It has become kneejerk sport to deride Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano as “Big Sis.”
Today the attacks on Napolitano turned even more caustic, with the announcement by both DHS and Walmart that Walmart had joined the DHS-operated “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign.
Walmart issued a news release today saying it was proud to become part of the campaign, linking its announcement to a 44-second DHS video that will begin playing in 588 Walmart stores across the United States in the coming weeks .
“Homeland security starts with hometown security, and each of us plays a critical role in keeping our country and communities safe,” said Napolitano. “I applaud Walmart for joining the ‘If You See Something, Say Something’ campaign. This partnership will help millions of shoppers across the nation identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to law enforcement authorities.”
Snarky, vile comments were posted on the DHS YouTube site in response to the video — some of the sort that made the “Big Sis” slam seem almost like a compliment.
Walmart, though, is not alone in backing the campaign.
Other DHS partners in the campaign include Mall of America, the American Hotel & Lodging Association, Amtrak, the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, sports and general aviation industries and state and local fusion centers across the country.
Walmart’s announcement that it had joined the campaign occurs against the backdrop of a recent terrorist plot targeted at a community Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore. The plot, which was detected by the FBI, was scheduled to be carried out on “Black Friday.”
“Black Friday” is the day after Thanksgiving in the United States, and has become a day filled with heavy retail shopping and community events. The suspect in the foiled Portland attack allegedly told the FBI that the plot would be less apt to be detected because the city was not front-and-center on law enforcement’s antiterrorism radar screens.
“. . . it’s in Oregon; and Oregon, like, you know, nobody ever thinks about it,” the FBI quoted the Portland suspect as saying.
There also have been bizarre events this year in which Walmart’s name was appropriated by members of murky multilevel-marketing businesses. Members of MLM programs known as Narc That Car/Crowd Sourcing International and Data Network Affiliates/OWOW instructed prospects to take photos of the license plates of cars parked at Walmart and other large retail stores.
The plate numbers purportedly were to be entered into databases controlled by the MLM firms as a means of helping law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children. No evidence has surfaced that either of the MLM firms has any tie to the AMBER Alert program, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Justice and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.
Meanwhile, bizarre promos for an MLM program known as MPB Today routinely used Walmart or its branding materials as backdrops for a purported program that suggested a one-time, $200 purchase from MPB Today could lead to free groceries for life.
In its news release announcing it had joined the “If You See Something, Say Something” campaign, Walmart urged customers to support the program, but did not say precisely why it had made the decison to become to first national retailer to partner with DHS.
An online side show for MPB Today includes images of Walmart customers shopping inside a Walmart store. One of the departments featured in the slide show was the Pharmacy Department. (The image in this post has been cropped by the PP Blog to exclude a woman standing near the pharmacy counter.)
UPDATED 3:38 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) A 52-frame slide show accessible online may lead to questions about whether the privacy of Walmart customers and Walmart itself has been invaded in a sales promo for the purported MPB Today “grocery” program.
At least nine of the slides show customers, including people who appear to be senior citizens, shopping inside a Walmart store. The promo also appears to capture the images of Walmart employees. Fifteen photos of various Walmart departments are displayed in the presentation.
One of the snapshots taken inside the store includes the image of a woman standing inside the pharmacy section. The woman appears to be holding a cell phone to her left ear. The snapshot is dated Aug. 28, 2010 and time-stamped at 13:47. It is unclear if the date and time reflect the actual date and time the photo was taken. Several of the photos in the promo are date – and time-stamped. It is possible that all of the photos displaying Walmart shoppers, employees and departments were taken on the same day.
The promo opens with 32 consecutive photos of MPB Today members displaying checks and Walmart cards. The photos appear to have been taken in or around the members’ homes. An image of business titan Warren Buffet is visible on a laptop-computer screen in one of the slides.
Buffet is not believed to have any affiliation with MPB Today. Walmart also is believed to have no affiliation with the MLM company. Regardless, images of Buffet and Walmart’s intellectual property have been widely featured in MPB Today promos.
The promo is at least the third in which MPB Today affiliates appear to have produced or contributed to sales promos shot in whole or in part on Walmart property. Whether any of the affiliates obtained permission from the company or its employees and customers is unclear.
Concerns about privacy also have been raised about Data Network Affiliates (DNA) and Narc That Car/Crowd Sourcing International, two other MLM programs whose affiliates shot promos on properties owned by major U.S. retailers, including Walmart.
Both DNA and Narc That Car/Crowd Sourcing International purport to be in the business of paying MLM affiliates to record the license numbers of automobiles. Affiliates of both firms advised incoming members to take photos of license plates or write down license-plate numbers in the parking lots of retail outlets. One promo for DNA recommended that members also record license-plate numbers at doctors’ offices and churches.
