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Tag: Team Trinity International

  • Data Network Affiliates (DNA) Issues Bizarre Announcements; Meanwhile, Narc That Car Promoter Says Repping For NTC Like Working For ‘Census Bureau’

    UPDATED 1:57 P.M. ET (March 5, U.S.A) Data Network Affiliates (DNA) announced via email that Chief Executive Officer Dean Blechman has stepped down, according to a member. The announcement came six days after Blechman’s departure — and one day after the company said it launched a “Beta Test” of its ability to gather license-plate numbers.

    DNA’s website previously implied the company would be in full launch yesterday, after two previously advertised launch dates in February were postponed.

    Why DNA, which lists a Cayman Islands address in its domain registration and lists no address at all in email communications sent to members, chose to wait nearly a week to announce Blechman’s departure to the membership was unclear.

    Important news such as the departure of a CEO or top executive normally is announced in advance of the departure as a means of quelling rumors and maintaining continuity and stakeholder trust.

    Also unclear is why a domain titled DeanBlechman.com, which uses the same Cayman Islands address as DNA’s website and a DNA-related website known as TagEveryCar.com, redirects to the DNA website.

    A person believed to be Blechman contacted the PP Blog Sunday, saying by email that “I am no longer the CEO of DNA. I have no affiliation with the company whatsoever.” The sender’s identity could not be verified immediately, but the Blog believes it was Blechman, owing to follow-up correspondence it received.

    It is anticipated that Blechman will contact the Blog later this week to answer questions, although no formal interview has been scheduled. It is unclear if Blechman knows about the DeanBlechman.com domain or approved of its creation.

    DNA, which previously had neither a contact form nor a contact email address on its website, now lists a gmail address. gmail is Google’s free email service. A source said tonight that the gmail address was on an autoresponder that sends a message titled “Top 16 Customer Service Issues.”

    Item No. 5 on the Top 16 list reads: “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…”

    Meanwhile, Item No. 16 provided an explanation for why the DNA domain was registered in the Cayman Islands. The reason, according to the autoresponder message, was because the company chose “privacy” protection for $5 in a bid to prevent management from having to “put up with 100 stupid calls a day.”

    Prior to the numbered items, the autoresponder message claimed: “The D.N.A. company is signing a MEGA MILLION DOLLAR DEAL with a publicly known industry giant. Between this agreement being sign (sic) and the D.N.A. Top Secret Product being announced on March 27th, 2010. (sic)  D.N.A. is positioning itself to be Global Giant.”

    The announcement by DNA of Blechman’s departure was ungrammatical, bizarre — and also at odds with information previously released by the company. It even misspelled Blechman’s name.

    “Intentions On Going Public,” the email began. “Say Good Bye To Naysayers.

    “A public company has to answer to a HIGHER POWER than an AG,” the email said. “A publicly traded company has to answer to the SEC. No messing with them. Ask Martha Stewart.

    “Dean Bleckman (sic) on 02/24/2010 stepped down from being the future CEO and any affiliation with D.N.A…” the company email said. “Due to the fact that Mr. Blechman is a Director and High Equity Owner of a high visibility network marketing company could create a conflict of interest. We believe Mr. Blechman to be a very good man and wish him well in any future endeavors.

    “There are some who will try to turn the above information against us,” the email continued. “But the truth be known with the intention of taking D.N.A. public it is in our best interest to have management dedicated and with experience on taking companies public.

    “DNA is currently interviewing high level marquis executives for the role of CEO,” the company said. “We will keep all our D.N.A. Affiliates informed. All other management is 100% in place and very dedicated and excited about the future of D.N.A.”

    Why DNA would say Blechman stepped down from being the “future” CEO is unclear. Only days ago Blechman identified himself as the current CEO, and the company promoted him as such in marketing materials and on conference calls.

    Narc That Car Update

    A new YouTube video by a Narc That Car (NTC) promoter says that collecting data for NTC is like working for the U.S. Census Bureau. Checks issued by the firm bear the name “National Automotive Record Centre,” the video reveals.

    Despite the use of the word “national” in its name and the YouTube video that uses the name of the Census Bureau, NTC is not a government agency.

    The video, by NTC promoter “Jah” of the Cash For Car Plates Blog, focuses exclusively on money and does not address any propriety, safety, legal or privacy concerns, defining license-plate numbers as “public” information available for the taking for entry into the NTC database.

    “We’re like Census Bureau workers,” the video claims. “We’re collecting public data.”

