14/10/09. ShiftMoney Review and Other News

Hi everyone! As promised before taking the evening off at the end of our last post I have all the latest news from the industry for you now so if you are a member of any of the programs covered on money-news-online then this is the place to be to keep yourself up to date.

But first though I have something that might just turn out to be a real treat for those of you who still like short term high ROI programs and shrewd enough to get in at the right time. It’s called ShiftMoney and this is is getting very hot very fast. I shouldn’t have to go on at length about the risks here. Anybody that’s been in this business longer than an afternoon has got to know that by now and I think you’re all smart enough to be aware of what’s involved. You win some and you lose some in this industry but all things considered, I think I like my chances with this one. And as you know (or should know) if your going to join a short term program like this, then the best time to do it is yesterday! By which I mean you can’t join too early. They also have a very unique slant on how to generate money for their members. More about that in a moment.

So why all the excitement? Well ShiftMoney seems to be one of those rare programs that comes along every so often and just turns out to be in the right place at the right time and offers investors exactly what it is they want: good security, good customer service and above all simple plans that pay a high return with no complications. The admin has planned and researched this as well as any admin, and is pretty much launching his program as the finished article. Lessons have been learned from the failures of others and ShiftMoney seem to have preempted a lot of the problems that can arise along the way for short term programs and removed them before they ever happen. Sure the risk is still there, it always is, but I think ShiftMoney can easily outlive and out perform a lot of its short term rivals. And I’m not the only one who thinks so either. Not if the growing membership numbers are anything to go by anyway.

Let’s look at the plans before we get any further. There is quite a lot to see here and we’ll get around to everything but this would be a good place to start. ShiftMoney has three plans to start with called Plan A, Plan B, and Plan C and they work like this.

Plan A runs for 5 days. It is open for deposits between a minimum figure of $5 and a maximum figure of $1,000. Your total interest payment will be 110% made on expiry. So for example you may invest $100 and get back $110 when the plan ends 5 days later. That payment also includes your principal so it’s a profit of 10%

Plan B is open to deposits between $50 and $5,000 and will run for 15 days. It will also pay on expiry and is more of a risk, but then consider the reward which is a once off interest payment of 150%. So in practical terms if we were to invest that same $100 here then we can expect a payment of $150 on expiry. Which also includes the principal of course so it’s a profit of 50%.

And finally, and in step with industry norms, ShiftMoney‘s biggest reward is to be found with the biggest risk attached and that is what we find in Plan C. $100 is the minimum investment you can make here. Not small change but you know it’s not outrageous either, especially when compared to similar short term programs. In fact compared to some, and taking the ROI into consideration, it’s quite reasonable. The investment term runs for 25 days and the return, paid again on expiry, will be 200%. That’s double your money so put $100 in here and get $200 back. Including your principal of course. The maximum you may deposit is $10,000.

Well, so far so good. The plans look quite simple (as they should) and the whole process is quite uncomplicated. But there’s a lot more going on here than first meets the eye. The first thing you should know, and this really is most unusual for a short term program, is that ShiftMoney offer a sort of “cooling off” period. This means that you have a certain amount of time in which you can change your mind, and get your money back in full, minus the transaction fee. Of course you should really be sure about this before you begin, but I guess we’re all only human. Should you have second thoughts then you have 48 hours within which to explain the situation to the admin and he will process your refund within 72 hours after that. Anyway, it’s hardly something I’d expect a lot of you to be taking advantage of, after all it’s hardly the reason we’re joining, just to pull out again the following day. But it’s a nice touch and the very fact that it’s there at all should make some people feel a little more secure. ShiftMoney‘s excellent FAQ page will link you to another page with a more detailed explanation of their refund policy so take a quick look if you’re interested.

