TVI Express uses voodoo math to claim it's legal

Image via Wikipedia

Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of TVI Express bashing, because it's so obvious. However, here's a fellow Blogger that seems to have fallen under the TVI Express spell and uses funny math to prove his own point. Let's analyze some facts.

Let's say FIRST GUY is the 1st guy on the board. He's Level 1.

He recruits 2 more people. He's now level 2, There are 3 people in the traveler board.

Each of those 2 people at level 1 recruits 2 more people, pushes FIRST GUY to level 3. There are now 7 people in the board.

If the guys at the bottom (4 of them) each recruit 2 more... You now have 8 people at the bottom, the "First Guy" is now level 4... cycles out of the Traveler's board.

Don't believe me? This is what one TVI Express member posted on his blog:



(borrowed from http://www.tviexpresstravel.info)

Presumably, that's a real screen-capture of the TVI Express "member genealogy".

I refer you to the diagram at Wikipedia, of the 8-ball variation of Ponzi/ Pyramid scam:


(ref http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multilevel_pyramid_scheme#.228-ball.22_model)

Don't they look identical?

Keep in mind that you have to cycle through TWO BOARDS, a "traveler board", and an "express board". let's just call it for for it is... The express board is the tip of 8 other traveler boards. So the board has total of EIGHT levels. When you cycle through all 8 levels, you get $10000 + $5000 in some sort of a voucher.

Or put it plainly, this is a double-eight-ball scam.

So there are actually 255 people in the boards, including you. Each of them paid $250 (or so). Let's see, that's 255 x 250 = 63750 income for them. The company will pay out 9 traveler board cyclers (First Guy, and 8 more that makes up the bottom tier of express board), which is, well, 9 x 250 = 2250, and 2250 in vouchers. Then there's the big payout, $10000 cash, and $5000 in vouchers.

Total cash input: 63750
Total cash output: 12250 + 5250 in vouchers.
Profit is $51500

Subsequent boards will earn a bit less... $5250 less, as those vouchers will be exchanged for new recruits. So income will become $46250 for subsequent boards.

Okay, now First Guy cycles out of Express board and pockets his $10000. Now we get Second Guy and Third Guy at two express boards.

Let's say another 256 people (128 per side) joined to cycle them out of the express board. 256 x 250 = 64000, subtract the 5250 in vouchers, minus the 20000 for the second and third guy, and the new traveler board cyclers (16 of them now, for $4000). Company takes in 34750, with $14000 vouchers in circulation.

Let's do one more generation, just for grins.

There's now 4 boards, as I'm tired, I'll just call them A, B, C, and D. Let's assume that another 512 people joined to cycle them out.

Income is 128000 - 14000 vouchers in circulation, or 114000.

Subtract $40000 for the 4 guys getting out, 32 new cyclers @ $8000, company income is $66000, with $28000 vouchers in circulation.

So now you understand... That's how TVI Express promise "residual income" in addition to the huge payout. They are paying out some of the money coming in, but eventually, when people stop coming, a LOT of people will lose their $250. Remember, you don't get paid until you get 14 people under you. So even if you just have 13, you're not getting paid. Which means when it finally goes down, 14 out of 15 will not get paid.

Plenty of people are claiming that "TVI Express is NOT a Ponzi / Pyramid scam because it does NOT pay out more than it takes in!" Well, that doesn't mean it's legit... it just mean they are even MORE greedy than your average pyramid scammer!

Oh, and who 'certified' TVI Express?

Image via Wikipedia

Some people are claiming that TVI Express has been "approved" by various consumer websites. Let's see what's at the bottoom of TVI Express website...

Thawte -- legitimate site, but all it certifies is that TVI Express uses valid SSL encryption. You can buy that for a website for $250. That doesn't say anything about the legitimacy of the business. Usefulness: D

Better Internet Bureau -- while it sounds impressive, BIB is a private company out of CANADA, and NOT affiliated in any way with Better Business Bureau. They claim to "approve" websites for inclusion, but there's a fee: $45. And there's no way to "validate" the display of this seal. There is no list at BIB's website to look up if the company is REALLY allowed to display the BIB seal. Usefulness: D

Spam-Free zone -- links right back to TVI Express's spam policy, which doesn't really mean anything.

Thus, there ARE NO true third-party endorsements that came from a trust-worthy source regarding TVI Express, despite outrageous claims by some.

P.S. Any one noticed that TVI Express's site is down?

P.P.S. Looks like it's up again.

P.P.P.S. If you read Terms of Service on TVI Express's Terms of Use, there's a bit of a bomb shell:

"Ownership of Site and Trademarks
TVI Services Limited, (the "Company" or "we") owns and maintains this site. You are hereby granted a limited, non-exclusive license to view the materials on this site..."

