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Tag: System Explosion

  • Zeek Rewards MLM Says Affiliates Must Cash Checks ‘Immediately’ Because It Is Closing Accounts At 2 U.S. Banks

    On Memorial Day, U.S.-based Zeek Rewards announced it was closing its "old" bank accounts in the United States and opening a new account at a bank it did not name.

    UPDATED 8:18 A.M. EDT (MAY 29, U.S.A.) In a curious Memorial Day announcement placed below a representation of the American flag, the Zeek Rewards MLM “program” told affiliates they must cash commission checks “immediately” because Zeek is switching banks.

    “Zeek is currently in the process of moving to a bank that can handle our growing needs and while in transition will be closing our old accounts with both New Bridge Bank and BB & T,” Zeek said on its news Blog. “Please be sure to deposit or cash any commission checks immediately so they clear before June 1st, 2012 or they will be returned to you with ‘account closed’ and will need to be reissued.”

    Zeek did not identify its new bank. Nor did the purported “opportunity” say why its old banks could not handle its needs and whether its new bank operated on U.S. soil.

    Both New Bridge and BB&T are FDIC-member banks operating in North Carolina. Zeek is a purported arm of Rex Venture Group LLC, which conducts business in North Carolina.

    Zeek says it conducts business with offshore payment processors such as AlertPay (now Payza) and SolidTrustPay. Both AlertPay and SolidTrustPay have been criticized for being friendly to dubious businesses if not outright scams such as investment programs operating in disguise, HYIPs, autosurfs and cycler matrices.

    Zeek affiliates, meanwhile, have a presence on well-known Ponzi-scheme forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup, which has led to questions about whether proceeds from any number of fraud schemes could be passing through Zeek. Today alone Italian authorities announced advertising bans against at least three “programs” that either have or had a presence on the Ponzi boards. The “programs” included JSS Tripler, which purports to pay a daily return of 2 percent; Ricochet Riches, which advertised a daily return of at least 2 percent; and Macro Trade,  which advertised a daily payout rate of between 1.2 percent and 2.2 percent. A entity known as “System Explosion” also was referenced today in an investor warning by CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator.

    Although Zeek insists it is not an investment program, its reported daily payout rate of between 1 percent and 2 percent is consistent with the returns advertised by numerous online scams.

    Two days ago, British journalist Tony Hetherington of the Daily Mail wrote about a purported program known as Royalty 7 that was advertising a daily return of 7 percent. Royalty 7 also has a presence on the Ponzi boards, and a PP Blog reader — “Tony” — reported today that the U.K. Financial Services Authority warned on May 22 that Royalty 7 was an unauthorized firm.

    “Finance Your Dream Ltd trading as Royalty7.com is not authorised under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) to carry on a regulated activity in the UK,” FSA warned. “Regulated activities include, among other things, accepting deposits by way of business.”

    Separately, the Isle of Man Financial Supervision Commission also issued a warning about Royalty7.

    Royalty7 — like Zeek, JSS Tripler and scores of other programs that either plant the seed that outsize returns are possible or outright advertise returns that correspond to annualized returns in the hundreds of percent — advertises that it uses AlertPay and SolidTrustPay as  payment processors.

    The Zeek Rewards MLM program is married to a penny-auction site known as Zeekler.

    “Win Cash!” Zeekler roars to bidders. “Funds will be sent to the winner by SolidTrust Pay or AlertPay.”

    Zeek’s apparent reliance on processors that are the darlings of global fraudsters has resulted in a bizarre condition under which Zeekler effectively is using U.S. currency as an auction “product” no different than a TV set while advertising that successful bidders for sums of cash can receive their winnings through offshore processors linked to fraud scheme after fraud scheme.

    Successful Zeekler bidders are told to “please send a note to [Zeekler] customer support requesting SolidTrust Pay or AlertPay” to receive their cash winnings.

    Despite Zeek’s claim it is not an investment program, it has been presented as such online by its own affiliates. Affiliates claim they’ve earned gains that correspond to an annualized return of more than  500 percent and that Zeek has a feature that makes “compounding” possible.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: JSS Tripler Banned By Italian Securities Regulator CONSOB; ‘Marketing The Offering’ Is ‘Prohibited,’ Agency Announces

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, has banned promos for JSS Tripler, the purported arm of a “program” known as JustBeenPaid that has advertised a daily return of 2 percent and a monthly return of 60 percent.

    In an English translation on CONSOB’s website this morning, the regulator described JSS Tripler as an “investment programme” and named an individual promoter. The wording may have global significance because it suggests that the Italian government views JSS Tripler as a venture that is offering unregistered securities through unregistered brokers.

