GPT Insanity

Crash n Burn

2006-08-03T17:24:00.000+01:00

Well... a lot has changed in 3 months. Formerly stable sites have disappeared into the void, nothing more than another statistic in the GPT world. PTRs that have been actively paying for over 1 year are few and far in between. If you're looking to make money from just PTRs, forget about it. It's a saturated market, where the average PTR disappears within 3-6 months. No... the real money is to be made in contextual advertising. What's that? Basically, these are text ads that appear on websites that offer related products to your site visitors. For instance, your site could be about the different places you've travelled to, and the ads could be from travel agencies, airlines, etc.
Google Adsense is the most famous of the lot, making heaps of cash for those who know how to use it properly.

Of course, if you're promoting GPT, contextual advertising is not an option. Paid-to-Click does not comply with these sort of ads, as advertisers pay for valid (genuine) traffic. GPT will forever be a mistrusted 'business', due to the high % of fraud that can and may occur with it.

PTRs vs Real Life

2006-07-28T12:18:00.000+01:00

I've put most of my PTRs on hold. The reason for this is simple. In terms of monetary rewards, it is minimal. In terms of effort, it is highly time-consuming. A typical PTR clicker can earn perhaps USD 10 per month without referrals. Building up a referral base is no easy task, and once you've achieved a sizeable referral network, there's no guarantee that your referrals will remain active. Then, there's the worry that the PTR site could shut down without any warning.

A full-time job would surely earn more than you could earn with PTR. But, the general idea is that you can click a few links, while doing other things online. If you can earn a few bucks for just a few (thousand) extra mouse clicks, would you do it?

So why join PTRs?
PTRs offer the average Joe the chance to see how affiliate marketing works. The real earnings from PTRs comes from having an active downline. Assuming 10% earnings from your referrals, having 10 referrals means that you double your potential earnings from PTR.
PTRs offer a low cost means to advertise your website and services. The sites normally promoted on PTRs are search engine sites and other PTRs. Some people even use PTRs to promote their eBay items for sale!
Others like the idea of earning money during their free time.

Unless you live in a country where $1 USD can feed your family for a week, I do think that your time can be used more productively doing other things. That being said, I still click a few links every now and then... but I restrict it to a few PTRs that have a good track record, and relatively low activity requirements... namely...

PTP Strategies, Tips & Cheap Ads

2006-05-18T12:09:00.000+01:00

Many people find Paid-to-Promote (PTP) a great opportunity to make additional money from PTR sites. Let's face it. Clicking PTR emails non-stop is a really boring way to make money.

How does PTP work? Basically, you promote a PTP page with your referral link, and earn credits depending on the geographical location of your traffic. Now, for the best results, you would want to promote your pages on approved websites, with visitors from Tier 1 countries.

The best PTR sites for this would be those that limit their members to US, Canada, UK and Western Europe.

Cassandrasclicks.com is a good example. Check out the cheap PTP ads (this month only).

# 3000 PTP Clicks - $1.15
# 4000 PTP Clicks - $1.50
# 10,000 PTP Clicks - $3.65

Now, when it comes to PTP, there's always a % of invalid clicks which you have to factor in, to calculate if you can make a net profit from your ads. I currently have a PTP ad running on this site for DonkeyMails PTP, and I'm getting about 50 clicks a day. Most of the traffic is Tier 1 and 2, and the % of valid hits is quite high. 139 clicks, 115 detected, 106 valid hits, 81.2 credits in total over 2.5 days.

Actual valid click rate is about 76.3%. Now, for the 3000 PTP Clicks package, you pay $1.15. Estimated total return is 1752 credits, equivalent to $1.314.

A small profit? Yes. Is it worth the effort? Well, here's the thing. If anyone signs up for the PTR site from your PTP page, they add to your referral downline, which earns additional money for you! I've gotten 2 additional referrals so far, which is a good start.

Another tip. Be sure to promote PTP sites that have a good track record of server uptime. If the site is down, you won't earn credits for PTP visits.

Alternatively, you could sign-up to a PTP with NO TIERS. No tiers means that the number of unique hits is the number of credits you get, irrespective of the geographical location of the visitors. Be warned though. Some of these sites may have trouble paying up in the long term, since having no tiers make these sites more susceptible to PTP click fraud.

PTR May Updates

2006-05-06T17:01:00.000+01:00

VeronicasPTR and Random-PTCs appear to have gone offline for good. Apparently, the webmistress had some problems with fraudulent advertisers - credit card chargebacks can wreck havoc with PTRs.

PolarPTR is currently having trouble with Paypal - their account has been suspended. This is probably due to PolarPTR having a multi-level referral system which Paypal frowns upon (MLM is a no-no). PolarPTR has since switched to a single referral level of 20%.

PolarPTR is probably one of the more popular PTRs out there, so it is likely that many other PTRs that use Paypal will take heed and make the necessary changes to comply with Paypal TOS.

Among the PTRs to change to a single referral level recently are TheClickersClub and EarningAtHome.

As for the PTRs that prefer e-gold, this won't affect them. World gold prices will, however. Currently hovering at 680 USD/oz, up from 430 USD/oz in May 2005.
See the chart

May 2006 Payouts

2006-05-04T23:24:00.000+01:00

BlueBirdPTR - $1.01 USD + $0.07 USD

BannerFoxAds - $0.22 USD

ItPaysToLearn - $1.31 USD

KittensPTR - $0.18 USD

SkunksPTR - $0.05 USD

Extraordinary-Mails.us - $1.01 USD.

ShareAdSpace - $0.35 USD.

MoraTraffic - $0.44 USD.

StormofCash - $0.29 USD.

Classical-Mail - $0.50 USD.

PTR April Updates

2006-04-26T22:51:00.000+01:00

MadEarnings and UnitedMails have been changed to $5 minimum payout (previously, it was no minimum and $2 respectively). This has been blamed in part on EMOCorp (currently under receivership).

Referral earnings has also been changed to a standard single level at 15% to comply with Paypal TOS. Activity requirement has been raised from 0% to 20%.

The problems with EMOCorp has affected e-gold funds available at these two sites. Therefore, it is advised that site members use Paypal if possible for quick and easy payments.

April 2006 Payouts

2006-04-23T07:48:00.000+01:00

BlueBirdPTR - $0.61 + $0.07 USD. Automatic payout.

DCGPartners - $0.29 USD. Automatic payout.

BannerFoxAds - $1.34 USD. Automatic payout.

KittenPTR - $0.97 USD. Auto payment.

SkunksPTR - $1.08 USD + $0.14 USD. Auto payment.

BGPayMail - $7.08 USD. It may take a while to earn, but at 2c per email, it's well worth the effort.

PolarPTR - $2.26 USD + 0.71 USD.

MoraTraffic - $0.33 USD.

TheClickersClub - $0.84 USD.

Avant-Cash - $2.02 USD.

AdPaid.com - $5.00 USD.

Extraordinary-Mails.us - $1.29 USD.

Classical-Mail - $2.00 USD.

LookABC - $2.00 USD.

Worldwide-Cash - $1.73 USD.

RPoints - £10.11 GBP. You can request payout from £1 GBP upwards.
BritishRewards - £0.59 GBP.

Other UK cashback sites

See March 2006 payouts here.

Profits4InvestingToo Revisited Again

2006-04-20T07:02:00.000+01:00

Received yet another e-mail concerning the collapsed ponzi, Profits4InvestingToo.

Dear Sir/Madame:

You may be a victim of fraud. An ongoing criminal investigation conducted by the US Secret Service and the Clark County Sheriff's Office into the website profits4investingtoo.com and those individuals who operated that website. Some of those individuals have been identified and have been arrested. If you invested money into profits4investingtoo.com and have lost money, if you wish to be included in this case as a victim and possibly receive restitution, you must contact U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Nguyen via e-mail at p4itoofraud@yahoo.com or you may contact him at (360) 699-1040 with the below listed information:

1. Your full name
2. Your Address and telephone number
3. Information regarding your investment into profits4investingtoo.com
(What plan you invested in, how much money you invested, how much out of pocket or actual money you lost)
4. In order to possibly receive your money back as a victim, you MUST provide the above information AND also provide PROOF of your investment.