DNA appears to be morphing into another business known as One World One Website or “O-WOW.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: The PP Blog previously wrote about a promo by an MPB Today affiliate that sought to recruit prospects by depicting President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as Nazis. The PP Blog is reporting today that at least two versions of the affiliate’s anti-Obama script appear to have existed, including one that used the word “monkeys” in the context of the Obama presidency. It is possible that the second script was actually a work-in-progress that was edited over time and later resulted in the publication of a single video, and was not a script unto itself.
PHOTO CREDIT: United Nations, U.S. Department of State, Oct. 26, 2010: Secretary Clinton addresses a meeting of the UN Security Council marking the 10th anniversary of landmark Council resolution 1325 on women in peace and security.
Before the PP Blog was knocked offline Saturday by a DDoS attack that delivered more than 6.1 million hits in a compressed time frame, the Blog was continuing its research into several stories. One of them involved a bizarre political attack on President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The attack came in the form of an animated sales promo for the purported MPB Today “grocery” program. We earlier published frames from the video, which was taken offline last month after the Blog wrote about it.
Research now suggests there were at least two scripts for the promo or a single script that was a work-in-progress that resulted in a finished video.
At least one finished video was published on GoAnimate.com, a video service. The video depicted Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as Nazis, with Obama as a left-handed-saluting Nazi who cowered to Clinton, and Clinton as a drunken, whining Nazi who knocked out Michelle Obama after barging into the Oval Office. The phrase “Brown-noser” was used in this video which, incredibly, was a sales pitch designed to recruit MPB Today members.
“Brown-noser,” of course, is a loaded phrase — not that depicting the President as a cowering Nazi, the First Lady as an embarrassment to the nation and the Secretary of State as the Nazi-In-Chief is any less objectionable.
MPB Today affiliates routinely mention Walmart in their promos. Perhaps it was lost on the author of the anti-Obama screed that Clinton, a former First Lady and formerly a duly elected member of the U.S. Senate — the same body from which Obama emerged — was the first woman ever appointed to Walmart’s board of directors. Her appointment occurred in 1986, nearly a quarter of a century ago. Clinton no longer serves on Walmart’s board.
Hillary Clinton also was a serious contender for the Presidency of the United States. She is held in high regard by tens of millions of Americans, including Americans who disagree with her political philosophy. Clinton is only the second woman ever to serve as U.S. Secretary of State. Only two Republicans cast votes against Clinton’s nomination as Secretary; the overall vote in January 2009 was 94-2.
Although it is unclear if the second script resulted in a finished video that later was removed, the script is published online and is available in Google search results. If anything, it is even more objectionable than the script that resulted in the published video.
Here is the script, as published on Google. (Italics and carriage returns added):
SCENE0:
SCENE1: michelle_obama O’ Barry Baby, since we’ve joined MPB TODAY your popularity has increased in the polls! Who runs these polls, monkeys??
SCENE2: michelle_obama obama It’s true, Shell Bell.. and I’ve even been asked to be a greeter at Walmart since I’m there so much using my $200 giftcards.
SCENE3: michelle_obama obama And I just love those $300 commission checks, too! Me too, Babe, me too…
SCENE4: michelle_obama obama I’m so relieved we’ve totally eliminated our grocery bill! You’re relieved? Now I’ll finally get some real dog food instead of just Sasha’s scraps
SCENE5: obama michelle_obama Pardon me, Honey… it must be all those beans I ate at Sam’s Club today. Wheww, somebody open a window, I can’t breathe.
SCENE6: michelle_obama obama Hmm, I should prolly call my Food Stamp worker now that I’ve joined MPB
SCENE7: michelle_obama obama I only had to spend $200 to join, but I borrowed the money so don’t worry, honey.
SCENE8: obama michelle_obama You what?? You borrowed the money to join MPB Today? From whom?? Oh no, here it comes…
SCENE9: obama michelle_obama Uhh, from Hilary, Here she comes now…
SCENE10: obama michelle_obama hillary Hail Hil, what’s wrong with you??
SCENE11: obama hillary michelle_obama I couldn’t find 2 people to join me in MPB Today, now I’m going to lose my money! I feel so woozy, like I got clunked in the head, what just happened??
SCENE12: hillary obama michelle_obama Maybe it’s time to lose the pantsuit from Big Lots and start shopping at Walmart, like I do. Then maybe people will join you in MPB. What a freakin’ drama queen That’s it, I’m outta here
SCENE14: hillary obama Listen, I pledge to help you get your 2 people but even if I can’t you’ll still get your groceries?
SCENE15: obama hillary All you’ll have to do is pay shipping on the groceries, Hil, no big deal… right? I suppose not but I feel like such a loser. cough cough… let’s not even go there.
