Hi, guys! I know from my shoutbox that many MNO readers enjoy a drink or two so I guess many of you would appreciate some of the interesting drinking establishments I cam across in Norway. There’s a number of excellent micro brewery style pubs where they only serve beer brewed right there in front of you on the premises and each one is totally unique to that individual bar. Hours of fun and never ever get the same drink twice! But my last night in Oslo topped them all when I spent a wonderful (if somewhat hazy!) evening in the Oslo IceBar. Drinking is one expensive pastime in Scandinavia you’d do well to forget about if you ever take a vacation here But I have to tell you it was one fantastic experience. The entire place is made from ice, the walls, the furniture, the statues, everything. Even the drinks were served by a snowman! (Ok, just kidding about that last one). Alcohol cocktails of your choice come in glasses made from ice, all served under some cool soft blue lights in an igloo style room kept at minus 5 degrees centigrade (about 26 Fahrenheit I think for U.S readers). The extremely chilly room was awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere which reminded me of the Russian winter, so if you ever visit Oslo don’t forget to check out this place as it’s definitely worth it.

Now I’m sitting on the train to Bergen going hundreds of meters in the air through the mountains and watching the glaciers from the window. But since it’s a long journey it’s a perfect opportunity for me to use the hours to analyze some of the main news stories from the HYIP industry over the last two days. Well, I must admit that there is really something to discuss so let’s get started.

I would like to say that although the first payouts from Pickash are yet to be received the referral commissions are getting paid like clockwork. I noticed that the admin spent a generous amount to advertise his program and you can see Pickash banners virtually everywhere. Of course, it’s no guarantee they will last for any length of time, but at least proves that the admin will not run away until he is at least in profit and covers his personal expenses which I don’t think will happen soon.

Despite the shall we say “cheerful” stats shown on the website at the time of writing claiming over 640 members depositing more than $62K I highly doubt this is really the case here. Analyzing my current referral stats in the program and comparing it with others displayed on other monitors it all looks a bit far fetched. If it were true then it means that every single member that signed-up in Pickash spent $96,7 on average. Considering the current state of things in the industry, the general downward trend and the amount of free members in Pickash that didn’t invest at all (about 50% I’m guessing) I highly doubt these stats are true. Well, I guess that is kinda fun when we hear it from a well-known Hollywood comic Robin Williams (the admin’s name), widely regarded to be a master of disguise. Anyway, the desire to make everything look bigger and better than they are in reality is a common trait among many admins this one is no exception. A bit of bravado can sometimes boost confidence after all, and it’s still a long long way short of the lies peddled by so many others in this business. This just means that the program is still very new, but in my opinion still very promising as no huge spends are made before the first payouts are processed on Thursday. By the way, Robin agreed to answer my questions for an interview which I’m going to submit by Thursday when the first payouts on 125% after 5 days plan are going to be processed. So if you have something to ask please do not hesitate to submit your questions to my email abramsonp@gmail.com and I will use them for my upcoming interview with him. Here is the first official newsletter from Pickash:
“Dear members, This is Robin Williams, your administrator of Pickash, and this is our first newsletter.
These are the statistics of Pickash at the moment of writing this newsletter:
Started: August 21, 2010, Running Days: 2, Total Members: 647, Total Deposits: $62595
I must say that I’m simply amazed by the amount of honor and respect Pickash has received in less than 3 days old online. Almost 650 members with over $60k, and this is in a such short period of time. Pickash launch was extremely successful and exceeded all my expectations. The project has a winning start and the growth rate is totally astonishing even though the first payouts on expiry are yet to be processed (the first ones expire on this coming Thursday). As Pickash is the fastest growing HYIP website on the net today, I would like to thank everyone for the enormous support. I have been receiving thousands of e-mails daily with positive feedbacks and encouraging words to break a new record in the life time of short-term HYIPs and keep Pickash online for months to come. I’m fully aware of the very high level of excitement going around Pickash, and I promise you, that I will do ALL my best to meet all your expectations. I treat Pickash project extremely seriously, and will do my job everyday by making payments and answering to support requests in the shortest time possible.
Please don’t forget to post your payment proofs on the forums and vote for Pickash each and every time after you get paid. Members’ support is the most important thing for me as you probably noticed because I believe that this is the key to the non-stoppable growth of Pickash. I spent a lot of money for the advertising campaign of Pickash and it indeed very effective, but just imagine the effectiveness of it in addition to the efforts of members to promote Pickash the best way they can. I remind you that you may find all banner codes of Pickash on your members area, just click on Referrals button and you’ll see a link there to all of them. If you are a blog/forum/monitor owner that and believes that advertising Pickash on it will contribute the popularity of the project, please don’t hesitate to promote it on your website and helping Pickash to become number one in the HYIP industry.
Ok I guess that’s all I wanted to say for our very first newsletter.
Regards, Robin Williams”.

