UPDATE: After Claiming It Was Interested In ‘Building A Network That Ticks,’ ‘CashCropCycler’ Appears to Be DOA; ‘NEOMutual’ Also Appears To Have Gone Missing After ‘Crowdfunding’ Claims
Touted on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum by former Zeek Rewards pitchman “mmgcjm,” a bizarre “program” known as CashCropCycler appears to have tanked. Joining CashCropCycler in the recent HYIP DOA lineup was NEOMutual, a purported “crowdfunding” opportunity that claimed it used bitcoin and a series of offshore payment processors to provide daily interest rates of 1.4 percent, 1.6 percent and 1.9 on sums between $20 and $250,000.
The websites of both NEOMutual and CashCropCycler are throwing error messages. Precisely when the sites went offline is unclear. In August 2012, the SEC described Zeek as a $600 million Ponzi and pyramid scheme.
Among other things, CashCropCycler was notable for its provocative name, which led to questions about whether the “program” was designed as a taunt and perhaps was using the HYIP world to crowd-source the cultivation of marijuana. The “program” also claimed enrollees received $10 just for signing up, a practice once used by the JSSTripler/JustBeenPaid scam.
An ad for NEOMutual once appeared on the landing page of the CashCropCycler website. NEO Mutual said it was located at Revolution Tower in Panama City, Panama. Like the “Profitable Sunrise” HYIP scheme, NEO Mutual purported to be in the bridge-loan business. In April 2013, the SEC called Profitable Sunrise a scam that may have gathered millions of dollars while using a “mail drop” in England and offshore bank accounts.
In July, the SEC issued an investor alert that warned about the dangers of potential investment scams involving virtual currencies promoted through the Internet.
“We are concerned that the rising use of virtual currencies in the global marketplace may entice fraudsters to lure investors into Ponzi and other schemes in which these currencies are used to facilitate fraudulent, or simply fabricated, investments or transactions. The fraud may also involve an unregistered offering or trading platform. These schemes often promise high returns for getting in on the ground floor of a growing Internet phenomenon,” the SEC said in the warning.
Among the strange claims on the CashCropCycler website was that the “program” was interested in building “a network that ticks.”
A February 2013 ad for Profitable Sunrise that appeared on a classified-ads site in Montana South Dakota (Sept. 5, 2013 edit) claimed that “Finally we have the bomb.” In an April 2013 Investor Alert on Profitable Sunrise, the state of Idaho warned that “Those investors who receive compensation for soliciting other investors may themselves be subject to the licensing and anti-fraud provisions of state and federal securities laws.”
In court filings on April 4, the SEC said Profitable Sunrise pitchmen may have pushed the “program” without even knowing for whom they were working.
How could this have tanked, when even your president knew about it?
Thanks for this, Tony. It looks like a bid to drive signups for Empower Network by targeting traffic for CashCropCycler while at once bizarrely poaching the President and Vice President of the United States and turning them into commercial spokesmen for MLM — while perhaps simultaneously introducing Federal Reserve conspiracy theories.
At approximately the 0:48 mark, after “Biden” informs “Obama” that he’s just joined CashCropCycler, “Obama” seems to say this: “Bernanke started that one, didn’t he?”
So, a jab at Ben Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve.
The video also takes jabs at Obama and Joe Biden. Example:
“Obama” asks Biden, “Joe, what are you up to?”
“Biden” replies, “Oh, you know me. Just out bumbling around and sticking my foot in my mouth.”
The URL advertised at the YouTube sites goes to a page that shows a photo of a “Commissions Earned” check for $464,913 from Empower Network.
The presenter of the check appears to be wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, also known as a “V for Vendetta” mask — which some members of “Anonymous” also have used.
Empower Network is a purported “bad ass” marketing company. So, based on the video, one of its affiliates apparently believes it prudent to trade on images of the White House and the President/Vice President of the United States to harvest CashCropCycler traffic and steer it to Empower Network — from which one apparently can earn a commission check of nearly $500,000 and see the check held by a person wearing a Guy Fawkes mask.
Here is part of how Wikipedia describes the mask and Guy Fawkes:
“The Guy Fawkes mask is a stylised depiction of Guy Fawkes, the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up the House of Lords in London in 1605 . . .”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_mask
Patrick
[…] NOTE: Our thanks to reader “Tony” for pointing out the video described […]
Quick note: This one was worth its own story:
https://patrickpretty.com/2013/08/12/how-bizarre-will-mlm-get-youtube-video-that-drives-traffic-to-empower-network-feeds-on-name-of-cashcropcycler-and-trades-on-images-of-white-house-obama-and-biden/
Patrick
[…] NOTE: Our thanks to reader “Tony” for pointing out the video described […]