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Tag: National Institutes of Health

  • SPECIAL REPORT: ‘One World One Website’ (OWOW), Phil Piccolo-Associated Entity That Drove Traffic To Text Cash Network, Listed In Wyoming As ‘Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax)’; OWOW-Linked ‘Store’ In New York Appears To Have Lost Capacity To Collect Money Via PayPal

    Screen shot: This OWOW "Store" lists a street address in the Bronx and touts a "GRAND OPENING" on an unspecified date. The store URL is linked to PayPal, although the store appears to have lost its ability to collect money via the online payment processor. Separately, the store's apparent parent company — One World One Website Inc. — is listed in Wyoming records as "Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax)." Earlier this month, OWOW led the charge to promote Text Cash Network (TCN), according to affiliate promos. OWOW is associated with Phil Piccolo and Joe Reid. Reid has led the conference-call cheerleading for TCN after previously leading the conference-call cheerleading for Data Network Affiliates (DNA), yet another company associated with Piccolo. Reid also has appeared in at least one video for OWOW. Piccolo is known online as the "one-man Internet crime wave" and has a history of threatening critics. Promos for DNA, OWOW and TCN describe the firms as "free" opportunities that create wealth for members.

    UPDATED 12:46 P.M. ET (U.S.A.) One World One Website Inc. (OWOW), the company linked to MLM huckster Phil Piccolo, has been listed in Wyoming as “Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax).” The state lists the firm’s “inactive” date as Nov. 10. OWOW’s ownership is not listed, although records suggest the firm organized itself to float 1 billion shares of common stock. Whether the stock was public or private is unclear. Also unclear is whether any actual stock was issued.

    Separately, web records show that Text Cash Network (TCN) — a purported text-advertising firm promoted on the OWOW site earlier this month — uses the same four DNS servers and an IP address in the same string as Data Network Affiliates (DNA), another venture linked to Piccolo. Records also suggest that the TCN domain name originally was registered last month through an entity known as OWOW Wholesale Domains before the registration was made private.

    Meanwhile, a site known as OWOW Wholesale Direct that uses the One World One Website Inc. logo is soliciting orders for a number of products, including two products OWOW positioned last year as cures or treatments for cancer. The order page links to PayPal. When visitors press the PayPal button, this message appears:

    “This recipient is currently unable to receive money.”

    If prospects visit the main OWOW website — as opposed to the OWOW Wholesale Direct site — they are told they need to enter the site through an affiliate link to purchase products, including the two purported cancer cures or treatments. When a visitor arrives at the main OWOW site through an affiliate link, they can place items in a shopping cart — but when they are about to be forwarded to the payment page, these messages appear: “This Connection is Untrusted” (Firefox); “The site’s security certificate has expired!” (Google Chrome); “There is a problem with this website’s security certificate” (Internet Explorer).

    The presence of the shopping cart on the main OWOW site and the presence of the PayPal buttons on the OWOW Wholesale Direct site suggest the firm or its affiliates provided customers two different ways to pay: PayPal and perhaps an independent credit-card processor whose identity remains unclear because of the problem with the security certificate on the orders site.

    Last year, at least one OWOW affiliate traded on the name of the National Institutes of Health.

    A graphic on the the OWOW Wholesale Direct site suggests the firm has a “store” in the Bronx at 11 E. 213th Street, “Just two blocks from Gun Hill Road off of Jerome Avenue.”

    The headline in the graphic reads, “Earn THOUSANDS Giving Away A FREE Opportunity.”

    It is unclear whether OWOW sold franchises to affiliates or operates the store as a self-owned retail outlet. In 2010, DNA claimed affiliates could pay a fee to open their own cell-phone stores.

    DNA, however, appears never to have released its promised cell phone or opened any stores. The firm purported to be a player in many businesses, including a license-plate recording business to assist law enforcement, a mortgage-reduction business and an offshore “resorts” business.

    In 2010, OWOW claimed that people who sent it money before Nov. 30 (2010) would earn “24% Annual Interest.” If members missed the Nov. 30 date, they’d earn only 18 percent, according to the promo.

    The November 2010 email led to questions about whether OWOW was selling unregistered securities as investment contracts.