Thank You,
Special Agent Nguyen
US Secret Service

See previous post on P4I2

EDealsUK.com UK Cashback Program

2006-04-13T04:37:00.000+01:00

This is a UK-based cashback program similar to FreeFivers, MyShoppingRewards, etc.

eDealsUK.com is giving £5 for all new members, credited to your account. You can also earn an additional £5 for each new referral, which will be credited once your referrals get paid.

The minimum amount to cash-out is £25.
Payments are made via cheque or Paypal.

Sign up now.

TheClickersClub Referral Contest

2006-04-06T03:14:00.000+01:00

TheClickersClub is currently having a referral contest.

You will earn 5 cents for every valid referral. Inactive referrals will not count.

For every 10 referrals, there is a 25 cents bonus (total of 75 cents).

Generate 50 referrals and receive $5 in total (that's 10 cents per referral!).

For every referral that decides to upgrade their membership, you will also receive 5% of the value of the upgrade.

The contest ends on April 30th. Prizes will be awarded 48 hours after the end of the contest.

Sign up now!

PTR March Updates

2006-04-01T07:33:00.000+01:00

ArabianNightsPTR - The PTP section is now for upgraded members only.

BannerFoxAds - The PTP section is now for upgraded members only. PTP has been raised from 70c CPM (with Tiers) to 80c CPM (no tiers!)

MadEarnings and UnitedMails are no longer automatic monthly payout. Members have to request payment manually.

WinterWonderlandMail has lowered their minimum payout from $8 to $5.

ShareAdSpace has had a rather substantial setback, thanks to Google Adsense suspending their account. Apparently, it has to do with Adsense changing their advertising rates from CPC (clicks) to CPM (impressions). This could mean other similar manual traffic exchanges may also be affected by this.

Meanwhile, PolarPTR is offering cheap advertising packages.

March 2006 Payouts

2006-03-30T09:49:00.000+01:00

AdPaid.com - $5.00 USD. Usually pays within a few hours of request.

Granny's - $10.00 USD. Paid, after a long delay, due to Paypal problems.

DonkeyMails - $2.70 + $2.44 USD .

BlueBirdPTR - $0.08 USD. Auto payment.

KittenPTR - $0.05 USD. Auto payment.

SkunksPTR - $0.02 USD. Auto payment.

TheClickersClub - $0.34 + $0.10 + $0.25 + $0.12USD.

CassandrasClicks - $5.13 USD. My first payment, after being a member for only 5 weeks.

HopToCashEmails - $0.63 USD. Random payout.

VeronicasPTR - $1.15 USD. A good site for cheap ads too.

Random-PTCs - $1.15 USD.

GainPay - $1.00 USD.

MoraTraffic - $0.42 + $0.42 USD.

DCGPartners - $0.25 USD.

SoRedtheRose - $1.39 USD.

BannerFoxAds - $2.23 USD.

NickelsByEmail - $5.62 USD.

Searching4Gold - $0.49 + $0.11 USD.

Guppy-Mails - $1.25 USD.

ShareAdSpace - $1.47 USD.

UnitedMails - $2.20 USD.

StormofCash - $0.31 USD. Change of site ownership. Payments are now being made.

PolarPTR - $3.45 USD.

MadEarnings - $1.74 USD.

EarningAtHome - $4.68 USD.

TheAdClick - $2.96 USD.

Klondike-Clicks - $3.26 USD.

Extraordinary-Mails.us - $1.75 USD

Classical-Mail - $2.00 USD

PooCool - $1.00 USD

Current March Total = $62.16 USD

See February 2006 payouts here.

Auto-Surf-Money Closing

2006-03-26T20:16:00.000+01:00

Auto-surf-money.com is closing, less than 2 months since it first opened its doors. Here's the email sent out to all members:

This is truly a sad day for us, but due to circumstances beyond our control Auto-Surf-Money.com has been forced to close.

Before you PANIC please understand this:

WE DO NOT INTEND TO RUN WITH YOUR MONEY !!

Over the next several days we will review our databases and begin to refund those who are due funds.

If you have recently sent funds to us via Check and these funds have not been reflected into your auto-surf-money.com account this means that the funds have not been deposited into the bank and they will be returned to you as soon as possible.

All refunds must be issued via company check because all of our other accounts have been restricted in one form or another. We therefore need to request you complete the information in your profile to make this possible, i.e., Full name and address.

It was not our intention to start this program and have to close in this manner. Unfortunately we have all fallen victim of circumstance. Had we been able to continue the development of Auto-Surf-Money privately, rather than launch hurriedly due to those circumstances beyond our control that occurred on and after February 2nd, 2006, rather than a public launch while we were still very much in pre-launch, it would not be necessary to send you this announcement now.

We will be refunding all of our members and continuing with development as originally planned. Without the additional full time work involved in daily operations, this will be a more realistic achievable task to manage.

Dan Lund

Stormpay Policy Change 23 March 2006

2006-03-26T20:00:00.000+01:00

This is the latest announcement from Stormpay.

Important StormPay Policy Change:
23-Mar-2006 14:21

Dear Valued StormPay customer,

Effective immediately StormPay Inc. will no longer accept payments for sales made outside of StormPay Auctions. If you are an online seller who wishes to sell your product or service through the StormPay system, your item must be sold using the StormPay Auctions feature. Listing in the StormPay Auctions is FREE of charge unless utilizing our inexpensive upgraded listing options.

Q: Why has StormPay implemented this new policy?

A: StormPay has rendered certain policy changes to insure a safer online experience for both buyers and sellers. This policy change allows StormPay to more closely monitor the products/services sold, insuring that sold items are within StormPay’s acceptable use policies.

Under these new policy guidelines, customers may no longer log into a StormPay account for the purpose of sending money to another online user, or “offsite” website sale. All “spends” and “receives” are and only can be for the specific purchase of a user’s auction listing and successful purchase of.

Subscriptions (recurring billing) is no longer supported by the StormPay system. All current subscriptions have been cancelled. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

We appreciate your business. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us.

StormPay Inc.

MillionHitsLotto Traffic Exchange

2006-03-15T08:07:00.000Z

This is a traffic exchange brought to you by the owner of ShareAdSpace (SAS). The first 300 members get 100 free pageviews to their chosen site. There are now 566 members, and the offer is now 50 pageviews until 1000 members.

Just to give you an idea, here are my results from the 100 free pageviews I got.
I used MillionHitsLotto to advertise my SAS link.

Tier1 Total: 73 Valid: 46
Tier2 Total: 6 Valid: 4
Tier3 Total: 10 Valid: 10
Tier4 Total: 4 Valid: 4

Total detected = 93
Total valid = 64

On my first day of membership, I've already won over 500 free pageviews!

Hurry and Join now!

EMOCorp in trouble

2006-03-14T02:29:00.000Z

EMOCorp has been unavailable for a few days now, and the reason for this is now clear. EMOCorp is in trouble with the law!

Attorney General Abbott Files Emergency Action To Protect Clients Of Unlicensed Online Payment Service

EMO Corp. and officers cannot account for $2.4 million in customer cash

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has obtained an asset freeze and emergency approval for a court-appointed receiver to take over the operations of unlicensed Austin-based online payment service EMO Corp.

The company and its officers, Todd L. Tredeau, Tracey Jones and Nancy C. Humphries cannot fully account for more than $5.4 million that consumers placed into their accounts. The company’s books show they have only $3 million cash on hand, which means EMO cannot account for $2.4 million belonging to its customers. The officers failed to register with the Texas Banking Department and obtain a license as a “money services business,” as required by law.
“These officers must account for their outrageous mismanagement of consumers’ money, which they promised would be secure,” said Attorney General Abbott. “The court’s appointment of a receiver to seize control of this company’s assets will provide an opportunity to determine where this money has gone.”

