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Tag: OptiEarn

  • BULLETIN: ‘PerfectMoney,’ Fraud-Scheme Processor Purportedly Based In Panama, Says It Is Banning U.S. Customers

    breakingnews72BULLETIN: On the heels of the apparent shutdown of Costa Rica-based Liberty Reserve as part of an international money-laundering investigation, “PerfectMoney” says it is banning users from the United States. Perfect Money purportedly operates from Panama. (More below.)

    In an announcement dated today on its website, Perfect Money says that “due to changes in our policy we forbid new registrations from individuals or companies based in the United States of America. This includes US citizens residing overseas. If you fall under the above mentioned category, please do not register an account with us.”

    How PerfectMoney intends to treat existing U.S. users was not immediately clear, and the firm did not explain why it suddenly had changed its policy. The company is favored by criminals and HYIP scammers and has a history of advertising on behalf of purported Forex “opportunities” that have been the subjects of sweeping court actions in the United States.

    In January 2013, the Superintendency of the Securities Market of the Republic of Panama (SMV) warned that Perfect Money “has not been granted any kind of license by the SMV, nor has been authorized to carry on activities of intermediation, administration, or advisory in securities, financial instruments or forex, in or from the Republic of Panama, within the scope of the Securities Law.

    “PERFECT MONEY FINANCE CORP. does not have [its] own offices in Panama, the office and its P.O. Box claim in its website [deleted by PP Blog], belong to the companies Azuero Business Center, Inc. and Panama Net Buy, which provides online shopping services,” SMV said.

    In 2011, the PP Blog reported that an individual referenced as a Perfect Money contact person is referenced in federal court filings that tie money from the alleged EMG/Finanzas Forex fraud scheme to an international narcotics probe that led to the seizure of at least 59 bank accounts in the United States and the companion seizure of 294 bars of gold and at least seven luxury vehicles.

    PerfectMoney’s name also is referenced in case filings from the SEC’s 2010 fraud complaint against Imperia Invest IBC, a scam purportedly operating offshore. Deaf people lost millions of dollars to Imperia, the SEC said.

    A quick check today by the PPBlog showed dozens of HYIP sites that claim to accept PerfectMoney. Many of the same sites also claimed to accept LibertyReserve. How the “programs” — all of which advertise preposterous returns — will contend with the absence of LibertyReserve and the new restrictions imposed by PerfectMoney was not immediately clear.

    Liberty Reserve operator Arthur Budovsky Belanchuk is reported to be under arrest in Spain as part of a probe by authorities in Costa Rica and the United States.

    Based on U.S. court files and certain extrapolations, murky HYIPs may be raking in billions of dollars. In August 2012, the SEC alleged that the Zeek Rewards “program” gathered at least $600 million. Legisi, another HYIP scam, gathered at least $72 million before its 2008 collapse. Pathway To Prosperity appears to have churned at least $70 million prior to its 2010 collapse. The 2008 AdSurfDaily scheme gathered at least $119 million, according to federal prosecutors.

    Zeek and ASD — at least — did business with AlertPay and SolidTrustPay, processors based in Canada.

    In April 2013, the SEC alleged that a murky “program” known as Profitable Sunrise may have gathered tens of millions of dollars. Profitable Sunrise is the subject of regulatory actions or Investor Alerts in at least five countries: the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Italy and New Zealand.

    Profitable Sunrise pitchmen may not even have known for whom they were working to glean commissions, the SEC alleged.

    There may be hundreds or perhaps thousands of HYIP scams operating online at any given point in time. Some of them — like Profitable Sunrise — even advertise they accept bank wires. HYIP scams often have promoters in common, a situation that sets the stage for banks to come into possession of funds tainted by a revolving door of fraud schemes.

    In recent weeks, the PP Blog has reported on a number of reload scams aimed at victims of the Profitable Sunrise scheme. Virtually all of the schemes accepted PerfectMoney, LibertyReserve or both. Some also advertised they accepted SolidTrustPay and EgoPay.

    These schemes included BiwakoBank Limited, SuperWithdraw, Whos12, Fairy Funds, Roxili, OptiEarn, AVVGlobal, ProForexUnion, MajestiCrown and TelexFree.

  • UPDATE: Pushed To Profitable Sunrise Victims, Biwako Bank Limited Appears To Be DOA

    biwakoadUPDATE: The PP Blog wrote about Biwako Bank Limited on April 29 after it was touted on a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site as a good “program” for individuals ripped off in the alleged Profitable Sunrise pyramid scheme.

    But now Biwako Bank’s website has disappeared, with the “program” apparently following Profitable Sunrise into the darkness.

    “**THIS IS NOT AN HYIP , THIS IS A BANK**” a pitchman bizarrely claimed about Biwako on the Profitable Sunrise Facebook site last month. The program curiously said it hoped to attract “costumers.”

    The non-HYIP claim was made despite the fact Biwako Bank listed four color-coded “plans” that purported to provide daily payouts of between 1.95 percent and 3.05 percent.  The highest-paying plan — the “Red Plan” at 3.05 percent a day — advertised a percentage even higher than the purported “Long Haul” plan of Profitable Sunrise.

    The “Long Haul” plan claimed to pay 2.7 percent a day.

    In April, the SEC alleged that Profitable Sunrise was a pyramid scheme that may have gathered tens of millions of dollars at least in part by using offshore companies and wire transfers.

    Regulators have repeatedly warned about reload scams targeted at victims of fraud schemes. Like Profitable Sunrise, Biwako had a presence on the TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup forums. So did Zeek Rewards, which the SEC described in August 2012 as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.

    Biwako’s haul is unknown.

