the domain is registered in the name of a Tampa-based company that appears also to sell duplicate sites in a bid to help MPB affiliates recruit new members.
It was not immediately clear if the MPB Today affiliate had Walmart’s permission to use Walmart’s name in a domain name. Also unclear is whether the duplicate sites will use Walmart’s name in their URL.
As a “Special Offer,” prospects can purchase a duplicate site for a set-up fee of $150 and a monthly hosting fee of $10, according to the site. The site includes a “Join Now!” link that redirects to an MPB Today affiliate site.
The word “walmart” takes up the first seven letters of the domain name, which uses two additional full words comprising 13 additional letters to complete the name. Taken as a whole, the domain name implies that Walmart provides free groceries.
Some MPB Today affiliates have claimed Walmart endorses the MPB Today MLM program. Walmart’s name was removed from the homepage of MPB Today last week. It is unclear if Walmart forced the removal.
Walmart has not responded to a request for comment about MPB Today from the PP Blog.
First there was a bizarre political attack on President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a bid to drive business to a Florida-based, multilevel-marketing (MLM) firm known as MPB Today.
Now, at least one promo that asks prospects to register for MPB Today is attacking Walmart.
As affiliates of MPB Today continue to publish images of checks drawn on a distressed Florida bank and Walmart gift cards to provide “proof” that the MLM is real, a Facebook site paints Walmart as a soul-stealing corporation that does not deserve to benefit from MPB’s business.
The site plants the seed that it is possible for customers to pay MPB Today $200 one time and “Totally Eliminate” their grocery bills. It then paints Walmart as the devil, saying “we have a SOLUTION” for the customer who identifies himself or herself as a “WALMART HATER.”
If you “hate Walmart and have written a 603 page manifesto on how Walmart is trying to take over the world and steal your soul,” you should “stop making that pipe bomb and read how you can avoid Walmart and still make bank,” according to the pitch.
Although some MPB Today promoters have claimed Walmart endorses the MLM program and images of Walmart routinely have been used in sales pitches for MPB, the Facebook site urges prospects to say, “NO, I don’t Want A Walmart Card! I’ll take my $200 in groceries bought online and delivered to my door!”
MPB Today says its charges up to 50 percent of the cost of an order for shipping. A person who pays MPB Today $200 potentially loses up to $100 of purchasing power by ordering groceries from the firm, which is tied to a Pensacola business known as Southeastern Delivery.
The Facebook site publishes a URL for prospects to visit. When the URL is inserted in a browser window, it redirects to MPB Today’s website.
Walmart has not responded to a request for comment on the MPB Today program from the PP Blog. MPB Today removed images of Walmart from the homepage of its website last week.
An MPB Today affiliate displays a Walmart MoneyCard in a YouTube video. On Walmart's website, the company says the card can be used "everywhere Visa debit cards are accepted worldwide" and also to "Get cash from millions of ATMs worldwide."
Separately, a “proof” video for the MPB Today program from another affiliate shows an image of a prepaid Visa card that apparently was acquired by using the credit from a Walmart gift card. Prepaid Walmart Visa cards can be used to make merchandise purchases at retailers other than Walmart, and also can be used to withdraw cash at ATMs.
Although MPB Today positions itself as a “grocery” retailer, some affiliates have suggested that the best use of the Walmart gift cards MPB sends out is to convert them to Visa cards that can be used to make purchases at places other than Walmart or withdraw cash for any purpose under the sun.
A promotional website for the MPB Today multilevel-marketing (MLM) program specifically references the U.S. Food Stamp program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and includes links to at least 100 “paid to surf” programs, including programs that use domains registered offshore and programs that appear already to have failed.
Separately, an MPB Today affiliate is using a YouTube video to inform prospects that they are better off not buying groceries from a Florida-based company linked to the MLM program. Instead, the affiliate suggested, incoming members should follow the herd and not purchase groceries from Southeastern Delivery in a bid to earn a higher payout later from MPB’s 2×2 cycler matrix.
“When you join MPB Today, you buy or purchase a $200 food voucher — food voucher,” stressed the affiliate in a video pitch. “That puts you into the business.
“You can purchase food with that voucher,” he continued. “Or you can wait and do the business and exchange that voucher for a Walmart gift card . . . which I did and everybody else is doing.”
During the portion of the video in which the affiliate was stressing the importance of following the herd — a snippet of about 60 words — the word “voucher” was used four times. The use of the word — coupled with a published statement by MPB Today that it charges up to 50 percent of the cost of the order to ship groceries and ships only “dry-goods” — gives rise to questions about whether MPB Today actually has a product behind the business “opportunity.”
