27/08/2010. Interview with the admin of Pickash

BEWARE! THIS PROGRAM HAS STOPPED PAYING! PLEASE DO NOT INVEST!

Hi everybody! For the first post today (news will be along later as usual) I have an interesting interview with the admin of a program that seems never far from the headlines for one reason or another since it’s launch earlier in the week. Pickash is the name of the program and already in its short few days online it seems to have history behind it as colorful as any HYIP on the net right now.

Just as colorful is the admin’s name, Robin Williams, (ask nicely and you might get an autograph, lol!) and he explains some of the issues that Pickash has had to overcome as well as the more regular aspects of the program such as security and the investment plan which offers 125% interest on expiry after 5 days, principal included. For further info on that of course you’re always welcome to read my detailed review of Pickash published here, or if you have any comments about it you are free to express them on the MNO Forum thread here.

“1. Hi admin, please start by introducing yourself to the readers of MNO and telling us a bit first about your own role in Pickash and then about your background in the HYIP industry. What kind of previous experience do you have in managing funds?

Hi Paul and all MNO readers. My name is Robin Williams and I’m the sole administrator of Pickash.com. I take Pickash extremely seriously by processing all the pending withdrawals once I’m online and answering to all support tickets as fast as I can.

2. Can you also tell us a bit more about Pickash itself? How long have you been in business? Are you running this alone or are there others involved with you? Why did you start the program to begin with?

I am the only one who manages Pickash and take upon myself all the duties to provide everyone with the best service I can. The name Pickash was always stuck in my mind and it’s a short for “Pick Cash” so that’s how I thought about this name for the project.

3. Please explain the investment plan to us in detail. What are the minimum and maximum amounts accepted? What rates of interest do you offer and how long does it run for?

The minimum investment about is $5 and the maximum investment amount is $12,000. Pickash offers its member the opportunity to collect profits constantly by receiving 125% return on their investment after every 5 days.

4. Can you give us any statistics regarding the program? Particularly in relation to the number of members, the amounts paid in and out, and to which payment processors.

Pickash currently has over 1080 members with over $100k deposited in just 5 days. I consider this as a very promising start for the project.

5. I have to say I find the stats a little hard to believe, especially considering the current state of the industry. A quick look through the monitors you use and the information they have would seem to suggest that the numbers are highly exaggerated. How do you respond?

Figures are completely real and I never fake stats. I spent thousands of dollars for the advertising campaign of Pickash and you can see the results by watching the growth rate everyday. Pickash gets stronger and bigger from day to day and I am very glad and happy about it.

6. If a reader wants to join Pickash then what payment processors are you using? I see you are awaiting verification from SolidTrustPay. Should you have gotten that before opening? When (do you think) we can expect to see them added?

Pickash currently accepts LibertyReserve, PerfectMoney and StrictPay. I might add SolidTrustPay as well in the future however I am not sure of that, and you know why. Jealous people might complain to SolidTrustPay and I don’t want this to happen so I think the best thing for Pickash is to always stick with LR, PM and SP. It’s 100% safe from jealous people this way.

7. Speaking of payment processors, what exactly just happened with AlertPay? The blocking of an AlertPay account can often spell the end for a program, so do you either a) think you can carry on without them, or b) expect your account to be re-activated again? Will the addition of STP offset the damage done here?

Of course Pickash continues as usual without AlertPay. Jealousy will never win and that person “Caution” who complained to AlertPay and attempted to take Pickash down by doing is simply a sick and mentally-ill person who doesn’t have a life and dedicate all of it for ruining this industry and attempting to hurt promising HYIP websites. I am glad it got blocked before the first payouts on expiry were processed, so it doesn’t affect Pickash‘s growth at all.

8. How highly would you rate the security of your own website? Tell us about your hosting provider and how highly would you rate them as a service provider?