    Some critics have raised myriad concerns about NTC, which is the subject of an inquiry by the BBB in Dallas and the office of the district attorney of Henderson County, Texas.

    Among the concerns raised by critics is whether the company could use the license-plate data it collects to create profiles on the movement of people — battered wives living in secret shelters, federal judges, politicians, celebrities, patients of psychiatrists and other medical professionals, members of religious groups and ordinary citizens from coast to coast in the United States.

    Some promoters of Narc That Car and DNA have argued that people who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear, raising the specter of a sort of private Big Brother.

    Narc That Car promoters routinely suggest that no license-plate numbers are off-limits for entry in the database, which purportedly is being created for companies in the business of repossessing automobiles.

    At least one You Tube video promoting Narc That Car — a video that featured footage from a Public Service Announcement by a group of celebrities that had been spliced into the video as though they were promoting Narc That Car — has been removed from YouTube for Terms of Use violations.

    That video, by a Narc That Car downline group known as Team Trinity International, formerly existed at this URL:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgLFHH6TaaA&feature=related

    Jah’s Cash For Car Plates video for NTC, meanwhile, shows two checks issued by National Automotive Record Centre Inc.  and drawn on NewBridge Bank to demonstrate that Narc That Car pays.

    “We’re [going] to show you some real, solid video proof of the money that’s being made here and where you can go with this business,” the video says. “This is awesome.”

    Whether Narc That Car pays has not been an issue, however. The issues have centered on how the company pays, whether it is operating a pyramid or Ponzi business model and the propriety, safety and legality of Narc That Car.

    The two checks in the video are for $45 and $452.10  — both of which appear to have been drawn Feb. 23.

    In the video, the $45 check is used as proof of payment — and the check for $452.10 is used as proof of the type of payments that could come later for Narc That Car members.

    “This may be one of our last . . .  videos, because this is the real deal,” the video says. “We can’t go any further. We’re not going to be out here flashing, you know, five-figure checks.”

    The video was placed on You Tube March 1.

    In a Jah video placed on YouTube Feb. 12, a check featured in the video is written in the name of a different entity: Narc Technologies Inc. The check appears to be drawn on a different bank than the check in the March 1 video, although the video was grainy.

    National Automotive Record Centre Inc. was registered as a corporation in Nevada Jan. 12.

  • Narc That Car Video From Downline Group Known As Team Trinity International May Use Content Lifted From Public Service Announcement Put Out By Actor Leonardo DiCaprio

    UPDDATED 2:26 P.M. ET (March 5, U.S.A.) A YouTube video promotion for the Narc That Car multilevel-marketing (MLM) program appears to use celebrity footage produced by Appian Way Productions, a production company owned by actor Leonardo DiCaprio.

    The PP Blog attempted to contact DiCaprio for comment through the Screen Actors Guild Friday night. The office was closed for the weekend.

    The Narc That Car You Tube promotion references a downline group known as Team Trinity International, and appears to splice in content from a Public Service Announcement (PSA) produced by Appian Way in 2008 that urges Americans to vote.

    It was not immediately clear if DiCaprio, his production company or the other celebrities in the PSA approved of the use of the footage in what effectively was a commercial for Narc That Car. Several celebrities appear in the Narc That Car promo.

    At the moment, the Team Trinity promo is at this URL:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XgLFHH6TaaA&feature=related

    The PSA can be seen in this 2008 story from Reuters:

    http://blogs.reuters.com/fanfare/2008/10/02/leonardo-dicaprio-other-celebs-pump-up-youth-vote/

    The PSA has nothing to do with MLM. The footage potentially at issue in the Team Trinity video begins at about the 3:40 mark in the PSA and the 0:11 mark in the Narc That Car promo. The PSA’s theme is passing along to friends the worthwhile message of going to the polls, but the Team Trinity video applies the theme to passing along info about Narc That Car.

    “I need you to take this and send it to five people,” Oscar-winning actress Halle Berry says in the PSA, referring to sharing the message of going to the polls.  Berry says the same thing in the Team Trinity Narc That Car video, but in the context of sharing the Narc That Car message.

    Other celebrities who appeared in the PSA are spliced into the Team Trinity MLM message for Narc That Car. The Team Trinity video fades to the Team Trinity logo after comedian-actress Sarah Silverman appears.

    In an earlier video, Team Trinity used the logos of 30 famous retail companies, positioning their parking lots as good places to capture license-plate data.

