Pacific Webworks, Lawyers and Social Networking
Introduction
The last thing we need is more scummy scammers and following on from Google’s legal action against Pacific Webworks (PWW) one would naively have thought that the “business” folk would be more circumspect. (See previous article and comments, http://strangelyperfect.tv/5146/more-on-google-profits-and-pacific-webworks/ )
At the beginning of June, it appeared that the Google case against PWW had fallen flat and that PWW had gotten away with it. This certainly appears so from yesterday’s press announcement by the odious PWW management, such as here. It says,
SALT LAKE CITY, Jun 28, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Pacific WebWorks, Inc. today announced that a Stipulated Final Judgment and Order for Permanent Injunction was entered in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah in the Google, Inc. vs. Pacific WebWorks, Inc. matter.
CEO Ken Bell commented, “We are very pleased to have this behind us. We have devoted a great deal of time and energy to resolving this situation and are anxious to return to the business of growing our company responsibly and profitably through our new marketing program. We appreciate our shareholders’ patience and understanding as we deal with the many details involved in the development and marketing of our products to small business users.”
Quite Bad
This looks quite bad until you realise that the PWW share price and dealing volumes have both fallen!
So what does the market know about the “settlement” that we don’t, eh?
Bloosky.com and The lawyer
PWW and Bloosky, were both named by Google, and Bloosky were (and still are) represented by Blair Jackson, who is a lawyer and on the company payroll of Bloosky in various positions. (See at the bottom of here).
On checking out Mr Jackson, he’s part of:
CHRISTIANSEN & JACKSON, P.C.
10421 S. Jordan Gateway, Suite 600
South Jordan, Utah 84095
Telephone 801.576.2662
Facsimile 801.415.9340
Attorneys for Defendant Bloosky Interactive, LLC
You can see this on some delaying action in the Google case by Jackson for Bloosky, documents here and here. But it gets better… In this document, you’ll see that Bloosky are suing someone called Daniel L. Balsam for not adhering to an earlier agreement not to disclose what was said… or something. (I’ve yet to check this through! But it looks a bit like pot-kettle-black to me…)
Whatever.
socialtoolkit.com
Yes. Whatever. A bit more fishing on Jackson took me to the website(s) of one Vernon Howard.
He was scammed by socialtoolkit.com, in exactly the same way as thousands of others were by Google Treasure Chest – promoted, run, designed and financed by Pacific Webworks. It’s a scammers paradise with copious bad-web references and complaints. The “business” says on it’s website,
Each day, more and more individuals, small business owners and Fortune 500 companies across the globe are realizing the value of SocialToolKit.com and choosing to increase their Social Networking efficiency, productivity and profits. (Note to self: “I must increase my Social Networking efficiency” – SP)
Here’s Vernon’s extremely well written story:
- http://www.elementgeek.com/2010/03/25/socialtoolkit-com-is-a-scam/
- http://www.socialtoolkitscammed.me/christiansen-jackson-pc-attorneys-at-law/
It’s an incredibly detailed tale, complete with copious screenshots, of his dealings with the various parties involved. And he’s no shrinking violet. He’s taking the buggers on!
There’s only one trouble.
He’s using Blair Jackson of Christiansen & Jackson, PC – Attorneys at Law, to take on socialtoolkit.com !!
How is this Weird?
Weird? It’s positively scary!
Because if you read Vernon Howard’s account, you’ll see that he was billed by YourProfitGateway.com
YourProfitGateway.com, when you check it’s (now freely accessible) WHOIS, unsurprisingly redirects to http://www.visualwebtools.com/site/
visualwebtools.com
If you’ve been following this, you’ll know from a while back that Visual WebTools is owned and run by…….. (trumpet fanfare)
Pacific WebWorks!
Latest News from The Visual WebTools Camp
Pacific WebWorks Updates Marketing Efforts
Thursday June 24, 2010 11:52:01 EDT SALT LAKE CITY, Jun 24, 2010
Last Thursday, this is what the odious CEO Ken Bell of PWW said about his company, their marketing and their product, Visual WebTools.
Pacific WebWorks, Inc., www.pacificwebworks.com, (OTCBB:PWEB) announced today that the company continues to perfect their new marketing program which offers prospective customers the opportunity to receive a tutorial on the product and interact with the company during the buying process.