Pickash is hosted on a dedicated server with the fastest speed & highest level of DDOS protection by BlackLotus. Protection is one of the most important things in my opinion and I don’t regret that I spent a lot of money for the security of Pickash.

9. What about your script? Who is the provider? What do you think the benefits of this script are to both the admin and the investors? Are you using SSL encryption?

Pickash uses a licensed Neversay script and in my opinion this is the best & most secured script, the most comfortable and much more preferable than GoldCoders. Pickash has SSL encryption from BlackLotus, yes. As I said before the protection of Pickash is my priority.

10. What kind of customer support do you offer? What is the best and most efficient way to contact you if I have any questions?

Members can simply use the contact form on the website and I will reply to their support ticket as fast as I can.

11. What have been the most common questions, problems, or other support related issues that you have had to deal with so far? Is there anything you would like to address here so that members can avoid having to contact you?

Nothing much, except of monitors spamming me non-stop everyday to add their website to Pickash rate us page, lol.

12. What if any other outside business and investment activities are you involved with? Is it fair to assume that you are a traditional lottery style online HYIP game?

Before opening Pickash I was a forex trader and it was my full time job. I am still trading forex and making good profits with it and I am using the profits I make to sustain Pickash for the longest time possible and make it an extremely successful and popular program among investors.

13. Tell us more about the general advertising and promotional strategies being used by Pickash. In a very competitive market what are you doing to bring Pickash to a wider investment audience?

I have been advertising Pickash on major forums, monitors and blogs and you can see the results.

14. Some people might question the wisdom behind opening a program such as yours at this particular time, given that so many otherwise apparently good short term programs have struggled over the last few months. Are things really going to be all that different for Pickash? Why do you think so?

Definitely. I have enough reserved funds to keep the project online for months to come and once again, jealousy won’t hurt Pickash because I will simply keep doing my job everyday by paying the payouts once I am online. If my target is to make Pickash the most successful and profitable HYIP website in 2010, I know I can do it and nothing can stop it from becoming a leader. Pickash has the highest level of DDOS protection, is safe with LR, PM, SP, and I don’t care about that “Caution” guy who posts fake and nonsense things about Pickash on the forums or on the monitors. because facts speak louder than nonsense, and I will keep paying and paying and doing my job everyday!

15. Are there any plans to develop Pickash further in the near future? Will there be any interesting changes or promotional activities? How are you planning to keep the program competitive in such challenging times?

Pickash will stay as it is, with the same design, plan and payment processors. Once again I am not sure about adding STP because I simply don’t want to take a risk and you know what I mean. I don’t want anything to hurt the program and hopefully the tremendous members’ support everyday that becomes bigger and stronger everyday by reinvesting, posting payment proofs on the forums, voting for Pickash on the monitors and promoting it in the best way possible, will show everyone how much unique and successful Pickash becomes. Thank you Paul for this interview!”

Thanks a lot to Robin for that, and good luck to all the investors choosing to join. Fortunately no harm has come to the members themselves through this latest incident with AlertPay as the funds were still in tact when the account was blocked so hopefully a refund will be made to them in the coming weeks. Hopefully also Robin will show some resolve and not quit now as quite a lot of work has gone into this. Whatever you think about the stats however, the seeming lack of paid posts on the major forums now that the first cycle has been completed would indicate that a lot of the early investors did in fact favor AlertPay. If SolidTrustPay is not to be offered as an alternative then Robin has quite a lot of work in front of him convincing those former AP investors to switch to either LibertyReserve or PerfectMoney and re-invest those refunds back into Pickash once they are made.

It’s true that the blocking of an AlertPay account has often been the death knell of many programs in the past, but fingers crossed this might be an exception due to the fact that it happened so early and before anyone was due a payout.

That’s it for the moment guys but be sure to check back here a little later when I’ll have all the main news stories from the programs covered by my monitoring page as well as the latest installment of MNOFridays where I’ll be discussing some of the less well known and less publicized aspects of the online HYIP industry. So stay tuned for that!