So what exactly IS this company called? TVI Express? Or TVI Services Ltd? This seems to fit the complaint that your payment actually goes to "TVI Services Ltd", not "TVI Express" or "Travel Ventures Intl." or variations.

Search of UKData shows that it's a company out of Surrey, UK, started in MARCH 2009.

https://www.ukdata.com/numbers/06844674.html

However, the address goes to "Fletcher Kennedy Limited", which is a firm that registers companies for other people. And guess where else they register companies? That's right, Cyprus.

And you still don't think TVI Express is shady?

TVI Express use shill sites to give itself high ratings

Image by duncan via Flickr

I've had some people who wants to convince me that TVI Express is a legit opportunity because it got a "5-star rating" from some website called citizencorps.com

Frankly, I never trust the words of ONE website, esp. it's a website I've never heard before. I'll list some of the things I find VERY STRANGE about this website, and you be the judge.

1) The homepage itself is already troubling. Notice the graphics ad for TVI Express on the left? While the HTML code says it's from Google Syndication (i.e. Google Adsense), this is a violation of ethics, for a MLM review website to post a MLM ad, even if it's one they don't exactly control. The problem is, this site lambasts other sites for "reviewing" and selling the MLM at the same time. Wouldn't that be the pot calling the kettle black, since citizencorps.com reviewed TVI Express, AND has a TVI Express banner up front?

2) Why are the 5 companies listed in that tiny menu bar on the very top? Does that mean this website have only reviewed 5 MLMs? As they have star ratings for only 5. As there are hundreds of MLMs out there, a site that reviewed only five is hardly credible, is it?

3) If you click on anything OTHER THAN those 5 pages they listed, you get a PHP error. In other words, those entries do NOT EXIST. Go ahead, try it! Click on any of the "categories" on the right: home business, uncategorized, or general. ALL of them do NOTHING. The only links that do anything are for those 5 reviews that go somewhere.

4) Note that there ARE entries in the blogs, as listed in the "recent entries", but the five reviews are in a completely different format! Just compare the review of "Carbon Copy Pro" with the review of TVI Express. Completely different styles.

5) Look at the "archives" on the right-hand bar, and that tells you that this website was updated frequently from January 2008 to July 2008, then a few entries in October 2008, then nothing until October 2009! What were these "experts" doing for that year in hiatus, as there's no mention of this on their website?

6) What's even more interesting... A check through the Internet Archives shows that this website may be a cybersquatter! If you look at the website as it was from 2002 to 2007, you'll find that CitizenCorps.com was actually a US FEDERAL GOVERNMENT website run by none other than FEMA! The "real" Citizen Corps has moved to citizencorps.gov, so this guy somehow got his hands on a former government .com domain. And what does he put up? Hmmm...

7) There's not a single NAME to be found in the whole website. WHO runs this website? Who are the supposed experts that reviews these opportunities? If a rental car was booked through TVI Express's website, and supposedly "saved more than the $250 entry fee", where's a receipt that proves this was actually accomplished?

8) Just like TVIExpress.com, Citizencorps.com has domain privacy turned on. NO INFORMATION on who runs this website is available. Check it yourself:

http://whois.domaintools.com/citizencorps.com

9) They can't even get the facts straight on TVI Express, as their statement directly contradicts TVI Express's own FAQ. Tell me who's correct?

Citizencorps.com says about TVI Express:

"Travel Ventures International is basically a discount travel club. To become a member you simply purchase a travel voucher for $250. That voucher can be redeemed for a 6 night 7 day vacation from a selection of 5 star resorts around the world."

However, TVI Express's FAQ says something else completely:

"The cost to join TVI Express is USD 250 if paid using prepaid vouchers and is USD 275 if paid by Liberty Reserve or Credit Card. It's a one time out of the pocket expense for a lifetime membership and does not include any recurring charges."

So you don't buy a travel voucher. You buy someone else's PREPAID voucher to JOIN. The voucher is NOT FOR TRAVEL!

CitizenCorps.com says:

"No additional costs are required to participate in the business opportunity. Referring two new customers qualifies the new member for a recurring $10,000 payout."

However, the TVI Express FAQ says:

"The first thing you need to do is sponsor two (2) people who join the TVI Express Opportunity. This will qualify you to cycle out of the boards as you progress ahead in the Compensation plan. Secondly, you need to encourage and teach those two downlines (people you sponsored) to sponsor more people and duplicate the process. Following these two simple steps will have you making money even while you sleep."

Notice two things NOT mentioned in the review: "cycle out of the boards" and "encourage the two downlines to sponsor more people, and duplicate the process".

Makes you wonder just how long did "CitizenCorps.com" reviewer(s) spent on studying TVI Express? Did they not even read the FAQ?