The company’s Web site, www.emocorp.com, touts the service as a safe way to conduct financial transactions online, as a service to assist consumers who are recent victims of fraud and businesses that handle payrolls.

Consumers who open accounts with online payment services can deposit money into their accounts via credit cards or bank transfers and expect instant access to their accounts. The consumer uses the service to send or receive money to and from other members via electronic transfers. According to information given to the Department of Banking by EMO Corp., the company has a current customer base of 17,000 nationwide, with 6,000 of these in Texas.

The Banking Department denied EMO a license for failure to meet minimum net worth requirements of $500,000 and other statutory requirements. Furthermore, according to the company’s own financial statements presented to the Department of Banking, the company is insolvent.

Upon investigation following the asset freeze, the Attorney General will seek restitution to any consumer harmed by these transactions, as well as civil penalties and attorneys’ fees.

Source: http://www.oag.state.tx.us/oagnews/release.php?id=1493

PDF document links:
Attorney General's lawsuit against EMO
Temporary restraining order against EMO

Previous Blog post on EMO

Profits4InvestingToo Revisited

2006-03-08T22:41:00.000Z

I received an email recently concerning the failed HYIP/ponzi Profits4InvestingToo (P4I2). The email appears authentic. It was also sent to the email address which I used for Stormpay, so I assume that's where they got my contact email. Though P4I2 is long gone, it is only now that it seems the authorities are clamping down on its activities. Here's the email:

To: xxx

March 8, 2006

Greetings,

I am a detective assigned to the Major Crimes Unit of the Clark County Sheriff's Office, in Vancouver, Washington. I am currently working an investigation, along with other agencies, into alleged financial misconduct by, or involving, a subject named Edwin Garcia. Mr. Garcia is believed to be doing business under the following entities:

Profits4u
Offshoreprofits
P4itoo (profits4investingtoo)
Money4u

and other business entities. Some of these entities or investment businesses may have been active for relatively short periods of time (less than 60 days in some cases).

I am interested in speaking with you regarding investments you may have entrusted with this individual, or any of the listed businesses or any similar investment businesses. In particular, I am interested in knowing what promises or statements may have been made to you regarding returns on your investments, amounts invested or solicited, tiered payments made or promised, what lengths of time the investments were to be held, whether or not you actually received returns on any monies invested, and/or any other information you may be willing to provide.

I can usually be contacted Monday through Thursday, 0700 hrs to 1730 hrs Pacific Time. My direct telephone number is: (360) 397-2032. I can also be reached by pager (360) 759-8350) or FAX (360) 759-5491.

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Kevin Harper
Detective 3216
Major Crimes Unit
Clark County Sheriff's Office
707 W. 13th St / PO Box 410
Vancouver, WA 98666
Kevin.harper@clark.wa.gov

When I first put money into Profits4InvestingToo (P4I2), I was new to the HYIP arena. However, I was savvy enough to know that most of these HYIPs were short term ponzis, with lifespans less than 1 month. Knowing that, my 'investment' in P4I2 was minimal, using Stormpay's Stormclix earnings only. It was, in my eyes, a pure gamble. I never expected a return. Yet, 1 month later, after I placed a request, I got paid. Since it was such a small amount, Stormpay fees took a large portion of the money - about 20%.

Now, if I had not received any payment from P4I2, chances are, my account would still be active. However, since I did receive something from P4I2, Stormpay has since charged back the money (the total sent, not the total received, meaning they pocket the difference), and suspended my account.

I am trying to decide how to respond to the official email. As far as I'm concerned, it was a gamble on my part, not an investment. Most of these ponzi/HYIPs use the Goldcoders HYIP script, which looks like this. By default, the text states something that implies some form of investment in forex and stocks, and if I recall correctly, P4I2 didn't change anything, except for the % returns.

The term 'ponzi' implies that new investors are used to pay off the old, without any real investment. For any online HYIP offering daily, weekly or monthly returns, some of the money WILL have to come from new members. Otherwise, it'll be a transaction nightmare. So, does that make all online HYIPs ponzis? OR does this only apply if more than 50% of payments are made using money from new investors? The legal definitions vary from country to country. It isn't a clear-cut case of black or white.

No, the problem with online HYIPs, is regulation. Or rather, the lack of. Something which the authorities want to change. To control. To tax.

Reasons why Stormpay will suspend your account

2006-03-08T17:47:00.000Z

If you look through Stormpay's website, you should be able to find this info.

Reasons an account may be Suspended?
Closing accounts and limiting account access: StormPay Inc. reserves the right to limit access to purchasing or making withdrawals from an account for any one of the events listed below. In the event your account access is restricted, all funds within the account will be held for a period of 180 days to cover against any chargebacks your account may incur. After 180 days of account restriction, you may contact StormPay Inc. to request the balance of any remaining funds held within your StormPay account.
See reasons below:
1. Reports of unauthorized or unusual bank account use associated with the account:
2. Reports of unauthorized or unusual credit card use associated with the account including, but not limited to, notice by the card issuing bank. This includes notices made by you to your credit card company that a transaction was unauthorized or your account compromised, and is done in order to protect you from further unauthorized use of your card:
3. Abuse by a buyer of the reversal process provided by the buyer's issuing bank:
4. Complaints received regarding non-shipment of merchandise, non-delivery of services, merchandise not as described, or problems with merchandise shipped:
5. Receipt of potentially fraudulent funds:
6. Refusal to cooperate in an investigation or provide confirmation of identity when requested:
7. Initiation by a buyer of a reversal process through the buyer's issuing bank without first pursuing the vendor or StormPay Inc. to satisfy the situation:
8. Opening multiple StormPay accounts:
9. The account has been used in or to facilitate fraudulent activity:
10. Name on the bank account does not match the name on the StormPay account or does not relate to the name on the StormPay account:
11. Return of an incoming Electronic Funds Transfer for insufficient funds in the bank account, incorrect bank routing number, or incorrect bank account number:
12. Receipt by StormPay of excessive complaints regarding your account, business or service:
13. Use of an anonymizing proxy:
14. Logging in from any country on StormPay's non-approved country list: 15. Initiation of transactions considered to be cash advances or assisting in cash advances.
16. Sending unsolicited email or posting referral links on websites where they are not permitted.
17. Any violations of the StormPay user agreement. … Read More

While it may be true that other payment processors have similar terms and conditions regarding fraud & other illegal activity, it is in the implementation of Stormpay's policies that has everyone in uproar.

For those who have even a single transaction with an autosurf or HYIP, this means that your accounts will be frozen (if they aren't yet, they will be). It doesn't matter if
the transaction was for less than $5. Or, that your dabble in said autosurf/HYIP was over 6 months ago. Even if the majority of your transactions are legitimate, your entire account balance will be frozen.

I wonder if anyone's keeping track of the number of suspended Stormpay accounts.
100,000? 300,000? 500,000? More?

Stormpay Account Suspended

2006-03-07T17:18:00.000Z

Oh look! My Stormpay account got suspended. Finally. Yes, It is true that I had an account balance of -$5.36. And it was an unverified account, because I didn't trust Stormpay enough to give them my bank account details.
But, I didn't bring my account into the red. They did. With a chargeback.

I wonder how many accounts are in a similar boat because of Stormpay chargebacks.

WinterWonderlandMail Referral Contest

2006-03-05T11:28:00.000Z

WinterWonderlandMail is currently having a referral contest. There are currently 300 members.

Details:

Referral Contest to 500 Active members Starts Now March 4th/2006.
Everybody is automatically enrolled.

