Scam Spotting: too-good job offer, fake website, and Bitcoins

A redditor recently posted on /r/scams about a too-good-to-be-true job offer:

Hi all, I was hoping you could help me figure if this job offer is a scam. So I received an email saying that I had applied for customer service representative at another company, that was an agency they work with (note I did apply to this), and that they believe me to be better suited for a better job. The HR rep who contacted me said she's confident I stand a chance, and so she wants to forward my application to the hiring manager. The company is currently based on switzerland, and they are opening an office in my area (Toronto Canada) on May 30th. All she requested was that I fill out the employment application. There was nothing weird about the application, it asked for my usual contact info and two work references. No sin number or anything private, or that they couldn't get off my resume. The reason I'm weirded out is because the pay is substantial (for reference it's +20/hr and i'm still in school) and they mentioned the company works with bitcoin. The company name is Trimension Capital Holding. Does anybody have any experience that they'd be willing to share on if this is a scam or not?

This already has a couple red flags

• Based in Switzerland, but opening an office in Toronto
• Over $20 per hour for someone not yet out of school
• Encouraged to apply even if not certain qualified (to do what, exactly?)
• It involves "Bitcoins"

But let's track this down all the way. If you search for "Trimension Capital" on Google, you will get back a Trimension Capital GmbH at Baarerstrasse 135, 6301 Zug, Switzerland. So far, it matches. 

My first link took me to moneyhouse.ch profile fo the company, and we larned that company was founded in 2012 as "Pinewood Capital GmbH", changed name to "Trimension Capital GmbH" in 2013, and changed to "Trimension Capital Holding GmbH" in 2014. It's headed by Thomas Bieri. Under "contact" it shows website as trimension-capital.com

MoneyHouse.ch says the website should be trimension-capital.com

Next couple links goes to trimensioncapital.com   NO DASH!!!!!!!

Something is very fishy here. Let's check DNS at WHO.IS

Scam Tactics: False citing of legislation or certification authority

Scams, in order to claim false legitimacy, will cite laws, regulations, and licenses to sound official, when they are grossly exaggerating the truth, or are outright lying.

Below we will discuss four example of such outrageous fraudulent behavior, and how you can see through such deception with just Google and some sense of skepticism.

Gemcoin, USFIA, and AB129

USFIA was an alleged 32 million ponzi scheme shut down by SEC on September 29, 2015, having been previously chased out of China in 2014 by Chinese authorities. Two of the perps were arrested in Thailand in 2014 through China's Operation Foxhunt extradition program and extradited with other perps back to China, only to see the scheme restart in the US under the same US leader Steve Chen.

When it was running at full steam their marketing material claimed that Gemcoin, their supposed altcoin was the first cryptocurrency authorized by California bill AB129.

Gemcoin believers repeating claims that Gemcoin was first cryptocurrency authorized by
California bill AB129 (2014). It was complete bull****, of course. Every bit of Steve Chen's assets
had been counted and it came out to only 20 or so million. "50 billion"? Hilarious. 

The problem is AB129 said no such thing. The full text of AB129 is easily Google-able.It is only a single sentence.  It simply says that from here on California's restriction (that all transactions must be done with US dollars) is rescinded.  Gemcoin was not mentioned or referenced.

Yet the Gemcoin believers did not question the claim. They simply accepted the extraordinary claim as true. And they put in money for something "backed by amber".

There was no amber or amber mine. And now their money is lost or tied up in an international ponzi scheme. At least report, the receiver that took over the company can only locate about 20 million of the 32+ million believed to be involved. A big amount was sent overseas to China and Singapore.

But at least USFIA scam referenced a real law. The next scammer simply made up an agency that doesn't exist.