SCENE16: obama hillary You’re no loser, Hil, and besides… no one loses with MPB Today, not even you… OMG, What a Brown-noser
SCENE17: obama hillary O’ I’m so relieved, now I can go home and tell Bill. Just go home, PLEASE just go home…
SCENE19: [URL Deleted By PP Blog] Brought To You by: [Deleted By PP Blog]
SCENE18: Join MPB Today With a Real Mentor, Not Merely a Marketer… Big Difference!
SCENE20: Join MPB Today With a Real Mentor, Not Merely a Marketer… Big Difference!
The script.
Apparently the self-described “Real Mentor” believed it prudent for business purposes to offend as many Americans and citizens of the world as possible in the bizarre bid to glean affiliate checks and Walmart gift cards from MPB Today, an MLM program.
The second script makes no reference to Nazis, but does include a reference to “monkeys.” Hillary Clinton was called “Hitlary” in the script that resulted in the published video. The Secretary is merely “Hillary” in the second script. The “Brown-noser” line is common to both scripts.
And what do the Obamas eat? Well, “dog food,” according to the script. Apparently this is a step up from the table “scraps” the family dog left unconsumed.
The script also references the federal Food Stamp program, apparently painting at least one of the Obamas as in need of the services provided by the USDA-operated program and a caseworker.
President Obama apparently was positioned as a Walmart “greeter” in the script.
The word “bizarre” does not even begin to cover the scripts or the finished video that emerged. We are left wondering if someone made the calculation that the use of the word “monkeys” would be just too caustic for the finished product, but that the Nazi depiction would strike just the right chord to stimulate money to change hands. Regardless, the phrase “Brown-noser” appears to have been included in both scripts — and we’d fully expect the producer to argue that the phrase was just a throw-away line, that it was in no way designed as code to remind MPB Today prospects that Obama does not have the same bloodlines as, say, the 43 Presidents who preceded him.
That any version of the promo emerged in a bid to attract prospects to MPB Today is a matter for great introspection. At the moment, we can’t think of a single thing that tops it in terms of unrestrained gall, xenophobia and pure idiocy.
In the often bizarre world of MLM, we’ve apparently reached the point that a “real mentor” puts the President of the United States in a Walmart greeter’s attire, places him on Food Stamps, depicts him (or his family) as aspiring to eat dog food, uses animated images of a dog to reinforce the poisonous stereotypes, lashes out against the First Lady and the Secretary of State — and then urges others to sign up for a “grocery” program and do the same.
That MPB Today has not spoken out against this is only one of many reasons people should choose not to do business with the firm.
President Obama formed the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in November 2009. He later became the subject of an attack ad by an affiliate of the purported MPB Today "grocery" MLM.
UPDATED 10:56 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) The ASA Monitor Ponzi and criminals’ forum now is redirecting to a website operated by CashX.com, a Canadian payment processor that hawks MasterCard debit cards and says it permits customers to withdrawn money to Liberty Reserve.
Liberty Reserve is a Ponzi-friendly payment processor purportedly headquartered in Costa Rica after earlier operating from Panama.
Meanwhile, confessed Ponzi schemer Arthur Nadel — who briefly went on the lam from Florida in early 2009 as his $390 million scheme was disintegrating and became known as one of the original “mini-Madoffs” — has been sentenced by a federal judge in New York to 14 years in prison.
It is effectively a life sentence for Nadel, who is 77 and one of several senior citizens implicated in U.S. Ponzi schemes.
At the same time, a former clergyman from Indiana who told congregants it was their “Christian responsibility” to become pitchmen for his then-undiscovered bond scheme has been convicted of nine counts of securities fraud.
Vaughn Reeves, 66, is scheduled to be sentenced next month. The jury deliberated only four hours before returning the verdict against Reeves, himself a senior citizen. Congregants believed they were helping raise money for church-building projects, but it was a scam that led to foreclosure proceedings against eight places of worship. (See link to AP report below.)
Claims made by Reeves are similar to claims made by the Data Network Affiliates (DNA) MLM program, which told members that churches had the “MORAL OBLIGATION” to help bring business to the Florida-based firm and qualify for commissions ten levels deep. DNA purports to be in the license-plate data collection business, claiming it can help law enforcement and the AMBER Alert program recover abducted children.
Incongruously, DNA also purports to sell a “protective spray” that shields cameras from taking photographs of license plates. Equally incongruously, the company said that it could offer a free cell phone with unlimited talk and text for $10 a month. The company later backtracked on the claim, bizarrely saying it studied pricing structures only after announcing it had become the world’s low-price leader while acknowledging it hadn’t vetted its purported vendor for the service.