    “Did you know that many PROS are receiving 24% Annual Interest on their money (sic),” the OWOW pitch read in part.  “The deadline for 24% annual interest paid in monthly increments of 2% will end on 11/30/2010 . . .  Any funds deposited thereafter will pay 18% annual interest in monthly increments of 1.5% . . .”

    DNA-Like Culture Of Threats Emerging At TCN?

    In 2010, DNA threatened critics while trying to manage its operations in an information vacuum. Upon its appearance online early last year, DNA had neither a contact form nor a contact email address on its website. Virtually the same circumstance has presented itself at TCN.

    Late last winter — after DNA placed a Gmail address on its site after considerable howling from critics — a person who sent a note to the Gmail address received back an autoresponder message with a headline of “Top 16 Customer Service Issues.”

    Item No. 5 on the Top 16 list read: “The D.N.A. Management is Aware of many FALSE Rumors . . . The D.N.A. Legal Department is on top of such and is taking Legal Action . . . You can not become the #1 record breaking company in THE WORLD . . . Without people taking cheap shots at you . . . In the mean time keep on keeping on . . .”

    DNA also claimed the reason its original domain registration used privacy protection and an address in the Cayman Islands (while leeching off the name of the U.S. AMBER Alert system) was to prevent management from having to “put up with 100 stupid calls a day.”

    TCN, according to an affiliate’s Blog, now is saying this (italics/indentation added):

    “The Internet is The WILD WILD WEST when it comes to what people say about anything. The laws are very different today than they were even 3 years ago. They finally passed several laws that will allow a company like T.C.N. to protect it’s (sic) good name and business model. And we will use the full extent of the law to protect T.C.N. when made available to us. Please note that many of these blogs or so called M.L.M. SELF PROCLAIMED CRITICS produced no legal documentation not (sic) substantial facts. Instead they hide behind such disclaimers such as IT IS MY OPINION or SO AND SO SAID OR CLAIMS. Now on the other hand if a Licensed MLM Practicing Attorney were to say such please let us know ASAP. NOTE ALSO: Many people who write these blogs hide behind bogus names, e-mails and even hide their ISP. If you ever come across someone who does slander or prints mis-information about our company and you have a real name and contact information please pass it on to our legal department located in your back office.”

    The same TCN affiliate site also suggests there may be tax advantages if prospects enroll in the upstart opportunity.

    “T.C.N. Corporate has a 100% separate division set up to call on traditional businesses worldwide. V.I.P. Agent will need to sell only 1 V.I.P. Advertising Package Annually,” according to the affiliate site. “A sale to self to resell, to personally use or to just give it away as a gift would count as such. In fact when you personally use it or give it away as a gift it just may have some tax benefits. Check with a professional tax accountant.”

    DNA also touted tax advantages.

    And TCN — like DNA before it — also is offering an explanation for why is does not use a contact form or publish a contact email address, according to the TCN affiliate’s  Blog, which is hosted on Blogspot, Google’s free platform (italics/indentation added):

    “Text Cash Network Inc is a USA Corporation and is own (sic) 100% by a five year old communication company which is another USA Corporation owned by The Johnson Group. We have not disclosed the communication’s company (sic) name or contact information in fear that THOUSANDS OF AGENTS may or should we say would call them for information prior to our official launch of 12/12/2011. They are not an MLM or Marketing Company set up to handle such incoming calls. Once T.C.N. Customer Service Center is open they could then just re-direct such calls to T.C.N.”

    Like OWOW, a company named “The Johnson Group Inc.” is listed in Wyoming records as “Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax).” It is unclear, however, whether The Johnson Group entity in Wyoming is the same firm that owns TCN.

    TCN and OWOW use the same registered-agent service in Wyoming, according to records. TCN’s corporate registration became effective on Nov. 8. Records suggest that, just two days later — on Nov. 10 — OWOW’s registration was listed as “Inactive – Administratively Dissolved (Tax).”

    Affiliates of TCN say the firm is operating in the region of Boca Raton, Fla., as an arm of The Johnson Group. DNA also operated from Boca Raton, and OWOW listed an address in nearby Deerfield Beach.