How to be an online marketing idiot: arbitrary DMCA takedown notices and SLAPP

English: Very poor sketch of a desired icon for DMCA takedown notices on articles, emphasizing Wikimedia's submission... created for conversation at Commons:Village pump#DMCA takedown templates and material. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It seems some people have NO concept of copyright, and think that issue random threats to sue is somehow a valid tactic in "reputation management". Such idiots should never be allowed to do marketing online, but this is a democracy, with freedom to do all sorts of things, including making a total fool of oneself.

Recently, Techdirt, a tech news website, highlighted a particular idiotic DMCA takedown notice. The story basically goes like this. in 2015, Techdirt writer Tim Cushing put together a list of "stupid DMCA takedown requests" because, well, they are stupid, like DMCA takedown notice to Google... about images cached on Bing (which belongs to Microsoft, not Google), or DMCA takedown on news coverage about one's crimes by self-publishing a book about it, and so on and so forth.

One of these... online marketing idiots, instead of acknowledging mea culpa, doubled down and issued a DMCA request to Techdirt claiming their copyright were violated because Techdirt used a couple of the images offered by the company, called Andromedical, as example, complete with Andromedical's prominent watermark. Oh, and the same copy apparently posted random comments online claiming Techdirt is owned by some company nobody ever heard of, is a patent troll, claiming various bogus misdeeds by the writer, and more. It's a basic slander campaign... all because they can't admit they were idiots.

The idea that TechDirt, a news website, can be liable for copyright violation for "covering" Andromedical (whose product is a penis pump, named... AndroPenis (tm), really imaginative, guy) as a news item is simply hilarious. It's even MORE hilarious that Andromedical's complaint also claimed that Techdirt is a "counterfeiting operation" and the violation is being reported "to INTERPOL".

The bottom line is actually quite clear: "we don't like what you say about us, STFU!"

But the world doesn't work like that. There are exceptions to copyright called "fair use", and using the company logo and publicly available photos provided as promotional material by the company to illustrate the company, and in no way asserts being the company, is obviously fair use.  If you put info out in the public, you can't control what people do with it, be it positive or negative.

Yet some scams and suspect schemes are quite fond of using these bogus copyright and/or trademark claims as well as threat to sue or outright lawsuits in hopes of silencing critics as a part of their "reputation management" strategy.

Scam Tactics: Indignantly imply everybody else is wrong i.e. Nerium Proponent's Comment Dissected

skepticism, skeptical inquiry, critical thinking,
critical inquiry, and truth-seeking. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When you see a random claim, do you simply accept it as is, or do you adopt the Reagan doctrine: "Trust, but verify"?  A skeptic uses the latter.

Indeed, scam tactics often simply deny everything, randomly make some claims, and claimed to be outraged at the lack of facts presented.

Recently I came across this comment by a Nerium proponent. I am going to number the claims (i.e. sentences that appear to be factual, not merely an opinion), and let's verify each one.

Get your facts correct please. Nerium sold at Sears was counterfeit. (1) You will no longer find it there. (2)
The extract itself, NAE-8 is patented. (3) Look it up. Do a tiny bit of research on Jeff Olson (4) (you’ll kick yourself for your ignorance).
The before & afters are from its distributors. (5) One bad apple doesn’t spoil the bunch & that apple was taken care of (6) – & others warned.
Most importantly, results from the night treatment are published in the peer-reviewed literature. (7) Try looking up the Journal of Aging, Science, Jr of Clinical & Investigative Dermatology, etc…… (8)
The patented extract is the first superantioxidant on the planet. Look it up. (9)
Please don’t confuse searching with research! Try it, you might just learn something new!

Claim 1: Was Nerium sold at Sears counterfeit?

As we have not seen this listed ANYWHERE (search for Nerium + Sears just brings up similar night creams) we'll have to say "unverifiable", as we have nothing to show either true, or false.

UNSUPPORTED CLAIM, BUSTED

Claim 2: Is Nerium sold at Sears?

Nope, nothing there.

TRUE (but inconsequential, how often have you seen MLM products in retail? Never!)