DNA figure Phil Piccolo later threatened to sue critics. Earlier, Dean Blechman, who said he was the company’s CEO before resigning in February, threatened to sue critics. DNA withheld the announcement of Blechman’s departure for nearly a week and then misspelled his name. DNA also described Blechman as the “future” CEO, even though Blechman had described himself as the current CEO.
Blechman complained to the PP Blog about “bizarre” events at DNA.
ASA Monitor, which is referenced in court filings as a place from which the alleged Pathway To Prosperity (P2P) Ponzi scheme was pitched and was a site from which the purported “grocery” MLM operated by Florida-based MPB Today was pitched, suddenly announced on Oct. 12 that it was closing.
Like MPB Today, DNA also was pitched from Ponzi and criminals’ forums.
The ASA Monitor closure announcement coincided with a flap in which an ASA forum moderator sought to muzzle critics of the MPB Today program, which is being targeted at Christians, foreclosure subjects, Food Stamp recipients, senior citizens, people of color and members of the alleged AdSurfDaily (ASD) Ponzi scheme.
ASD also operated from Florida before the U.S. Secret Service seized tens of millions of dollars in August 2008, amid allegations of wire fraud and money-laundering. Robert Hodgins, an international fugitive wanted by Interpol in a narcotics-trafficking and money-laundering case filed after an undercover probe by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in Connecticut, provided debit cards to ASD, members said.
Nadel’s scheme, meanwhile, operated in the Sarasota area.
“Through his massive Ponzi scheme, Arthur Nadel greased his own pockets and financed his lavish lifestyle, using money his clients relied on him to invest,” said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara of the Southern District of New York.
“He cheated his elderly and unwitting victims out of their retirement savings and consigned others to poverty,” Bharara said. “The message of [yesterday’s] sentence should be loud and clear — we will continue to work with our partners at the FBI to find the perpetrators of financial fraud and use every resource we have to bring them to justice.”
U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl ordered Nadel to forfeit $162 million, five airplanes, a helicopter and real estate in Florida, North Carolina and Georgia.
The prosecution of Nadel was brought in coordination with President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder traveled to Florida earlier this year to warn fraudsters that the United States was serious about putting scammers in prison.
By September, an affiliate of MPB Today had created a video in which Obama was depicted as a left-handed saluting Nazi who cowered to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who was depicted as a drunk. First Lady Michelle Obama, the mother of two daughters, was depicted as having experienced an embarrassing gas attack in the Oval Office after sampling beans at a Sam’s Club store.
Clinton, depicted in the sales promo as “Hitlary,” knocked out Michelle Obama after barging into the Oval Office bawling and carrying a bottle of wine. Clinton, the mother of one, was the first woman ever appointed to the Walmart board of directors.
Some MPB Today affiliates have claimed Walmart is affiliated with MPB Today and that the government backs the MLM program, which appears to have accounts at at least two banks in the Pensacola area. One of the banks is operating under a consent agreement with the FDIC.
This video promo from June 2009 hawks "My Premier Biz," a site now associated with the MPB Today "grocery" program. My Premier Biz was pitched on Ponzi forums more than a year before promos for MPB Today began to appear on the Ponzi forums. MyPremierBiz was a purported opportunity for distributors to pay up to $3,456 to have wellness products associated with MPB Today operator Gary Calhoun placed in retail stores.
A website known as MyPremierBiz.com was hyped on Ponzi boards last year and videos were produced to drive traffic to a confusing “opportunity” that included both a straight-line and a 2×2 matrix cycler and a hard-to-decipher sales and compensation program.
Affiliate links were created for the program, which was purported on the MoneyMakerGroup forum to gather between $312 and $3,456 from distributors to place “Pro Packs” — cases of wellness products — in retail stores. The more a prospect sent in to acquire purported retail space for “Pro Packs,” the more he or she purportedly would earn. As of yesterday, some of the links redirected to the website of the purported MPB Today “grocery” program, research shows.
The product line-up for the MyPremierBiz opportunity is associated with products offered by Gary Calhoun of MPB Today. One promoter on a Ponzi board claimed MyPremierBiz had lined up “outlets” that are “independent nutrition and health food stores, specialty wellness shops, holistic or independent pharmacies, spas, salons, etc.
“We have a certain number right now, but NOT ENOUGH members to cover the sales! Talk about a GROUND-FLOOR OPPORTUNITY!” the affiliate exclaimed. “As this gets rolling, you will be a part of a small, elite nucleus of people who will have THOUSANDS of STORES in your downline within 12-36 months!”
Incongruously, a video on YouTube displayed photos of several retail outlets, but included a disclaimer in tiny type that “Stores shown are for example only and are not affiliated with our company.”