Another question that’s pertinent to the plans might be are they sustainable? Doubling your money in 25 days as is offered by Plan C might sound mighty tempting but that’s not enough to actually make it happen repeatedly over the coming months now is it? Well, believe it or not, it doesn’t have to be sustainable. The current crop of plans are only valid until November 15, after which they will be adjusted and something else will be in their place. It also means that this review becomes obsolete so I’ll have to write a new one. (Thanks a bunch admin! Lol!) But one would imagine that come November 15 the admin will be able to assess the performance of ShiftMoney over the previous month and have a more realistic idea of how best to proceed from there. Will the interest rate rise or fall? Will the investment terms be extended? Will the minimums go up or down? All of this we would expect to be decided in a fair and responsible manner and will rise and fall over time to best cater for the investors without putting unrealistic pressures on the programs budget.

And I must say I really like this approach. Without naming any names or dragging up some unpleasant memories, I wonder just how many of the excellent programs that collapsed this year would be still with us if they had taken a similar tactic? Once a month, review the situation, and inform your members of the state the program is in, and adjust your plans to a realistic level. “Cutting your cloth to fit your hip” I believe is the expression, and it’s pretty sound advice no matter what you are doing.

Next there is the all important topic of your payment options. And they’re not bad at all. The list could hardly be better in fact with all the main players available including AlertPay, LibertyReserve, PerfectMoney, SolidTrustPay, and StrictPay. Bank wires are also accepted if you prefer not to deal with online processors but please be aware that (and this is standard industry practice) wires are only taken for deposits of $1000 or more and only into the 25 day Plan C. Whether you intend to use them or not, the mere presence of bank wires should also indicate that this is a serious program and not designed to disappear overnight. Ok, I know that it doesn’t guarantee anything, least of all your deposit, but the fact is that setting all of this up leaves too much of a paper trail for the amateur conman to deal with. Sorry to sound a bit cynical but it’s true. It’s just too complicated for a quick scam.

The list of payment options also mentions credit cards but this is slightly misleading. You may use your credit card to fund your e-currency account, and then deposit into ShiftMoney. What you may not do is use your card to deposit directly into it.

And finally before we move away from the investment plans there is just a couple of other brief points I need to make. First of all you are allowed a minimum withdrawal of $5. There is also a flat basic fee of $0.25 for all withdrawals, regardless of size. Payments are processed once per day at 22.00 EST. That’s New York or Montreal if your looking at a map, so work out your own time from there. But you are requested to allow up to 48 hours for the whole process to be completed.

ShiftMoney is running off a licensed GoldCoders script and is hosted on a dedicated Staminus server with protection from DDoS attacks. Turing codes and transaction codes are also in place for a little extra protection. The overall design of the website though is really quite good. One of the better ones I’ve seen recently I’d say. One excellent if somewhat extravagant feature is a downloadable flash presentation explaining the program, its plans, and the line of business they are in enabling them to meet the payments. Some elevator/steam room style music plays in the background. Nice but I found it a bit annoying after a while. But that’s just me. There is also a robotic voice in your account area that tells you what you are doing. Very convenient as some people never seem to know! Communications and customer support are well attended with a couple of direct e-mail addresses to different departments (depending on what you’re looking for). You can also submit an online support ticket. Best of all however is as always the addition of a Live Chat feature where you can get your questions answered in real time. Live Chat will work for four hours per day. Links are also offered to the discussion threads about ShiftMoney in the relevant investment forums.

There is also a postal address in Belize. Naturally I am in no position to validate that, but as it is the, for want of a better word, “home” of many such online off-shore style ventures then I tend to doubt I’d find anything there if I called. A bit misleading for newbies maybe but nothing seriously wrong there either. Although they do have a fax number so any readers with a machine (alas I don’t have one myself) can drop them a line and let me know how you get on.

One of the most interesting aspects about ShiftMoney though is their supposed outside business activities. The admin informs us that under the control of the same crew behind this HYIP is a number of online e-currency exchange service providers. Now, most readers will know how skeptical I am when it comes to the claims made by any HYIP about how they generate money. ShiftMoney will, until proven otherwise be no exception. I’ve always been right in the past so why should they be an exception? But you know this story isn’t exactly beyond the realms of possibility either. I mean why not? The idea of the admin of an online e-currency exchanger running his own HYIP as well is totally feasible. In fact I can think of few people more qualified to do so. The exchangers in question aren’t named here so I’m afraid I can’t really give any kind of endorsement to those claims, but it is an interesting concept. And a welcome break from the usual bankers.