1st Place Wins a Blizzard Upgrade Membership or $15 Cash.
2nd Place Wins a Snowman Upgrade Membership or $10 Cash.
3rd Place Wins a SnowBall Upgrade Membership or $5 Cash.
4th Place Wins a Tundra Adpack($4.10 Value) plus 1000 banner impressions per active referral
5th place Wins an Igloo Adpack($2.80 value) plus 1000 banner impressions per active referral
6th-10th Place Wins 5 SnowBall Links plus 1000 banner impressions per active referral
11th-20th Place Wins 1 SnowBall Link plus 1000 banner impressions per active referral
21st Place and beyond Wins 1000 banner impressions per active referral

Autosurf Recap

2006-03-04T03:23:00.000Z

Well, 12DailyPro is officially in the hands of the authorities. A receiver has been court appointed to sort out the mess, a mess which may also have been exacerbated by Stormpay's activities. 12Dailypro.com is currently unavailable, no surprise there.

ABC4 reports claim that at least $50 million USD is tied up in Stormpay accounts. The general opinion of the accountants and 'experts' involved, is that many will only receive a small fraction of what they had put into 12DailyPro. I wonder, who's got their hands in the cookie jar? Even with the claim that almost 2 million was siphoned off by Charis, that's still 50 million in Stormpay accounts (minus Stormpay's cut of approx 5%, that's still 47.5 mil). Does the government get a % of the money? How about the receiver?

The authorities have issued a warning to all autosurfs. If fraud is detected, they WILL prosecute. Well, that sounds all fine and dandy, except many of these autosurfs are smart enough to register their business abroad. There are many safe havens for companies trying to avoid the tentacles of the US Government.

For those autosurfs still operating, the general direction has been to redefine their core business activity, and make it clear to the general public. Advertising. Not membership fees. Advertising. That's what autosurfs sell. Alientrust is one of the forerunners in this endeavour. There have been a few changes in their earning plans. Whether or not this will be enough to evade the ponzi radar, is anyone's guess. A few autosurfs have gotten rid of the paid-to-surf feature, and are now plain old traffic exchanges.

We can be certain of two things:
One: People will be more cautious before investing in autosurfs.
Two: People will avoid Stormpay and other US based payment processors, if they intend to invest in autosurfs and HYIPs.

Related links and sources:
http://www.drunkonlife.com/Daily-Blog.html
http://www.abc4.com/news/

February 2006 Payouts

2006-02-28T16:06:00.000Z

The following sites have paid me this month (will be updated weekly):

BannerFoxAds - $1.06 USD.
Monthly payout, no request required. Most of the earning was from promoting the PTP page - 70c CPM.

SkunksPTR - $0.09 USD + 0.02 USD + 0.02 USD + 0.04 USD
No request required. There's a PTP section paying 50c CPM.

KittenPTR - $0.06 USD + 0.02 USD + 0.04 USD + 0.04 USD
No request required. There's a PTP section paying 50c CPM.

BlueBirdPTR - $0.27 USD + 0.07 USD + 0.09 USD + 1.06 USD
No request required. There's a PTP section paying 65c CPM

SeeSpotSearch PPC - $0.33 USD.
This is a Pay-per-Click search engine. There is no minimum payout requirement.

PolarPTR - $1.89 USD + $2.45 USD.
Lovely PTR site, with PTP at 70c CPM. Very easy to reach payout, and usually pays within the day. PolarPTR is currently having a referral contest to celebrate their 1 year anniversary.

DCGPartners - $0.02 USD.
I had redeemed $0.80 of earnings for a cheap PTP ad package, so to get paid too, is just a nice bonus.

GainPay - $1.00 USD. Mainly search ads.

TheClickersClub - $0.13 USD + $0.55 USD.
Random Payouts.

MoraTraffic - $0.78 USD.

3QuaterMails - $2.05 USD. Members limited to search countries. Proxy users are not allowed to search.

ExtraOrdinary-Mails.us - $1.06 USD.

Apple-Clicks - $3.01 USD.

Classical-Mail - $2.00 USD.

Worldwide-Cash - $1.73 USD. PTP section pays 80c CPM.

No-Scam Forums - $9.00 USD. 6th place in the referral contest.

See January 2006 payouts here.

PTR Updates

2006-02-27T20:29:00.000Z

For those who are members of various PTRs, this may or may not affect you.

WolfEmails.net and Mailsforus.com are officially closing down. For more info, visit http://www.earningoptions.com/payouts/. WolfEmails used to be one of the larger PTRs out there, with over 9000 members. Paypal froze their accounts in mid-2005 due to apparent breach in TOS, and the 2 sites have been in a state of decline ever since.

Menboo.net and Searching4Gold.com are under new management. Currently, the PTP pages are still disabled, and there is a delay in payments. The main reason given, is due to non-payment by search engine feeds and other advertisers.

PropaidEmail.com is under new management. The original owner had a dispute with Paypal. The site has been in a state of abandon for some time now, due to a separate email related problem.

He-saysshe-says.com has removed PTP from their site. More info can be found on their forums.

Getnoticedplus.com and coralcash.com also have non-functioning PTP sections at the moment.

Windsnowstory.com has changed their minimum payout from $1 to $3.

TigersAds has raised their PTP values to $0.90 CPM (normal PTP) and $1.00 CPM (multipop), up $0.10 each.

Only 4 more days till PolarPTR's first year anniversary!

All my Posts concerning Stormpay and 12DailyPro

2006-02-26T05:54:00.000Z

For those who find it a hassle to search through my blog to find articles about Stormpay, 12DailyPro, autosurfs, I have listed the articles in chronological order:

[Stormpay Controversy]
[Stormpay Controversy Part Deux]
[Stormpay Controversy Episode 3]
[12DailyPro Announcement]
[Stormpay: The Plot Thickens]
[Stormpay Strikes Back]
[So is Autosurfing Legitimate?]
[The general mood of Stormpay members...]
[Stormpay (Error - Site Unavailable)]
[Further Updates on Stormpay]
[Choosing Alternative Payment Processors]
[More 12DailyPro Bashing by Stormpay]
[The Leaf Chronicle Corrections]

[ABC4 report on 17th Feb 2006]
[Steve Girsky Hijacked!]
[ABC4 Stormpay News Follow-up]
[My Own Stormpay Horror Story]
[ABC4 Report on 25th Feb 2006]

ABC4 report on 25th Feb 2006

2006-02-25T20:21:00.000Z

The noose is tightening around 12 Daily Pro. North Carolina has issued a cease and desist order against 12 Daily Pro. I wonder when the other autosurfs will get their day in the spotlight. Or perhaps they aren't as high profile to be newsworthy.

New Action by State and Federal Regulators Against 12DailyPro

12 Daily Pro now has a cease and desist order against it. The order was handed to an agent of 12 Daily Pro on Friday. A source familiar with the order says it calls for all involved with the internet auto-surf program to cease the sale of unregistered securities by unlicensed individuals. The order is apparently part of a joint investigation by the Secretary of State of North Carolina and the Federal Securities and Exchange Commission.

Details of the order will be made public on Monday, but based on information from the North Carolina Secretary of State’s office, it represents the beginning of an investigation, not the end. According to the state of North Carolina:

“A summary cease & desist order is issued by the Securities Division when it appears that ongoing activity violates the North Carolina Securities Act or the North Carolina Investment Advisers Act and poses the threat of irreparable harm to the investing public. The cease & desist order commands those who receive it to stop any further violations and to comply with the requirements of the securities laws.”

(source: http://www.secstate.state.nc.us/)

ABC 4 has been told that Charis Johnson, Administrator of 12 Daily Pro, has not yet had an opportunity to respond to the order or its allegations.

Deadline Passes in Utah

Also Friday, a deadline came and went in Utah. Today some of the people involved in the 12 Daily Pro debacle had been ordered by administrative subpoenas to appear at the Heber Wells Building for depositions. The Utah Division of Consumer Protection is seeking a comprehensive list of all 12 Daily Pro members in Utah. Although no one appeared, Francine Gianni of the Division says negotiations are underway. She says the list could be turned over by next week.