By the way, if you want to know my opinion on Pickash along with the detailed description of the program, please check out my review published here. The review was also featured on his site and he published a small update about stating the following:
“Pickash Review on MNO Paul has just published a review of Pickash on his blog. You may read it here”.

If you haven’t read yesterday’s interview with the admin of OnlineMDT you can do so here. In today’s newsletter he mentioned the interview and MNO thread where you can submit your comments about the program. I remind you that after the dropping of the test plan offering you 102% after 1 day, OnlineMDT is left with three others (109% after 3 days, 119% after 5 days, 129% after 7 days) with a minimum to invest of $15 which you can still invest via three payment processors (LibertyReserve, PerfectMoney and StrictPay). For more details you can read the full review here. This is the latest news from OnlineMDT:
“Hello To all dear members
As you know in the previous advertisement update which published some days ago and you received it, we told that we have added our website in Money News Online premium listing and by follow we bought their banner too, and today we proudly announce you that our review and interview is ready and you can read our interview. And if you have any question please visit our forum: http://money-news-online.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=454 and just ask your questions, surely we answer as soon as possible. This is another step to achieve success.
Surely we are happy to receive any suggestion. So don’t hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards. Rabins.”

The payout button has been opened again now in 144CashAds as usually happens on Mondays. You are now free to request your payouts from the 1% for 144 days plan and the other 5 plans. Full descriptions can be found on my detailed review published here. Since the depositing process is quite complicated you’re strongly advised to read the review first before joining 144CashAds to understand the process thoroughly and how you can get to the plan which everyone desires – 144% after 12 days. Don’t forget that 144CashAds can also be used as an advertising platform for your own website if you have one as you can exchange credits given to you for ads which will be displayed on the program’s website. It’s a complimentary option which can be very useful particularly if you wish to advertise your referral links for other HYI programs you may be a member of for instance. Anyway, the payout button is open and the reminder was sent yesterday stating the following:
“Welcome all new members. If you need any help pls send support mail or chat live (Online few hrs every day on weekdays).
All payout done and Payout button open for this week.
You can buy advertise package from advertise link.
Thank you. Lewies
Project admin”.

The program which has been #1 on MNO monitoring since last January is EzProfit (reviewed here). They started only having one investment plan offering 1%-2% for 999 days but now they have a much wider selection offering many different options for your investment. Unfortunately, the admin of the program simply mislead the investors by stating that the interest is paid to you daily on the two plans on offer: 7%-8% for 180 days and 10%-12% for 90 days. In reality, you will be paid on expiry of your investment in these plans so it’s generally misleading. After receiving complaints from my readers about that I changed the investment plans on my monitoring page to reflect the real state of things so nobody would get confused anymore. Unfortunately, on the website of EzProfit there are still some texts that confuse the members and at some point I have to start to think it was deliberate. Really, what can be easier than to change the plans’ descriptions and tell everybody that you will be paid on expiry and not daily?

Anyway, I guess today there is another strange marketing effort under way. They state that the 90-day plan (which nobody received their profits from yet) is so popular that the 200,000 shares which cost $250 each are selling like hot cakes. For me it’s the same thing with Pickash, the admin claiming $60K deposits in the first three days online which is simply impossible. Do the simple math and you will see that EzProfit stated that they had sold the units for this plan for 50 million dollars worth every year. I bet that number is significantly higher that the turnover from the entire online HYIP industry. Anyway, operating such huge amounts just cannot be taken seriously by anybody who is familiar with how the HYIP industry works, other than newbies. However, since I just report the news from monitored programs I should simply give you what’s written on the website of EzProfit and leave you to draw your own conclusions:
“Good News
We will have 300,000 units = USD75 million of 3 months fixed plan investment contract in year 2013. More than 200,000 units we offered this year and more than 250,000 units we offered in year 2007.
Now the units in 3 months fixed plan are selling fast like hot cakes. Grab at least one unit before the units are sold out or you may wait until 2013.”