“We ship ONLY non-perishable dry-goods only,” MPB Today stresses on its website, using the word “only” twice in a seven-word sentence. Because the firm’s purportedly high shipping costs, dry-goods “only” policy and lack of dollar-stretching generic products, questions have been raised about whether the firm and its affiliates are deliberately steering members to the matrix program and seeking to minimize or eliminate grocery orders from outside its base of operations in Pensacola.
The video first was referenced by “Ken Russo” on the Ponzi-pushing ASAMonitor forum as a “very concise . . . presentation” that outlines the advantages of the MPB Today program.
“Ken Russo,” who also pushed the Regenesis 2×2 cycler program that became the subject of a U.S. Secret Service probe last year that featured undercover operatives and the surveillance of a Dumpster into which business records were tossed, opined on the ASAMonitor Ponzi forum that he has “concluded that MPBToday is one of the best and most practical programs I have ever seen in the network marketing industry.”
In April 2009, while pitching Regenesis on ASAMonitor, “Ken Russo” observed that “ReGenesis is an excellent program which lends itself to a team effort approach which will greatly enhance the Automated Recruiting System that they provide to ensure that each and every member is credited with 2 personal referrals.”
By August 2009, the Secret Service had applied for and executed search warrants in the Seattle area as part of its probe into Regenesis, according to court documents. The agency informed a federal judge that it had kept certain subjects under surveillance for five weeks and that it had linked the scheme to a securities fraudster who had been released from federal prison in January 2009.
The agency laid out allegations of an elaborate fraud involving multiple individuals, multiple bank accounts, multiple addresses and multiple company names. Agents said they observed complaint letters directed at the firm being discarded into a Dumpster that was kept under constant surveillance.
Also found in the Dumpster were copies of checks sent in by customers, other documents that included customers’ names and information to identify them personally, complaint faxes sent by customers and a letter from a law firm complaining about false, misleading and deceptive advertising, according to court filings.
In the promo that specifically referenced the Food Stamp program, meanwhile, the affiliate claimed that MPB Today sells “prepaid” groceries.
“This grocer is so legitimate that they are legally authorized to accept payment via EBT,” the affiliate claimed. “EBT is an abbreviation for Electronic Benefits Transfer which is the method now used for distributing the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). As of Oct. 1, 2008, SNAP is the new name for the federal Food Stamp Program. One word —> LEGITIMATE !â€
The clear implication of the claim is that, because the government approved Southeastern Delivery to accept Food Stamps, the MLM program also passes muster. The word “voucher†also is used on the Food Stamp pitch page, and the page includes links to multiple autosurfing sites and other highly questionable business opportunities.
One of the programs pitched on the page is Data Network Affiliates (DNA), which purports to collect license-plate data that can aid law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children. Like MPB Today, some affiliates of DNA used an image of Donald Trump to pitch the purported license-plate data program. Trump’s image appeared for 10 continuous minutes in a pitch for DNA, while a narrator said the company had “incredible” people on speed dial. DNA, which lists an address in Boca Raton, Fla., uses a domain registered behind a proxy in the Cayman Islands and says it can help members avoid traffic tickets by providing them a protective spray that purportedly shields intersection cameras from taking pictures of license plates, has an “F” rating from the Better Business Bureau for not responding to customer complaints.
DNA once claimed that churches have the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to help it pitch a purported mortgage-reduction program. Florida is plagued by mortgage fraud — and scammers who are targeting foreclosure subjects.
MPB Today is targeting foreclosure subjects in a video sales pitch. Trump’s image was removed from the MPB Today website Tuesday.
In a video accessible from the page in which the MPB Today Food Stamp claim is made, another affiliate is shown cashing his check from Southeastern Delivery at an FDIC insured bank. The video captures the voice of the bank teller.
In this YouTube video, an MPB Today affiliate cashes his check from Southeastern Delivery at an FDIC-insured bank. The page from which the video is accessible shows August prices for Southeastern Delivery, which appears to have no money-stretching generic products. Among the name-brand products listed was Starbucks coffee — $14.28 for 20 ounces of House Blend.
The affiliate then was videotaped inside a Walmart store making a purchase with a Walmart gift card sent to him by the MLM program. This section of the video captured the face of a Walmart employee.
Later, the affiliate was taped inside a taco store. In an apparent gag, the affiliate attempted to pay for his purchase with a Walmart gift card. This section of the video showed the faces of at least three taco-store employees. The employees, whose faces now are on YouTube along with the face of the Walmart employee and the voice of the bank employee, appear to be confused about what is happening.
It is unclear if any of the workers knew they were being videotaped or audiotaped for an affiliate’s commercial for MPB Today.
MPB removed an image of a Walmart store from its website Tuesday. Walmart has not responded to questions posed by the PP Blog. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is conducting a review of claims made about the MPB Today program.
