Steve Girsky Hijacked!

That's right! Someone registered the website domain www.stevegirsky.com and is using it as a blog about Stormpay.

Who's running it?
It's obviously not Steve Girsky (CEO of Stormpay).
And it's clearly not a fan of Stormpay.

Let's hope someone sends a few Steve Girsky pictures to make the blog more interesting.

Have a great weekend. And try not to worry so much.

ABC4 Stormpay News Follow-up

So, ABC$ have been following a 12DailyPro member around, as he tries to gather some info on what's going on with Stormpay and with 12DailyPro.

The original article was on 11th Feb. 2006. Do watch the video. There's some important info that is not in the article.

By their own admission, Stormpay claims to have frozen over $50 million of 12DailyPro members' funds. $50 million! (12DailyPro's admin says $51 million was frozen)

The follow-up story revealed some interesting tidbits. Read on or watch the video.

StormPay Executives Talk To Utahn Who Shows Up On Their Doorstep

Editor's note: ABC 4 is following a man from Provo, Utah on a quest for answers in the 12DailyPro debacle. Jeff Johnson not only put into 12 Daily Pro his own money, but convinced many of his family and friends to do the same. The exact numbers are still unknown, but hundreds of Utahns may have also been drawn to the money making scheme. Now millions of dollars are either in internet limbo or frozen in an account controlled by the payment service StormPay. This week, Johnson is traveling to the headquarters of both StormPay and 12 Daily Pro.

Jeff Johnson awoke Monday morning in Clarksville, Tennessee and immediately got two surprises. The first was a call from someone claiming to be Charis Johnson -- the elusive woman behind 12 Daily Pro. He wants to talk to her about claims that she's working on refunds for 12 Daily Pro members caught in the dispute between her and Storm Pay. She told him that's not going to happen. But she left open the possibility that her attorney might be willing to talk to him.

The other surprise also came by way of a phone call. It was an FBI agent from Charlotte. She took down his information and said they are investigating 12 Daily Pro. At this point, no follow-up interview is planned.

All this happened before he could get out of the parking lot of the motel and drive to the worldwide headquarters of Storm Pay -- 12 Daily Pro's onetime online payment partner that now appears to be it's sworn enemy. Storm Pay froze Charis' 12 Daily Pro account at the beginning of this month. That effectively cut off all fund transfers to and from 12 Daily Pro. Within days, Charis was forced to announce that no new memberships or upgrades could be processed -- essentially shutting down the program.

When Johnson arrived at the Stormpay headquarters building, he found it unimpressive. It's an old church turned pharmacy turned office that's currently being renovated. Across the street is a laundromat and car wash. It's flanked on either side by gas station convenience stores. Storm Pay's office is well removed from historic downtown Clarksville or the stately campus of Austin Peay. And yet, it is by some accounts a significant financial player in this town of just over 130,000. It's now the single largest sponsor of the Clarksville Raceway and reportedly the largest single client of a local bank. Storm Pay appears to prove the theory that an impressive "bricks and mortar" presence is not needed for internet successful.

And yet, executives of this growing internet payment service (they claim it is 2nd behind the industry's giant, PayPal) are saddled with a financial and public relations nightmare that by their own admission, they wish would just go away. For an hour and a half Monday afternoon, Jeff Johnson and ABC 4's Brent Hunsaker sat down with StormPay CEO Steve Girsky and owner John McConnell. It was a sometimes cordial, sometimes intense exchange that happened away from the ABC 4 camera that has been following Johnson on his journey for answers. Girsky and McConnell prohibited all photography. Since the scandal began, they say they've received numerous, credible death threats. For that reason, they would not allow us to show them or any of their employees.

As they see it, they froze the core 12 Daily Pro account to protect the money for 12 Daily Pro members. But many members apparently didn't see it that way. Since then, those members have flooded the offices of both the Middle Tennessee Better Business Bureau and the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs with complaints. Those complaints have resulted in a continued, unsatisfactory report from the bureau, a state audit and investigation by state agents. Girsky says all the scrutiny is a welcome chance for them to clear the air. "We have nothing to hide," he earlier told The Leaf-Chronicle of Clarksville.