In fact the program as a whole is an excellent prospect. Not as high a risk venture as might first appear, provided the admin does a proper assessment of the program when it comes time to re-drawing the plans. And definitely one that’s designed to run longer than the usual program with such plans. The verdict? Cautiously optimistic. But quietly confident at the same time. The admin, from my admittedly brief dealings with him, impressed me with how he runs his business and his knowledge of the industry. I suspect a man who knows well what he’s doing here. No novices working for ShiftMoney, that’s for sure. And don’t underestimate the presence of a skilled admin as an asset either. So in short, I’d say make room for ShiftMoney in a well balanced and diverse portfolio.

Other news for today.

Let’s start today’s news by staying on the theme of short term programs. The admin of RoyalRoi program (reviewed here) paid me on expiry of my deposit in the 125% after 5 days plan. The program is now 7 days online and has 322 members and counting. Possibly to make the growth even higher the admin of the program Richard (who I sent some interview questions to today) launched a 10-day referral contest today with cash prizes for the first five winners of between $50 and $200. Monitors and blogs are not allowed to participate in this contest so regular members are in with a great shot at winning it. The contest will continue till the 24th of October and only active referrals will be counted. Here is the most recent update from RoyalRoi:
“This is Richard Clifford, your manager of RoyalRoi. We’re online now for 7 days already and so far 300+ registered members. Not a bad start! Recently the very first deposits expired and so they are paid already. I should say thanks for your support – posting your notices on forums really will take us to the next level. Let’s keep rolling, folks! I feel that this is just the beginning of something big.
So I’m here with another great news – RoyalRoi launches its first contest, a Referral Contest. Sweet cash prizes and bonuses guaranteed. Check it out here.
That’s all for now, enjoy your stay and let me know if you’ve got any questions. Richard Clifford”.

Speaking of interviews, you probably want to know when the promised extended interview with the admin of GoldNuggetInvest Robert will be published on my blog. I have received a very apologetic email from Robert who asked me to give him another 24 hours to finish it. I’m not complaining though as I’m sure the interview will be a huge hit and extremely popular among my readers. So stay tuned as the wait will soon be over and we will all know where GoldNuggetInvest stands now. Believe me, I’m waiting to read it as eagerly as any of you guys.

I just checked ReliableFunds website and I couldn’t believe my eyes. The layout was completely different and I must admit it was much better looking than the previous one. There is now even the explanation under the word “reliable” made in the program’s header now. So “ reliable” means “that may be relied on; dependable in achievement, accuracy, honesty”. Well, all I can say that so far ReliableFunds has proved its reliability with on-time payouts (the admin even apologized to me today that the payout to LR was not instant). Some attractive yet sustainable plans of 21% for 5 days (limited offer), 115% after 10 days and 125% after 15 days with all the major payment processors accepted are surely combining to make ReliableFunds a hit among investors with over 1,000 members joining the program before it’s even two weeks online. Today the admin of the program launched a referral contest but (what is more important) he promised to add phone support next week and even invited everybody to see their real office in Texas. Well, as you know I’m far away from the Lone Star state but if you’re curious enough and live in the area then why not take them up on their offer and let me know if you find anything there. Anyway, here is the latest from ReliableFunds:
“Hello! Please read about our referral contest here.
ReliableFunds already have 1054 members! Congratulations to all who already have gained profit from here.
Our phone support number will be published in next week, so stay tuned.
Also, our office is open to visitors and those who want to visit us and learn how everything works please contact me by writing to the email address dvdfeldon@gmail.com
Office is located in US – Texas!
They who still have not read review about ReliableFunds click on this link below http://money-news-online.com/blog/2009/10/12/111009-reliablefunds-review-and-other-news/
As some might already have noticed we have changed the homepage colors in header & logo, I hope that everyone likes those colors better than older ones.
Also, please vote in monitors and post when got paid in forums. Monitor links and forum threads you can found by pressing this link.
More contest soon, please stay with us!”