The root of the domain — MyPremierBiz.com — displayed this message this morning: “MPB Today is off-line for site maintenance.” However, other URLs at the site served pages, including a page that included a link for the MPB Today “grocery” program. The fate of the “Pro Packs” offer first advertised last year was not immediately clear.
The development strongly suggests that MPB Today, which itself is being promoted on the Ponzi boards, had a predecessor site more than a year ago that also was pitched from the Ponzi boards. Receipt of any revenue from Ponzi schemes or criminal business opportunities is potentially catastrophic for MPB Today because the company could be paying members with proceeds from other online schemes.
Separately, MPB Today Inc. has canceled its Florida incorporation, according to documents on file in the state. The company now is known simply as “MPB Today” — without the “Inc.” designation — according to a filing dated Sept. 24. MPB Today is operating as a fictitious entity owned by Le330 Inc., another entity associated with MPB Today operator Gary Calhoun.
Whether MPB Today Inc. actually ever was incorporated in Florida is unclear. A filing by the firm in July suggests the fictitious entity assigned itself a corporate designation under Le330’s designation. Checks recently received by MPB Today members no longer have the “Inc.” designation. Earlier images of checks posted online by affiliates included the “Inc.” designation. New checks simply list “Mpb Today” as the account-holder.
Like promos for MPB Today, promos for MyPremierBiz were filled with hype and began with a proposition.
In March 2009, a poster at MoneyMakerGroup wrote, “Would you spend $312, ONE-TIME ONLY, to EARN at least $360 in PROFIT, from Retail Store sales, year after year?”
MPB Today uses a similar pitch to plant that seed that a $200, “one-time” purchase can lead to free groceries for life.
MyPremierBiz was positioned last year as “a new division of a six-year-old company that is turning heads both on and off the internet,” according to a promoter writing on the MoneyMakerGroup forum. MoneyMakerGroup is referenced in court filings in the Pathway To Prosperity (P2P) case, amid allegations that P2P was an international Ponzi scheme that fleeced more than 40,000 participants across the globe.
Writing about MyPremierBiz on MoneyMakerGroup in June 2009, a promoter said that “I am the #2 person in the company. I’m building the TOP Team and I want you to have the same success. Together, I KNOW we can do it!
“We have SO MANY ways you can get paid and I am going to get you off to an INCREDIBLE START with my MPB Team Build,” the promoter continued. “Here’s what I will do for you. I’ll put two people under you and that will get you off to a ROCKET START! If you join MPB, you will pay $11.50 for the annual website fee, plus $20 for your first monthly order, plus a little shipping for that order, and you can also purchase your way right into our 2 x 2 matrix for only $50 (just one part of our comp plan, but a VERY exciting and rewarding part). So your total expense, to get started is only $89. And you will now be part of several PASSIVE RESIDUAL Compensation Components, and you will be earning a check the very NEXT week!”
One of the Ponzi-forum references to MyPremierBiz included a tie-in to a program known as “Froggy Apps,” which purported to be a downloads service.
“FROGGY APPS are HERE!” a pitchman roared on the MoneyMakerGroup forum on July 9, 2009. “APPS are just getting started. People are downloading them at an ASTOUNDING rate, and iPhones, and other ‘Smart Phones’ are selling at a PHENOMENAL CLIP!”
Links to the MyPremierBiz promos placed in the MoneyMakerGroup forum during the summer of 2009 redirect to the current MPB Today grocery program. So do links to the FroggyApps program.
All three websites — MyPremierBiz.com, MPBToday.com and FroggyApps.com — are registered behind proxies. When the PP Blog visited the FroggyApps site, it was redirected to the MPB Today site.
Not all affiliate links formed under the MyPremierBiz domain, however, appear to resolve to an MPB Today affiliate site. The PP Blog clicked on an old MyPremierBiz affiliate link yesterday, and was sent to a page that said, “The page or associate name was not found on this server. Please click the link below to continue.”
So, you want to plant the seed that your business “opportunity” is backed by a famous company or that the company approves of your use of its trade name in a domain name you registered?
Eight defendants in a fraud case filed by the FTC have been hit with a judgment of $29.5 million in a settlement with the agency. A ninth defendant was hit with a judgment of $741,900.
The case mixed financial fraud in the form of unauthorized charges being drawn from customers’ bank and credit-card accounts — and misuse of Google’s name to sanitize the scam, the FTC said.
The defendants were forced to give up assets that totaled about $3.5 million: cash, two cars, interests in a Harley Davidson motorcycle, a boat and a gun collection “in partial satisfaction of the judgment,” the FTC said.