President Hinckley's Take on Get-Rich Schemes

One other note: Thursday night’s story looked at how 12 Daily Pro spread quickly in religious communities in both Utah and Georgia. A viewer who is also a former 12 Daily Pro member suggested that we look up what has been said on the subject by President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We found this quote taken from a talk given by President Hinckley in April of 2003:

“We warn our people against get-rich schemes and other entanglements which are nearly always designed to trap the gullible.”

Since Utah became infamous for financial fraud in the early 1980’s, LDS General Authorities have spoken out on various occasions about “too good to be true” investments. In some instances it has been compared to gambling, which is considered a sin by the Church.

Story by: Brent Hunsaker
brent@abc4.tv

Source: ABC4

There was another ABC4 report on 24th Feb that cited religion as a factor in the spread of the 12DailyPro phenomenon. The report go as far as to say that the zealousness of some 12DailyPro members were akin to being in a cult. An investment cult in this case. Ardent supporters that stick to their beliefs, inspite of a lack of evidence to support it.

So, does that make the religious gullible? :) Perhaps. Faith is a powerful thing. Getting people to believe in invisible beings is no easy task. I don't want to launch into a theological debate about this, so I won't.

I will say this though; people see what they want to see.

My Own Stormpay Horror Story

2006-02-22T18:59:00.000Z

Well, I was expecting this to happen sooner or later. I finally got a Stormpay chargeback. You'll never guess for what...

Remember Profits4InvestingToo (P4I2)? It's a ponzi. At least, that's what people call it now. When it was paying out, it was 'THE best HYIP ever'. Well, my ONLY Stormpay payment received from P4I2, for a paltry sum of $5.71, was charged back to p4I2's account today. Of course, I only received $4.63 of that $5.71, because of Stormpay's exorbitant fees. But is that considered? No, it isn't. Now, my Stormpay account is in the negative ($-5.36) because I'd already spent most of my Stormpay funds before the HYIP & autosurf account freezings. They haven't charged the $35 chargeback fee yet, but I bet they will do, eventually.

Here's a screenshot of my Stormpay history (click for a larger image):

If you look at the history, I basically used Stormclix earnings to deposit with P4I2, and after a period of about 1 month, P4I2 paid me. Actually, I wasn't expecting any money from P4I2, since towards the end of January, P4I2 was having serious server and payment issues - code for 'no more money, goodbye, pffttttt'.

As I mentioned before, the chargeback doesn't consider the transaction fees (in the case of my small $5.71 payment, it's approx 19%!). Now, if Stormpay is doing this for everyone else involved with autosurfs and HYIPs, think of all the transaction fees and chargebacks involved. If and when this thing is resolved, no doubt Stormpay will charge the transaction fees again when redistributing the money. Let's say the average transaction fee is 5%. Now, count it both ways. That's 10%. Remember the claim that Stormpay had $50 million of 12DailyPro funds? Well, Stormpay just made a cool $5 million on paper from this little chargeback exercise, and that EXCLUDES the chargeback fees.

Now, I am SO glad I decided NOT to link a bank account or credit card to Stormpay. My Stormpay story is nothing compared to the many who put their money and trust in Stormpay. I really sympathise with those who have had thousands of dollars worth of chargebacks in the last month.

For more Stormpay horror stories, try stormpayfraud.blogspot.com, visit the forum at boycottstormpay.com.

In other news:

12DailyPro have cancelled their GPT Convention. Frankly speaking, I would have be surprised if it DID go ahead as scheduled.

Autosurfers are raving about WiredSurf, a new autosurf program. Transactions are done via e-gold or EMO. The site looks professionally done. Also, the more upgrades you purchase, the more ad credits you receive - the emphasis seems to be that you're actually paying for advertising, with an opportunity to earn by surfing 16 sites, 8% daily for 16 days. This works out to 128% return, so 28% profit in 16 days. That's 1.75% daily. Comparable to some HYIPs. Still, with all the problems going on, it's risky.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got a nasty email to write.

Auto-Surf-Money.com Payment Processor

2006-02-21T21:38:00.000Z

The recent problems with Stormpay has created a vacuum for other payment processors to replace.

One of the more highly anticipated processors, Auto-surf-money.com, officially opened its doors on 15th Feb 2006. Alexa shows a web traffic reaching a peak of about 150 million hits somewhere around Feb 16-17, though this has since dropped significantly. Strangely enough, there is a review on Alexa, but it appears to be outdated - the domain was previously an autosurf.

The creators of auto-surf-money.com appear to be owners of 2 other autosurfs, recently merged into one, eprofitsurf.com and autosurf.biz. The idea of using an in-house payment processor is not a new concept. Studiotraffic.com, another autosurf program that has been operating for over 2 years, created their own processor, StudioPay.com. The stability of Studiotraffic has been under scrutiny for the last few months, but that is a separate issue.

These are the current fees for Auto-surf-money.com, as stated on their website 21/2/2006:

Open an account: FREE

Send Money: FREE

Receive Money: 2.0% plus $0.25 USD per transaction

Withdraw Funds
Check from Auto-Surf-Money = $8.00
Electronic Wire Transfer $35.00
Withdraw to Atm/Debit Card $3.50 (coming soon)

Deposit Funds
Fund by Credit Card = 3.5% +0.39 Per Transaction
Fund by Online E-Check = $ 2.00
Fund by Money Order = $2.00

The transaction fees are comparable to other payment processors, although withdrawal fees appear to be relatively high.

Although not listed, there is a funding option via e-gold, with a fee of 3.5% + $ 0.50.
Minimum deposit is $10.

You can also withdraw your money via e-gold, and strangely enough, via Paypal. The fee (for both) is 3 % + $0.39.

There is also an affiliate program. The current commission is 1% on a single level referral system - no doubt, the aim of this is to steer away from the stigma of the multi-level referral commission system (Stormpay being a famous example).

It is still uncertain whether the autosurf industry will embrace this new processor, although the initial response looks promising. At the moment, there appears to be over 9700 members signed up. Auto-surf-money.com is obviously aimed at the autosurf industry, but it has the potential to be so much more.

EarningAtHome Free Membership Upgrade

2006-02-20T13:06:00.000Z

EarningAtHome.net is offering free membership upgrades until 500 members. Currently, there are about 300 members. To get the upgrade, you will need to register at the forum, reply in the thread 'Nest upgrade', and post your username.

What do you get with the membership upgrade?

Free Referrals x1
1000 Banner Impressions Monthly
100 Contest PTC's Monthly
1/10 cent PTP email monthly

The free upgrade is valid for ONE year.

Sign up now!

ABC4 report on 17th Feb 2006

2006-02-19T18:10:00.000Z

The latest ABC4 report echoed what many of us already suspected about Stormpay. They appear to be more dependent on 12DailyPro and other autosurfs than they have led on. Read on.

The FBI's Probe Into 12 Daily Pro and Storm Pay Heats Up; Utah Issues Subpoenas
The FBI in North Carolina is now leading the investigation of Charis Johnson and 12 Daily Pro.

The Special Agent in Charge is asking for information and victim stories. Reports can be submitted in two ways: 1) calling this toll free number 1-800-876-7060 or, 2) fill out a form on the Internet. The website is www.ic3.gov.

Agents have gotten a head start from the Charlotte Better Business Bureau. Tom Bartholomy, BBB President, has handed them his complaint files.

Then again, FBI agents may simply want to be at the Airport Embassy Suites in Charlotte next weekend. A reported 500 12 Daily Pro members are holding a 3-day convention there. Charis herself is expected to be the headliner. According to sources that have seen the itinerary, she promises to conduct a Question and Answer session. Despite the troubles of the past couple weeks, hotel managers confirmed the convention is still on.

Meanwhile, the BBB in Nashville, Tennessee rolled out a new report on Storm Pay, the online payment service that froze the 12 Daily Pro account, precipitating this mess. The report is not flattering, highlighting a history of unresolved complaints. With the consent of the people who submitted complaints, the BBB of Middle Tennessee has also shared its information with the FBI’s resident agent in Nashville.