Although I don’t monitor GoldNuggetInvest anymore due to its official closure a few months ago I find it necessary to post the latest newsletter which didn’t exactly bring the best possible news to anybody who still waiting on the promised refund. Most likely they will probably now have to wave their money good-bye according to the email I just received from Robert last night. Here is the full text of the newsletter accompanied by my comments after that:
“Greetings to all GNI clients:
My apologies for the recent lack of communication. We needed time to sort out the current state of affairs as they were / are many.
The over-riding concern I have as the Managing Principal of the GNI Program is the safety and well-being of GNI Staff, their family(ies) not withstanding myself and my family.
Reading emails whereby disenchanted GNI customers or GNI Pool Funds Managers are offering $10,000 for providing personal information of those trusted persons who have busted their tales working to provide the best Customer Service any On-Line Program has EVER provided, makes me sick. Death threats, verbal assaults, profanity, abuse, false accusations; none of it grounded in anything more than misinformation, disinformation and malfeasance.
Further exacerbating this situation, all I read on our own Private Forum is that “we don’t care,” or that “we have run.” This I just don’t understand. We have paid staff who have competently and consistently been there to answer questions and attempt to give you, our trusted members some sort of “Peace-of-Mind.” As most forum members can surly appreciate, I visit the forum regularly. If I don’t post, it’s because I have nothing to say. I am more than satisfied with the performance of the GNI Staff you should have come to know and trust.
Despite all this, we are still here. We haven’t disappeared!! It would have been easier if we had, it would have made the principals in this program wealthy, but it would have been wrong. Need I expand on this?
To conclude the refund process and dissolve GNI in a fair and equitable manner, we must now expand the closure criteria to include the word and associated activities, “SAFE”!!!
Anything less would not just be irresponsible, it would be reckless.
Therefore, we have consulted with those privy to the situation – how best to conclude GNI in a manner depicted above but should also include any potential for GNI Administrative Conflict of Interest; would necessarily provide for the relief of any further refund responsibilities by me or any other current or former GNI principal / partner or employee.
Therefore, it has been decided to place the program and the available funds into receivership for liquidation. We will hire competent, professional court approved receivers who will liquidate the assets consistent with the laws of Belize governing the liquidation of an IBC.
I cannot be anything less than straight-forward, this is probably the least preferred method of concluding GNI, in terms of what it will cost and how quickly it will deplete the available funds which would otherwise go to you, the refund recipients.
When I am accused of engaging in anything less than stellar activities when it comes to client resources, I am compelled to take the course of action which will show that my conduct should never have been called into question.
The logical question(s) which come to mind would be:
1. How long will this process take?
Answer – No idea. An educated guess would be 6 months to a year or more. We are working diligently to retain proficient professionals to handle this. Beyond the hiring of these persons, it will no longer be in our hands.
2. Will the refunds be as you promised, 101.5% of the Principal amount?
Answer – No it will not. It will be less. How much less is not for any GNI personnel to comment or state as we will not be consulted in this fashion.
3. What about the funds at Yesilada Bank?
Answer – The receivers will be made fully aware of all GNI funds outstanding. Certainly these funds will constitute a significant influx of funds. Whether this will further delay refund payments will no longer be subject to current GNI staff.
4. Will we have to submit new documentation?
Answer – Whether the receivers will accept the Refund Application(s) as a viable “Proof of Claim” is not for current GNI Staff to comment on. This decision will be made by the receivers accordingly.
CONCLUSION:
We understand this decision may not appeal to everyone, it was one that truly was easy for us to make. We worked very hard to make this program work; unfortunately we made some tactical errors from which we learned and vowed not to repeat, while maintaining a strategic, forward thinking plan which we have used to build upon, strengthen and embellish upon those who maintain their trust in us.
As always, we remain with best regards, Robert and Team”.

First off, I find myself in agreement with Robert on his first point. It is disgusting like he said that the GNI staff are being threatened like this. On the other hand, I can well understand the anger and frustration of those people who trusted their money to GNI believing the stories about a risk-free arbitrage betting based opportunity which now appears to have been no more than an extremely well orchestrated ponzi. While paying GNI was the largest program online exclusively monitored on MNO, and as HYIPs go arguably the best. And I have to say I treated Robert as a very respectful person and genuinely believed in what he had to say to the members.

