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Add Your Chat Room Listing to Chatmag If You Find a Link That is Not to a Chat Room, or Have any Other Concerns About a Link, Please Let Us Know	Two Agencies to Fight Online Narcotics Sales Illegal Pyramid Schemes Criteria Grocerybiz.net Cybermoms.net World Wide Scam Network MomsWin.com MomTeam.com Xplatinum.net Topsitez.us topsitesusa.com topsites-us.com Amazing Internet Products LLC "Nigerian Scam" Now you can create your own   18 October 2003 NY Times. By GARDINER HARRIS From the New York Times: "Two federal agencies, the Food and Drug Administration and the Drug Enforcement Administration, have formed a special task force to crack down on the growing tide of illicit sales of narcotics on the Internet..."Like anyone else, I'm inundated with spam for hydrocodone, Valium and Ambien," said Elizabeth Willis, chief of the drug operation section of the D.E.A.'s office of diversion control."". For the Full Story, Click Here (free registration required). MORE SCAM INFORMATION... Build a web site, and make $2500.00 a day! We do all the work, you make all the money! Make money by tying your web site into eBay!  Accept Credit Cards on your "very own" web site! Need we go on? The past few years have seen quite a few online scam artists come out of the woodwork, ready to help relieve you of your cash.  Most of them you will see on Infomercials, touting their "instant internet web site to riches" such as GalaxyMall or Internet Treasure Chest.  -Update- 2 July 2003 A Federal Judge has issued a Temporary Restraining Order against Internet Treasure Chest, for the full story, click here. Rather than go into a long discussion here, Chatmag has found a good Message Board for the "get rich quick" questions you may have on a particular potential business venture. Click Here to go to Klaus Dahl's site. You will find a lot of message threads on your favorite scammer, and feel free to post to the list with any questions you may have on any company, BEFORE you invest a dime! You don't need Ms. Cleo to tell you to be careful :) ----- Illegal Pyramid Schemes Here is information from the Washington State Attorney Generals Web Site, and generally applies in every state as to the criteria to determine an illegal pyramid scheme. This information is being provided as a guide, Chatmag is not connected to any State Agency or Organization, and is not endorsed by any State or Federal Agency or Organization. "An illegal "pyramid scheme" is a form of multi-level marketing where the marketing of a product is only of secondary importance, or may not be done at all. To join, you must pay some type of initial investment, which gives you the right to recruit others into the company. For each person you bring into the company, you receive money or other bonuses. Therefore, your earning potential depends primarily on how many people you sign up, not how much merchandise is sold. Thus, under Washington law, a business venture that meets all three of these descriptions is an illegal pyramid: 1.You must make an investment to get the right to recruit others into the program...and 2.When you recruit another person into the program, you receive what the law calls "consideration." That usually means money, but can be anything of value...and 3.Your new recruits must make an investment to get the right to recruit, and they receive "consideration" for getting others to join. Remember, all three of these requirements must be met for the venture to be illegal.  And a venture is not legitimate simply because the organization claims they sell a product, or limits the number of people who can join. If all three of the above requirements are met, it is illegal." From the Washington State Attorney General. ----- Grocerybiz.net This is an outright pyramid scheme, and will most likely be out of business soon. (Not to be confused with Grocerybiz.com a reputable distributor in Houston, Tx.). ----- CyberMoms.net  (Not to be confused with the Cybermoms of Cyberangels!) Cybermoms.net is another pyramid scheme, preying on stay at home mothers. ----- World Wide Scam Network Information. This site at first look seems to be a site dedicated to busting Internet scams. It is NOT! According to their own Legal Disclaimer it is:   "1.The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes. The purpose of "WorldWide Scam Network" site is to entertain, satirize, parody, enlighten, and even educate visitors about many of the unusual products on the internet and through parody present alternate opinions and links to scientific tests, reports, and traditional sources of information regarding these heavily promoted items. The site is certainly and obviously non-commercial and similar in character, spirit, and intent to Saturday Night Live, National Lampoon, and Mad Magazine." World Wide Scam Network Information While they do point out some interesting and entertaining information, they are not in the business of actually busting or providing useful information on any Internet scam. Please treat this particular site as a parody site only. ----- MomsWIN.com and MomTeam.com This supposedly, "not MLM" and "not a SCAM" site posts misleading messages on bulletin boards all over The Internet, in order to gain more work at home mom's wanting the "good life".  Their latest tactic is to go to every home based business bulletin board and post their information. Here is a sample of their posting to a Bulletin Board. "MomsWIN: A Home Business for Women!", 100% Guaranteed -- Absolutely NO RISK!! Looking to start a home business? Like the idea of working from home?  Making your own hours and your own rules can be a great start of a great income from home.  Having a career doesn't mean you have to leave your home every morning.  If you are looking for a legitimate, recommended, scam-free business you need to investigate this.  Choose your own 4 week plan to success and work with others like yourself to get started. Here's How. http://www.momswin.com/..." Several common words are used in their postings, such as "no risk, legitimate, scam-free" Folks, EVERY business has risk! At the very least, you may lose hours working at a business, or lose finances, but every business has its risks, DO NOT believe anyone that tells you otherwise! Constantly using the words "scam free or, not a scam" sends up red flags every time. If a business is legitimate, why would they keep trying to convince you they are not a scam! We emailed one of their "Directors" requesting more information, and received a reply, stating that: "...I was wondering if it would be ok if I called you and told you about it.  