One other thing: When ABC 4 talked with Storm Pay executives on Monday, they claimed that 12 Daily Pro was just a small portion of their overall business; 3 to 10 percent, they said. But a graphic from Alexa.com of web traffic for the two companies seems to indicate a different story. The tracks are almost identical. Both rise sharply through January, and then plummet in February. It would appear that Storm Pay’s fate is more closely tied to 12 Daily Pro than its executives care to admit.

Meanwhile back in Utah, the state division of consumer protection has issued four subpoenas, three to 12 daily pro, and one to Storm Pay. The state is asking all those subpoenaed to come to Salt Lake City, because the state now wants to get their testimony on the record.

The subpoenas began going out several days ago, and one was issued just Friday afternoon.

According to the state's top consumer watchdog, it's time to find out how many Utah "victims" are involved.

As to how many Utahns are involved in 12 Daily Pro and Storm Pay, Francine Giani, of Utah's Commerce Department suggested, "Hundreds? Hopefully not thousands, but it could be thousands easily, but we don't know that information. That's what we're hoping the subpoenas will uncover."

The subpoenas "command" the companies and individuals to appear in Utah for depositions. If they don't comply, the subpoenas warn they may be considered in contempt and referred to court.

These are tough measures, Giani admits, because according to the state, "It looks like a pyramid, its acting like a pyramid, its smelling like a pyramid scheme." Giani also added, "It's a corny thing, but if it sounds to good to be true it probably is. I think we need to think before we send in our money."

Giani says so far, there have been lots of phone calls but only one official complaint in Utah, She also added that if more people file paperwork with the state, that could help the two other states which now have official investigations underway.

The Utah State Division of Consumer Protection has also asked ABC 4 to remind Utahns of where to find its online complaint form.

Here is the link to that site:

www.consumerprotection.utah.gov

Story by: Brent Hunsaker and Chris Vanocur

Source: ABC4 (watch video)

The graphs in the video can be found on Alexa.
(Graph 12DailyPro.com)
(Graph Stormpay.com)

p.s. Try this with the other autosurfs that use Stormpay. The same correlation in web traffic can be found. The theory is, the higher the web traffic, the more transactions taking place.

Stormpay had an average of about 200m DAILY pageviews in January, before the fiasco. Now, the average appears to be about 50m daily pageviews. That is indeed a tremendous drop in traffic (and transactions). We can account for the drop in traffic partly due to the DDOS attacks and recent downtime, not to mention the public backlash and boycott of Stormpay by the GPT and autosurf community.

However, 3-10% seems like a pretty low figure, when we consider the graphs. But, let's assume Stormpay is telling the truth (LOL, I know, I know). If 12DailyPro represents 10% of their business, how about the autosurf (& HYIP) industry as a whole? 30%? 40%? 50%? More?

Whatever the case, the damage is done. Confidence in Stormpay is shattered. The online community have already switched to alternative payment processors.

Other sites of interest:
FBI (Charlotte) Press Release
Funny pic of Charis, as Charispatra
Psychology of Compliance: 12DailyPro Investigation

Steve Girsky Hijacked!

2006-02-17T21:05:00.000Z

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

2006-02-15T00:54:00.000Z

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

2006-02-13T06:21:00.000Z

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

2006-02-12T15:46:00.000Z

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

2006-02-12T06:13:00.000Z

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.

More 12DailyPro Bashing by Stormpay

2006-02-11T23:36:00.000Z

Stormpay released another announcement on their website. Read it, and draw your own conclusions.

February 11, 2006 Update to StormPay Customers.
11-Feb-2006 17:12
February 11, 2006

StormPay Inc. is currently suffering from DDOS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks which prevent StormPay from sending or receiving email communications as well as prevents customers from being able to access their StormPay account’s through the StormPay.com website. These DDOS attacks in no way compromise the security of your StormPay account as they are only designed to prevent legitimate traffic access. Federal authorities are investigating the origination of the attacks and have confirmed that they are very close to making arrests in connection with the DDOS attacks.

We are sure that many of you are aware of the recent controversy with Charis F. Johnson and other “Auto-Surf websites”. The funds of those merchant’s and specifically Charis F. Johnson have been locked in their StormPay accounts as investigations are ongoing into what appears to be massive illegal Ponzi schemes. Any payments you may have received from these “Auto-Surf’s, that were still within the StormPay system have been restored back to the accounts’ of those ‘Auto-Surf’s where the funds are protected and preserved in an effort to try and refund customers who may have been victims of these programs. We can confirm that there will not be enough money available to get everybody reimbursed but we are formulating an orderly plan to reimburse victims to the limited extent that may be possible.

The problem we are seeing is that customers are viewing their "earnings" from the “Auto-Surfing” websites’ and believe that StormPay Inc. is holding funds sufficient to cover those "earnings". StormPay is not holding funds sufficient to cover the alleged "earnings" or "payments" or "payouts" that are reflected on the Auto-Surf’s website (we suspect we are holding only a small fraction of what is being reflected as "owed" to customers on the websites). Some customers that received a "payout" from these “Auto-Surf’s received that at the expense of somebody else who contributed to the program but who may have never received any "payout". Consequently, the reason that we have restored funds back to the accounts of these so called “Auto-Surfs” that represent payments that some members received was so that we can attempt to reimburse as many people as possible. In the usual Ponzi scheme, if you received a payment from the program it had to have come from the payments that another member made to the program. Therefore, if you have received a payment, you received someone else's money. That is the problem with a Ponzi scheme, once it collapses a lot of people get hurt. There is no way to make everybody “whole” and most people will lose money as there simply won't be available funds to make everybody “whole.” The reason that is, once people withdraw their “payouts” or “earnings” out of StormPay, that represents other peoples money, and if the only money coming in is from new “investors” (and not any other source), there is no “new” money available to make payouts or even refunds to some members.

Assume you have a customer (customer #1) who funds their StormPay account with $1000 and sends that money to one of these “Auto-Surf’s”. Then customer #2 follows up by funding their StormPay account and thereafter sends $1200 to the same “Auto-Surf”. Thereafter, the “Auto-Surf” sends $1200 to customer #1 for their percentage of promised “return” on their original “payment" and thereafter, the program shuts down as it did in these cases. In a Pyramid type operation/program/scheme there is no longer any new money coming into the program to pay back customer #2. Customer #2’s payment was what was used to pay customer #1. If this is not a Pyramid operation there should be money to refund customer #2 but there is not in this case. StormPay Inc. cannot allow customer #1 withdraw the money in his StormPay account (which was received from the “Auto-Surf”) into his own personal bank account, since it is really the money belonging to customer #2. The only solution is to reverse as many of the funds as possible so that many more victims of the ponzi/pyramid schemes can be reimbursed their original “investment”. Keep in mind that many of the first people into the schemes have already withdrawn the funds rightfully belonging to the later participants. Despite our best efforts to correct the seemingly wrong doing of these “Auto-Surfs”, there simply will not be enough remaining monies to make everyone “whole”. Again, this is due to those admins and other participants of the programs’ who have withdrawn monies rightfully belonging to others. StormPay Inc. is currently undergoing an audit, near completion, and done with our absolute and complete cooperation, which will show that every penny of money we have ever had control of can and has been accounted for.

StormPay does not permit the processing of payments for any illegal program and our Terms of Service expressly prohibit the processing of any payments for any illegal Ponzi or Pyramid scheme. Our Terms of Service do expressly provide:

“17. Get Rich Quick" Schemes: Get Rich Quick Schemes are prohibited resell items by StormPay. Get Rich Quick schemes include any type of self-employment, start-up businesses, or investment opportunity where the claims of profit or returns on investment are unrealistic or unsupported. By law, if a business opportunity costs $500.00 USD or more, the promoter is required to support any claims regarding earnings or profits with written documentation.