    Are TCN Affiliates Creating Another Flap?

    Even through TCN says it is owned by “The Johnson Group,” some TCN affiliates whose promos also reference OWOW have added an ampersand and an extra proper noun to their TCN ads. These promos identify TCN’s owners as “The Johnson & Johnson Group.”

    Johnson & Johnson, a component of both Dow Jones and the S&P 500, is the internationally famous maker of pharmaceuticals and consumer products that are household names. Johnson & Johnson, which is based in New Jersey, also is known under a “Group” version of its name.

    Several TCN affiliates — including international affiliates whose native language may not be English — are claiming this in promos (italics/indentation added):

    “O.W.O.W. is ONLY promoting TEXT CASH NETWORK Inc

    HERE IS WHY… #1 they pay like 100 times more than ANY OTHER and #2 is that: TEXT CASH NETWORK is owned and operated by The Johnson & Johnson Group.” (Emphasis added).

    The promos go on to list “Mr. T. Michael Johnson” as “C.E.O.” of the “Johnson & Johnson Group” and  “Mr. R. Christopher Johnson” as “President.”

    Some affiliate promos for TCN that also reference OWOW have described “The Johnson & Johnson Group” as a player in the “Internet Software Business since 1994.” Promos for TCN that do not included the ampersand and the extra proper noun have described “The Johnson Group” as a “communications” company.

    On Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson — the New Jersey-based Dow and S&P 500 component — said that it “will look into” whether the TCN promos and the Johnson & Johnson Group references could create any brand confusion.

    “I am not aware of any affiliation they would have with Johnson & Johnson,” a company spokesman said about TCN and The Johnson Group.

    One TCN affiliate promo that referenced the Piccolo-associated OWOW entity and used the name “Johnson & Johnson Group” blared this message (italics/indentation added):

    “Why did O.W.O.W. get a TEN DAY JUMP START with this Incredible Opportunity? Two words “JOE REID”… One of The Johnson & Johnson Group management team was once in the referral marketing industry and knew of Joe’s reputation for taking companies into the marketplace. Joe started off consulting with them and is now the only person direct to the company.

    “O.W.O.W. management convinced Joe that they should not open up the flood gates and that they should use O.W.O.W. as their TEST TEAM and get any bugs out of the system,” the message continued.  “Joe convinced J&J to do a WHISPER LAUNCH… And we got the gift of a lifetime.

    “Our team recruited over 1000 people in less than 24 hours… We estimate our team will build a 10,000 team in 10 days . . .”

    When DNA — yet another company linked to Piccolo — came out of the gate last year, it claimed it was “going public” and used the names of Martha Stewart, Donald Trump and Oprah Winfrey. Joe Reid was one of DNA’s principal cheerleaders.

    Reid has emerged in the same role for TCN, which is using the same conference-call software DNA used last year. Reid has suggested TCN could become the next Groupon. The Groupon references were made before Groupon’s stock price plummeted to below the $20 IPO level earlier this week.

    Analysts have fretted about the Groupon business model and emerging competition.

    TCN purports to be in a business by which members will receive up to five text advertisements per day to their cell phone. Its site is filled with errors of grammar and usage, but the firm says it has recruited more than 80,000 members in just days.

    Among the claims on the TCN website is this:

    “Here are two mathematical examples of maximum revenue sharing. A 2×10 Referral Structure Pays A Maximum Earnings (sic) of $76.75 Per Day or $2,302.50 Per Month plus Matching Bonuses. A 3×10 Maximum Earnings = To (sic) High Of A Dollar Figure To Put In Print.”

  • ‘TEXT CASH NETWORK’: RED FLAGS GALORE: New ‘Opportunity’ Linked To Ponzi Boards And To Phil Piccolo-Associated ‘Firms’: Hype, Vapid Claims, Alexa Charts, Launch Countdown Timer, Brand Leeching — And Possible Ties To Long-Running SEC Case

    Until four days ago, the OWOW website associated with Florida-based huckster Phil Piccolo shared this message about Text Cash Network (TCN) with visitors. Joe Reid, a Piccolo associate, is leading conference call-cheerleading for TCN. Reid previously led cheers for Data Network Affiliates, another business linked to Piccolo.