So, there you go. IMHO, CitizenCorps.com is a shill site that didn't review squat, since their own reviews are full of errors, misspellings, with a broken site, and cited only by pushers busy recruiting more victims for their Ponzi scams. And if you actually cite it as a "reputable review", I have some beachfront properties in Arizona I want to sell you.

TVI Express: completely illegitimate scam

Image via Wikipedia

Let's do an informal test... Let us use Google as a research tool on what people think about TVI Express.

If you do this search:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hs=CZD&q=tvi+express+news&aq=f&oq=&aqi=

You get "about 86200 results.

However, if you do a filter of all that to "news only" (click on "show options", then click on news on the left), you get ZERO results. In other words, NONE of these 86200 results came from what Google considers to be a "legitimate news source".

Let's try a different tack... let's go to Google News, then enter TVI Express as a search term.

http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&pz=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=tvi+express

That yielded a mere 18 entries. (And 2 sponsored links, interesting...)

However, look a little closer. First one, from Reuters, looks legit until you notice where Reuters got it from:

This press release was issued through 24-7PressRelease.com. For further
information, visit http://www.24-7pressrelease.com.

SOURCE Clouse and Associates, LLC

In other words, Reuters just copied this from someone else, called 24-7PressRelease.com. Press Releases are written by the releaser, in this case, this company called Clouse and Associates. NO ACCURACY is verified or assumed. In fact, if you tried searching for this from Reuter's own website (use the search box in the upper right) for "tvi express", you'll get "not found".

The 2nd link is from 24-7PressRelease.com

The 3rd link is from PR-CANADA.net, another press release.

The 4th link is from USPRWire, another press release.

The remaining links are in foreign language and are NOT related to "TVI Express".

In other words, there are NO regular press coverage for this supposedly great investment opportunity from ANY of the world's legitimate media sources. All supposed coverage are from some TVI associates PAYING sites to pump out some press releases.

Now, let us try to dig up some background on this "TVI Express". When was this company established? Their website says nothing. No founding date at all. And as we've mentioned, they claim to do business in London, UK, but UK business registry has no record of such a company, nor are they at their own listed address any more. So far, nobody has bothered answering this important question.

However, a clue can be gathered from their domain registration, even though they had domain privacy turned on (i.e. very little public information available. The record says the domain was registered in 2008, April 29.

However, if you look through the search results for "TVI Express" through Google archives, you will find that there is NO MENTION of the company until February of 2009.

http://www.google.com/archivesearch?q=%22tvi+express%22&scoring=t&um=1&sa=N&sugg=d&as_ldate=2009/01&as_hdate=2009/12&lnav=hist9

This is confirmed by at least one entry that claims that TVI Express is in "prelaunch" Jan 15, 2009.

In other words, this company is less than one year old. Sorry, but investing in such a young company, with NO products to sell (which they say so in their own FAQ), but you do have to PAY to join. Sorry, but I am NOT *that* dumb.

What is even more interesting is that some TVI associates are now PAYING members to join! Just pay a FRACTION of the normal $250+fees (as low as $99 USD or even lower), the sponsor pays the rest, and you can be a TVI Express member! Guess they are DESPERATE for new members!

Guess who'll be left holding the bag when it all comes crashing down?

TVI Express: 9 reasons why it is the biggest Ponzi scheme ever

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

You may have heard from someone you know or been recruited on Facebook and such about this "wonder exciting opportunity to earn a lot of money" called TVI Express. To put it plainly, it is a Ponzi scheme, and if you fall for it, you are an idiot. And if you continue to recruit people if you KNOW it is a Ponzi scheme, you are ACTIVELY COMMITTING FRAUD, and may be subject to CRIMINAL PROSECUTION in your country. And if you do NOT see why TVI Express is a Ponzi scheme, you are both stupid AND self-delusional. Let us look at the facts:

FACT 1) Even TVI Express's own website states that you do NOT sell anything, but you do have to recruit/sponsor people to join. That is the classic definition of a Ponzi (or Pyramid) scheme.

Counterpoint: I don't care! I'm getting paid!

Response: did you know that if you KNOWINGLY participating in a fraudulent scheme, such as a Ponzi scheme, you are just as guilty in the eyes of the law?

FACT 2) TVI Express claims to be in London, England. However, there is NO SUCH BUSINESS registered in England by that name according to the UK business registry, and the office address they listed is NO LONGER VALID, confirmed by building receptionist.

Counterpoint: Somebody (unconfirmed) posted something about TVI Express is moving to another facility, and expect an update in 2-3 weeks.

Response to that: Hello! It takes 5 minutes to update a website, and it's been OVER A MONTH since that issue was raised! What ******** excuse is that? And why can't you leave a forwarding address at the former location? Huh? This screams "shady operation".

