19/12/2011. AlertPay Scandal and Daily News from the Industry

Hello all! Monday night again and time for another issue of all the important news from the most popular investment programs in the HYIP industry featured on the MNO monitor. So, put your feet up with some tea and a muffin and sit back to find out just what’s been going on.

I guess a lot of you might have realized by now that when things slow down a bit in the industry over the weekends, Saturday is generally the time I use to take advantage of that and try to focus a bit more on news updates from the payment processing service websites so important to keeping the online HYIP industry moving. One news story that I missed completely that relates to AlertPay – and it’s hardly surprising that I missed it as AlertPay won’t exactly be broadcasting this one themselves anytime soon – was sent to me by a couple of different MNO readers today. It’s already widely known that AlertPay have been having some problems with credit card transactions in recent times, but I wonder how many of us were truly aware of the full extent of their problems? I know I certainly wasn’t, but the following article that originally appeared in Canadian newspaper The Montreal Gazette did a lot to open my eyes.

I have to say that (if true) it’s quite a scandalous piece, and the allegations being raised against the payment processor stretch far and wide beyond the usual forum accusation of being a “ponzi enabler” (not something I’d fully agree with personally, as in this case it’s demand fueling supply and payment processors, AP or otherwise, simply take advantage and cash-in). Anyway, as it’s pretty serious maybe some of you would like to read the article in its entirety before we go any further. If so then it was first published on November 25 of this year, the journalist’s name is Jason Magder, and you can read his investigation here:
http://www.montrealgazette.com/AlertPay+Firm+alleged+provide+payments+questionable+goods/5763861/story.html

Now, I myself have to admit that I have next to no knowledge of what exactly one can do with an AlertPay account other than play the HYIP industry. While AP would like to style themselves as a rival to PayPal, I honestly can’t name one single non-HYIP related website that uses them. You can buy just about anything online, and like most people I too have bought movies, music, books, electronics, plane tickets, hotels, and so on over the net. I’ve been doing it for years now, have lost count of the stuff I’ve bought, but have yet to encounter a seller that accepted AlertPay. I mean the article says there are almost 8 million AP accounts in existence, a simply mammoth number in comparison to the number of HYIP players out there. What are all those millions of accounts being used for because it sure ain’t online HYIPs where users number in the thousands, not the millions. But it looks like I wasn’t shopping for the right products because it seems that illicit narcotics and child pornography are are among the list of “services” AlertPay are currently being accused of accommodating. And I do stress that this remains an accusation, and no more than that until the authorities investigate. But it does seem that the whole business has soured the relationship between AP and a number of banks enough to force them to freeze AlertPay funds held in their vaults.

By the way, sorry to sound glib but I wonder what it feels like for AP to finally be on the receiving end of the same treatment that they themselves have handed out to so many of their own customers? It might even explain why they’ve been so enthusiastic when it comes to freezing customer accounts when the banks seem to be scrutinizing their own accounts with them in turn. Just speculation, but a point worth considering.

But getting back to the news article, what could it mean for the future of AP and their role in the HYIP industry? For the moment they continue processing bank withdrawals (and pretty speedily too it has to be said) so on the face of it it doesn’t look like they’re going anywhere, but there’s no denying their wings have been clipped. AlertPay director Firoz Patel has been quoted as saying he “expected AlertPay to have Visa and MasterCard processing back up this week or early next week.” He said that a month ago, and yet nothing has happened. And in my opinion nor is it likely to. The intervention of a UK member of parliament appealing to AlertPay to stop channeling money for websites dealing in a synthetically produced narcotic after the death of one of his constituents who had been abusing the substance seems to have had mixed results, and a seemingly cool response from the payment processor themselves. As new so-called “designer drugs” can be created by anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of chemistry and access to a college laboratory faster than the health services can research them, assess the risk, and outlaw them. In the meantime while you’re waiting for bureaucracy to take the necessary measures, sure, you’re not doing anything illegal (for the moment). But any grown adult with half a brain and an ounce of morals knows it sure ain’t right!

