The King is Dead, Long Live the King!
Startup Biz Kit
I’m not taking this up as actually, I want $944 per day!
The original Google Treasure Chest was wound up some time ago, and it’s owners are now on multiple charges filed by the US’s FTC. Fortunately, I took the “opportunity” to sign up for “money-making schemes”, whose snake-like charms have now provided me with a wealth of spam.
Pond Scum
Marx said, “give them enough rope and they’ll hang themselves”. In this case, this sort of pyramid/MLM/affiliate scheme has two methods of transmission. Without transmission, it’s not a business.
- They spam to get their message across.
- They use adwords to get their message across
Both methods lure people into their fold with promises of untold riches, health, slimness etc. The real money that is made, of course, is not in the product, it’s in selling the same thing onto someone else – ergo, a pyramid scheme.
Of course, by spamming, they expose their methods. Information, in this case, is going both ways, and this is how they hang themselves. It’s a huge slug’s trail for anyone that cares to follow it! And for Government agencies, should they care to follow the trail, under the new rules for ISPs etc, all data transmissions must be kept for a long time….
Here’s today’s spam:
Title: Be your own boss. Work from home with Google!
From: Quick Google Cash [email hidden; JavaScript is required]
Be your own boss. Work from home with Google!
http://INbcciigdjmgcUU.graperepel.com/another.asp?a=c&u=265595886&s=2920&e=12288639
Start Getting Checks in Days.
If you prefer to not receive email from us in the future, please visit here http://INbcciigdjmgcUU.graperepel.com/another.asp?a=c&u=265595887&s=2920&e=12288639
3549 North University Provo, Utah 84604
If you do not wish to receive future promotional emails, visit here http://INbcciigdjmgcUU.graperepel.com/another.asp?a=r&m=88659324&s=2920&e=12288639 to change your subscription settings
5776-D Lindero Canyon Rd #179, Westlake Village, CA 91362
Rulestudy.com (whois)
As CoastalDominionMedia, the owner, say in their blurb,
CoastalDominionMedia is a leading provider of direct marketing and database management solutions which enable marketers to maximize the value of their permission-based lists. Companies have the ability to increase revenues from their newsletter subscribers, customer data and prospect databases.
So these are the list holders. In their privacy policy, they state,
CoastalDominionMedia only sends email to individuals who have agreed on the Websites to receive email from CoastalDominionMedia or to individuals who have agreed on Third Party websites to receive email from Third Parties. As such, CoastalDominionMedia does not send unsolicited email messages.
The thing is, that I’ve unsubscribed from several “third party websites” as I’ve explained in previous postings. However, I never contacted CoastalDominionMedia and yet mysteriously they now have my email address, many weeks after my cancellations…
By stating their terms thus, they wash their hands, Pilate-like, of all responsibility. And yet, they continue to trade with businesses that are plainly not abiding by any privacy policy….. It’s just fluff and bollox.
GrapeRepel.com
So. GrapeRepel.com, also a CoastalDominionMedia domain, (where do they dream up the names?) redirects to…
securecartcenter.com
https://www.securecartcenter.com/NzQ0OHw5MTR8MzMyMjU3fHYy/an5on4b9/g
SecureCart.com 9 July 2009
An old friend, like a bent penny, it just keeps coming round and round. Check out my original Google Treasure Chest posting. At that time, the registrar was hidden. Now a Whois puts them right at the heart of the action, Orem, Utah! Obviously, since the Feds have been knocking, they feel the need for anonymity is somewhat superfluous!
- This is a strategically redesigned page, similar to the previous offering in style, but without the 100% guarantee rubbish and other things.
- The Google Logo is stripped out, although wording has been added to show “Google” prominently.
- The countdown timer has gone
- There are only two links at the bottom – a T&C and a Privacy Policy.
- There is no contact page although details are in one of the above…
Slime
What is really striking, bearing in mind the hammering that Eborn et al have had from the FTC, is the threatening care with which the Terms & Conditions are now written.
They are trying sooo hard to ensure that anyone disagreeing with them obviously MUST have agreed to anything they do IN THESE TERMS. Here’s some samples below. By the time you reach here, the company has morphed into “Quad Group”. But watch that…(you’ll see what I mean) See what you think:
1.1 You unconditionally and expressly agree and accept the Conditions set forth herein as a binding contract…
(the word expressly appears a lot. They’ve obviously had the Thesaurus out on this one!)
3.3 You explicitly agree to the following statement: “I UNDERSTAND THAT I MAY BE LIABLE FOR PAYMENT OF FUTURE GOODS AND SERVICES UNDER THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT IF I FAIL TO NOTIFY THE SUPPLIER NOT TO SUPPLY THE GOODS OR SERVICES DESCRIBED.”
(it’s explicitly this time…)
4.1 You agree that any disputed fee will not be charged back to Your credit card issuer. You expressly agree to submit in writing any objection regarding fees to 230 West 400 South, Suite 100 S.L.C. UT. 84101 or call Customer Care at 1-866-511-2427
This means that they are shit scared of the chargebacks! This is obviously their Achilles Heel, as Chris Malta makes plain in his video. Notice the expressly again? !!
4.2 Go Web Biz, in its sole discretion, shall determine the validity of Your objection and notify You of its decision. Should You disagree with Go Web Biz’s decision, You agree to mediate the dispute before litigation.
Oh hang on. It’s Go Web Biz now, is it? And they are judge and jury for any disagreement…. Hmm. What happened to United States law? Oh yes. It’s Utah. They don’t count that…
4.3 You agree to indemnify Quad Group for any financial harm or any losses caused by Your objections to fees that does not comply with this Agreement. You will be held responsible for the reimbursement of any fees and losses incurred as a result of Your failure to comply with any provision in this Agreement.