Among those hit with the $29.5 million judgment were Jonathan Eborn; Michael McLain Miller; Tony Norton; Infusion Media Inc.; West Coast Internet Media Inc.; Two Warnings LLC; Two Part Investments LLC; and Platinum Teleservices Inc.
Stephanie Burnside was hit with the $741,900 judgment.
None of the defendants is able to pay the judgments, which will be suspended unless it is determined that they “have misrepresented their financial condition,” the FTC said.
A big part of the case was “bogus” claims of ties to Google, the FTC said. The agency brought the action last year as part of “Operation Short Change,” which was targeted at “scammers taking advantage of the economic downturn to bilk vulnerable consumers through a variety of schemes.”
Federal officials made the announcement today, even as members of an online “opportunity” known as MPB Today were claiming the purported grocery MLM was backed by the government and Walmart. Some MPB Today affiliates have used Walmart’s name in domain names. Meanwhile, affiliates also have used Walmart’s branding materials and even have recorded commercials for MPB Today on Walmart property.
Such dogs did not hunt in the case against in which bogus claims were made about Google, according to court filings.
In June 2009, the FTC advised a federal judge that “The defendants’ use of the term ‘Google’ in the defendants’ business names, product names, and Internet domain names and the defendants’ use of logos that are identical to or confusingly similar to the logo of Google Inc. and its Internet search engine create a false aura of legitimacy by suggesting that the defendants are affiliated with Google.”
Not even a disclaimer in small type by some of the defendants that there was no actual affiliation with Google spared them from the astronomical judgment, according to court filings.
The defendants did not admit wrongdoing in the settlement agreements.
Images of two checks purportedly from the MPB Today MLM program are published on a .org website. The checks show Whitney National Bank of Pensacola as MPB Today's bank. Previous checks from the company showed the name of Gulf Coast Community Bank of Pensacola as the bank for both MPB Today and its purported parent company, Southeastern Delivery.
An MPB Today affiliate’s site on a .org domain is publishing images of checks that suggest the purported “grocery” MLM in Pensacola either has switched banks or is using a second bank.
The checks are dated Oct. 8 and bear the name of Whitney National Bank of Pensacola. Previous images of checks published by MPB Today affiliates showed the name of Gulf Coast Community Bank, a Pensacola bank that has been operating under a consent agreement with the FDIC since January.
The checks purportedly drawn on Whitney show the name “Mpb Today” as the account-holder. Previous images of checks published online by MPB Today affiliates showed the names of “MPB Today Inc.” and “Southeastern Delivery LLC.”
Southeastern is the purported parent company of MPB Today. Why the checks dated in October and purportedly drawn on Whitney did not use the “Inc.” designation was not immediately clear. Also unclear is why MPB checks published online by affiliates included three different names as bank account-holders: Mpb Today, MPB Today Inc. and Southeastern Delivery LLC.
If MPB Today has switched banks at midstream, it may signal a change in the status quo. Changes in the status quo often are key markers of scams. Changes in MLM compensation plans also may signal a change in the status quo. MPB Today now says it is paying bonuses to certain members of the firm’s 2×2 cycler matrix.
Some MPB Today affiliates have received Walmart gift cards as part of their compensation, while others have received Walmart “In Store Credit Cards” and prepaid Visa cards branded in Walmart’s name. Whether the varying payment methods represent changes in the status quo is unclear.
Separately, a video on YouTube shows a 32-inch television set being delivered by UPS to a residence believed to be in Las Vegas. A narrator in in the video says the TV was paid for with a Walmart gift card “kind of, indirectly.”
The video captures the actual delivery of the TV, showing the face of the UPS driver and also capturing his voice. Whether the UPS driver understood he was being videotaped for a commercial for MPB Today was unclear.
This marks at least the second time that video promos for the MPB Today program have captured the faces and voices of people who may not have understood that they were being filmed for commercials for the “grocery” program. An earlier video by a separate MPB Today affiliate captured the voice of a teller at an FDIC-insured bank, the face of a Walmart employee and the faces of employees of a taco store.
At least one other video for MPB Today has shown a TV purchased with proceeds from the “grocery” program — in this case, a 46-inch model manufactured by Samsung.
This check, published on a Blog, shows the name of Southeastern Delivery.
A UPS van drives off after after delivering a 32-inch television to an address believed to be in Las Vegas. A narrator in the video said the TV "kind of, indirectly" was paid for with a Walmart gift card from the MPB Today grocery MLM.The TV purportedly paid for with a gift card from the "grocery" program.
A domain that redirects to an MPB Today affiliate site provided by the MLM company implies that the firm offers "rebates" to prospects who join. This screen shot shows the page that loads if prospects visit the "rebates" domain. The "rebates" domain that causes this page to load does not explain how MPB Today prospects can secure a rebate after joining.