It is alot easier to understand that way than through an email. If you would like to talk about it, I will be happy to answer all of your questions!"  First, "a lot" is two words, it's a pet peeve of ours!  Second, if you know of anything that cannot be explained by the written word, only over the telephone, PLEASE  tell us, we'd love to know! Donna Stewart is the founder of The MOM Team, another group using the same tactics as MomsWIN. Although the two groups are not related, they are both classic "pyramid schemes". "Hello,  My name is Donna Stewart, and I am the founder of The MOM Team. Thank you for your interest in our group...And for the record...many folks with my organization are making more money than me.  And interesting enought, I am at a higher level, and making more money than the person who enrolled me."  (Editors note.  This was posted on a message board discussing momsWIN. Donna Stewart is the registered owner of Themomteam.com) For the record, here is the registered owner of momswin, as posted on Verisign. Registrant:      Ariana Reed-Hager      23351 151st Street      Leavenworth, KS 66048      US      Domain Name: MOMSWIN.COM      Administrative Contact, Technical Contact, Zone Contact:         Ariana Reed-Hager         23351 151st Street         Leavenworth, KS 66048         US         913-724-3429         913-441-8124 [fax]         areed915@aol.com      Domain created on 01-Jan-2002      Domain expires on 01-Jan-2004 We've found some interesting information about momsWIN.com, click on the link here. Another good site with momsWIN information, click here. Yet another site with momsWIN and MOMTEAM information. The Better Business Bureau of Utah issued a warning regarding the Mom Team, Click Here. We've included a link to www.momsWIN.com for comparison, however, we DO NOT ENDORSE momsWIN.com! Is momsWIN.com and The MOM Team scams? From the definition of an illegal pyramid scam, it appears that these two groups meet that criteria. We are providing this for your information, and allow you to decide if this is a scam or not.  What we see are Multi Level Marketing programs, posting on every imaginable bulletin board, and which uses deceptive tactics to recruit new "moms".  We advise NOT PARTICIPATING in their programs. Take your family out to dinner with the money, you'll enjoy it more. ----- SCAM ALERT XPLATINUM.NET This site is being operated by Chinese nationals, and is offering DVD copying software. The site is a scam, in which they require you to pay and then they send an email with your download information.  You will never receive an email, and will lose your money. DO NOT PURCHASE FROM XPLATINUM.NET!!!!! SCAM ALERT TOPSITEZ.US Also known as topsites-us.com  TOP--SITES.NET topsitesusa.com Chatmag received an email from this company, asking us to renew our listings on their site.  We never had any previous contact with topsitez.us, and in doing some investigation, find that topsitez.us is mining the DMOZ listings and attempting to charge web sites for what was a free listing on DMOZ. There is a detailed explaination of topsitez.us on The-Group's message board. Here is another message board of interest. A good in depth site for more information is here. Several things that we noticed.  Topsitez.us is registered to an address in San Francisco, California, however, the email we received has a Kansas City address.  It may be possible that Kansas City is an eastern suburb of San Francisco, but we doubt it. Another interesting point from their email, in their FAQ. "Who listed us?        When did our listing start?        We do not know. Sorry. We only began to keep track of names and dates this year.        How much did we pay to get listed?         Originally you could not buy a listing—you had to wait for our editors to select you as one of the top sites in your category." Did we miss something there? At first, they do not know who posted the listing and then they state that their editors selected the listing, etc. Topsitez.us email also quotes a "satisfied customer",  "TopSites-us is the least expensive way I have found to bring buyers to my site. I have tried other online advertising   companies and you beat everyone!"    --P.A., President, Go Software (g-o.us) So, who owns g-o.us? Domain Name:                                 G-O.US Domain ID:                                   D1947064-US Sponsoring Registrar:                        INTERCOSMOS MEDIA GROUP, INC. D.B.A. DIRECTNIC.COM Domain Status:                               ok Registrant ID:                               IMG-56353 Registrant Name:                             Paul Thomas Registrant Organization:                     TopSites LLC Registrant Address1:                         1300 Evans Avenue Registrant Address2:                         PO Box 7334 - 101591 Registrant City:                             San Francisco Registrant State/Province:                   CA Registrant Postal Code:                      94120-7334 Registrant Country:                          United States Registrant Country Code:                     US Registrant Phone Number:                     +1.4152945300 Registrant Email:                            sales@topsitez.us   HUH?????? By the way, both of the supposed "satisfied customers" are on the same web server. Coincidence??? If you receive their email, trash it. You are under no obligation to pay it. ----- Amazing Internet Products LLC The New Hampshire Attorny General's office has so far received two complaints and is looking for more information from people who feel that they have been defrauded by Amazing Internet Products LLC, and their product: "Pinicle pill". http://www.state.nh.us/nhdoj is a site to download a complaint form. ----- If you sincerely want to make money on the Internet, email us for information, we're looking for a few good advertising sales people. Or if you just want more help in researching a company, feel free to contact us.   Is this Topic of interest to you? We are seeking a Page Editor and Advertising Sales Representatives, Click Here for details.
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