BREAKING NEWS: What is TelexFree US Doing In Bed With ex-FHTM Joseph "Joe" Isaacs?

Logo of the United States Federal Communications Commission, used on their website and some publications since the early 2000s. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently some TelexFree fanatics, desperate to find ANY shred of legitimacy for that suspect Ponzi scheme, found that TelexFree US (not Brazil, mind you, where it's actually called Yimpactus, and has NO license to operate telecom in Brazil) has gained preliminary FCC Approval in the US (ITC2142013082200236;) as of September 2013.

For timeline, TelexFree Brazil was shut down in June 2013 by court injunction, and has been in a limbo since. Its lawyers launched appeal after appeal to no avail, while telling affiliates that they should register with TelexFree US and get paid by TelexFree US.

It is also interesting to note the timeframe... late July is when Gerald "I see no Ponzi" Nehra said TelexFree is legal in the US, at a TelexFree event in Newport Beach, California. Presumably, that's when they started applying for the FCC license, not that there's any proof that TelexFree actually OWNS any "telecom facilities", as specified in the FCC license it had obtained. They went through "streamlined" FCC approval process where the public was given a few weeks to comment, and voila: "authority granted".

Can you BUY any TelexFree service and use it? Good question. I haven't found ANYONE that claimed to done so that is believable.

What's surprising the the other name that appeared on TelexFree's FCC license... Joe "I love then hate FHTM" Isaacs.

BREAKING NEWS: WCM777 admits being an ILLEGAL US business, may be involved in insulting Muslims?

Following message appeared on WCM777's Hong Kong website

...However, because the sale of securities failed to fully comply with laws and regulations in United States, our operations in the U.S. will be on hold until further notice...

This is a full out admission... almost a full week after the sanctions by US State of Massachusetts had been made public (despite the notice back in September)  that WCM777 is illegal fraud; telling people it's NOT securities when it surely is securities.

Frankly, WCM777 had admitted such back when it closed its US branch in Southern California, as previously reported, almost two MONTHS ago.

And it's also interesting that they left in September... At the same time they'd been investigated by Massachusetts.

Why leave when you don't even know the results? The obvious conclusion is WCM777 *knew* they're illegal, even before they saw the settlement with state of Massachusetts.

Shouldn't WCM777 have halted US operations back in September, instead of now? Did they just admit that they operated illegally for another 2 months? 

But there is even MORE bizarre behavior... Such as claiming to have "founded" a TV station ALREADY founded years ago... and one involved in a MAJOR religious controversy!

More Hilarious Woo Endorsements: Having a Chiropractor as your "Chief Science Officer"

Folks, I have no problem with you buying woo, as long as you UNDERSTAND it's woo, that any claims to benefit are merely CLAIMs, for worse, UNPROVEN claims. 

However, the marketers of woo should at least pick REPUTABLE and SCIENTIFIC people to be their advisors, to look legitimate. 

Previously, MLM Skeptic have pointed out some other woo products (a patch that claims to affect accupressure points through 'wireless communication', sea 'scum' dried and packed into pills as ULTIMATE nutrition, and a product that's based on assuming that the seller's hypothetical position paper about stem cells is true) MLM Skeptic now must add another item to the list of woo: a Chiropractor selling brain supplements as co-founder and "chief science officer". 

First, before the "haterz" (a term I borrow from my, well.. haterz)  jump all over me, I have nothing against chiropractors... other than they shouldn't pretend to know stuff they know nothing about... same as anyone else. There are special chiropractors, such as Ted Carrick, who may have invented something called Chiropractic Neurology. On the other hand, there are also chiropractors who want to be family M.D. can't get the degree, but want the job any way. 

So what's wrong with this guy? Let's start with the premise: brain supplement. I.e. nutritional supplement that helps your brain, with 14 important ingredients! What are they? They ain't telling. 

The company is called Brain Abundance, where they claimed the following:

In fact, thanks to our Co-founder Dr. Pejman Behrouzi, along with our team of top experts in the fields of neuroscience, nutrition, medical science, and product formulation Brain Fuel PLUS is the most complete supplement for your brain ever created!

On a different page Dr. Pejman Behrouzi is listed as "chief science officer" along with head of the company. 

Notice the word "neuromusculoskeletal"? That's codeword for "chiropractor". 

BREAKING NEWS: Peruvian Legislator Warns Public About WCM777

Given that Peru is in South America, it's no surprise that WCM777 would have reached there as well. And now that Colombia has declared WCM777 illegal, it is no surprise that Peruvian legislator has warned the public about the danger of WCM777.

Peruvian legislator Jaime Delgado has issued a public statement that warned all against WCM777, a foreign company doing illegal pyramid-selling business... just like TelexFree that came from Brazil. Their pitch basically is give them up to $2000 USD, and you can realize profit of up to 300% in a few months.

You can read the original article here in Spanish

http://peru21.pe/impresa/alertan-polemico-negocio-2158106

UPDATED 21-NOV-2013  It is now stated that Jaime Delgado has asked the Peruvian Superintendency of Securities, Peruvian Superintendency of Banking and Insurance, as well as Peruvian Attorney General, to look into this scam.

http://www.connuestroperu.com/consumidor/20/40008-advierten-sobre-negocio-piramidal-de-empresa-wcm777

There are various Twitter accounts, Facebook pages, and even a few domains registered in Peru. In fact, one of the biggest pushers of WCM777 pyramid scheme (according to Colombian government) is a pastor David Lozano, of "Ministerio La Luz". This is him on his ministry website, at the bottom, touting WCM777:

BREAKING NEWS: WCM777 now ILLEGAL in Colombia, promoters may face arrest

Noticieas Uno (News One) of Colombia has reported (first spotted by Oz at BehindMLM) that the Superintendency of Companies in Colombia, has outlawed WCM777 as a pyramid scheme. Promoters face arrest, and two top promoters in Colombia have been identified by name. Webpages and internet activities promoting WCM777 are being taken down with assistance of Internet ISPs.  Assets are being frozen to prevent the money leaving the country. News One have also noticed the Massachusetts shutdown order.

Here's the video report in Spanish.

And original link:
http://noticiasunolaredindependiente.com/2013/11/16/noticias/intervencion-piramide/

When full text becomes available it will be translated and linked. For now, enjoy with Google auto-translate.

Why Experts Do NOT Add Credibility To A Company

O RLY (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

One of the most often heard excuses thrown at the MLM Skeptic is "so and so is involved. So and so is an expert and thus Acme XYZ can't possibly be a scam".

And two of the most favorite experts used for pseudo-legitimacy are lawyers (esp. MLM lawyers), and accountants, esp. auditors.

Frankly, many lawyers are so blind or so suave their testimony is completely worthless.

While I hate to bring up an old issue, it is worth pointing out that Gerald "Gerry" Nehra of Nehra and Waak, one of the more prominent MLM lawfirms, had a reputation of pointing at ponzi schemes and said "not Ponzi". He did so first with Ad Surf Daily (and testified in court to that effect), then did the same with Zeek Rewards (his and Waak's name were on the final Zeek creditor's list). Their involvement was touted highly by participants of both schemes as "proof" that the "business" can't POSSIBLY be illegal. Yet both were shut down as scams.

(And it's noted that another person who told people that both ASD and Zeek are not Ponzis... Keith Laggos, MLM consultant)

Just because lawyers said something legal doesn't make it legal.

But what about accountants?