Distasteful as I find the allegations of child pornography, Patel to his credit does at least go on to offer an apparently valid explanation, pointing out that it’s impossible to police how individual private members (who don’t have a commercial website of their own) use the account. OK, I don’t like it, and I think he needs to address the issue, but as things stand he’s correct. On the issue of online drug dealers however, sorry, but this is as bad an excuse as I’ve ever heard. It seems a case of “laissez faire” and as long as the law isn’t looking too closely at the issue then AlertPay won’t either. As soon as the government get involved the AP are all over it (saving their own skins in the process), but not before. I can tell you now that when elected politicians and High Street banks start taking an interest, this is unlikely to end well. What’s more, it looks especially bad when AlertPay make an absolute joke out of their own terms and conditions that explicitly prohibit “Pharmaceutical and controlled substances” and “Drugs and related paraphernalia (including but not limited to research chemicals and illicit herbal incense)”. So it’s not just limited to the obvious ones like crack or meth or heroin. Seems like as long as the cops don’t know about what you’re doing, well, AlertPay can close an eye as well as long as they continue to collect their slice of the profits.

I can also tell you now for a fact that mainstream banks, credit card companies, or regulated financial service providers do not need proof of any wrongdoing on your part in order to freeze an account. All they need is the suspicion. If they have proof they will seize your funds (and rightly so in the opinion of any right thinking person!) but even if it’s a gray area where they can’t establish 100% liability on the part of AlertPay they will at a minimum close the account, return the money, and tell you very firmly to “take your business elsewhere in future because we do not want to see you here again under any circumstances.”

To conclude, and to answer the question I was asked by one of the readers who forwarded me the original newspaper article, no I don’t think this is the end for AlertPay in the HYIP industry. I don’t think they’re going anywhere (except possibly further underground). But I do think their self awarded credibility goes out the window, along with any pretense that they were ever anything other than the shady internet business that the rest of us always knew they were anyway. I also think they can pretty much forget about those fanciful ideas that they would ever be welcomed into the world of mainstream business and seen as competitors to PayPal.

AlertPay, let me be the first to welcome you back to the same alley as LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney – where you belong and for the foreseeable future where you’re going to stay!

DAILY NEWS FROM THE INDUSTRY

After 13 weeks online PaidJack has established its name and even successfully survived some DDoS attacks from their competitors and a database crash. I believe such obstacles just prove that we’re dealing with an experienced admin here who doesn’t just give up as soon as any problems arise. Instead he keeps making payments and improves his program. To commemorate the first three months online the admin of PaidJack Wayne (read my interview with him here) issued a newsletter today announcing the addition of one important feature that will allow investors to withdraw only part of the principal from their accounts and therefore not to be obliged to take all their principal back and be deprived of weekly earnings you might have received otherwise. PaidJack currently accepts investments starting from $20 via three payment processors – AlertPay, LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney. The only investment plan on offer pays 7% weekly interest credited to your account automatically every 7 days and can be withdrawn and paid within 24 hours on request. From my detailed review of PaidJack (published here) you might know that any investor can request their principal back anytime for a 10% withdrawal fee. Therefore, it takes only two weeks to be in profit. However, before today investors only had the option to withdraw the principal in full. Now you can take out a percentage and keep earning with PaidJack with the rest. I think this definitely makes the program more flexible and allows members to handle their profits in a more exact manner. As for further information and promotion of PaidJack one can now use the PDF file where everything is explained about them in a visual and highly comprehensive manner, enriched with examples explaining how it all works. In my opinion this, along with the translation of the website into French and Italian makes the program more appealing to a wider circle of potential investors. More communication tools have been added recently to improve communication between the admin and his members and now PaidJack also has its own Facebook and Twitter account which will also help them along. Here is the latest newsletter in full discussing all the recent features added:
“Newsletter
Dear investors, PaidJack is now three months old and we decided to send out a newsletter to discuss some of our recent developments. Our sales have been outstanding since the middle of October and our businesses stand at a great position, sales are usually stimulated by Christmas at this time of the year and we took advantage of it to build extra financial reserves and rise the level of some of our investments.
Many people contacted us because they wanted to withdraw just a part of their principal but it was not possible. We have now updated our script and you can withdraw just a part of your principal if you wish and you will still receive interest over the part left. Now it’s possible to make an investment, collect some profit out of it and withdraw just a part of your initial investment, it’s even easier to be in profit and still have an active investment. If you have more suggestions for PaidJack, please don’t keep them to yourselves, contact us and we will study the possibility of implementing it.
We also built a beginners guide for PaidJack and it has been published in our site. This guide may not be helpful for you but it will be for people who have never invested in HYIP before. There’s also a PDF version of this guide so please feel free to download and use it to promote PaidJack to new people. We would like to remind you that we offer a referral program that pays a 5% commission.
We are constantly working in our page. You may have noticed we made a few changes to our design and very soon our page will be available in Italian, we are still studying the possibility of introducing new languages. Twitter has also been added as a new social media, you can contact us via Facebook or via Twitter and we will answer as soon as possible!
Thanks for staying with us during these first months. PaidJack is still a baby program but we have already given strong steps towards a brilliant future.
Have a nice week, Wayne Harvey, PaidJack CEO”.

