BREAKING NEWS: Kevin Thompson warns people against potential scams... such as GoFun Places

Kevin Thompson, aka "The MLM Attorney", of Thompson Burton, is an outspoken critic and proponent of MLM. He is plain-spoken (for an attorney, ha-ha) and does not sugarcoat problems with MLM business model, including the gray areas within the system, as well as problems surrounding the system.

He was one of the first who spoke out against the Zeek Rewards ponzi, and even then he lamented about how the industry kept silent, and even gave it tacit approval (two other MLM lawfirms were involved in "compliance" of Zeek, implying endorsement / legality)

Now he's giving a very public warning about what he called "leverage profit sharing programs", i.e. pay-to-play "profit-sharing" businesses... i.e. very much like Zeek. And he named three: Banner Brokers, Profitable Sunrise, and GoFun Places.

Banner Brokers was already busted in Goa India.

Profitable Sunrise was busted in 27 out of 50 US states and multiple countries (UK, Australia, etc.)

Read his article for yourself, and heed his warning.

http://thompsonburton.com/mlmattorney/2013/03/21/leveraged-profit-sharing-programs-spread/

BREAKING NEWS: 27 states plus multiple countries after "Profitable Sunrise" HYIP

Profitable Sunrise, an HYIP that claimed to be in UK and promises daily profit of 1-3% through "bridge financing", is now on the watch list of at least 27 states and multiple countries including UK, Australia, and more, with Louisiana and Tennessee joining the crowd, as reported by Patrick Pretty.com

http://www.patrickpretty.com/2013/03/19/update-louisiana-joins-growing-list-of-states-that-have-issued-investor-alerts-on-profitable-sunrise/

Breaking News: More US States Shutting Down Profitable Sunrise

The Quintessential Sequential Sunrise (Photo credit: Boogies with Fish)

Previously we have repeated reports from PatrickPretty.com that Profitable Sunrise, an HYIP that claims to provide outrageous profits through "bridge financing" in the UK, but is in reality an outfit in Eastern Europe headed by the Novak brothers, was shut down in multiple US states, as well as Canada, UK, and New Zealand.

Now it seems that the rest of the states in the US are joining the flood of shutdowns. Checking various news releases shows states of Florida, Delaware, Texas, Nevada, Alaska, Wisconsin, South Dakota, and probably several more have joined the quickly growing list of states out to stop Profitable Sunrise.

According to PatrickPretty.com, at least 22 US states have either issued "investor warnings" or actual "cease and desist" court orders against Profitable Sunrise.

BREAKING NEWS: More jurisdictions slam "Profitable Sunrise" HYIP

Previously we've reported that several US states, as well as UK and Canada have denounced Profitable Sunrise as a suspect scheme.

As it turns out, other states and countries are joining the party.

PatrickPretty.com reports that Ohio and Kentucky have joined the US states outlawing Profitable Sunrise.  Ohio claims that 15 other states have outlawed Profitable Sunrise.

http://www.patrickpretty.com/2013/03/14/bulletin-kentucky-issues-emergency-cease-and-desist-order-to-profitable-sunrise-order-identifies-possible-pitchwoman-issuing-news-releases-that-include-link-to-hyip-investment-calculator/

In a separate report, PatrickPretty.com also noted that New Zealand has also called Profitable Sunrise "illegal", and urge all people who had dealings with it to contact the authorities (FMA) right away. The promo video appears to feature a marketing group based in the US recruiting NZ people.

http://www.patrickpretty.com/2013/03/14/new-zealand-calls-profitable-sunrise-illegal-issues-warning-cites-youtube-promos-and-suggest-u-s-based-recruitment-arm-may-be-part-of-scam/

Genre Analysis: Does Precious Metal MLM Make Sense?

A gold bar. But doesn't it make sense as a MLM?
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can mix almost ANY business with MLM by adopting some sort of a multi-level compensation plan. However, as I have explained many times before, MLM comp plan, due to its nature, requires a product with very high margins. The company has essentially spent the advertising budget on the affiliates instead of traditional media advertising like TV spots, magazine ads, and so on.

Which is why precious metal MLM, such as Auruma, makes absolutely no sense at all. Clearly, it should NOT exist the way it was described.

As the genre suggests, Auruma lets you "subscribe" to gold or silver purchase, except you don't actually get the stuff, but rather, a certificate that says you own this much, but it's store in their vault somewhere. And you can trade your ownership of those with other members. They charge a nominal "storage fee", and pay out multi-level "commission" if you can get other people to sign up as members (i.e. buy silver and gold stored at their place").

The price for gold and silver is published in newspapers every day all around the world. The prices don't vary much in what's known as the "spot" market. Jewelers charge a little more, and so on. Thus, there is NO margin to support multi-level payout.

So where is the mulit-level payout money coming from?

BREAKING NEWS: Canada joins countries denouncing Profitable Sunrise HYIP as suspicious scheme

Multiple Canadian provinces, including British Columbia and Quebec, have their financial regulatory agency released statement about how they will investigate Profitable Sunrise HYIP as a possible fraud.

http://www.patrickpretty.com/2013/03/12/update-canadas-ontario-and-quebec-join-alberta-in-issuing-warning-on-profitablesunrise/

Breaking News: BidXCel closed

BidXcel, which apparently launched in late 2012 (after the Zeek Rewards ponzi scheme was shut down in August 2012), apparently closed in March 2013 with only a terse announcement on its website.

None of the leaders can be found, and even affiliates that formerly claimed to have made "six-figures" from BidXCel is now blaming the company for "management made a lot of mistakes leading to affiliate frustration".

There's even hearsay that one of the company owners allegedly said that this sort of business cannot survive in the US... at a craps table in Las Vegas.

BidXCel supposedly is a "legal" version of Zeek Rewards, where the company compensates affiliates to making bid sales. However, all affiliates seem to talk about was recruitment of more affiliates. The "six-figure" affiliate above claimed to have spent 3 months recruiting 200 affiliates, and each of those affiliates went out and gotten her 2000 downlines, resulting in her six-figure income.

Clearly this "opportunity" ain't what it cracked up to be... But it may have soaked up millions of dollars... and a lot of people bought something worth virtually nothing.