    “Opportunities” similar to JSS Tripler/JustBeenPaid have triggered both civil and criminal prosecutions in the United States.

    Here is what CONSOB published in English:

    “In accordance with Art. 101, section 4, letter c) of Italian Legislative Decree no. 58/1998 (the “Consolidated Law on Finance”), Consob has prohibited marketing the offering to the public of the investment programme named JSS Tripler, implemented by Mauro Messina through the website http://gruppounitoworld.com and, in accordance with Art. 101, section 4, letter b) of the Consolidated Law on Finance, suspended for a further thirty-day period, marketing the offer to the public of the investment programmes named JSS Tripler, RicoChet Riches, System Explosion and Macro Trade implemented through the website < http://vizconsigli.com (resolutions nos. 18178 and 18179 of 18 April 2012).

    The marketing activities in question had previously been subject to a 90-day suspension under resolutions 18075 and 18076 of 20 January 2012 (see “Consob Informs” no. 4/2012).

    (In Consob Informa n. 17/12 – 23 April 2012)

    JSS Tripler-related claims first came under the CONSOB lens in January.

    In online conference calls, Frederick Mann — JSS/JBP’s purported operator — has declined to identity the purported opportunity with a nation-state. At least one website linked to Mann showcases content about a purported “sovereign citizen” under indictment in Alaska in an alleged murder plot targeting public officials.

    Link to CONSOB’s English translation.

  • URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: JSS Tripler Promoters Targeted By Italian Regulator CONSOB In Securities Probe

    URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Your time soon may be up if you’re flogging the absurd HYIP known as JSS Tripler.

    CONSOB, the Italian securities regulator, has opened a probe into the activities of multiple promoters amid concerns the purported “program” is being offered to Italian citizens unlawfully as a security. JSS Tripler is an arm of “JustBeenPaid,” a Ponzi-forum darling that has been serving up a heavy dose of the bizarre for months.

    The agency has issued a 90-day suspension order.

    Details of the CONSOB probe and the precise number of investigative targets were not immediately clear to the PP Blog, owing to the lack of a quality Italian-to-English translation. But the websites of multiple entities or individuals who appear to be JSS Tripler affiliates are referenced by CONSOB in a 90-day order dated Jan. 20 and made public Jan. 23.

    JSS Tripler’s name also is referenced in the order.

    If a JSS Tripler-related domain cited in the translation is accurate, the domain appears to be hosted in the United States.

    Among the bizarre claims associated with JSS Tripler promoters were that the company was moving to “offshore” servers and performing a restart.

    Affiliates were required to affirm they were not government spies or media lackeys.

    JustBeenPaid is known to have promoters in common with ClubAsteria, a “program” that came under CONSOB’s lens last year. The purported opportunity also is known to have promoters in common with the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme.

    Some JSS Tripler affiliates identify Frederick Mann as the honcho-in-chief. In May 2008, Mann positioned ASD as a “cash cow,” claiming he pocketed $6,000, according to records. Last year, the purported JustBeenPaid “opportunity” was trading on celebrity names such as Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey — and even fictional space man “Mr. Spock.”

    Here is the CONSOB announcement — via an English translation by Google Translate.

    Another “program” apparently named “System Explosion” also is referenced in the CONSOB suspension order. The domain for that program, which appears to be an HYIP or arbitrage program of some sort, also appears to be hosted in the United States.

    Among the payment processors listed on the JSS Tripler-related domain and the System Explosion domain are AlertPay, SolidTrustPay and LibertyReserve.

    An ad for JustBeenPaid appears on the SystemExplosion domain. When clicked, it appears to route to a subdomain of the JustBeenPaid domain, which beams this bizarre and vacuous message:

    “JustBeenPaid! (JBP) and Its (sic) related programs are Licenced (sic) under United States Patent 6,578,010.”

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, however, is not the agency that regulates securities programs and purported business opportunities, even if JustBeenPaid could demonstrate that some sort of patent exists. As a practical matter, it is virtually impossible to conceive that market regulators in any country could be thwarted from opening probes based on claims that a system was patented.

    If anything, such a claim in the context of programs that purport to pay a return may only intensify regulatory scrutiny. CONSOB, for instance, referenced JSS Tripler’s purported returns of 2 percent a day.

    JSS Tripler is not to be confused with JSS Tripler 2 (T2), an equally bizarre “program” that appears to be a knockoff on the name of JustBeenPaid’s JSS Tripler arm. T2 also uses AlertPay.

    Like JSS Tripler, T2 also was promoted on Ponzi forums such as TalkGold and MoneyMakerGroup.