    Team Trinity also has referenced the AMBER Alert program administered by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Justice Department denied that Narc That Car had any affiliation with the famous child-protection system.

    Narc That Car, which says it is building a database for companies that repossess automobiles, is the subject of inquiries by the Dallas BBB and the district attorney of Henderson County, Texas.

  • First Narc That Car, Now ‘PlatesRUs’: Promoter Says He Recorded 10 License Plate Numbers In Walmart Parking Lot And Earned A ‘Check’

    Part of the 'PlatesRUs' pitch for Narc That Car.

    Using a domain name similar to the famous ToysRUs brand name, a domain that has branded itself PlatesRUs.biz is promoting the Narc That Car multilevel-marketing program by telling prospects that earning $50 is a simple as going down to the local Walmart parking lot and writing down 10 license-plate numbers of WalMart shoppers.

    The PlatesRUs video pitch is similar to a pitch apparently put out by a separate Narc That Car downline group known as Team Trinity International. The Team Trinity promo included the logos of 30 famous companies, identifying their parking lots as places NarcThatCar members should visit to harvest plate numbers and record them in a database through a website NarcThatCar provides for a $100 start-up fee and a monthly fee of $24.95.

    A narrator in the PlatesRUs video for Narc That Car tells a simple story:

    “I went to Walmart,” he said. “It took me every bit of five minutes to write down 10 tag numbers randomly, go in my back office and log it into the national database through the company, and actually earn a check.”

    By paying Narc That Car the $100 fee, promoters become a “registered information consultant,” the PlatesRUs promoter explained in the video, noting he was “very excited” to have become one. The pitchman added that the program was “tremendously exciting” and “growing like wildfire.”

    No mention was made in the video of any privacy or legal concerns. Like the Team Trinity video, the PlatesRUs video did not instruct members on matters such as whether Narc That Car participants would need permission to enter retailers’ private property for the purposes of harvesting license-plate data from the retailers’ patrons.

    Viewers were given no instruction on what to do if a Walmart shopper — or a shopper at any other prominent business — observed his or her plate number being recorded and objected, perhaps demanding the paper on which the number was recorded so it could be shown to the store manager or even the police. The implication in both videos was that recording license-plate numbers raised no privacy issues at all and was a perfectly acceptable practice — even on private property.

    Like the Team Trinity video and a video put out by Narc That Car, the PlatesRUs video referenced the AMBER Alert program. The U.S. Department of Justice said this week that Narc That Car was not affiliated with AMBER Alert, despite promoters’ repeated claims that Narc That Car was tied to the AMBER Alert system.

    Some Narc That Car promoters have said the FBI and companies such as the Ford Motor Co. endorsed the Narc That Car program.

    The PatrickPretty.com Blog contacted Ford and provided a reference to the claim, which purports that Ford and two other prominent car companies “have already given their commitment to NARC. They have signed on as clients and will be there to use the database when it is ready. These companies believe in this idea.”

    Ford did not immediately respond to the inquiry.

    Among the claims online about Narc That Car are that it is helping “The US Dep’t of Homeland Security find terrorists” and that “NARC has integrated with Amber Alert to support and assist them in locating missing and/or abducted children.”

  • JUSTICE DEPARTMENT: Amber Alert System ‘No Way’ Affiliated With Narc That Car MLM Program

    Shooting down claims by affiliates of Narc That Car, the U.S. Department of Justice said this morning that the Amber Alert System is in “no way affiliated” with the Narc That Car multilevel-marketing (MLM) program.

    The denial comes on the heels of repeated claims by Narc That Car affiliates that the company, which says it pays “independent consultants” to write down license-plate numbers and enter the information into a database, had ties to law-enforcement agencies and the Amber Alert system.

    Narc That Car is in “no way affiliated with the Amber Alert program,” said Kevin Jenkins, a Justice Department spokesman who works with the component of the agency that coordinates Amber Alert.

    Narc That Car says it sells license-plate numbers to banks and companies in the business of repossessing automobiles, implying that it also has government clients for the license-plate data entered by its affiliates.

    Information on Amber Alerts, which are issued when a child goes missing, scrolls across the bottom of Narc That Car’s website, and affiliates have said the company was started in part to provide information to Amber Alert.

    Amber Alert is referenced in a promotional video put out by Narc That Car. It also is referenced in a video by an apparent Narc That Car downline organization known as Team Trinity International.

    Team Trinity International makes the claim that the Narc That Car program was started “to provide historical location data for lien holders, law enforcement and other entities such as the Amber Alert System.”