UPDATED 11:47 A.M. EDT (U.S.A.) An affiliate domain linked to the MPB Today “grocery” program implies the company offers “rebates” to prospects who join the MLM company. The domain redirects to an MPB Today-provided affiliate site, which includes an email address for the promoter. The promoter’s email address is associated with yet another domain — one whose registration data lists the name of a company in Miami that purports to provide services for “cardholders.”
Florida records show that the “cardholders’” firm — an LLC — was administratively dissolved by the state last month for failure to file an annual report. Other records show that the defunct company uses the address of a UPS store as its address.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) said last month that it was investigating claims made about the MPB Today program, which has been targeted at Food Stamp recipients. USDA had no immediate comment this morning on the domain that implies MPB Today offers rebates.
Two words appear in this domain name prior to the word "rebates." If prospects click on the URL in Google search results, they are redirected to an MPB Today affiliate site.
Both domains — the one that implies MPB Today offers rebates and redirects to the MPB Today-provided affiliate’s page and the one associated with the “cardholders’” firm — are associated with the name of the MPB Today promoter. The domain that implies MPB Today offers rebates was registered on July 7, 2007, meaning it was in operation even before MPB Today and its purported parent company, Southeastern Delivery of Pensacola, were in operation.
The domain that implies rebates are available and redirects to the MPB Today affiliate’s website does so immediately, and there appears to be no content that explains how one can get a rebate when joining the MPB Today MLM program, which operates a 2×2 matrix cycler. MPB Today does not promote a rebate program on its website.
Why an affiliate would imply that it does is unclear.
Second Reference To MPB Today ‘Rebates’
An MPB Today “rebates” program also was advertised last week by a separate promoter — “Ken Russo” — on the ASA Monitor Ponzi and criminals’ forum. ASA announced it was closing only days after “Ken Russo” solicited prospects to send him a private message using the forum’s software to arrange to receive a rebate of $50 from a member of his MPB Today “team.”
If any rebate transactions for MPB Today occurred as a result of the “Ken Russo” promo on ASA Monitor, they would have done so out of public view because private messages are not displayed to the forum’s readership at large. The ASA promo leads to a question about whether the forum was facilitating private MPB Today rebate transactions for “Ken Russo” during a period in which USDA was investigating claims about the firm.
Meanwhile, the domain that implies MPB Today offers rebates and redirects to theMPB Today-provided affiliate’s site leads to a question about why affiliates apparently are seeking to lure prospects with cash payouts or the hint of cash payouts for joining the program.
At the same time, the domain has been associated with yet another domain that purports to offer entrepreneurial “success.” The “success” website promotes six numbered “Projects.”
A link for “Project 6” redirects to yet-another website that promotes MPB Today. This website features a check- and Walmart card-waving video, but does not reference rebates. A woman who appears in the video identifies herself as a member of the “MPB Power Team.”
“Come on board and get your own checks and your own gift cards,” the woman said.
A website that promotes the MPB Today “grocery” program is targeted at Spanish-speaking prospects and uses Walmart’s name in its domain name.
Like at least three other websites linked to Florida-based MPB Today’s 2×2 matrix cycler, it is unclear if the site’s operator has Walmart’s permission to use its name in a domain name. The site, which implies Walmart distributes cash, is not registered in the retail giant’s name.
An English headline on the site urges viewers to “Eliminate Your Grocery Bills . . . Forever” by joining the MLM. The site then presents Spanish content, while linking to a video that uses images of business titans Warren Buffet and Donald Trump. A check drawn on the account of Southeastern Delivery is reproduced on the site, as are images of a Walmart gift card, a Walmart store and a Sam’s Club store.
MPB Today removed images of Buffet, Trump and Walmart from the homepage of its website last month. Regardless, multiple MPB Today affiliates continue to use the images. Southeastern Delivery is MPB Today’s purported parent company.
It is common for MLM participants to imply a “program” is endorsed by celebrities and famous companies.
The check reproduced on the website is drawn on a bank that has been operating under a consent agreement with the FDIC since January. Walmart and the FDIC have not responded to a request for comment from the PP Blog on the MPB Today program. Neither has the bank upon which the check is shown to be drawn.
Multiple MPB Today affiliates have produced check- and card-waving videos and websites to recruit prospects. Some of them have been online for months.
MPB Today has been advertised on forums that promote Ponzi schemes, including the now-defunct ASA Monitor forum. Some MPB Today affiliates have claimed publicly that there are liars, thieves and scammers in the organization.
BULLETIN: UPDATED 7:37 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.): The ASAMonitor Ponzi and criminals’ forum — the forum from which the purported MPB Today “grocery” program was being promoted and countless other fraud schemes were being promoted — suddenly has announced that the forum is closing.