Claim 3: Is NAE-8 patented?

Nope, NAE-8 is a registered trademark, not a patent. Nerium appears to hold at least two patents on how to extract oleander and aloe, but NAE-8 is not "patented", just trademarked as "non-medicated skin care preparation ingredient" under cosmetics.

BUSTED!

Claim 4: Is there anything surprising on Jeff Olson?

Searching for Jeff Olson shows that he used to ran People's Network, a Self-Improvement TV Channel, that got bought by Prepaid Legal in 1997ish, and he became Prepaid Legal's CEO in 1999. In 2001 PL was hit by Wyoming Attorney General with charges of illegal income claims, then SEC also hit Prepaid Legal for misclaiming expenses as assets (i.e. inflating its financial situation). PL was sued hundreds of times in Missouri, won a few, lost more, decided to settle the remaining 400+ cases. Then things were quite until 2009, when both FTC and SEC subpoenaed some documents for fact-finding missions. In 2011 PL was bought out and reorganized, and Olson left (or was forced out) and started Nerium.

Nothing too surprising, or worthy of emulation, IMHO. Got lucky and got acquired, had to wield whip on sales force to keep them in line, and got forced out during corporate shuffle.

HALF-TRUE

Is it just series of bad judgment, or "once a thief, always a thief"?

Given that how many of the Ponzi pimps have been around for years, it's quite surprising that people aren't using Google enough and pick up their history.

One of the most vocal supporters of OneCoin was Thomas E. McMurrain. This is him pitching his "Welcome to OneCoin AlphaTeam"

Thomas E. McMurrain, pitching his OneCoin Alpha Team

The guy really needs better green-screening. The sun is clearly coming from the RIGHT in the photo background, but his face is lighted from the LEFT.  But who said that these folks are exactly detail oriented?

But if you bothered searching his name for a bit (never mind his self-PR like "7th Disruption", a book he "wrote" to promote OneCoin) you'll find some rather... disturbing details, like how he kept picking losers... Such as... Solavei

Tom McMurrain touring country w/ Solavei in 2012
Solavei went belly up in 2015

For those who didn't keep up, Solavei closed its doors in late 2015.  Which is apparently when Tommy here picked up the OneCoin banner. He apparently posted on Facebook when Vemma was closed by FTC "come join us in OneCoin", much like ambulance chasers.

So what was Tommy doing before 2015? Well, we need to count, but there's FlexKom... a scheme that went nowhere except Turkey and pushed by Ponzi-pimp Ian Driscoll, formerly of BannerBroker.

Just a few months later, it apparently did not pay Tanju Colak a Turkish ex-footballer and local celebrity, whom joined FlexKom a while back. Mr. Colak sued and FlexKom lost. A possible class action lawsuit was still undetermined as of 2014, and I can't search in Turkish to find an update, but it is said to possibly involve 40000 FlexKom members in Turkey. The business also seem to have gone quiet at the end of 2014. Definitely NOT another winner, something that sells itself, as Mr. McMurrain claimed, if it can't even sell itself on their home continent.

So what else did Mr. McMurrain involve himself in? No less than one of the widest spread Ponzi schemes in US history:  ZeekRewards.

Tommy here registered a "join Zeek and make me $$$" domain in March 2012. For the record, Zeek Rewards was shut down in August 2012 by Secret Service, SEC, and other Federal agencies.  Again, Tommy can't seem to pick a winner.

So what was Tommy doing even before this?  TVI Express... an international pyramid scheme.

Scam Absurdities: Birds of a Feather Flock Together, or the Rodrigues and Filho financial links

There was an old saying: Birds of a Feather, Flock Together

Basically means: like attracts like.

So how does this apply to Ponzi schemes? One needs to look no further than Sanderlay Rodrigues De Vasconcelos aka "Sann Rodrigues", and his ties to Daniel Rojo Filho.

