I am sure that attentive observers of online ponzi schemes (aka HYIPs) have already heard about some scheme called “Bannersbroker”.
For those of you who hear the term for the first time I want to give a short description, so that you know what I am talking about later on. What Is Bannersbroker? Bannersbroker is a ponzi scheme hidden between a complicated system. Its solely purpose is to hide the real nature of the scheme and make it look legit to people without the necessary experience in the cyber crime area. The scheme promises to enable people to earn by publishing on websites without the need to actually own a website.
They state to rent ad space with peoples money and publish ads on them, thus, people can earn. Of course they state that it is a business and no investment. The professionals among you will know better. You spend money, have no work but get more money = investment. No matter what they are saying. The Bannersbroker scheme has reached a high popularity among people from the MLM and HYIP “industry”.
There are lots of representatives in several countries who try to make the scheme look real and push the ponzi scheme forward. They name of these people is known, but it will most likely not bring them into trouble as they can claim they did not know what is behind Bannersbroker. The scheme is also doing regular events in several countries, which is called the “BB World Tour”. Members can attend to these events and meet with some people behind the program. The main persons are Rajiv Dixit, Chris Smith (most likely not a real name) and Kun Josun (he is not at the “company” anymore, according to Bannersbroker). Rajiv Dixit and Kul Josun are both known persons who where involved in criminal activity, including ponzi schemes, in the past.
Recently the Bannersbroker ponzi scheme got a lot of negative press after some event in Ireland. It was covered and proven to be a fraud by several public resources like Radio Stations (Liveline) and Newspapers (Irish Examiner, Sunday World). Also a popular direct sales blog called “Finch Sells” covered Bannersbroker in several articles and took the scheme apart (Article 1, Article 2). Bannersbroker Is Close To Collapse! During the past few months the signs became obvious that Bannersbroker is running out of cash. The payment delays got bigger and bigger, they announced a new so called “Panel” which has the purpose to suck more money out of the members accounts, as well as a new monthly membership which people are forced to purchase as soon as they own 10 of the so called “Traffic Packs” which are needed to earn money with the “Panels”.
In order to keep earning people are forced to purchase more and more stuff and pay money to Bannersbroker on a monthly basis. This new announced stuff will suck a significant amount out of people account and thus, it reduces the outflow of money. In order to get more new people into the scheme they are also doing a new public event in the United Kingdom. Initially it was scheduled to happen in India, but as the indian authorities decided to step in, closed their office and sized all documents and computers, they had to postpone it. The new event will happen on 22/02/2013 and 23/02/2013. The event will take place here: De Vere Venues, Whites at the Reebok Stadium (De Havilland Way, Bolton, Greater Manchester, BL6 6SF).
More information is placed on the official website about the Bannersbroker World Tour (http://www.thebbtour.com). So if you have some free time and if you are near to the place it might be a good opportunity to take some shots, maybe even call the authorities on them.
The outcome would be quite interesting I think. Maybe you would also like to attend to the event and send a guest article to ICC? We would be happy to publish your story. Another sign for obvious cash flow issues is the fact that they are not allowing withdrawals anymore to the payment processors used before (Payza and SolidTrustPay, both well known ponzi scheme supporters). Now all members can only withdraw through the debit card (which is provided by Vector Card Services). It just tells me that they have not enough money to spread it between all their accounts, and moreover, they might are already in some legal trouble and leave those processors because of that. Withdrawing through the Bannersbroker debit card could even bring you into trouble because it could be seen as money laundering.
One Thing for Sure! As you see it is the best to stay far away from Bannersbroker. This ponzi scheme is definitely in its last days and about to collapse. Moreover it could get you into legal trouble if you are actively participating in this scheme. Bannersbroker takes your personal data and you will never know what they do with it.
Most likely it is used to open bank accounts or for other criminal purposes. Do yourself a favor and stay safe!