CEO Ken Bell stated,
“Visual WebTools continues to be one of the premier online software products for small businesses in the marketplace. We expect our new, more interactive marketing approach to result in a more informed buyer who will be better equipped to employ our technologies into their online business. As a result, we expect future revenues to be more stable. We anticipate revenues to accelerate during the second half of the year with continued profitability.”
Bell continued,
“During the first six months of 2010 (i.e. since Google sued them – SP) the company has focused on stabilizing profitability, servicing current customers and developing our new multi-tiered marketing program. We expect new customer acquisition in the future to be derived largely from our new direct contact marketing program. With our strong balance sheet, a current ratio in excess of 10x, tangible book value of nearly double our current market capitalization and strong historical earnings, we are positioned to continue to take advantage of opportunities in the marketplace.”
What are Google Doing?
The emphasis above, is mine. From it, you can clearly see that Bell claims that his company is responsible for all the things that lead up to the nefarious practices that then lead to people being scammed.
So is the Google thing over with yet? Why haven’t the Salt Lake Tribune said anything about it yet?
I still think there’s more to come out with this. Remember the falling share price of PWW? The markets know, you know.
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How is Blair Jackson of Christiansen & Jackson, PC – Attorneys at Law affiliated with PWW? You said this was scary! I know that they originally helped form some of these companies, but they now know that was wrong and are willing to go after them. Please explain since maybe I’m missing something that could be vital.
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Oh, never mind… I see now.
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[...] Read full post from the Strangely Perfect Blog [...]
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I’d like to get you feedback on something and converse via email if possible. Blair got back to me on the allegation that he associated with Bloosky.
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He no longer works as a attorney for them…
http://www.socialtoolkitscammed.me/email-exchange-with-blair-jackson/
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Hi Vernon
The email exchange is very interesting, and if Jackson has an “inside scoop” I’m sure that there are lots of interested parties who’d be eager for his information.
It IS certain though that he was still their lawyer on June 11, 2010 as that’s the date of the legal delaying document in the links above. (This is one)
He also says that Bloosky “is a network provider”. Well it comes from how one defines “network”, doesn’t it? Bloosky themselves on their front page describe themselves as:
For me, this means spam email lists, which I’ve gone into ad-nauseum especially with regards to the odious Robert Allen chap…..
My point about all this (and I meant no disrespect to you by my words so I hope you didn’t think that way), is that the tentacles of these “networks and associations” run very deep, especially in Utah! Everyone seems to be involved or hit by the slime in some way.
PWW have been instrumental in setting up a system that allows people to scam with ease. (I prefer the word thieve to scam, but I’ll call it scam for now).
Despite the Google “settlement”, it’s still not clear and obvious to me that PWW weren’t scamming in the first place and have slightly switched their tack as the ill winds of discovery turned their way.
Keep up the good work. I love the way you just leap in after the bad guys in such a clear and precisely validated way. We’ll get the bad guys one day, and as I said above, despite PWW’s statement this week that all is sunshine and roses, the markets seem to think otherwise!
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Very interesting. Bloosky is a cpa affiliate network but only one of many which ran the Google Kit offers. Others who ran the offers include CONvert2media and EWA Network + many many more.
The “advertisers”/”merchants” (like Pacific Webworks; Just Think Media etc) ran their “offers” (scams) through the cpa networks whose affiliate created the fake blogs and fake news sites. So Google should also be suing the cpa networks AND their affiliates as well as the advertisers. Without them the scam would never have spread like wildfire all over the net in the way that it did.
These affiliate networks are still running the same offers/scams (they call them bizopps: [short for business opportunities] but the only opportunity they offer is to have your bank account drained!) – the only thing that has changed is that all mentions of Google have been erased for obvious reasons! Almost 200 of them listed here for example: http://bit.ly/av4n4g
I am not sure why Google is only pursuing one cpa affiliate network (Bloosky) but my guess would be that Pacific Webworks passed the buck/offered a scapegoat and the Google lawyers took the bait?
Which is why the email exchange you linked to was interesting too, particularly the quote “Pacweb’s choice to throw bloosky under the bus is a really interesting one, but it will not stand. Watch how it plays out. You will see where it comes down.”