    Other reload programs promoted on the Facebook site by boat-sharks include (at least) “SuperWithdraw,” “Whos12,” “Maxi-Cash,” “FairyFunds,” “Roxilia,” “OptiEarn,” “AVVGlobal,” “ProForexUnion,” “MajestiCrown” and “TelexFree.”

  • Profitable Sunrise Facebook Site Changes Graphic To Promote ‘DollarsBluePrint,’ Which Triggers Security Warning

    "DollarsBluePrint" now is being promoted in a big way at a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site.
    “DollarsBluePrint” now is being promoted in a big way at a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site.

    A Facebook site set up to promote the Profitable Sunrise HYIP scheme has changed the lead graphic on the page to drive traffic to a site known as “DollarsBluePrint” — apparently through a web entity known as “Big Idea Mastermind.” The previous lead graphic was a leftover from the fraud reign of Profitable Sunrise.

    The Profitable Sunrise Facebook site has 5,045 likes as of this morning. The SEC has described Profitable Sunrise as an exceptionally murky enterprise that gathered money through multiple other enterprises and may have collected tens of millions of dollars. The website of ProfitableSunrise went offline March 14 or thereabouts.

    In 2010, FINRA issued a warning on HYIP fraud schemes, saying they often trade through social-media sites.

    When the PP Blog sought to view the website at the DollarsBluePrint URL, the Blog’s security software issued a “Dangerous Site” warning that said the Big Idea Mastermind site was exhibiting “one or more risky behaviors.”

    A series of reload scams have been promoted at the Profitable Sunrise Facebook site. In addition to DollarsBluePrint, today’s entries include “Hourly Chic Pay” (again).

    “Up to 260% ROI,” the Hourly Chic Pay promo reads in part. “Get paid by the hour!”

    The promo for DollarsBluePrint reads in part that recruits can “earn 6 figure[s.]”

    “YOU are a WINNER,” it screams.

    Other reload programs promoted on the Facebook site by boat-sharks include (at least) “SuperWithdraw,” “Whos12,” Maxi-Cash,” “FairyFunds,” “Roxilia,” “OptiEarn,” “AVVGlobal,” “ProForexUnion,” “MajestiCrown,” “Biwako Bank Limited” and “TelexFree.”

    The website of Biwako Bank Limited also has triggered browser security warnings.

    Promos for TelexFree have claimed a person can pay the purported opportunity $15,125 and receive at least $1,100 a week for a year. Lesser incomes can be bought for lesser sums, according to the TelexFree promos.

  • On The High Seas Of Facebook, The Search For New HYIP Blood In The Water Intensifies After ‘Profitable Sunrise’ Goes Missing

    “HYIPs use an array of websites and social media — including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook — to lure investors, fabricating a ‘buzz’ and creating the illusion of social consensus, which is a common persuasion tactic fraudsters use to suggest that ‘everyone is investing in HYIPs, so they must be legitimate.’” — The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), July 15, 2010

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    FINRA issued a warning back in 2010 against HYIP schemes, pointing out that they often trade through social-media sites such as forums, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook. The warning came on the heels of the collapse of the Genius Funds “program” ($400 million) and the filing of criminal charges in the United States against Nicholas Smirnow, an alleged former bank robber in Canada who allegedly was running the Pathway To Prosperity (P2P) Ponzi scheme. P2P is alleged to have gathered more than $70 million.

    P2P even got a mention on the U.S. Department of Justice Blog. That mention came in the form of a warning about international mass-marketing fraud.

    Nearly three years later, Smirnow, 55, is still listed by INTERPOL as an international fugitive.

    So is Robert Hodgins, 68. Hodgins, a Canadian supplier of debit cards to HYIP schemes, is charged in a money-laundering case in the United States. It is alleged that cards Hodgins supplied were used by narcotics traffickers to offload millions of dollars in “profits” at ATMs in Medellin, Colombia.

    Speaking of Colombia . . . well, it was one of the staging grounds of the infamous D.M.G. Group (DMG) multilevel-marketing pyramid scheme of David Eduardo Helmut Murcia Guzman (David Murcia). Murcia, too, was tied to narcotics traffickers. His collapsed pyramid scheme gathered hundreds of millions of dollars. The anger spilled out onto the streets.

    Just about all of these schemes made absurd claims. Genius Funds, for example, promised a payout of 6.5 percent a week. Compare that absurd claim to the Profitable Sunrise claim of 2.7 percent a day through its bizarrely named “Long Haul” plan with a purported payout timed to coincide with Easter. A scheme bizarrely known as Cash Tanker was operating at the same time as Genius Funds. Like Profitable Sunrise, Cash Tanker purported to be a Christian enterprise. It’s gone now, too. So is Profitable Sunrise. Their members were cast into the sea like so much chum.

    Enter the Facebook boat-sharks and the contemptible “lifelines” they’re tossing toward the people struggling to stay afloat in rough seas . . .

    Despite all the warnings — despite all the publicity surrounding HYIP schemes — opportunists are descending on Facebook today to recruit Profitable Sunrise members (the people struggling in the water) into new scams. The same thing has happened repeatedly, perhaps most prominently in August 2012, after the SEC described the Zeek Rewards “program” as a $600 million Ponzi- and pyramid scheme.)

    Boat-sharks posting on a Profitable Sunrise Facebook site today are promoting schemes such as “SuperWithdraw,” “Whos12,” Maxi-Cash,” “FairyFunds,” “Roxilia,” “OptiEarn,” “AVVGlobal,” “ProForexUnion” and “MajestiCrown.” Some of the emerging schemes promise to pay even more than Profitable Sunrise.