The admin of another increasingly popular program which reached the #8 position on MNO after only five weeks of monitoring – HYIPInnovation (reviewed here) – is in search of the best monitoring sites with an open poll in which investors can leave messages about their favorite sites providing HYIP monitoring services. I fully encourage all MNO readers to submit their stories and support MNO in this poll, especially that I see many grateful readers now who praise my blog for its fast action on programs that pay selectively, changing their status to save much money for experienced investors. In my opinion, by picking the right monitors who are on the same side as investors and not the scams we will all be able to make the industry better. I remind you that HYIPInnovation pays 5% on every business day for a duration of 25 to 40 days (depending on your investment in the program) via LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney which includes your principal. Hopefully, such a sustainable plan and obviously an experienced admin behind it will help them survive the current slow down and expand in the new year. And if you want to find out more about the admin please check out my interview with him posted here. This is the latest update from the program which you can read meanwhile:
“HYIPInnovation – News Release 7
Dear HYIPInnovation members,
We hope our press releases and news letters are always finding you in a positive mood (or creating one) and this one is not an exception. If for some reason this is not the case, please check our earlier news publications on the website and you will find there just the “recipe” about what to do, to set your mind to the right tune.
We wanted to remind everyone once again that we are conducting a poll on HYIP monitors which YOU, the program users like and use. We will be publishing the results and our comments of such poll periodically, so please keep your emails on this matter rolling. One of our goals for the remainder of the year 2011 is to make at least one such publication. This is to ensure that YOU can be ready and start the next year with the RIGHT web resources at hand and so that YOU too can be as successful as others using them already. As promised in our last press release, some important peculiarities on “what is HYIP monitor” theme, also will not be left unattended.
Lastly, we wanted to thank those who already submitted their favorite HYIP resources picks, although seeing the results, we think that it would be better if your submissions also include the preferred language. Not only can this information become part of the poll, but we are also planning to have the language needs covered for our own website in the nearest future as well.
High Innovative Five to all of you and thank you for your attention.
Sean Mebokan on behalf of HYIPInnovation Team”.

The admin of OneInv announced the addition of another plan. Please note that investing in this is highly discouraged by me. As with the recently added 1500% after 300 days plan the newly added 2500% after 250 days plan with $500 minimum to invest is also described inaccurately and in a deliberately misleading manner, possibly to get more takers from LibertyReserve and PerfectMoney depositors – the only payment processors accepted by OneInv. Although the program (first reviewed on MNO here) pays fine on all the original plans – 11% for 10 days, 0.6%-1.2% daily forever and 1%-2% for 300 days – you shouldn’t forget that these new too-good-to-be-true plans are the ones to be avoided. So, just for your information I’m posting the last update which has been seen on OneInv‘s website today:
“Premium 250 Plan Launch !
Premium 250 plan pay 10% daily to your account for 250 days. Total 2500% return. Principal deposit not return. Your pure profit will be 2400%. Limited time and limited amount of investment offer.”

Here is the list of the programs featured on MNO list from which I was paid for the last 48 hours:
ReProFinance, EVBusiness, Royalty7, HyperCompound, TopWallet, APEnergyInvest, BaseBucks, JackPotProject, ForexReflex, TopsFund, OneInv, PaidJack, FXMoguls PerfectLottery, BonusPayMe, WorldwideCapital, LifeTimeProfits and AmbrianInvestment (the first payment received).

That’s all the news I wanted to report to you tonight, guys. See you all on MNO again tomorrow!/a