Hi everyone! For the first of two posts today I have what I think is a very entertaining and informative interview with Terry form IntermedInvestments. And it’s pretty candid in places as well which I hope you appreciate as much as I do.

Something that has never failed to surprise me in this industry, in fact shock me sometimes, is the amount of people out there who simply do not want to know the truth about what they are doing. The industry seems to be practically alive with investors who prefer that they be lied to with stories ranging from ForEx trading to digging for gold, and when someone tells them that it ain’t true, they simply don’t wanna know about it. Strange, true, and something I can’t explain. Which is why when I come across admins like Terry and programs like IntermedInvestments it’s always like a breath of fresh air. Sure, the risk is still there, but at least now you have someone who will make it explicitly clear to you before you get involved and (it’s my belief) is not setting out with the deliberate intention of robbing you. Though of course you can still lose anyway.

Anyway, I think I’m getting away from the point here, which is IntermedInvestments. If you don’t already know they are are a long term HYIP and a very successful one as well. They have been running for almost six months now so whatever they are doing they seem to be doing it right. The terms available include 1.25%-1.75% for 100 business days, and 7.5%-10% for 20 weeks. For further details on IntermedInvestments you can always refer back to my original review of the program published here.

“1. Hi Terry, please introduce yourself to the readers of MNO and tell us about your own role within IntermedInvestments. What are your own duties within the program? Do you have any previous experience in managing an online investment project?

Thank you, Paul, for the opportunity to answer these interview questions. I’ve been following your blog for over 2 years now and noticed that in all of your interviews, the questions get harder the further along one reads! Your first question is, of course, the easiest.

My name is Terry Jameson. I am the administrator and online account manager of IntermedInvestments. All program and account management issues come through me. Consequently, I am responsible for making the program available to online investors, and managing their accounts. I also sign off on any and all communications coming from our program. If my signature is not at the bottom, the e-mail didn’t come from us!

My experience to this point is only as an investor, both online and off. The reason I am in the position I am in is because of my online investment experience. This is a statement that will become more clear in an answer to one of your other questions.

2. Can you also give us some background on the program? How long have you been running? Apart from you is there anybody else working on IntermedInvestments?

This is a more complicated question than it seems on the surface. To begin with, the online program was officially launched in late October, 2009. Currently, I am the only admin. Apart from some outsourced secretarial and technical work, I am alone. Program administration is a daunting task for any one person. But I am not responsible for bringing in the profits – that is up to the people who hired me. Again, the explanation for this is more appropriately placed in an answer to one of your other questions.

3. What about the investment plans? Can you explain them in detail to us? What are the minimum and maximum amounts for investment, what rates of interest are on offer and how long do they run for?

The investment plans are simple by design. Many of the most successful programs I have seen have only one or two choices. Ours are as follows:

Our Daily Plan runs for 100 business days. We pay between 1.25 and 1.75% per day, depending on your level of investment (from $5 – $200, 1.25%; from $201 – $1000, 1.5%; and from $1001 – $20,000, 1.75%). Payments are made only Monday through Friday.

Our Weekly Plan runs for 20 weeks. This one pays between 7.5 and 10% per week, again depending on your level of investment (from $5 – $200, 7.5%; from $201 – $1000, 8.75%; and from $1001 – $20,000, 10%). Payments are made once a week.

The minimum investment for both plans is only $5, and both will return your principle at the end of the investment term.

4. Tell us about the payment options available from IntermedInvestments. What payment processors are you currently dealing with? What are the most popular choices among your members?

We currently accept LibertyReserve, PerfectMoney, GlobalDigitalPay, StrictPay, and AlertPay. The most popular choice by far, surprisingly enough, is LibertyReserve. I say “surprisingly” because in my experience, though easy to use, LibertyReserve has NO customer service, NO recourse should the investor be scammed, and too much anonymity for the program admins. I decided to offer it as an option only because so many investors only use LR.