Pyramids don't pay. StormPay Inc. and the Federal Trade Commission caution consumers about clubs or programs that promise quick money for recruiting new members. Don't bank on the pyramid promise that someone else will pay you. For more information on get-rich-quick schemes, visit the FTC at www.ftc.gov.”

There are claims afloat that StormPay Inc. has performed unauthorized charges from customers’ bank accounts or credit cards. StormPay can, and will prove to any and all investigators that all charges made were made from each individual’s own computer, or a computer from which the customer has accessed, and was an authorized charge by that customer. StormPay Inc. intends to investigate each and every assertion wherein it has been claimed that StormPay Inc. initiated and unauthorized bank or credit card debit, and will prosecute those persons, and seek recovery of, all funds wrongfully charged back, including all costs involved to do so.

StormPay Inc. would like to take this opportunity thank it's customers for their continued support - past, present, and future. We very much look forward to the time in which all investigations have been completed and the truth is revealed to the public and our valued customers. We anticipate having access to our website in the coming hours and resuming normal business operations.

Sincerely,

StormPay Inc.
1690 Golf Club Ln.
Clarksville, TN 37043

What bugs me is the way Stormpay twists the facts. 12DailyPro has been using Stormpay for months now. Why is it only now that Stormpay brings up Section 17 (concerning Get-Rich-Schemes) of their TOS? Shouldn't this have been an issue when 12DailyPro first started using Stormpay? Isn't it because of all the transaction fees that 12DailyPro has generated, that Stormpay chose to remain silent? Don't bite the hand that feeds? It cannot be denied that 12DailyPro generated huge amounts of traffic and money into Stormpay's coffers.

In addition, Stormpay continues to use the media to spew propaganda and garner support for the current chargebacks done on suspended autosurf members.

Article published Feb 11, 2006
Auditors dig into frozen StormPay accounts
FBI asks BBB for records from probe into online payment processor
By MARK HICKS
The Leaf-Chronicle

Auditors were busy at StormPay.com Friday as investigators try to get to the bottom of a dispute between the Clarksville online pay processor and a client who operates an "autosurf" Web site.
"We are excited about the audit," said Steve Girsky, StormPay owner and CEO. "We have no problem with them coming in to do the audit."
Additionally, Better Business Bureau of Middle Tennessee president and CEO Kathleen Calligan said Friday the FBI has requested it receive all records the agency gathers from the BBB's investigation of complaints about StormPay and associated businesses.
Calligan said the BBB plans to issue a statement early next week after more investigation.
On Wednesday, officials with the Consumer Affairs division of the state Department of Commerce and Insurance said an investigation of StormPay was being conducted.
"We are doing everything that we can to process the complaints to the consumers to let them know that it is with the Consumer Protection Enforcement staff, and that we will let them know when the investigation is complete," Mary Clement, director of Consumer Affairs, said in a Friday e-mail.
Girsky and StormPay President John McConnell said, during an interview at their Golf Club Lane office, they were instructed not to disclose which regulatory agency conducted Friday's audit. The two say the examination will show their company has committed no wrongdoing and will "shed a positive light on StormPay."
On Feb. 1, StormPay officials froze accounts of some 30,000 to 35,000 12DailyPro.com members after receiving several complaints from members that money they earned from 12DailyPro was not being sent to them.
12DailyPro, based in Charlotte, N.C., operates a Web site that offers a 12 percent daily return on membership fees for viewing a dozen advertisements a day on Web sites. The pay is based on how much is invested in subsequent membership "upgrades."
StormPay is the intermediary that sends and receives electronic payments from 12DailyPro, as well as a number of other Internet businesses and users. McConnell said 12DailyPro member accounts comprise about 2 to 3 percent of StormPay's total customer base.
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.
"She said it was proprietary information," McConnell said.
Steven Carr, an attorney with Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough law firm in North Carolina, said Friday he and another lawyer had advised Johnson to "decline all requests for interviews because the investigation was going on."
Carr, who said he was retained to negotiate with StormPay to release money it froze in 12DailyPro accounts, confirmed that he had been contacted by the federal Securities and Exchange Commission regarding 12DailyPro. He declined to elaborate further.
Carr, on behalf of 12DailyPro, released a statement Thursday evening stating StormPay officials were refusing to communicate or negotiate with 12DailyPro lawyers and they were "evaluating our legal options."
McConnell said he had talked with Carr Wednesday. Carr confirmed, saying it was a brief conversation about a fax number and "nothing substantive was discussed."
"I would like to communicate with the folks at StormPay and resolve this on an amicable basis, but I haven't heard back from them," Carr said.
McConnell said StormPay froze the accounts and is holding the money until investigations are completed to help ensure 12DailyPro members receive as much of their investment as possible.
Ponzi or autosurf

Calligan characterized 12DailyPro as a Ponzi or Pyramid scheme. Charles Ponzi in the early 20th century devised a scheme that promises huge returns to investors but pays them with money from subsequent investors, rather than revenue generated by the business.
While some legitimate autosurf sites generate money from companies that pay for Internet advertising, Calligan said 12DailyPro's only revenue is from members who "upgrade" their membership and bring in more members.
"What are you selling? It's not a product or a service ... without it, you've got a pyramid going on," she said of 12DailyPro.
Calligan said she and her entire staff of eight are now focused on investigating the more than 19,000 complaints against StormPay. "We are committed to answering each one," she said.
With the BBB investigation focusing on StormPay, Calligan said they "want to make sure that's all they're doing."

Source: The Leaf Chronicle

Please refer to revenues.blogspot.com for more News Updates

Thankfully, the authorities appear to be doing SOME proper investigation into the matter. The major concern plaguing Stormpay users, is that Stormpay takes the money and run. With the authorities watching their every move, this is probably less likely. However, it can be a real problem for many to have such large amounts of cash frozen in their Stormpay accounts.

In the above article, Stormpay claims that 12DailyPro members account for barely 3% of their customer base. Is that based on total transaction worth or total accounts in Stormpay's system? It appears that Stormpay is trying to make 12DailyPro (and other autosurfs) appear to be expendable business clients, by playing down the amount of fees generated by Stormpay from these transactions. Clearly, they don't consider the amount of fees generated by NetIBA (most of these autosurf members would have obviously got NetIBA certification for the lower fees).

What is not reported, is the fact that some people (claim they) are getting up to 3-4 chargebacks; e.g. just say someone invests $600 into 12DP, and gets $864, reinvest $600 of that, and gets another $864. The chargeback total would be $1728, when the actual money in the account is $1128. For 4 transactions, that's $3456 chargeback and $1656 actual money in system, of which $1056 is the actual 'profit'. (Notice: I have excluded transaction fees for ease of calculation).

The reluctance of Stormpay to discuss issues with 12DailyPro's legal team appears to be pure posturing, in order to gain a psychological advantage in the inevitable legal battle. By repeating the mantra of 'ponzi, pyramid, get-rich-quick, unsustainable, evil', Stormpay has already plunged the knife into the autosurf industry, and twisted it hard.

Now, for the autosurfs that do appear to provide a sustainable % ROI (% comparable to some long term HYIPs), the last few weeks have been a real setback. Irrespective of whether they are ponzis or not, many autosurfs that conducted their business using Stormpay will not recover from this fiasco.

Related links:
XtreamNet Marketing Blog: Stormpay - payment processor gone bad
Better Business Bureau of MiddleN Tennessee, Inc
BuildCash: Urgent - Stormpay Lying Again - Stop Them!
NetMoreProfit - What is Stormpay up to?
HYIPDaily - More Updates from 12DailyPro

Choosing Alternative Payment Processors

2006-02-11T13:31:00.000Z

In the wake of the recent problems with Stormpay, many people have become disillusioned with online payment processors. People WANT to be able to transfer money online without having to worry about the stability of the processor. For those who participate in the GPT and Autosurf Industry, this has always been a concern.

This is not the first time we have seen problems with payment processors. In August 2005, Paypal began suspending various PTRs and similar sites, for apparent breaches of TOS. Some of the reasons given, include forbidden content (adult, casino, prescription drugs), MLMs/pyramid schemes and fraudulent transactions.