Mystery and suspense! :)
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I am a little more than CURIOUS.
Has anyone linked securecardservices.controlcrm.com or http://dietsuccessguild.com to Pacific WebWorks?
My brother Bill has been investigating them and feels that they are connected somehow but has not found anything concrete.
If you or anyone has any information it will be greatly appreciated and any help will be published on our site.
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Greg, not sure about PWEB but both those domains are linked to Encore Ads a cpa affiliate network/ advertiser in California.
encoreads.com/about.html
linkedin.com/pub/dan-vahdat/5/48/672
controlcrm.com:
http://whois.domaintools.com/controlcrm.com
dietsuccessguild.com uses domains by proxy to hide ownership but this website is on the same server:
http://whois.domaintools.com/acaileanzone.com
dan.vahdat (@) encoreads.com is associated with about 212 domains
Domain tools gives 96 domains hosted on this IP address.
Acaicomplete6.com
Acaileanzone.com
Advancedlearningtoday.com
93 more…
(I am not a member so cannot view them all)
However I know at least 2 of them are work at home scams [ultimatehomebasedwealth.com and paydayhomeincome.com] according to sameip and yougetsignal. These are promoted by EWA (Ryan Eagle) affiliate network:
http://odigger.com/offer/EWA-Private-Network/Biz-Opp-Ultimate-Home-Based-Wealth-Affiliate-Program.php
For Controlcrm.com: There are 4 domains hosted on this IP address.
Controlcontact.com
Controlcrm.com
Gcnpmedia.com
1 more…
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Here’s the rest:
Acaicomplete6.com
Acaileanzone.com
Advancedlearningtoday.com
Agelessresv.com
Botonicalbeautyessence.com
Californianomineeservice.com
Colonpuredetox.com
Completebeautysecret.com
Completeonlinesucessfromhome.com
Decolontox.com
Detoxifyingwellness.com
Dietsuccessguild.com
Directhomepayday.com
Directonlinesuccesssystem.com
Directsucesshomepayday.com
Elearningtoextreme.com
Endurancehealthcircle.com
Extremefitzone.com
Extremeprofitpro.com
Healthierfitchoices.com
Healthierphysiqueextreme.com
Healthmehealthyou.com
Healthproageless.com
Healthybodyrealm.com
Healthybodysolution.com
Healthycleansecomplete.com
Homebasedprofitbuilder.com
Homegeneratorincome.com
Homepaydayprofitsystem.com
Homeprofitsolution.com
Incomegeneratorsuccess.com
Infiniteonlinelearning.com
Interactivehomeprofitbuilder.com
Legenddataonline.com
Lifestyledetoxification.com
Michaeljacksonanniversarycoin.com
Michaeljacksonanniversarycoins.com
Michaeljacksonofficialcoin.com
Michaeljacksonofficialcoins.com
Nationalcleansealliance.com
Naturalallureessence.com
Naturalfitnessresults.com
Naturalhealthcircle.com
Naturalhealthierbody.com
Naturalherbalallure.com
Naturalresv.com
Naturalresvcomplete.com
Naturaltrimslim.com
Naturalyouthglow.com
Nutritionhealthzone.com
Onlinecompletehomesuccess.com
Onlinedirectpayday.com
Onlinehomelearningcentral.com
Onlinehomeprofitsystem.com
Onlinelearningmadesimple.com
Onlinepaydaysuccess.com
Onlineplatinuminteractive.com
Onlineprohomesystemprofit.com
Organichealthselect.com
Organicslimmingsecret.com
Organictrimmingsolution.com
Paydayhomeincomeprofitsystem.com
Paydayhomeprofitsystem.com
Paydayhomesuccess.com
Powercleansedetox.com
Powerdetoxcleanse.com
Powerfitsuccess.com
Premierehomelearning.com
Premiereonlinelearning.com
Premieronlinesuccess.com
Processhomeprofitsystem.com
Profithomesuccess.com
Propowerdetox.com
Purerevhealth.com
Pureyouthsolution.com
Qualityhealthyfit.com
Resvcomplete.com
Revitalcleansediet.com
Securesuccesshomepayday.com
Slimdownzone.com
Slimtrimzone.com
Superfitnessplus.com
Systemhomeprofits.com
Thelearningadvantages.com
Totalcolonex.com
Totalhomeincomewealth.com
Totalhomeprofitbuilder.com
Ultimatehomebasedwealth.com
Ultimatehomebusinesssuccesssystem.com
Ultimatehomesuccesssystem.com
Ultimateonlinehomelearning.com
Ultraorganitcsolution.com
Vitalbeautyessence.com
Vitalbeautysolution.com
Weight-lossreward.com
Weightlossofamerica.com
If you can afford the $18/month DomainTools is an incredible value for what you can get out of it.