The decision to accept Alertpay gave me pause, to be sure. AP has had their share of problems with online investment programs. Freezing accounts without warning is a practice which would make any admin nervous! But I relented to popular opinion and decided to accept AP because I feel the advantages far outweigh the risks.

5. 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?

Let me start this answer by saying I am NOT a computer genius. Until 2 years ago I didn’t even know what DDOS stood for.

But judging from other sites I have seen, HushHosting (our hosting provider) is a popular choice. They have great communication about potential downtime and so far, with almost 6 months online, we have had no issues with DDOS attacks. I think that record speaks for itself.

6. What about your script? Who is the provider and what do you think the benefits of this script are to both the admin and the investors?

Neversay provided the script. However, it is an older version of his script. Even though the new version was available at the time we started online, I felt the older version was more user-friendly for our members. Simplicity is important in online investing. Security, as it always is with Neversay, is top-notch. I have never heard of a Neversay program getting hacked, and we have not had any problems to this point.

As far as the benefits, other than security, the script is easy to navigate, easy to read, and straightforward. Can’t ask for any better than that when it comes to online investing.

7. What kind of customer support do you offer? What is the best and most efficient way to contact you if I have any questions? What is the most common question or support issue that you have to deal with?

There are several ways to contact me. There is a contact form on our website. Listed underneath the contact form are several e-mail addresses. Which one you use depends on your particular issue. In the event the website is down for any reason, I can be reached at IntermedInvestments@gmail.com. This is my “emergency” e-mail address.

The most frequent question I am asked, believe it or not, is “Do you return principle?” I thought this was clearly stated on our “Investment” page, but to be fair, there may be a language barrier with some investors not comprehending this bit of information. To reiterate, yes, principle is returned for both of our plans.

As far as other support issues, there is the occasional “lost password” or “login doesn’t work”, but these are quickly and easily dealt with.

8. Can you give us any statistics about the program regarding the number of members, the amounts deposited and paid out, and the popularity of the individual plans?

You have undoubtedly noticed that this is information we do not include on our home page, as many other programs do. The reason is simple – the numbers are too easy to manipulate, and so become meaningless (or they should at the very least be ignored by investors). The space is better used for news or announcements, or even nothing at all. The less cluttered a home page is, the better.

That said, our current membership stands at around 3000 members. Growth is slow and steady (as planned). As far as deposits and payouts, the most important fact is that our payouts have been processed within 24 hours every request, every time, for almost 6 months (though I ask for 48-72 hours). That record speaks for itself. The returns we offer are profitable, yet sustainable. That is, of course, key for any online investment program.

The daily plan, as expected, is by far the more popular option for our members. Daily payments are almost always preferred by online investors (myself included when I was an investor).

9. What other outside business and investment activities are IntermedInvestments involved with? What are you doing with your member’s money and how are you generating such profits? Can we see any proof of your activities here?

The program is a bit different from other online HYIPs. Bear with me, since the explanation is a bit lengthy.

I was hired by a group of investors to specifically run the online portion of the program. Until now, this group (there are 8 of them who formed a sort of “investment club”) has been investing in their personal portfolio, with great success. They have specific rules for investing their own money (maintaining a reserve fund, only reinvesting a percentage of profits, etc.) which has helped them to maintain their success. They had explored the HYIP arena for investment purposes. Although they unanimously decided NOT to invest their money in HYIPs, they thought it would be interesting to see how the online community would receive them when presented as an HYIP. Of course, an added benefit would be increased funds for investment, which could potentially increase their own income significantly (”it takes money to make money”).

So, to answer your question, money invested by the online community is placed in the “investment pool” of their club, and thus the income is generated.

As far as proof, to put it bluntly, there is none. And quite frankly, it wouldn’t matter. Any proof I might receive from the investment club could easily be forged. And I would only be passing on this information to you. You needn’t look any further than recent events on Wall Street to realize that “proof” of investments means nothing. The only proof is in the payments made.

10. You have some interesting thoughts on the HYIP industry on your homepage. Is there anything you’d like to share with the readers of MNO about that? About how the business really works and what people with vested interests would tell you?

