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Tag: My Advertising Pays

MyAdvertisingPays Claims $60 Million Theft At Hands Of VX Gateway, A Payment Processor

In a 23-page lawsuit filed Dec. 1 in federal court for the Southern District of Texas, the MyAdvertisingPays “program” claims it has been ripped off to the tune of $60 million by VX Gateway, a payment processor with alleged business divisions in Texas, Panama and the United Kingdom. The complaint does not say whether MyAdvertisingPays has reported the alleged huge theft to law enforcement.

MyAdvertisingPays, a purported advertising business with model similar to “programs” that have been prosecuted for fraud and the sale of unregistered securities under U.S. laws, operates online and is known variously as MAP or MAPS. The complaint was filed in the name of MyAdvertisingPays (MAP) Limited, “an Anguillan corporation” that claims a “principal place of business” at a residential address in Ocean Springs, Miss.

Anguilla is a British overseas territory in the Caribbean.

Why an offshore entity was claiming a principal place of business in Mississippi was not immediately clear. MAPS said it 2015 that it was pulling out of the United States. Mississippi business records show a company known as My Advertising Pays L.L.C. was situated at a different Ocean Springs residential address and was dissolved in September 2013.

Named defendants in the complaint were VX Gateway Corp. of Houston, VX Gateway Inc. of Panama City, Panama, and VX Gateway Limited of Leeds, United Kingdom. Also named defendants were apparent VX executives Timothy MacKay and Celia Dunlop of Houston.

In May, the PP Blog reported that Roger Alberto Santamaria Del Cid, an apparent nominee director for offshore companies who once was listed as the contact person for the Perfect Money payment processor and a corporate “subscriber” for VX Gateway in Panamanian business records, was referenced at least three times in the “Panama Papers.” Del Cid, whose name also surfaced in the context of the notorious Finanzas Forex fraud scheme in 2010, was not named a defendant in the MAPS lawsuit against VX.

MAPS, which lists Michael Deese as it CEO, contends that the lawsuit it brought against VX and its associated companies and executives “is about the recovery of $60 million of stolen money.”

The complaint paints a picture that MAPS believed VX “itself would process payments made to MAP.” Instead, according to the complaint, VX “only provided the online portal itself, and outsourced all payment processing to various third-parties.”

Beyond that, according to the complaint, VX “initially, and for an extended period of time, refused to disclose” the identities of the third parties.

From the complaint (italics added/light editing performed):

Around the time that MAP and VX Gateway entered into the Agreement, MacKay required MAP CEO, Michael Deese (“Deese”), to sign numerous documents, including but not limited to, bank signature cards and/or power of attorney agreements allowing VX Gateway and/or MacKay to act on behalf of MAP and/or Deese, that MacKay stated were necessary to set-up various bank accounts to facilitate the processing of payments by MAP’s customers.

VX Gateway retained all the original documents signed by Deese, including but not limited to, the original copy of the Agreement and any and all documentation necessary for setting up various bank accounts on behalf of MAP. VX Gateway provided no copies of any of the formational documents including, but not limited to, the Agreement to MAP.

The complaint did not explain why Deese ever would do business with a firm that allegedly operated in this manner. Regardless, over time the defendants allegedly didn’t return about $60 million due MAPS.

Law360.com wrote about the specific allegations here. (Registration may be required.)

Dec 6, 2016
Some Traffic Monsoon Promoters Are Zeek Clawback Defendants

UPDATED 11:51 A.M. EDT U.S.A. Zeek Rewards’ receiver Kenneth D. Bell had no comment this morning on reports that some Zeek clawback defendants also were participants in Traffic Monsoon, alleged last week by the SEC to have been a Ponzi scheme that had gathered at least $207 million.

The reports appeared on RealScam.com.

In March 2015, Bell sued Adrian Hibbert of the United Kingdom, alleging he had received more than $82,000 in Ponzi proceeds from Zeek. Zeek was charged with fraud by the SEC in August 2012.

Another Zeek promoter listed by Bell as a winner in that scheme — Frank Calabro Jr. of the United States — also promoted Traffic Monsoon. Bell has expressed concern about online pitchmen moving from one fraud scheme to another.

“Winnings” from MLM or direct-sales fraud schemes may be subject to return through clawback litigation.

Both Zeek and Traffic Monsoon were purported “revenue sharing” programs. Paul Burks, the operator of Zeek Rewards, potentially faces a long prison term after his conviction earlier this month on multiple fraud counts.

On July 26, the SEC civilly charged alleged Traffic Monsoon operator Charles Scoville of Utah with fraud. He has not been charged criminally and is believed to be residing overseas.