The administrator of the above reviewed program ShiftMoney issued his second daily update today. It seems that ShiftMoney is really getting hot after just 48 hours online with hundreds of members joining already and with some monitors and bloggers promoting the site like crazy. So ShiftMoney will definitely be a very hot program to join for the next couple of weeks especially considering their attractive plans and the possible backing up of their profits with a real income from e-currency exchangers. Here is the latest update from Bernard, the admin, received today:
“About 48 hours ago was launched on the Internet ShiftMoney Inc., an innovative program, if you are receiving this message is because you are part of it, Congratulations!
This is a quick newsletter about the latest updates of the site. We received some e-mails from bloggers that are already promoting ShiftMoney Inc., that’s very good. Yesterday administratrador of blog Mywayofmakemoney published an interesting article about our site, is a very detailed review done by a very thoughtful writer. I personally liked the article, you can read it here.
I believe in the next hours more articles will be published, I read Paul, administrator of Money-news-online will publish review about us today. I also received an interview request from a Spanish newspaper, which I hope to meet up tomorrow. There are many niches interested in ShiftMoney Inc., you can find threads, news, banners, articles about us everywhere. Many visitors are viewing our site, the number of people interested in the program is really impressive.
Some investors still did not register and/or invested in the site for questions about the legitimacy of our business. This is normal, we could not expect people to believe easily seeing the various problems of HYIP industry, if we wanted things easy we would not have worked for so long on this project. We ask you that contact us when you have any questions. Everyone is invited to talk directly to me or to Felix, just visit the support page and click on the link to Live Support, we are online every day from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm EST. It will be a pleasure to serve you and answer your questions. ShiftMoney Staff.”

MindPowerSurf (reviewed here) is still going strong and the admin Mircea (interviewed here) keeps sending the latest stats from the program on a daily basis. Recently the 400th member of the program has registered his account and therefore was rewarded by the admin with a cash bonus
“We just reached 400 members. Thank you all for your great support. The member with #ID-400 (from Ukraine) received a bonus (10$) from admin as upgrade in Mind Plan. Regards Mircea I admin MPS”.
And there was another email from Mircea addressed to all the active promoters of MindPowerSurf to contact with some info specified below (I don’t know why he needs this but hopefully we’ll all find out about that tomorrow):
“Please all active and VIP members to send me an email or a support ticket concerning: 1. Total referrals; 2. Total active referrals; 3. Total amount of referral commissions received till now; I’m waiting for this information till tomorrow Oct 15th, 12:00 AM. You’ll see why after receiving this information from you. Mircea I admin”.

I would like to finish the news review of short-term programs today with a warning about SensibleInvest. As I imagined the program faced some difficulties with AlertPay because the option of depositing and withdrawing via that payment processor was disabled by the admin Sandra. At this point the program is paying selectively but not to AlertPay. The worst thing about that is that nobody heard from the admin (who was usually quite active on the forums) since this problem with AlertPay arose. So I assume that the program may well collapse very soon and I advise you not to spend money there, at least until we hear something from the admin. I have already moved SensibleInvest to Waiting status on my monitoring page.

One of the most promising newcomers in the low-ROI HYIP arena is definitely CSMFinance (reviewed here). I like the stable plans the program is offering (1.7%-2.1% for 100 days with the principal back on expiry) and most of all I like the instant payouts to LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney. I expect CSMFinance to become the next big thing soon and advise you to watch this program’s performance closely. Today CSMFinance published another trading report on their website and you can see it below:
“Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. released seven breaking news since 9.30 EST today. CSM traders got four blocks of OPTT shares with a total market value amounting to $762,289.00. All the shares have been out by 4PM EST. Total gain from this trade: $301,429.00. The day was awesome for our company. CSM team had no mistakes and losses for over 6 months. Today’s chart of OPTT looks great: http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=OPTT
We will keep improving CSM with each month. Please check Trading Activity section in the Member Area to learn more about completed trades.”