The “thoughts” detailed on our home page are born from a healthy cynicism I developed as an investor in HYIPs. If you think of HYIPs as a game (and I know you agree with this assessment, Paul), and stop thinking of them as actual investments, you will do a lot better.

People make the mistake of believing what they are told. Anything told to you by a program admin can be made up, or not, but there is no way you can know what is real and what is fake. As I’ve pointed out on the home page, telephone numbers can be faked, registrations can be easily obtained, etc. And as we’ve all seen numerous times – none of it really means anything. Some of the most heavily licensed, expensive, professionally-designed, ssl encrypted, secured websites have disappeared without a trace. While several I can think of that didn’t have all of these things lasted beyond anybody’s expectations.

For “newbies” to the online community, remember this: Even Bernard Madoff provided “proof” of investments and their returns. He even paid many people during the 30 years he was running his scam. And he didn’t even have the advantage of anonymity that HYIP admins enjoy! If he can run away with millions with everybody watching, what makes you think an anonymous admin can’t do the same (albeit on a smaller scale)?

Most HYIPs are total BS. That is the bottom line. Treat online investing as you would a casino. Enter only with money you could live without. If you lose it, no big deal. If you make money, it’s all gravy.

By the way, I realize that by honestly stating my views on HYIPs, I risk being lumped in with the very admins I am describing above. That’s a risk I take. The point is, if you approach HYIPs correctly, it shouldn’t matter what I’ve said.

11. Following on from that, how would you realistically rate the chances of a new investor to earn more money than they lose over the course of let’s say 12 months? As an admin yourself is there any advice you would give to those with less experience?

If a new investor is smart – treats this like a game, develops a strategy for withdrawal, always assume an HYIP will fail – then they will be more successful. Get in early, since with most programs if you can get in at the beginning you have a better chance of being in profit when they fail. Get your principle back as quickly as possible. When I was investing, I never compounded. (This is why we don’t offer it on our site.) A low threshold for exiting a program never hurts as well. First sign of trouble, get out if you can.

A few simple rules:
1. Never invest more than you can afford to lose. Don’t invest the “rent money”!
2. Never compound until you at least have your principle back.
3. Spread out your investments. “All eggs in one basket” is a death sentence for your money.
4. Don’t let your emotions get the better of you. If a program is doing well, resist the urge (and it is a STRONG urge) to put more money in. Stick with your original strategy.
5. Most importantly, remember: It isn’t really your money until you have it in your hands. Just because your member account with a program says you have a positive balance, doesn’t mean you actually have that money. Withdraw, withdraw, withdraw. In my opinion, if you plan on reinvesting, it is better to withdraw to your e-currency account (pay the fees), and then redeposit. This provides at least some proof to you that the program is paying. Otherwise, you may be setting yourself up for significant disappointment.

Follow these rules, and HYIPs can be a lot of fun!

12. Are there any plans to develop IntermedInvestments further in the near future? Will there be any interesting changes made soon? I believe you are planning to redesign the IntermedInvestments website completely, is that true? Why do you feel that necessary?

The decision to redesign our website was solely a matter of taste. My taste, to be precise. To call it “necessary” is a bit strong. Obviously, the site works. But I felt that it could look better.

To be clear, the ONLY thing being redesigned is the actual appearance of the site. No script changes are planned. And we don’t plan on making any changes to the financial aspects of the site. The old design is functional, but cluttered and hard to read. The new design will be much more pleasing to the eye – in my opinion. And we don’t plan on making any changes to the financial aspects of the site. Of course, an announcement will be made before any new design is installed.

As far as future development, I feel that the growth of our member base is proceeding at an adequate pace. Expand too fast, and the growing pains tend to be worse.”

Thanks a lot to Terry for taking the time to answer my questions, and also for making the effort to make it a bit more interesting than usual. Good luck to all the investors that decide to get involved there. That’s about it for the moment guys but don’t go too far as I’ll be back a little later this evening with a full news update from all the programs covered on MNO. See you then!