He didn't want the same outcome as Charles now has with Traffic Monsoon.
Below is a segment from the Court papers outlining the complaint against Traffic Monsoon.
You'll notice that the 'business model' is practically a carbon copy of My Advertising Pays:
Case 2:16-cv-00832-JNP Filed 07/26/16
'This matter involves an ongoing Ponzi scheme and offering fraud operated by
Charles David Scoville (“Scoville”) and Traffic Monsoon, LLC (“Traffic Monsoon”),
headquartered in Murray, Utah. Scoville formed Traffic Monsoon in October 2014.
Since inception, defendants have taken in from investors approximately $207
million in sales of a product called the “Banner AdPack” (“AdPack”)
Over 162,000 investors throughout the world have invested in AdPacks. As of the beginning of 2016, Traffic Monsoon was taking in approximately $25 million in cash each month.
Defendants solicit investors through Traffic Monsoon’s website and through
YouTube videos featuring Scoville. The website states that Traffic Monsoon’s mission is “to provide high quality ad services for affordable prices, and share revenues for a perfect winning combination that will lead to the ultimate success of our customers.”
Defendants market Traffic Monsoon as a successful Internet advertising services
company. They represent that it is a combination of an Internet traffic exchange, where users browse each others’ websites, and a pay-per-click program, where users are paid to click on others’ website banner ads. Defendants represent that its profit is derived from seven different highly desirable advertising products.
In reality, Traffic Monsoon’s advertising business is an illusion designed to obscure the fact that it is offering and selling a security in a pure Ponzi scheme. Over 99% of Traffic Monsoon’s revenue comes from the sale of AdPacks. The company has virtually no other revenue from any other source. All payments to investors are made out of these funds...'
'...Traffic Monsoon offers and sells seven different Internet advertising products.
Only one of these products, the AdPack, entitles the member to share in the company’s profits.
Traffic Monsoon has two kinds of members, “free” and “paying.” A “free”
member is someone who participates in the traffic exchange without buying any services, merely clicking on ads which Traffic Monsoon calls “cash links.” A “paying” member is someone who has purchased any product, including the AdPack, from the Traffic Monsoon website.
AdPacks cost $50 each. For this price, the investor receives 20 clicks to his
banner ad, 1,000 visitors to his website from the traffic exchange, and the ability to share in Traffic Monsoon’s profit.
If the 20 clicks and 1,000 traffic exchange credits were purchased separately from
Traffic Monsoon, they would cost $10.95. The investor is paying just under $40 for the remaining component of the AdPack, the profit sharing opportunity.
f the $50 paid for each AdPack, Scoville distributes 10% as a commission to the
person who introduced the investor; 4.5% for payment of Traffic Monsoon expenses; 1.5% to the company’s programmer; 79% to the company reserve fund; and 5% to a fund for sharing profit with AdPack purchasers.
Scoville uses the reserve fund, which initially was maintained at PayPal Holdings
Inc. (“PayPal”), to supplement investors’ profit sharing. His system automatically adds reserve funds to the profit sharing every hour. The reserve fund is used in this way to “smooth out” the profit sharing payments.
Investors are not informed that the reserve fund is used to supplement the sharing
of Traffic Monsoon profit.
Scoville has programmed the Traffic Monsoon system to share profits with
qualified accounts based on sales that took place 24 hours earlier. In YouTube videos he has created for Traffic Monsoon, Scoville uses the analogy of a bucket, which fills gradually with small drops of profit until the contents reach the “fill line” of $55.
Once the AdPack earns $55 it cannot earn additional profit. The investor may
then withdraw his funds or, if he wishes to continue to participate in profit sharing, he may buy a new AdPack.
The Traffic Monsoon website claims that there is no set timeframe for the
investor’s account to reach $55, or any assurance that it will ever in fact reach $55.
Traffic Monsoon treats the investor’s $50 payment for an AdPack (except for the
10% referral commission portion) as revenue to the company at the time it is paid.
Traffic Monsoon’s website discloses that the $50 payment for an AdPack is all
deemed revenue to the company at the time it is paid. The website provides no assurance that the investor’s “bucket” will ever reach the $55 “fill line.”
Nevertheless, historically, investor accounts receive a return of about $1 a day,
meaning that investors receive their $50 back, plus a $5 return, after about two months. This equates to a return of 10% over approximately two months.
If investors continue to roll their returns over to purchase a new AdPack every
two months, they will receive an annual return on investment of approximately 60% a year.
Scoville established this 10% rate of return and controls how quickly investors
accounts accumulate returns, in part by adding to the profit sharing from the reserve fund.
Scoville established this 10% rate of return and controls how quickly investors
accounts accumulate returns, in part by adding to the profit sharing from the reserve fund.
In order to share in company profit, AdPack investors must “qualify.” To qualify,
they must click on 50 banner ads in the traffic exchange in any given 24-hour period.
Traffic Monsoon makes it very easy for investors to complete their 50 clicks.
When they log into their dashboard they see (1) a banner ad to click on; and (2) the hours and minutes remaining in the 24-hour period. The investor is required to view each banner ad for only 5 seconds, and a counter appears that counts down the 5 seconds for him. At the end of that time the investor must click on an image that appears, to verify that he is a human, and then the next banner ad appears automatically. The act of completing the 50 clicks takes the investor 4.1 minutes per day.
Regardless of how many AdPacks an investor owns, he is only required to click
on 50 banner ads for 5 seconds each in a 24-hour period to remain qualified to share in profits...'
Spot the difference between Traffic Monsoon and My Advertising Pays!
And just because Mike no longer has MAPS registered in the USA, doesn't mean he is out of reach. In this day and age, we have telephones, emails, skype. A whole host of ways for the SEC to communicate with any country's authorities and take any action they want to .
You think MAPS won't go down the same way as Traffic Monsoon?
Think again! If you haven't already withdrawn your seed money, we recommend you do this asap - before it's too late!
I can't believe that MAPs has been getting away with it for so long. The authorities really need to act quicker with these so called get rich quick schemes.
ReplyDeleteTara has changed my minds and pushed me to understand what is a scam and what is closed system. Who will pay money to person who beats with hammer in one spot and creates nothing. Every time to see ad you need to inform - i am not a robot. It is like children sandbox. Real business has clear value inside.
ReplyDelete