Er… Now it’s Quad Group. So it starts as Startup Biz Kit, and when the nitty-gritty comes round we have Quad Group - or is it Go Web Biz? And I’m supposed to pay them for any damages if I object to their crap “rules”….???
Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha.
Har……………….Har……………
I don’t think so. I doubt you do either. The whole T&C is exactly like this. What they are trying to get you to agree to, is to throw away all your rights under common law, tort law, consumer law – you name it.
In essence, you become their cash slave.
The Google Treasure Chest King is Dead. Long Live the King!
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Love the slime and pond scum pictures! :)
Interestingly the securecartcenter.com domain was the one used by Google Treasure Chest -- so does this mean they have decided to carry on regardless!?
You would think they would at least splash out 8 bucks on a new domain given that a Google search for securecartcenter.com reveals nothing but complaints!
http://www.google.com/search?q=securecartcenter.c…
securecartcenter.com is registered to
Secure CartCenter
PO Box 1941
Orem, Utah 84059
United States
888-529-3602
email hidden; JavaScript is required
and a search for that email address shows (using Googles cache) copies of the Google Treasure Chest terms and conditions page -- so it's definately the same people.
The phone number from the securecartcenter.com whois (888-529-3602) also appeared on a Spring Financial 1 site [Spring Financial 1, Customer Care, 6 Ioanni Stylianou, 2nd floor, office/flat 202 2003 Nicos, Cyprus, or by calling us at 888-529-3602] which now redirects to A1 Member -- which shows that all the A1 Member / Blazingwords /Blazing Keywords /Grantspring etc charges were also connected to the Google Treasure Chest /Money Tree people.
http://www.google.com/search?q=888-529-3602&i…
As for the oddly named GrapeRepel.com they didn't even bother to cover their tracks with the domain privacy trick:
http://whois.domaintools.com/graperepel.com shows that the owner is:
Vanessa Russel
CoastalDominionMedia.com
5776-D Lindero Canyon Rd #179
Westlake Village
CALIFORNIA
91362
US
Phone: +1.8183021709
(same address as on your email)
And indeed if you visit the root domain it's a website for CoastalDominionMedia.com
http://www.graperepel.com/
For some reason they decided to have an identical website at:
http://snowstrip.com/default.asp
as well as another identical one where you would expect to find them at:
http://www.coastaldominionmedia.com/
Reports of spam from Coastal Dominion Media
http://www.siteadvisor.com/sites/shakedeck.com/po…
Quad Group, profitstudiolearning.com, Go Web Biz and Start Up Biz Kit all seem to be one and the same as they are all mentioned on this terms page:
http://www.processcartcenter.com/NzQ0OHwxOTUyfDM1…
They do seem unsure what to call themselves!
As well as all the Utah addresses, Go Web Biz is yet another site with a contact address in Nicosia, Cyprus.
http://www.go-web-biz.com/index.php/Default/Conta…
The site is hosted in Orem Utah though:
http://whois.domaintools.com/go-web-biz.com
Yay Not Kevin!
We've been doing the same thing. I've just been padding out the post with a bit extra information and my usual tidying up to make things a bit clearer. (When I type these investigations, I usually do them on the fly so that I don't loose the key bits. This means sentence structure and spelling takes a hit… )
It's good that bit you found about Go Web Biz. I wondered where they were -- and why am I not surprised that it's Cyprus? The only thing missing now, to complete the set, is a nice reference to County Durham!
The scum and slime pix say it all, don't they?
And in another report of a Fraudster being caught and having to pay up, it appears that the Arizona Attorney General doesn't take too kindly to this sort of scammer.
See http://www.azag.gov/press_releases/2009/June.html and look for http://www.azag.gov/press_releases/june/2009/CCN%…
In the pdf, the AG specifically states the nasty methods, exactly documenting them just as I've done… e.g.
It's quite a sizable wodge of cash that's been lodged against the scammer, although, without knowing how big the business was, I can't comment much, except I think it's a bit small…
However, if it's valid, then it's a 3x penalty for the state for all the money claimed by ripped off 'consumers'.
This means, that the onus is on everyone who's been ripped off, to file a complaint with their state's AG and the FTC. If you don't complain, how will the state know that you deserve restitution?
I've stumbled across a cornucopia of porn just by looking for Ioanni Stylianou
I was going to titillate with a few website names but they are too awful, quite frankly, even for my broad strokes of freedom.
Still, cast your eyes over these 7,930 webpage results for a google search on the EXACT string of the address:
<a href="http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=%226+Ioanni+Stylianou%2C+2nd+floor%2C+office%2Fflat+202%2C+2003+Nicosia%2C+Cyprus%22&btnG=Search&meta=" rel="nofollow">"6 Ioanni Stylianou, 2nd floor, office/flat 202, 2003 Nicosia, Cyprus"
Actually, I keep getting different totals from Google on this -- but it's a lot!
[...] Only 10 days ago, I published a few screenshots taken from the hilarious scamster website called Startup Biz Kit or Quick Google Cash or something -- the point being that we never seem to know what their true name is! The posting is here: Is This the New Google Treasure? [...]
Edit
these fellas operate the google home employment hoax at profitcenterlearning.com. amazing, if you call em up and mention scam they swear up n down they don't scam. when the death penalty is the result of scamming, the scammers will just hide better.
IntelliPay, Inc.
230 West 400 South
1st Floor
Salt Lake City, UT 84101
@pete
Well said! You'll find that we've already linked Intellipay into the scam -- see http://strangelyperfect.tv/5146/more-on-google-pr… As you say, despite their protestations, they're ALL part of the same mob, all head-quartered at THAT address, with all profits and links being controlled from the same -- I mean, Google Treasure Bollocks even use the same phone number as the Pacific Webworks/Intellipay CEO!!!