    Part of Team Trinity International Narc That Car promotion.

    A Team Trinity video promotion for Narc Thar Car says affiliates should go to the parking lots of famous companies such as McDonald’s, Best Buy, Piggly Wiggly and 27 other famous firms to find a ready supply of license-plate numbers to enter into the company’s database.

    Whether Narc That Car affiliates are required to obtain the permission of companies into whose parking lots affiliates venture to mine license-plate numbers is unclear. Also unclear is whether Narc That Car affiliates are required to obtain the permission of the vehicle owner before recording the license-plate number.

    Another open question is how Narc That Car affiliates are expected to behave if a person who does not want his plate number recorded calls police or an attorney. Yet another open question is how Narc That Car affiliates are expected to behave if a store manager calls police or shoos the affiliate off the premises.

    Jenkins said companies and individuals were not permitted to cite nonexistent Amber Alert ties in advertisements and promotional materials.

  • Video Ad For Narc That Car Claims Program Was Started For Amber Alert System; Prospects Told To Gawk At License Plates At Best Buy, Food Lion, McDonald’s, Others

    A promotional video for a multilevel-marketing (MLM) company that pays members to write down license-plate numbers says the program was started “to provide historical location data for lien holders, law enforcement and other entities such as the Amber Alert System.”

    The video, which appears to be a sales tool for an MLM downline organization known as Team Trinity International, reproduces the logos of 30 famous companies, offering their parking lots as places members of Narc That Car can go to find cars and license plates in plentiful supply to be recorded.

    Segmented by disciplines such as “Retail,” “Grocery Stores” and “Restaurants,” the famous names shown prospects include Best Buy, Kmart, Walgreens, PetSmart, Rite Aid, Bed Bath & Beyond, Food Lion, Kroger, Ralphs, Vons, Piggly Wiggly, Wegmans, Domino’s Pizza, Friday’s, Wendy’s, Red Lobster, Applebee’s, McDonald’s and more.

    It was not clear if the Team Trinity promoter had contacted each of the individual companies to determine if they would approve of Narc That Car members recording the license-plate numbers of their patrons.

    Such actions could lead to both privacy and safety concerns, putting the companies in the awkward position of shooing gawkers and explaining why people carrying pads and pens were continually appearing on private property and writing down plate numbers.

    The video also listed shopping centers, neighborhood businesses, convenience stores, residences and apartment complexes as prime spots to harvest data.

    A promotional video for Narc That Car says license plates can ge found aplenty at these stores.

    In a separate video, Narc That Car said it had recruited “thousands” of “independent consultants”  to write down license-plate numbers and enter the information in a database. Database entries are available to banks, financial companies and firms that specialize in repossessing automobiles, according to the company.

    Web records show that several Narc That Car affiliates are making the claim that law-enforcement agencies and the Amber Alert program have endorsed the company. No testimonials from law enforcement agencies or the Amber Alert program appear on the Narc That Car website, despite promoters’ claims.

    The U.S. Department of Justice did not immediately return a call seeking comment on claims made by Narc That Car promoters. The Justice Department’s Office of Justice is the national Amber Alert coordinator.

    “The AMBER Alert System began in 1996 when Dallas-Fort Worth broadcasters teamed with local police to develop an early warning system to help find abducted children,” the Justice Department said in an FAQ document on the program.

    “AMBER stands for America’s Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response and was created
    as a legacy to 9-year-old Amber Hagerman, who was kidnapped while riding her bicycle
    in Arlington, Texas, and then brutally murdered,” the Justice Department said.

    The Narc That Car business is simple, the company says.

    “Narc a Few Cars,” the company instructs in a video. “Teach Others How to Narc Cars.”

    NarcThatCar does not list the names of any clients on its website. Nor does the company disclose information on how many database clients it has and how many of them are paying fees to receive a report on a target vehicle.

    License-plate consultants are required to act in a “lawful, ethical and moral manner” and perform “with honesty and integrity,” NarcThatCar says, noting it provides instruction on federal and state privacy laws and “fundamental training on the the proper way to gather information.”

    The Dallas branch of the Better Business Bureau says that it contacted Narc That Car Jan. 18 “to request that it substantiate some claims made in its advertising.”

    Narc That Car responded to the inquiry, and the matter was “still pending” as of Feb. 2, the BBB said on its website.

    The Team Trinity International promo is hosted on Blinkweb, a company that provides free hosting space and web-page creation tools.