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http://www.linkedin.com/pub/roy-ferman/3/207/578
Roy and Dan are chiefs at Encore and Ferman is the listed contact at Encore.. I’m not sure if it’s the same Roy, but I found a web page from 3 years back where he gives a reference to a fellow internet marketeer! This links in to his claimed time at Mobile Messenger
http://www.naymz.com/gene_phillips_2315977
Someone affected by a scam even gave his MobileMessenger.com email address here!
http://lancewiggs.com/2007/08/31/remove-yourself-from-love-lover-and-crush-calculator-txts/
The thing is, that Ferman also claims to have worked at Hotmail and Microsoft, presumably at the time the former spam central, Hotmail, got bought out by M$.
It’s not a great leap to go from the various M$ messenger products, combine them with Hotmail (which the Redmond machine has now done and calls Live Messenger or something these days as a ripost to get market share from Facebook), and then see how Ferman got involved in his own version of Messenger which seriously compromised folks’ bank accounts and computers… (just try http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=MobileMessenger.com+scam for a google search with scam…!)
Now see the current business that Ferman runs with a coterie of former (trusted) associates. For some “previous”, add scam to Hydra LLC in a google search and see what pops up! Why?
Well,
Dan Vahdat was senior accounts chappie at Hydra (from his LinkedIn profile) which was the main cpa-er behind the Google Money Tree scam (forerunner of the Treasure Chest), templated, served and cash-transacted by Pacific Webworks, as we now know!
Looking at the screenshots from the Hydra days, they’re exactly the same as the ones from 2-3 years later – you know the ones; the google cheques etc.
So yes, Greg. The links are there, but not cast in stone just yet.
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Hey thanks for the response.
Bill had found some names and templates that were very close, if not nearly exact that were associated with the two, before he quit.
He does not do much now. I rewrite everything for him so I do not have time to fill his shoes.
Anyway thanks again and great work.
I wish I had the time to investigate all of the connections, or had built a database 2 years ago when we started.
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What is it about them that makes him suspect they might be linked to PWW?
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Awesome post, Strangely
We have GOT to start mapping the connections between all the various companies and players, too!
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Those court documents from Pacific Webworks and Bloosky – wow! Anyone know what the settlement was? I know that company encore ads, and pacific webworks is not related – as I know those guys too, in Provo, Utah. Encore isn’t a affiliate network – they are an advertiser and agency – so they buy all those domains for their clients! I used to work for a company that worked with them, they sold some products online for us! Hope this helps :)
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Here’s a post from 2005 by someone ripped off by PWW under one of their other names, TradeWorks Marketing, Inc.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/multi-level-marketing/pacific-web-works-ak/tradeworks-marketing-aka-pacif-ybb4y.htm
Since 2005, in this post, you can see how PWW have gone from scamming a few hundreds of folks for THOUSANDS of dollars, to their recent behaviour of scamming THOUSANDS of folks for a few hundred dollars!
Interestingly, their much self-touted web and finance skills seem to be falling a bit flat when you try any of the hyperlinks on this webpage….
https://secure.visualwebtools.com/tradeworks/merch_app.asp
…notice the “https” and “secure” in the above link? Ha Ha.
Here’s the latest puff (from today) on the latest version of their fantastic scamming system, VWT.
http://uk.sys-con.com/node/1489462
…and it says:
One thing to remember with that little spiel, is that PWW or PWEB for traders, is that THEY HAVE NEVER EVER PAID A DIVIDEND!!! So what price shareholder value, eh?(SP)
em>
yeah blah…
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