What's more, they say their computer servers have been relentlessly attacked in an attempt to shut them down. Those attacks were somewhat successful. The Storm Pay website has been up and down for more than a week now.

On other aspects of the Storm Pay vs 12 Daily Pro controversy, Storm Pay offered the following explanations:

- While confirming Storm Pay has made "charge backs" to some 12 Daily Pro member accounts, they strongly deny they have gone into any member's bank or credit card account and taken out additional funds. Rumors have run wild on the internet and among many Utahns that such illegal debiting of accounts occurred. But as reported earlier, ABC 4 could find no first hand accounts proving the rumors.

- They claim that the freezing of the 12 Daily Pro account was ordered to preserve the money for investigators. But when pressed, they would not say which agency of the government made the order or if it came in the form of a subpoena. ABC 4 is aware of inquires initiated into the debacle by state agencies in North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Utah. ABC 4 has also been told by Francine Giani, head of the Utah Division of Consumer Protection, subpoenas may be issued requiring 12 Daily Pro and/or Storm Pay to surrender its records.

- They say 12 Daily Pro represented only "3 to 10%" of Storm Pay's business. They say 12 Daily Pro didn't even "pop up on their radar" until November and December of 2005 when it's transactions skyrocketed. They also say in January, 12 Daily Pro was taking more and more time to pay it's members after they completed their 12 day cycle with the auto-surfer.

- They say they are willing to work with Charis and her attorney on organizing and distributing refunds to members, but they refuse to allow her access to any of the money. Still, they remain vague on when the money will be returned to members. They refused to offer a timetable. Nor would they say how it was to be determined who would get what. They call it a huge task and leave open the possibility that an independent, outside auditor might be called on to accomplish it. They also warn that they do not hold in the 12 Daily Pro account enough money to pay everyone what they claim they've lost.

- They say they are holding "millions of dollars" but refused to give an exact number. Last week, a source with first hand knowledge of the preliminary investigations in Tennessee told ABC 4 that they were holding $50,000,000. McConnell denies that. As for who would be entitled to the interested earned while the 12 Daily Pro money is frozen, McConnell said it was in a "non interest bearing" account with their bank.

At the end of the day, Jeff Johnson asked all of the questions he came to ask. But he did not get the hoped-for answers. Nevertheless, he gave credit to both men for their openness and candor. While still frustrated, Johnson says they both now have more "credibility" with him.

He flies to Charlotte, North Carolina on Tuesday.

ABC 4 will follow him there.

Story by: Brent Hunsaker

Source: ABC4


Jeff Johnson looks like a cross between the actors Tim Robbins and Anthony Michael Hall (with the black leather jacket, as seen in The Dead Zone). Does anyone foresee a Hollywood movie in the making? Of course, there needs to be a lot of changes to the script; I mean, who's going to be interested in seeing people autosurfing? No, we'll just skip to the car chases and secret conspiracies.

Anyway, back to the article.

Now, the Stormpay duo refused a recorded interview, due to a number of death threats. But, anyone who's actually going to pull off such a daring attempt would probably have got their pictures from somewhere off the net. I'm sure half of all autosurf members already know what Steve Girsky looks like. (Actually, I believe the law firm website where his picture was posted has since taken that picture offline. Of course, it's still in the Google cache! All hail the future Skynet...)
In fact, his personal address and details have been posted on investment forums & anti-Stormpay websites countless times. No, a recorded interview would not be in their best interests, since anything they say can be used against them if it goes to court.

Stormpay has still avoided announcing which government agency they're working with on this issue. The FBI? This is actually one area where the US government really excels: not informing other related government agencies. From the ABC4 article, it appears that various state agencies are now involved. Wouldn't it be easier to have a single organised investigation, rather than multiple ones by the different arms of the same government?

Stormpay now says that 3 to 10% of their business is with 12DailyPro. I remember reading an earlier article, where it was claimed to be 2 to 3%. Obviously, someone miscalculated.

Apparently, the Stormpay bosses now deny that $50 million of 12DailyPro funds is tied up with them. It's in the millions, but they would not confirm the exact amount. Where did the $50 million figure come from? It IS reported as first hand knowledge. Why hide the exact amount? Remember, $50 million in transactions equate to a minimum of $1.5 million in Stormpay fees (~3% for those with NetIBA). Also, it would have been another $1.5 million in fees when the money was sent to 12DailyPro to begin with.