Peggy Hunt of the Salt Lake City office of the Dorsey & Whitney law firm has been appointed receiver over Traffic Monsoon. Neither she nor the firm responded immediately this morning to a request for comment on the issue of common promoters between Traffic Monsoon and Zeek.

The law firm confirmed to the PP Blog last week that there would be a receivership website for Traffic Monsoon, but the site was not yet live. The URL has not been released.

Some Zeek clawback defendants also were participants in the AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme. ASD was a “program” similar to Traffic Monsoon broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008 in a highly publicized action.

In U.S. domestic clawback litigation and in cases filed against non-U.S. residents, Bell has sued thousands of alleged Zeek winners for return of their gains and interest.

Hunt’s plans with Traffic Monsoon are unclear.

Hibbert appears also to have a page promoting the “My Advertising Pays” scheme. MAPS, as it is known, has caught the attention of class-action attorneys involved in litigation against the TelexFree scheme broken up by the SEC and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in 2014. The litigation also includes Zeek figures.

TelexFree and Zeek may be the two largest combined Ponzi- and pyramid schemes in history, generating on the order of $4 billion in illicit, cross-border business and affecting hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people.

The MAPS’ page attributed to Hibbert claims that MAPs operator Mike Deese “has been in the trenches with Zeek, ASD, Banners Broker, Ad Hit Profits, and many other advertising revenue sharing companies some of which continue to thrive and some that are not.”

AdHitProfits also was a Scoville scheme. BannersBroker was a cross-border fraud that led to arrests in Canada.

Separately, the Zeek page attributed to Hibbert claims, “If you want to make money and get paid everyday, you have to look at Zeek Rewards and understand how it works.”

The SEC and federal prosecutors in the Western District of North Carolina said Zeek worked as a Ponzi scheme.

Visit the TrafficMonsoon thread at RealScam.com.

Aug 5, 2016
BULLETIN: MyAdvertisingPays (MAPS) Again Referenced In TelexFree Litigation; Lawyer Calls It A Ponzi Scheme While Calling Simon Stepsys A ‘Ponzi Mogul’

BULLETIN: (6th update 7:23 p.m. ET U.S.A.) Class-action lawyers pursuing claims against TelexFree promoters have called the My Advertising Pays (MAPS) “program” a Ponzi scheme and described MAPS promoter Simon Stepsys as a “Ponzi mogul.”

The case itself is not against MAPs. Even so, the lawyers now have made repeated references to MAPs and are lambasting the serial promotion of MLM fraud schemes. The newest reference to MAPS occurred in federal court filings in Massachusetts today. As the PP Blog reported last year, MAPS initially was mentioned in a proposed TelexFree-related class action filed in the Southern District of New York in December 2014.

Daniil Shoyfer, an alleged promoter of TelexFree, plowed nearly $9,000 into MAPS a month after TelexFree filed bankruptcy in April 2014, according to attorney Alexander D. Wall. Shoyfer promptly was heralded by Stepsys, Wall contended.

Stepsys, Wall alleged, “is an Internet Ponzi scheme mogul” currently promoting MAPS. He previously promoted the bizarre Banners Broker scheme that led to two arrests in Canada last month.

Moving from one fraud scheme to another is a serious problem in MLM.

A Stepsys-connected website includes “a paragraph, together with a photograph of Defendant Daniil Shoyfer, congratulating Mr. Shoyfer for reaching the ‘1200 Diamond level’ for his promotion of the MyAdvertisingPays scam,” Wall alleged.

“This webpage also indicates that in May 2014 – the month following TelexFree’s declaration of bankruptcy – Mr. Shoyfer purchased ‘177 Credit Packs’ from MyAdvertisingPays. Upon information and belief, as well as research I have performed, [a] MyAdvertisingPays ‘Credit Pack’ costs $49.99,” Wall alleged. “Thus, Mr. Shoyfer invested at least $8,848.23 in a second Ponzi scheme in the month after TelexFree’s bankruptcy filing.”

The class-action lawyers have been seeking a preliminary injunction against Shoyfer and an asset freeze that would prohibit dissipation of assets. Shoyfer has contended he believed TelexFree was legal and that there is a vendetta against him.

MAPS has claimed recently to have closed itself to U.S. members, a possible indicator that it fears it is under investigation by American law enforcement.

NOTE: Thanks to the ASD Updates Blog.

Jan 26, 2016
‘MyAdvertisingPays’ And A Bromide Thrice Vomited

It turns out that a hackneyed expression currently in play within MyAdvertisingPays (MAPS) is a lightly remixed version of one used in the collapsed Zeek Rewards and Achieve Community schemes.