    EDITOR’S NOTE: A “program” known as Text Cash Network (TCN) that purports to share “advertising” revenue from text messages is spreading virally on the Internet. This column includes information prospective TCN members might want to consider before joining and asking others to join. There are red flags galore. Last week, the PP Blog compiled some research and sought comment from the SEC about the emerging program because the name of Brett Hudson, billed in TCN promos as the firm’s “president,” appears in a 2005 “press release” that quotes Hudson and Richard A. Altomare. The SEC acknowledged receipt of the Blog’s inquiries, but did not comment.

    Altomare, of Boca Raton, Fla., was sued in this 2004 SEC action amid allegations of penny-stock fraud coupled with bogus press releases. The case, which involved an Altomare company known as Universal Express Inc., evolved to become an exceptionally ugly one. Altomare ultimately was found in contempt of court for flouting judicial orders and ordered jailed in New York. The court-appointed receiver in the case allegedly received threatening emails from individuals unhappy about the SEC’s action and follow-up events.

    Here are quotes from two of the threatening emails, which allegedly were sent by investors. The quotes appear in an exhibit filed in federal court in the Southern District of New York:

    1.) ” . . . you are going to be hit with a shit load of lawsuits, and if justice doesn’t prevail the good old American way then I will make it my personal duty to enforce the justice and I along with others will come and beat your ass to a bloody pulp, along with Judge (jackass) Lynch . . .”

    2.) . . . you fu[!!!!!] slut . . . don’t get smart . . . you have no idea what could happen to you . . .”

    Hudson, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, was not named a defendant in the SEC case. TCN promoters have identified him as president of Universal Cash Express, a company with a name similar to Altomare’s Universal Express Inc. entity. The 2005 “press release” that quotes Hudson and Altomare also identifies Hudson as the president of Universal Cash Express. Altomare’s title was not listed in the 2005 release, but the document was issued under the name of Altomare’s Universal Express entity ensnared in the SEC probe.

    Until a few days ago, TCN was prominently featured on the website of OWOW (OneWorld, One Website), a site linked to Data Network Affiliates (DNA) and serial MLM scammer Phil Piccolo. Piccolo is known online as the “one-man Internet crime wave.”

    Like Altomare’s Universal Express Inc. entity, DNA was registered as a Nevada company. DNA, like  Universal Express Inc., also conducted business from Boca Raton. (See the Better Business Bureau listing for DNA, which purported to be in the business of helping the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children — while also purporting to be in the cell-phone, mortgage-reduction and “resorts” businesses. Although DNA appears to be defunct, it maintains a website — one that once redirected to the OWOW website. While actively conducting its purported business, DNA made bizarre claims about “going public.” Such claims have been associated with penny-stock scams and securities fraud.)

    Joe Reid, a Piccolo business associate who helped DNA flog its mind-numbing mess to the international masses, was one of the speakers on a Nov. 11 TCN conference call. TCN is proceeding out of the gate in largely the same fashion DNA came out of the gate: conference calls featuring Reid, claims of rapid expansion involving tens of thousands of new recruits in days, a launch-countdown timer (now removed), suggestions of incredible earnings potential 10 levels deep, Blog and website posts, YouTube videos.

    Here, now, a list of  additional red flags and some additional background . . .

    RED FLAG: Piccolo has a history of threatening to sue critics and of planting the seed that, if lawsuits do not work, he knows people who can cause critics to experience physical pain. He is known to operate in the area of Boca Raton, although Piccolo also has been known to operate in California.

    RED FLAG: DNA promos in 2010 referenced a purported texting and data expert by the name of Anthony Sasso. Sasso, a convicted felon arrested in a 2005 racketeering case in Broward County, Fla.,  was described in DNA promos as “The King Of Data For Dollars” and was said to be the “owner of the largest database of text numbers in the world.” Although Sasso appears not to have been referenced in the context of TCN, both DNA and TCN purport to be in businesses that involve texting.