Amidst all the chaos of the last 2 weeks, it has been almost impossible to determine the real deal behind the Stormpay/12DailyPro fiasco. All I know is, when money is involved, everyone lies, cheats and steals. All most of us can do now, is watch as the story unfolds.


Related Links:
ABC4.com
Lucre-Here: Stormpay and Studiotraffic
Stormpay Fraud Blog
12DailyPro Admin Replies
Autosurf Arena: One Man's Quest for Answers
Jeff Johnson Replies (OMG, you've got to read this! Can anyone confirm the authenticity of this?)

The Leaf Chronicle Corrections

The Leaf Chronicle printed a short article informing readers of certain errors made and other clarifications. Reporters are only human, after all (though some might say overwise).

Article published Feb 12, 2006

CORRECTIONS

While The Leaf-Chronicle strives for accuracy at all times, errors will occur. If you spot an error, please notify the City Desk at 245-0282, so that it can be corrected.

Norma Jean Raleigh has picked up a petition to be a candidate for the District 16 County Commission seat. A Page B6 list of candidates in Saturday's edition contained a misspelling of her name.

Also, a Page A1 report about an audit of StormPay.com contained inaccurate information. Here is correct or clarified information:

Payments to 12DailyPro members continued through the end of January.

StomPay.com suspended the account of 12DailyPro operator, Charis Johnson, and about 30,000 to 35,000 of her customers use StormPay as an online payment processor.

The Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee received around 19,000 inquiries about StormPay last week.

Steve Girsky is chief executive officer of StormPay.

The Leaf-Chronicle regrets the errors.

Source: The Leaf Chronicle


The correction states that Stormpay members were continuing to receive payments until the end of January. The initial article reported a claim by Stormpay's admin that 12DP payments stopped January 8. Did Stormpay's management try to fudge the details, or was it just human error on the part of the reporter?

McConnell said their records indicate the last payments from 12DailyPro operator Charis Johnson to members was Jan. 8. When complaints of nonpayment came to StormPay later in January, company officials began to suspect something was wrong after Johnson was unable to answer questions about her business.

Source: February 11th 2006 article in the Leaf Chronicle


The 19,000 complaints against Stormpay was reworded to 19,000 inquiries about Stormpay. (LOL, talk about misrepresentation). So, how many actual complaints were there? 18,000? People wouldn't usually go to the BBB unless they wanted to file a complaint against a company.

The Feb 11th article also reported that 30,000 to 35,000 accounts were suspended, which is of course ludicrous. Members could access the accounts, but would find their balances zeroed OR with negative balances (chargeback fees). Which is pretty much the same thing, isn't it? In fact, it's probably worse.


Interesting tidbit: The Leaf Chronicle is Tennessee's oldest newspaper, established in 1808.

Related links of interest:

Places to file complaints against Stormpay
Stormpay vs the Autosurfs
The Stormpay 500 - Charis vs Stormpay- FBI to OFFICIATE! (funny)

Promoting your PTR sites

I'm always on the lookout for cheap advertising packages on various PTRs. The problem nowadays, is that many people perceive PTRs as nothing more than click farms. Alas, for some sites, this is true.

But fear not. There are a few that do encourage active participation with its members. BGPayMail is one such site. BGPayMail is a real gem with over 9000 members. Email ads are worth at least 2c each. The frequency of emails varies, but they are usually worth reading carefully. The reason for this, is that there are usually clues to a puzzle. For observant readers, it can be a bit of a treasure hunt. Replying to the email with the right answers can net you a small reward. This doesn't mean that you HAVE to participate to get paid. No. You could just mindlessly click links to reach payout. But, you'll be missing out on all the fun.

Many other PTRs run click contests, raffles, word scrambles, and so on. These can be quite entertaining. New PTRs also try referral contests, offering free ads or cash prizes for the top promoters. These are good incentives to promote a PTR and gather new members for the site.


To use PTC banners or PTR Email ads?

Email ads allow advertisers to promote the sites they want, using their own words. Many people simply copy & paste the PTR site info that they want to promote, and wonder why so few people signed up under them. The key is to write something about the site, that one has personally experienced. One could point out the low payout requirements, click values and quantity of emails expected. Here's an example:

Donkeymails is a great PTR site, with no minimum payout via e-gold, or $1 minimum payout via Paypal.