What is one of the most impeccable programs ever with an absolutely astonishing payout record and a stable performance for over a year is undoubtedly GeniusFunds (reviewed here). Their payment records can make almost any program’s admin jealous but their profitable low-ROI plans and choice of payment processors are the real attraction for the majority of serious investors. Unfortunately, with the enormous popularity comes jealous people willing to attack the program’s good name and attack the users computers with malicious software. So GeniusFunds recently issued a statement warning the investors against opening the attached file allegedly coming from the administration of the program. So please read this warning from GeniusFunds carefully and don’t become a victim:
“Security Alert
It has come to our attention that a spam e-mail, claiming to be from GeniusFunds, has been circulating recently. The e-mail claims that we have changed the terms and conditions of investment, it thereafter asks you to open a file attached to the e-mail. These e-mails are designed to steal your login credentials and gain access to your account, if you open an attachment to this e-mail, it may also infect your computer system.”

Some very good news came today for all the members of SolidTrustPay payment processors that were eagerly anticipating their long overdue payments to Debit Cards. It seems that the wait is over and all outstanding withdrawal requests have been paid in full. I really hope that all the right conclusions were drawn from this near disaster and appropriate measures taken to prevent it from happening again. SolidTrustPay really suffered from that delay and now it will take much time and effort before they can recover their reputation. Here is the latest from the STP blog regarding the current situation:
“Debit card loads are now back on track. All requests will be completed within our usual 1 – 3 business days. Any members with pending requests previous to October 10th will be completed by end of business day today, October 14. Requests from October 10th and beyond are in our normal processing window and will be completed by the 3rd business day or earlier. Monday, October 12th was not a business day due to a holiday in both Canada and the US.
Members whose funds were pending longer than 3 business days will receive the full amount of their load request on their card (no fees have been deducted). They will still see the fee as having been removed from their STPay balance, but that fee was added back on to their card load.
Your patience has been greatly appreciated and, moving forward, steps have been taken to ensure these types of bank wire delays do not ever occur again. If any member ever has to wait longer than 3 business days again, their load will be done without any fees.”

If you’re interested in funding your StrictPay account from different e-currencies here is your chance to change your LibertyReserve for StrictPay with 0% fees and your SolidTrustPay to StrictPay for only a 2% fee. This promotion is from the MNO endorsed exchanger – Xchanger and its admin Andrei (read my interview with him here). Here is the latest news and promotions from them:
“Hi everyone, Short update here.
1. Special Promotion:
– SolidTrustPay to StrictPay for only 2%!!!
– LibertyReserve to StrictPay for 0%.
These promotions are only for a limited time. After, the rates will go back to our normal rates. Take action now: http://xchanger.org
2. Membership levels limits were again increased with $500. More details can be found on the homepage and in the FAQs.
Told you it will be a short update.
Take care everyone, Xchanger team”.

I would like to sincerely thank everybody who already participated in my readers’ poll and to invite everybody who hasn’t done so to cast your vote for your favorite investment forum. There are five options available to choose from and you’re only allowed to vote once. I will be changing the poll’s topic in a couple of days so please let me know what forum you do prefer. The poll is located at the end of the right sidebar of my blog.