For those of you who don't know "Sann" Rodrigues... he used to go by the title "First Millionaire TelexFree US". That's right... he's a "net winner" in the TelexFree scam in both Brazil and the US. Previously he operated a Ponzi scheme called FoneClub that was shut down by the SEC around 2006. Oh, gee, now here he is again, a top leader in ANOTHER Ponzi scheme, TelexFree, shut down by the the SEC! But it gets better. At the time Sann was in Brazil, and he simply came up with a new scheme... called iFreeX.  And within a few months Massachussetts called it suspect Ponzi, which apparently prompted Brazilian authorities to raid his recruiting seminar and invited him downtown for a long chat.  He was released but apparently under travel restrictions, roughly March 2015 or so.

MLMSkeptic was immediately reminded of the circumstances how half of the TelexFree US, Carlos Wanzeler, escaped the country... by driving into Canada ahead of the authorities with his daughter, leaving his wife behind, and from there they flew to Brazil, where they cannot be extradited against their will (as per Brazilian constitution. Wanzeler still holds Brazilian citizenship). When his wife Katia Wanzeler tried to join them she was arrested at the airport by Federal agents, minutes before she got on the plane.  She had previous told Federal agents serving a search warrant on the Wanzeler house that Carlos is staying at a hotel when it was later discovered that when she told the Federal agents Carlos and daughter was in fact heading toward the Canadian border in a car registered to her company.

But we're here to talk about Sann Rodrigues... Any way... Apparently Sann Rodrigues managed to get himself out of Brazil despite Brazilians told him to not go anywhere. So when he disappeared, Brazilian authorities put out a Interpol Red WANTED notice:

Interpol Wanted Notice for Sann Rodrigues

So when he showed up in Newark, New Jersey (yes, in the US) getting back into the US... He was promptly arrested for VISA fraud. He had apparently neglected to mention that he was arrested for Ponzi scheme back in 2008 or so... among other problems. He posted bail, had his passport (and those of his family) confiscated, only to be arrested AGAIN for the Interpol warrant. He spent another weekend in jail until Brazilians eventually responded "you can keep him for now".

Okay, so what does this have to do with Daniel Rojo Filho? And who is Daniel Rojo Filho? Pretty complex guy... and "ambassador of the Sinaloa Drug Cartel", according to a Mexican article.

MLM Basics: Why a MLM Comp Plan is MORE important than the product, not less

One of the biggest mistakes a MLM "noobs" makes is put all the emphasis on the product, without analyzing the business model itself, i.e. the compensation plan, or in jargon, "comp plan".  (Or perhaps there's only a cursory glance). They are all enthusiastic about the product. OMG, it totally works. I (blah blah blah blah),  product is (blah blah blah blah). You have to try it! It's totally legit! I didn't believe at first but now I do! (blah blah blah blah)

When critics / concerned friends/family told them the company is likely a pyramid because of X, Y, and Z, the first thing out of their mouth is "it can't possibly be a scam, the product works".

They are suffering from the "blind men and an elephant" problem... They cannot understand that what they experienced  may be true for them, but is NOT the WHOLE truth.

Here's a very simple analogy... Take a look at this car:

Those of you who know cars should be able to tell, by the GT-R badge on the hood, that this is an older generation, Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R (or a reasonable facsimile thereof), which is a two-door coupe.

Except this is not a coupe. It's a station wagon. A five-door station wagon Nissan GT-R, and no, it's NOT photoshop(ed).

The point is if you ONLY look at the nose of the car, you'd have assumed it's a GT-R. But it's not. You have to see the entire body to realize this is NOT a coupe but a station wagon.

Similarly if you ONLY look at the products of a MLM, you could not have gotten "the whole picture", on whether the company may be a scam or not.

That's why the compensation plan, i.e. what you need to do to get paid by a MLM, is FAR MORE important than the product... It is the PRIMARY indicator on whether the company is a pyramid scheme... or a real MLM.

So how do you determine which is which?