The announcement, which appeared today in red type, was made by “Wanrou,” whose ID says he is “ASA Administrator.” Content from the forum appears to have been deleted or hidden en masse.
“ASA forum has been a place where members can get information, discuss, share, debate, to educate and be educate about possibilities and risks of online money making programs for the last few years,” the Wanrou post said.
“Sadly we can no longer keep it online as a free discussion forum because of time consuming and financial reasons,” the post continued.
“Thanks you all for your long time support and best wishes to your present and future online endeavors.”
The forum’s sudden closure coincided with reports in recent months that U.S.-based law-enforcement agencies were conducting undercover stings both online and offline and using informants to bring both criminal and civil charges against financial fraudsters.
It was not immediately clear if ASAMonitor would seek to reopen as a so-called “private” forum. Court records show that undercover operations also have infiltrated “private” forums and that members of the forums who had been scammed have provided helpful information to investigators.
The sudden closure of ASAMonitor also coincided with yet-another flap in the MPB Today thread. An antiscam poster was specifically warned by a moderator yesterday to refrain from his efforts to inform ASA members about developments in the MPB Today story and his reading of events at MPB Today.
Specific claims about MPB Today are being investigated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program has been pitched to Food Stamp recipients, people of faith, Ponzi scheme victims, people of color, senior citizens, college students and opponents of President Obama, among others.
Obama created an entity known as the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in November 2009 to do battle with fraudsters. In January, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder warned in Florida that the U.S. government was serious about putting scammers in prison.
ASAMonitor previously closed the MPB Today thread after warning an antiscam poster to back off from challenging “Ken Russo,” a poster promoting the MPB Today program. The thread later was opened after what a Mod described as a “cooling off period” had passed. In an earlier closure of the thread, links to the PP Blog’s coverage of the MPB Today story were deleted from the forum and later restored.
This pitch for MPB Today positions it as the Walmart Freedom Club. The pitch misspells the word "prosper" as "prospour." The website registration is hidden behind a proxy, and uses Walmart's name in the domain name. It is unclear if Walmart authorized the domain name or the use of its intellectual property in the MPB Today promo.
Yet-another domain linked to the purported MPB Today “grocery” program is using Walmart’s name in its domain name. The domain name is registered behind a proxy and uses images of Warren Buffet, Donald Trump and Sam Walton to position the opportunity as a “Freedom Club.”
Sam Walton is the late founder of Walmart. It is unclear if the owners of the website have Walmart’s permission to use its name and the likeness of Sam Walton in a pitch for the MPB Today program. Also unclear is whether the website owners have the permission of Trump and Buffet to use their images in promos for MPB Today.
Separately, yet another pitch for MPB Today features a narrator who notes that food is necessary to stay “alive” and laments, “I wish we could sell air too.” The “air” video is on a restricted YouTube site maked as “unlisted.” An unlisted video “means that only people who know the link to the video can view it (such as friends or family to whom you send the link,” according to YouTube.
MPB Today is a multilevel-marketing (MLM) program based in Pensacola, Fla. The “opportunity” is tied to a grocery business in Pensacola known as Southeastern Delivery. Both companies are linked to Gary Calhoun, who has a poor track record with the Better Business Bureau and was the recipient of a warning letter from the Food and Drug Administration for his marketing of a product that purported to be a treatment for Lou Gehrig’s disease, Herpes and Alzheimer’s, among others.
The new domain that uses Walmart’s name is at least the third linked to the MPB Today program — and the second to position MPB Today as a “club” tied to Walmart. The domain was registered Sept. 9, after MPB Today itself removed images of Walmart, Buffet and Trump from the homepage of its website.
Other MPB Today-linked websites branded with Walmart’s name imply the retail giant offers free groceries or that Walmart is partnered with MPB Today.
Meanwhile, still-other websites linked to the MPB Today program position it as a “Grocery Assistance” program and a program linked to the Food Stamp program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. MPB Today also is being pitched from known Ponzi and criminals’ forums such as ASA Monitor, TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.
On Wednesday, the SEC filed an emergency action in federal court in Utah to stop a program known as Imperia Invest IBC dead in its tracks, amid allegations it had fleeced millions of dollars from thousands of Americans with hearing impairments. Like MPB Today, Imperia was promoted on the Ponzi forums.
Among the allegations in the Imperia case were that the operators were using trademarks and the intellectual property of a major company — Visa Inc. — without the company’s authorization. All in all, more than 14,000 Imperia investors were fleeced, the SEC said.
In this separate promo for MPB Today, a narrator notes that food is necessary to stay "alive" and laments that he wishes members also could sell "air" through the MPB Today MLM program.