There is a PTP section paying 75c per 1000 credits.
Email ads are worth at least 0.25c each, and you can get about 20 of these a day. Point emails are optional, so if you don't want too many emails, you can opt-out.

Donkeymails currently has over 23000 active members. That's a lot of people viewing emails, especially good if you're an advertiser as well.

Click the link and if you like it, sign up!
http://donkeymails.com/pages/index.php?refid=gforce2

PTC banners are usually cheaper than email ads, and generate hits at a slower rate, but that doesn't mean they are less effective. PTCs can be a great way to promote a new PTR or website. Why not design your own banners to promote your favourite sites? Be creative, and perhaps more people will click your banners out of sheer interest.

Aside from using other PTRs, traffic exchanges can be a great way for site exposure. I refer primarily to manual traffic exchanges, since these provide much better quality traffic than autosurfs. Some manual traffic exchanges allow targeted web traffic, and these are usually much more effective. Some PTRs are selective about their member's geographical location, so this feature allows you to target visitors from certain countries.

Among some of the better manual traffic exchanges are TrafficG.com, Clickthru.com, WebmasterQuest.com, TrafficSwarm.com and Easyhits4U.com.

It has come to my attention, that some manual traffic exchanges provide very low quality traffic; this may be due to exploitable loopholes in the website's PHP scripts, that prevent pages from loading, or allow bot activity. Try promoting a PTP site, and see what sort of results you get. This usually gives a good indication of the quality of traffic you get from a certain traffic exchange or PTR.

Cheap PTR Advertising for February 2006

Here's a quick list of PTRs offering discount ad packages this month. Be warned that most of these sites explicitly forbid any sort of 'get-rich-quick' schemes. Also note that ad redemptions using site earnings can sometimes be cheaper than normal advertising, so consider joining some of these PTRs.


Maine-Clicks.com is offering 2-for-1 ads for the month of February. Buy one ad package and get one free (equal price). Site has over 800 active members, so expect at least 100+ clicks a day, with about 80-90% unique hits. The offer is also valid for ad redemptions from site earnings. Remember, there is a $1.00 sign-up bonus which you can use!

EnchantedMail.net is under new management, and to kick things off, there are some really cheap ad packages as well as redemptions. The PTC ads are good for those promoting PTP pages for other sites. This site allows you to create targeted ads by location and interests. Enchantedmails currently has over 2400 members.

The owner of DCGPartners.net and BannerFoxAds.com is offering 20% discounts on ad packages this month. Be sure to keep an eye open for bargains!
DCGPartners has over 1000 members, while BannerFoxAds has over 450.
These are no minimum payout sites, with PTP as well.

Worldwide-Cash.net currently offers 5% discount on ad purchases using e-gold.
Site has over 10000 members from all over the world. Please note that if you do promote PTP sites, the average credit value is about 400 credits CPM; many of the clicks come from Tier 3 and 4 countries. However, this might be more suitable for sites offering no-Tier PTP.

BlueBirdPTR.info offers 1000 hits to your PTP links for $0.30. There are currently over 2000 active members here. Also check out KittensPTR (2000 members) and SkunksPTR (900 members), also from the same webmaster.

Klondike-Clicks.com has cheap PTP ads 1000 hits for $0.15; ad redemption from site earnings is at a discount to normal advertising. There are currently over 1200 active members.

SnowManMail.com is running February ad specials. Promote your website on their PTP rotator for as low as 9c per 1000 visits. Or try one of their Email ad campaigns. There are over 1700 members, with over 700 from Search countries (US, Canada, Western Europe).

If you're looking to generate a lot of daily manual traffic hits, consider PolarPTR's PTP rotator. I have tested this myself, and you can usually get about 150-200 hits per hour by placing your website in the PTP rotator. Alternatively, as a PolarPTR member, you can also redeem points for PTP hits (1 point = 2 PTP hits). PolarPTR currently has over 3500 members.

If you're interested in cheap PTP ads, try Random-PTCs.com or VeronicasPTR.com. Do check out the forum, for special ad packages, and auctions. Members really do get the best ad deals.