FACT 3) Nobody knows ANYTHING about who owns / leads TVI Express. It's NOT on their website and as they're nowhere to be found in England even though they appear to be a British business. All "messages" are signed as "Management Team".

Counterpoint: What does THAT have to do with anything, as long as I am getting paid?

Response: are you dense, or are you blinded by greed?

FACT 4) You are encouraged to register MULTIPLE accounts, to sponsor even MORE people together, says so on the TVI Express website FAQ.

Counterpoint: That's not proof of fraud and you know it!

FACT 5) The voucher you get are NOT actually for travel, but for recruiting other people. The way this works is as follows:

You join by one of two ways: you can pay TVI Express $271 through one of their approved methods, via credit card, or through an outfit called Liberty Payment (based on Costa Rica, by the way), or you can buy a $250 voucher off of an existing member and redeem it at their website. If you "cycle through" the A board, (and fill it up with other people at the bottom) you get $250 cash and $250 voucher (which you can then sell to some other people to use to join).

Counterpoint: That's still not fraud.

Response: just keep reading...

FACT 6) The payment processor for the credit card is a small bank in Cyprus, island just off of Greece in Europe, NOT England.

Counterpoint: So? It's cheaper to operate in Cyprus. Business tax there is a mere 10%.

Response: So why does the company say they're based in LONDON, not Cyprus?

FACT 7) On TVI Express's website, the "complaint" link goes to CEO@tviexpress.com. Come on, which CEO of a real company spends time reading complaints?

FACT 8) TVI Express is already under investigation by Chinese authorities.

This Google translation isn't the best, but you get the gist of it.

FACT 9) The website appears to cite endorsements by Robert Kiyosaki, Donald Trump, Bill Clinton, and Warren Buffet. However, what each of those individuals said was they like some aspects of "network marketing". NONE of them specifically applies to TVI Express. And when TVI Express itself says "you don't need to sell anything", what exactly are you marketing?

And here's some other interesting factoids...

FACT?? [Unconfirmed, but undisputed] The money is transferred out of Cyprus to a company called TVI Services... based in INDIA.

FACT?? [Unconfirmed, but undisputed] The so-called "online backoffice" is a website showing some other company's online reservation system with their own header, using "iframe", or "seamless frame" that you don't know it's a separate website unles you look through the webpage's source code.

FACT?? All of the websites touting how great TVI Express is are FREE press release sites or sites set up by people trying to recruit more people. Press release is written by the business itself. So that's NOT reliable information!

FACT?? If this business is so hot, why haven't ANY legitimate reviews from Forbes or even a real newspaper reporter have investigated it?

To put it as plainly as possible... TVI Express is very OBVIOUSLY a Ponzi scheme. If you don't see that, you have very good self-denial skills. And if you *do* see that, and you are STILL recruiting people, you are actively committing FRAUD. The fact that you don't need to sell anything should be a clue that this can't be a legitimate operation, as it has no products.

And don't tell me that as long as you are getting paid, you don't care. You are profiting off someone else's naiveness. That is fraud, plain and simple.

Is communism fundamentally flawed?

Karl Marx via last.fm

Supposedly, communism is created by Karl Marx to address the evils of capitalism (pursuit of profit at the expense of the "proletariat"). But is it fundamentally flawed?

Think about it: the idea that all properties are "shared" and belongs to the community/state is fine if you don't consider the following: someone must administer the whole thing. And doesn't that make the administrators the elite in this supposedly class-less society?

In other words, communism may work well enough in a small village, but if you go for large scale, the bureaucracy you must create to administer the realm is fundamentally opposed to the principle of "class-less" society. In other words, a "communist nation" is an oxymoron. You cannot be a nation, and be communist at the same time.

PC Game Review: Women's Murder Club

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(Editor's Note: Every once in a while I play a PC game, which I want to review, but could not put in my mobile game review site as it's not a mobile game, so I'll put it over here. )

Review of "Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet" (PC Game)

Women's Murder Club is a mystery series by bestselling author James Patterson about a group of women, some in law enforcement, some not, but all in San Francisco, solving a series of crimes, mostly murder, with a lot of twists and turns. Oberon Media and I-Play now let you assuming the role of Lindsay, the detective, Claire, the Medical Examiner, and Cindy, the reporter, by playing a series of minigames, mostly "find the objects", though there are also word games, puzzles, and more. It is a casual game, as the difficulty is not too high. I finished the game in a couple hours. Other than some questionable Chinese, and some oops in graphics, the game is pretty well done, but somewhat contrived and occasionally frustrating, as are all "hidden object" games.

The game starts using comic-style panels to kick things off, and to present information at the beginning of each "investigation". A person is jogging near the Marin Vista point, stopped to stretch, looked down, and saw a woman's body down below. Detective Lindsay Boxer was summoned to the scene, and the game starts.