    RED FLAG: Early affiliates of TCN have identified Brett Hudson as the president of Text Cash Network Inc. Records in Wyoming show a company by that name was registered in the state on Nov. 8, 2011 — just days ago. Affiliates also have vaguely described Text Cash Network Inc. as “a new division of a five year old communications company owned 100% by The Johnson Group.” No state of registration was listed in promos that referenced The Johnson Group, and the “communications company” and the “division” under which Text Cash Network Inc. purportedly operates are far from clear.

    Wyoming records show a company by the name of The Johnson Group Inc., but it is unclear if it is the same company referenced by TCN affiliates. The Wyoming records of The Johnson Group entity contain this notation: “Standing – Tax: Delinquent.” The firm appears to have used a residential dwelling in New Jersey as the address of its corporate headquarters.

    RED FLAG: TCN’s website design and “prelaunch” approach are similar in a number of key ways to the tactics employed by DNA, which planted the seed last year that it could help the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children by paying DNA members to record the license-plate numbers of automobiles for entry in a purported database. (Some of these commonalities are referenced lower in this story.)

    Until four days ago, a promo for TCN appeared on the website of OWOW, a site linked to Piccolo. (Referenced in Editor’s Note above.) The TCN promo then vanished mysteriously, possibly because Ponzi forum posters were questioning whether Piccolo was involved with TCN. The OWOW website previously was linked to the DNA scam, and also was linked to purported cancer cures.

    DNA — as is a Piccolo signature — sold the purported tax benefits of joining the DNA “program,” which traded on the names of Oprah Winfrey and Donald Trump and also purported to offer a “free” cell phone with “unlimited” talk and text for $10 a month. The purported cell-phone “program” used the intellectual property of Apple Inc., claiming that DNA had a “branding” relationship with the company led by the late Steve Jobs. No DNA cell phone appears to have emerged in the marketplace. No branding deal with Apple appears to have existed.

    RED FLAG: On its pitch page, TCN currently is publishing the logos of Groupon, Google Offers and Bing Shopping, among others. Last year — in addition to using the intellectual property of Apple and the images of Winfrey and Trump — DNA  used email pitches to compare itself to “FACEBOOK, GOOGLE & WALMART…” It is common for hucksters to tie an upstart business to an established business as a means of creating the appearance of legitimacy. Brand leeching is common in the worlds of MLM scams and securities swindles.

    RED FLAG: Joe Reid, the Piccolo business associate, has led the conference-call hype for TCN and has suggested TCN is the next Groupon, which recently conducted an IPO.  Reid also led the conference-call cheerleading last year for DNA, which purported to be “going public”  while making a bizarre reference to Martha Stewart. DNA appears never to have gone “public.” Some members said the firm never paid them, but continued to charge them — and at least one website is claiming that Piccolo (aka “Mr. P.”)  stiffed it on orders for bottled water in the OWOW program.

    Things got so strange at DNA that the firm asked members to imagine that an earlier “launch” (March 2010) had not occurred and to reimagine a relaunch that occurred last summer (July 2010) as the only time the company had launched.

    DNA members were told it was the “MORAL OBLIGATION” of churches to pitch the firm’s purported “program.” Some DNA promos accented DNA commissions purportedly paid 10 levels deep. TCN also is accenting a 10-level payment plan.

    RED FLAG: In November 2010, the PP Blog published a story about the FBI foiling a Thanksgiving holiday bombing plot at a Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore. The Blog’s report was wholly unrelated to DNA or OWOW.

    An OWOW/DNA/Piccolo apologist who identified himself to the PP Blog as “John” took great exception to the Blog’s report on the Portland plot, despite the fact the Blog’s report did not reference OWOW, DNA or Piccolo in any way.

    RED FLAG: Like DNA, TCN also is being promoted on Ponzi scheme forums such as MoneyMakerGroup.

    When things went south at DNA last year, the DNA site began to redirect to the OWOW site, which was hawking products linked to Piccolo, including a purported “magnetic” product that prevented leg amputations while also helping garden vegetables grow to twice their normal size.. The DNA site then mysteriously stopped redirecting to the OWOW site — on a date uncertain, but after Piccolo started promoting OWOW products as cancer cures or treatments. At least one OWOW affiliate was trading on the name of the National Institutes of Health.