But I also think I am just one of many people to learn a valuable lesson here – that all HYIPs are at least (and at best!) partial ponzies. GNI was in no way an exception. They may very well have made some money from arbitrage betting, but if they did then it was in no way enough to support the 6% weekly interest payments to their members. While the growth was significant there was no problem, but once the industry took a pounding and the hate campaign was spread on Talkgold forum the days of GNI were numbered. This was really unfortunate and I must say that Robert didn’t give up his program very easily and continued with his best efforts to put it right but ultimately having to close the program and promise refunds.

Personally I was highly dubious that the promised refund of 101.5% would be fulfilled as promised in the last update. I am aware that some people did receive something but unfortunately it remains a tiny fraction of the full amount owed to the members. The frozen bank accounts (if they are really frozen) and the StrictPay scam where also much funds were apparently accumulated only worsened the situation. So in the last update Robert said that he had enough of all the threats and saw no other alternative than to let independent experts take control with the company put into receivership. What it means actually that Robert is removing all responsibility for refunds from him and his staff, possibly fearing for their safety. Considering so many people sank so much money into GNI and lost it then the fact that desperate people will resort to desperate measures can be expected and they will do everything possible to get their money back after being so misled by Robert.

The next question concerns the true legal status of GNI and how (if at all) it affects your chances of a refund. From my point of view GNI cannot be considered a legal venture in the state of Belize where it’s allegedly registered. Just to show you how easy it is to incorporate your company I did it myself, spending a minimal amount of money and answering very few questions in the process. Within 24 hours I had MNO registered a as a proper and legally established company and had all the necessary documentation and my virtual office in London taken care of. After that no doubt was left in my mind – any incorporation given to you by any HYIP has no practical value and if that’s so easy to do in the European Union I can only imagine how easy it might be in some banana republic with less strict enforcement.

You should also remember that any registration regardless of how much you paid for it does not give you to offer financial services. For that you should obtain a special license. The process may be different under various jurisdictions but the core remains the same – the process of obtaining this license will involve you answering a lot more serious questions. Like what qualifies you to manage other people’s money and how on earth can you offer such ridiculously high rates of interest like the vast majority of HYIP have. That’s why the warning about GNI was issued by the official government agency in Belize, warning that despite being registered GNI had no right to offer you any financial services.

So the question arises if GNI was not properly registered and operated on illegal basis, how can it be possible now to pay to everybody what’s left by legal means? How do these alleged “professional court approved receivers” know who you are? Do they know where you live? How did you confirm your identity when joining GNI? I already published the first article on MNOFridays (read it here) discussing how HYIPs have no real business behind them and that even the very best ones are still partially ponzi-based. So it’s simply makes it impossible to liquidate the GNI incorporated company by legal means. Otherwise, Robert and the others who made GNI possible will, to be blunt, face jail time (or at least some form of legal censure) for maintaining financial activities contrary to the law. Needless to say incidentally that GNI are not alone in this, it applies to all anonymous unlicensed online HYI based programs.

So as we can see from the latest email from Robert the chance to get refunded is getting more and more remote. I would be really surprised if any of the members still hoping for one ever see their money back in their bank account soon. I think GNI is a really perfect example of how any HYIP, even if it claims to be legal, is going to finish. So please be careful with any HYI program as regardless of what their owners tell you it’s always going to be you who takes the risk. Not them. Ever!

I would like to thank everybody helping me improve MNO by voting in my polls from where I can see that my readers prefer Lipton tea (my favorite choice as well, lol). But also I have now a more serious poll that will determine the future of my forum. I can see that the majority of MNO readers chose the option: The forum should be reconstructed with more diverse subjects and moderators added. I want to thank you for your opinion and say that I’m currently working on that and possibly soon have a very professional moderator on board. Hopefully, together we will be able to achieve what I can’t do alone with more diverse subjects being added that will encourage further discussion not only on the HYIP industry but also on some other topics that will be on interest to all of you.

Here is the list of the programs featured on my monitor that paid me for the last 48 hours:
Flamanta, OnyxInvClub, CashMiner, YamaFinance, ReProFinance, MutualTreaty, PawnShopFund, GroupUniversal, AvaInvestment, GlobalTradeManagers, FundsOMatic, Pickash, OilStructure, FutureTrails, VividTrade, OptimumPride, HOX, YesInvestment, EzProfit, 144CashAds, WorldPrivateFunds, OnlineMDT, UniteTrade, RedOrchidInvest and CherryShares.

That’s all for today, guys. I hope you found my daily news interesting and I hope to see you all on MNO tomorrow.