Deceptive Auction: Trying to Auction Off TVI Express Membership

Someone in New Zealand tried to auction off TVI Express membership by NOT mentioning the name and use a photo of Woodman Estates in Australia.   ( http://www.trademe.co.nz/Travel-events-activities/Accommodation/New-Zealand/Northland/auction-362650788.htm )

If you read the rest of the ad it's clear it's a listing for TVI Express, a scam that's already being prosecuted by ACCC (the Ausssie consumer protection agency). In fact, someone remarked so in the comments.

What a crock!

TVI Express Lies Around the World: Maori / New Zealand

Image via WikipediaA long while back (May 2010) I found some reference on a Maori website about TVI Express. I posted a rebuttal. It's worth revisiting, as they go after a lot of minorities by exploiting their tight-knit community "social network".

Who's the Maori? Maori is a Polynesian island tribe that lives on New Zealand. Minorities usually have tight-knit social circles, and many MLMs (and scams that disguised themselves as MLMs) exploit the social network for their gains.

In this case, the poster claims to want to bring prosperity to all simply by "showing" opportunities, and "share business with". As you can guess, he neglects to mention that he's recruiting people, not to sell ANYTHING.

It generates an income by talking,showing & net-working with People,Whanau,Friends & anyone else you want to share this business with,here in Aotearoa & Over-seas.

The natural reaction with most People is to be cautious,careful, negativity & skepticism,a natural humane response,i can deal with that kai te pai,but at this stage i just want you all to have a look for your-selves and see how it works.

The benefits &  Financial gain it will create for you,far out weighs the one time payment to start you off,is in my opinion over shadows the doubts & Awangawana you might have in seeing how its structured & the belief in the system that it really does work, Whanau helping Whanau & so on,for me i want to get out of this rut im in,i want to be able to not worry about paying my bills,i believe this venture in TVIexpress will help me & my Family achieve all of this,koi na ra mo naia nei,naku noa.

This can be basically summed up as  "it's okay to fear, just look, you want the money, I know you do. Ignore the fear. Join and make me money."

Someone Did Not Get the Message In Australia Either

Back in May 2010 Australia's ACCC consumer protection agency went after TVI Team Oz, 3 fraudsters who went after folks in Australia and New Zealand, by advertising on Facebook and other places. It's old news, and most Aussie TVI Express participants have long since moved on.

So it's rather amusing to find someone who didn't get the news... and decided to reprint a "TVI Express Opportunity" article for Australians, in January 2011

It's also tied into this TVI Express link spamming thing... Idiots who copy old TVI Express "cheerleading" articles that are out of date, misleading, and often complete lies, and republish them to pump up TVI Express's Alexa ratings.

Now for some classic TVI Express rant

In May 2010, it was announced that the Australian consumer protection agency ACCC is going after Team TVI Oz, and its 3 members for promoting TVI Express in Australia, charging it as a pyramid scheme. At the time, a few Australians and New Zealanders. were "outraged" that ACCC was somehow prohibiting them from making money. Here is one such rant from "Irate Queenslander", which will be analyzed.

June 02

TVI Express is NOT a SCAM!!!

To all you negative network marketers out there. This is a cold hard fact. Most people join network marketing businesses purely to make money. It does not really matter what the product is.. it is all about the right time & right place. Admit it to yourselves, if you were in the top 50 people to see a product being released via a networking strategy you would jump on board because at the end of the day everyone is trying to get out of the rat race and the promise of easy money and financial freedom is too tempting.

This paragraph does not defend TVI Express at all. It simply made a generalization: people join MLM to make money. 

TVI Express busted in Australia

EDIT: As pointed out by EmJay07, I will add   UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. The bust is not permanent... yet.

Australia consumer protection agency ACCC has obtained court order to stop TVI Express "distributors" from recruiting through Facebook, among other means, called it "pyramid scheme".

"The TVI Express scheme is promoted by the respondents through various websites including the site www.tviteamoz.com and the TVI Express Oz group on the site www.facebook.com. People who wish to participate in the scheme are required to pay a membership fee of $330. Once an individual has paid the $330, they receive a ‘travel voucher’ and the opportunity to receive commission payments for recruiting other people into the scheme.

The ACCC understands that Ms Jutsen, Ms Brownlee and Mr Scanlon had planned to hold presentations across Australia and New Zealand this week to promote the scheme. The orders obtained by the ACCC will prevent these presentations from going ahead. If the individuals ignore these orders, they risk being in contempt of court."

http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/articles/articles-news/facebook-pyramid-scheme-tvi-express-accc-1533.html

Get out while you can!

TVI Express: recycled Fortuna Alliance pyramid scam

Image via Wikipedia

In the 1990's, when Internet is still young, the FTC busted a pyramid scammer called "Fortuna Alliance", that promised the same things that TVI Express is promising today. Want to see how much of a copycat TVI Express is when compared to a PROVEN scammer, the Fortuna Alliance? You won't like what you see, esp. if you are a member of TVI Express.

"In the complaint detailing the charges, the FTC charged that Fortuna Alliance, L.L.C., and four officers, marketed the pyramid scheme through a home page on the World Wide Web and with printed promotional materials. Using fabulous earnings claims, they induced tens of thousands of consumers in over 60 countries around the world to pay between $250 and $1750 to join their pyramid scheme, claiming that members would receive over $5,000 per month in 'profits' as others were induced to 'enroll.' In addition, Fortuna and its officers provided advice and promotional materials for members to recruit others to join the pyramid, both through direct contact and by setting up their own web sites. The FTC's complaint asked the court to order a permanent halt to the alleged deceptive practices and to order redress for the people Fortuna signed up to the scheme."

Cited from http://www.mlmlegal.com/fortunaftc.html