    RED FLAG: Both the TCN site and the DNA site are using Alexa charts that provide viewers the same sort of fundamentally meaningless comparisons — while the sites accent the word “free.”

    RED FLAG: Like the DNA site, there is no obvious way on the TCN site for prospects to contact Support.

    RED FLAG: Like the DNA site, the TCN site is using Google Translate. The use of the Google service — along with other commonalities on both sites — leads to questions about whether TCN and DNA are using the same designer.

    DNA, like TCN, is using an Alexa chart. Both sites use Google Translate software.
    TCN, like DNA, is using an Alexa chart. Both sites use Google Translate software.

     

  • BULLETIN: National Institutes Of Health Says OWOW Multilevel-Marketing Firm Using Agency Press Release On Cancer Research Inappropriately; Separately, Piccolo Says ‘Magnetic’ Product Prevented Amputation — And Also Helps Tomatoes Grow

    Phil Piccolo, also known as "Mr. P.," strides the stage to hawk OWOW products. Piccolo claims the company's magnetic line assists in hair retention and even prevents the surgical amputation of limbs. The products also improve dairy production and help home gardeners grow tomatoes double the size of ordinary tomatoes, according to Piccolo.

    BULLETIN: The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said this morning that the OWOW multilevel-marketing program was using agency materials on cancer research inappropriately.

    OWOW is associated with Internet Marketer Phil Piccolo. The company has positioned at least two products sold MLM-style as cancer cures or treatments, including a bottled water.

    On Dec. 26, the bottled-water product was touted on an OWOW affiliate’s website. The site included a link to a Dec. 21 news release by NIH about cancer research, specifically research pertaining to “a rare cancer of the digestive tract . . . linked to a shutdown in an enzyme that helps supply oxygen to cells.”

    The affiliate claimed that “OWOW Water Is THE ONLY WATER that brings Oxygen to the cell from within the cell.

    “Now check out this Article written almost on the day that OWOW received the exclusive marketing rights to our Oxyengenated Water,” the affiliate instructed, pointing prospects to the NIH website.

    “NIH does not endorse products and this promo is an inappropriate use of a press release that has a tenuous connection to this product at best,” NIH spokesman and senior science writer Michael J. Miller told the PP Blog this morning.

    How the agency would proceed was not immediately clear.

    See earlier story on bizarre events that ensued after OWOW made a cancer claim about a nonwater product.

    A “Non-Affiliated Support” link on the OWOW website includes no contact information for the company and no form through which prospects or members of the media can submit questions.

    OWOW appears to be the successor company to Data Network Affiliates (DNA), which purported to be in the business of creating a database to help the government and the AMBER Alert program rescue abducted children.

    No evidence has emerged that DNA had the capacity to help the government do anything.

    Separately — and on the same OWOW-connected website — a series of videos appears. Piccolo, also known as “Mr. P.,” is featured in a video that hawks purported magnetic products positioned as treatments for everything from bruising and hair retention to preventing the surgical amputation of limbs.

    Meanwhile, video viewers also are told that the magnetic products can be used to help tomatoes, vegetables and fruits grow “twice the size.”

    At the same time, the products also are positioned as helpful to dairy farmers.

    “Dairy farmers who feed their cows through this here unit right here produce more milk per cow,” Piccolo claims in the video.

    Family pets hearing a call from the grim reaper can extend their lives if their owners use the products, Piccolo instructs viewers.

    “Your pets? If you have a pet and your pet’s on its last leg[s], bring them a Magnetic Shower,” Piccolo coaches. “You won’t believe what it will do for your pet.”

    See Video

    “If it wasn’t for magnets, I really believe I’d be in a wheelchair right now,” Piccolo says in the video. Piccolo asserted he’d been bucked off a horse and suffered the worst bruise his doctors had ever seen — but used magnetic products to save the day quickly, heal bruising and maintain his ability to walk.

    One man who suffered a heart attack was able to avoid a leg amputation by using the magnetic shower head, according to the video.

    It perhaps was a good idea to purchase the product before “Monday,” because the price was going to increase, Piccolo tells the audience. The date upon which the OWOW video was recorded was not immediately clear.