Will this thrice-vomited bromide become a kiss of death for MAPS?

Back before the SEC shut down Zeek in 2012, the $897 million scheme traded in part on “If you want things in your life to change, you have to change things in your life.”

With Achieve prior to its shutdown by the SEC last month, it was “If you do not GO after what you want, you’ll never have it.”

On Twitter, a promoter of the emerging MAPS scheme is prospecting for recruits with a similar line. “If you want something you’ve never had, then you’ve got to do something you’ve never done!”

The PP Blog reported on March 9 that the name of MAPS appears in a TelexFree-related class-action lawsuit originally filed in federal court in New York and later transferred to Massachusetts. Even though MAPS isn’t named a defendant, it is clear that both private lawyers and government lawyers are aware of MAPS.

With an alleged haul of more than $1.8 billion, TelexFree likely is the largest MLM HYIP fraud of all time. Zeek, the previous title-holder in terms of its alleged haul, probably now is second. Both schemes may have created hundreds of thousands of victims.

Zeek’s receiver currently is involved in an international paper chase to round up assets for victims. Some of the money allegedly was routed to the Cook Islands (South Pacific) through a California company and then used to buy property in the Turks and Caicos (North Atlantic).

MAPS, which appears to have a paper presence on the Caribbean island of Anguilla but likely operates from the United States, recently claimed to have “110676+ Users.” Given its business model and the presence of serial promoters of fraud schemes in its membership ranks, MAPS very well could be a litigation target-in-the-making.

Regardless, many MLM HYIP Ponzi promoters will pretend that the membership should not be concerned — as they did with Zeek and Achieve Community.

Mar 13, 2015
[PART 2]: ‘MyAdvertisingPays’ Scheme Referenced In TelexFree-Related Class-Action Complaint That Alleges Racketeering — A Zeek Tie, Too

EDITOR’S NOTE: Part 1 of this two-part PP Blog series covered allegations against an alleged New York City-based TelexFree promoter . . .

**__________________**

2ND UPDATE 9:42 A.M. EDT U.S.A. Though not charged as a defendant, the emerging “MyAdvertisingPays” (MAPS) scheme is referenced in a proposed class-action lawsuit filed against multiple TelexFree figures and financial vendors in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in December 2014.

Because both New York’s Southern District and Eastern District are key centers of prosecutions against U.S. financial fraudsters, the proposed TelexFree class-action — now transferred to Massachusetts federal court — leads to questions about whether other “programs” such as MAPS could become the subjects of prosecutions.

Those odds might increase because Staten Island-based Daniil Shoyfer, alleged by the TelexFree plaintiffs “to have been the largest single Promoter in the greater New York area,” also is promoting MAPs, according to a YouTube site in his name.

Beyond that, Shaun Smith, alleged by the receiver in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi- and pyramid case to be one of the largest Zeek “winners” in the United Kingdom, also is promoting MAPs. Receiver Kenneth D. Bell is suing Smith and other alleged U.K. Zeek promoters for return of the funds, alleging they are Ponzi proceeds that came from Zeek victims.

Bell has expressed concern about MLMers or network marketers moving from one fraud scheme to another.

The TelexFree-related class action describes MAPS as a “120% ROI advertising-based Ponzi scheme.”

MyAdvertisingPays (MAPS) is referenced in this TelexFree-related class-action complaint. Red highlight by PP Blog.

The MAPS website purports to have “110676+ Users” and to be “GROWING FAST!” MAPS is the subject of a long thread at the RealScam.com antiscam forum. (Also see BehindMLM.com review of MAPS, also known as MAP.)

From the BehindMLM.com review (italics added):

Using the familiar advertising credit + Ponzi scheme business model, MyAdvertisingPays simpl[y] shuffle new affiliate money around to pay off existing investors.

The business model of MAPS is similar to the $119 million AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme broken up by the U.S. Secret Service in 2008. MAPS purports to operate from George Hill, Anguilla, a British overseas territory in the Caribbean.

In the proposed TelexFree class action, the reference to MAPS appears in a section that alleges various TelexFree financial vendors enabled the fraud. Some of the vendors are alleged to have engaged in racketeering activity.

At least one Zeek vendor has claimed it was rendered insolvent, owing to its Zeek ties.

On its website, MAPS claims it does not accept PayPal because PayPal “has a bad habit of freezing or limiting members accounts for little or no reason at all.” Instead, it encourages prospects to use SolidTrustPay, a vendor used by both the Zeek and ASD schemes.

MAPS also says it uses something called “VX Gateway,” which purports to operate out of Panama.

Mar 9, 2015