So far the results of the poll are the following:
1) In first place is MMG (MoneyMakerGroup) with 28% of all votes. I consider it as one of the most popular choices if you want to stay on top of things.
2) Second place is surprisingly occupied by GoldNuggetInvest‘s members forum. It scored 26% of all the votes so far and I believe it has something to do with the professionalism of the moderators there who not only help you out if you have some personal account issues can also discuss other things. I consider GNI forum is a very promising one that definitely has the potential to become the largest private investment forum pretty soon.
3) ASAMonitor occupies the third place with 24% of the voters. I personally consider ASA as the best forum where all “I got paid” meaningless posts are disallowed in favor of the proper discussion on a more professional level.
4) TalkGold is only the fourth with 19% of the votes. I believe TalkGold has lost a lot of its popularity recently but you can find some interesting rumors there. They may not necessarily be true but but they are kinda amusing to read anyway.
5) And predictably DreamTeamMoney scores the worst result, trailing behind in distant last with a dismal 4% of the voters. This forum started a few years ago as an attempt to be different from main MMG and TG forums. However now it’s absolutely pointless IMHO and has nothing to offer beyond meaningless posts from the same clueless people over and over again. I don’t consider it as a post worth my attention anymore. You would appear to agree.

Anyway, those points are just my personal opinion about those forums and you’re entitled to have your own by casting your vote. There is still only 54 votes so I will keep counting them.

There were two new programs added to my monitoring page today. The first one is 4CountriesCapital. It’s a pretty high quality and well-made program running on a MonetarySoft script and hosted on a dedicated Staminus server. The most interesting thing about 4CountriesCapital however is the thing that they are properly incorporated in Scotland. The city of Aberdeen to be exact. I have verified their number and it seems to be identical with the Companies House information which is available publicly. Well, as we know it doesn’t prove anything (remember SilverLodge with their UK incorporation certificate?). But it certainly is an interesting factor that will affect some people’s investment decision. They also list phone numbers on their website and their address in Aberdeen. I’m going to visit Scotland soon so I believe I might just drop in and check the address out for myself. 4CountriesCapital derives from 4 traders from different countries that allegedly work together as a team providing investment returns to the investors. 4CountriesCapital has four investment plans with all the of them returning your principal on expiry: 1.5% daily for 10 business days (minimum is $5), 2% daily for 20 business days (minimum is $20), 2.8% daily for 30 business days (minimum is $50) and 16% weekly for 6 weeks (minimum is $100). There are three payment processors being accepted: LibertyReserve, PerfectMoney and StrictPay. You can deposit via bank wire as well which is allowed for all deposits over $2,500. Partial compounding up to 50% is also allowed and you can choose the level when first making your deposit. All in all, the program looks quite interesting and I’m really looking forward to bringing you a more detailed review of this program soon.

The second program is a low-ROI HYIP called PremiumCapital. It just launched a week ago and at first only accepted LibertyReserve, PerfectMoney and EcuMoney. Today two more popular e-currencies have been added: AlertPay and StrictPay, so the options are pretty good. The investment plans are the following:
Test plan for the deposits less than $10 (as low as $1 deposits allowed) pays you 1% for 5 calendar days with the principal back on expiry.
Regular plan will pay you 2%-4% (depending on how much you deposited) on every business day for 100 days and the principal will be returned back on expiry.
Finally, there is another plan for investors who enjoy a risk that will pay you from 200% to 250% after 50 days depending on the size of your deposit.
PremiumCapital is running on a GoldCoders script and the program is hosted on a dedicated server with Dragonara DDoS-protection (at least the admin states that they are protected by Dragonara). I will look more closely at this program for the next couple of days and will bring you a detailed review of PremiumCapital on my blog soon. Stay tuned for that, guys!

And so to finish for today it’s the usual payment report. There were very many programs that paid me today, among: RoyalRoi, AmericanInvestmentFund, WOIC, YesICanSurf, MindPowerSurf, PanaMoney, BlackDiamondPortfolio, Verifield, SeamlessProfitable, CSMFinance, AimTrust, IncoForex, NanoMoneyCorp, ReliableFunds, GoldNuggetInvest, MoneyCare, GeniusFunds, WLInvestments, TheFifthContract, FxCapitalInvestment, CedexInvest, OneDailyPro, GainRoi, XrateInvest, GlobalFund, Capitalex, KobelCapital, SavInvest, InvestmentForge, XomFund, Metualis, XagaEnterprise, PTVPartner and ShiftMoney. That’s it for another day, guys. See you all tomorrow!