Many PTRs used to offer multiple levels of referral earnings, but this was misconstrued as MLM, which Paypal strictly forbids, in order to stay on the good side of the US legal system. Many PTRs have since stopped offering multiple levels of earnings, changing it to a single level referral system. In addition, it is not uncommon to see PTRs stating:

"___ is not a MLM (Multi-Level Marketing) website nor matrix or network marketing. Members of ___ do not have any goods to sell. ___ is not dependant on members referring new members, membership of ___ is totally free. ___ does not offer commission to recruit new members."

Paypal has had numerous complaints & lawsuits filed against them in the past, due to their policy of freezing accounts when fraud is suspected. Unfreezing of the accounts can still take months (up to half a year apparently). Nevertheless, Paypal is STILL the preferred means of online transactions for most PTRs, simply because it's so easy to fund & use. Some PTRs sell advertising on their site via eBay, so Paypal is especially useful. Paypal has been around since 1998.

Most autosurfs and HYIPs avoid Paypal, although there are a select few that still use it. The preferred online processor for these programs was e-gold. e-gold's popularity stemmed from the fact that it provided anonymity for its users. Chargebacks are not possible with the system, and there are relatively low transaction fees. The main drawback was the complicated means of funding via third party exchangers. e-gold has been operating since 1996.

In December 2005, e-gold suffered a serious drawback, with their servers apparently under DDOS attacks, and the FBI 'raiding' their US offices. This was followed by an article in BusinessWeek that criticised e-gold for being the preferred online processor for illegal transactions. The speculations were eventually put to rest, with e-gold's Chairman releasing a statement, but the damage was done. Various autosurfs and HYIPs shifted towards Stormpay - most noticeably, 12DailyPro.

All seemed fine for a while, but it wouldn't last very long. A major online ponzi known as Profits4InvestingToo began operating, offering both e-gold and Stormpay funding options (although you couldn't transfer earnings between the two processors). It grew like wildfire, and lasted for over a month, before dying out. As can be expected, Stormpay was hit by numerous chargeback attempts, as investors sought to regain their funds. This probably contributed somewhat to the current Stormpay/12DailyPro problems, since it made StormPay realise the risky nature of online programs.

Stormpay's TOS changes affect all commission based programs, ranging from PTRs & autosurfs, to HYIPs & MLMs. It seems almost like corporate suicide, considering the huge amounts of transaction fees that they are losing daily as a result. But, perhaps it is just an exit strategy deployed by Stormpay, if you believe the conspiracy theories.

In any case, Stormpay's problems has led to a deluge of alternative payment processors, some of which I have never even heard of until this week. So far, Alertpay and Uniclear appear to be the forerunners in the race for replacement ~~killers~~ processors, although many are returning to e-gold and EMO.

Alertpay.com is a payment processor based in Canada, and an approved member of the BBB. Its fees are comparable with Paypal, and they accept autosurfs & HYIPs (but you will have to sign up for their Secure Account, which has slightly higher fees). However, it is probably too easy to say whether it will make an impact on the GPT world. Many people feel that it may be just another Stormpay clone, with potential legal ramifications in future. Alertpay has been in business since 2004.

Uniclear.com is a another payment processor, offering debit card facilities, e-gold funding and low transaction fees. However, there have been recent complaints about customer support and slow debit card loading. There is a review on No BS HYIP Blog Community concerning Uniclear's debit card if you're interested.

Other Online Processors

Moneybookers is a UK-based money transmitter, with over 1.5 million users worldwide. However, it no longer supports autosurf sites, and Paid-To-Read (PTR) sites are also no longer acceptable. This is quite a shame, since the transfer fees are still one of the lowest in the business (most of their earnings come from customers withdrawing money from the site). See Moneybookers' fee structure.

Moneybookers is still used by various online casinos. I am not affiliated with the following gambling related sites, so do your homework if you intend to sign up.
http://moneybookers.blog.com/
http://moneybookers.freespaces.com/

There have been MoneyBookers horror stories though...
http://www.chipple.net/mt/2005/02/19_001818.php

e-Bullion is similar to e-gold, in the sense that it is backed by gold reserves. There are NO transaction fees. Instead of transaction fees, e-Bullion charges a monthly service fee of 1/3 gram of gold (compare this to e-gold's 1% yearly account maintenance fee, and 1/20 gram max. transaction fee). e-Bullion does become more cost effective than e-gold when there are multiple transactions exceeding approx. USD 600 a month (based on current gold prices). e-Bullion is registered in Panama and its primary servers are based in Switzerland. e-Bullion has been in business since July 2001. A growing number of sites now accept e-Bullion.

Other gold-based currencies include Goldmoney, Pecunix, 1MDC, e-dinar, Crowne Gold and Virtual Gold. Goldmoney currently has more gold reserves than any other gold-based competitor, but its strict verification process may limit its use in the GPT and Autosurf business. Their TOS expressly forbids pyramid & ponzi schemes. Considering the ambiguity over autosurf sites, Goldmoney does not appear to be suitable.

EMO (EMOCorp) is another payment processor, that specialises in electronic money orders (EMO). EMO allows funding to and from e-bullion and e-gold. There are no transaction fees involved with EMO payments.EMO is based in the USA and has been in business since 1999. EMOCorp is also a member of the BBB.

Asianpay is based in Thailand and geared towards providing online payment services in Asian countries. There are various funding options, including other payment processors (this may be a cause for concern, since some processors forbid any form of exchanges). Asianpay has been in business since June 2005.

GPT-Pal was created in September 2005, soon after Paypal began suspending various PTR accounts. Currently, only 22 PTRs use this processor, but hopefully, it will become more popular over time. The site forbids credit card chargebacks, and has a $20 fine for any such attempts.

There is currently a separate payment processor being developed by the autosurf industry. It is still uncertain when this system will become operational.

It is unfortunate that the GPT industry is sometimes painted in such bad light. PTRs and Traffic Exchanges offer a low cost alternative to promoting websites. Rather than going through traditional methods of promotion, advertisers can test the waters for their products, without having to spend big bucks. Autosurfs generate traffic as well, although many would argue that the quality of traffic is much lower than other means of advertising.

The good news, is that most of these payment processors are FREE to join. Some sites are better depending on your geographical location, while others may be better for a particular transaction profile. Be sure to do your own research before trusting any money to a payment processor.

Related links:
SBBS - Braced for Impact: Funding Alternatives
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-gold
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-Bullion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_gold_currency
http://www.gold-pages.net/
http://indomitus.net/2004status.html
No BS HYIP Blog
Neteller
Guide to Payment Processors

Further Updates on Stormpay

2006-02-09T22:37:00.000Z

Yet another article from the Leaf Chronicle. This time, the focus has shifted somewhat. It's not merely an investigation on 12DailyPro, but on Stormpay's handling of this fiasco.

Article published Feb 9, 2006
State agency investigating StormPay complaints
By THOMYA HOGAN
The Leaf-Chronicle

The Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs said Wednesday it is investigating complaints involving StormPay.com, an Internet-based company in Clarksville embroiled in controversy over frozen customer accounts.
Consumer Affairs Director Mary Clement said her office has received a "large volume of complaints involving StormPay." She said once Consumer Affairs completes its investigation, law enforcement would be involved if it is determined "wrongdoing has taken place."
StormPay owner Steve Girsky said Wednesday he welcomes the Consumer Affairs investigation. He said he plans to meet today with the Better Business Bureau to go through many of the complaints filed with them.
"I think the agencies would not be doing their due diligence if they did not check us out," he said. "I invite anyone who wants to to look at this.
"We have nothing to hide."
StormPay.com, which was launched in 2002 and does business in 200 countries, serves as a payment intermediary for online auction sites and other Internet businesses, allowing customers and businesses to send and receive money.
One of its clients, LifeClicks, owns a company called 12DailyPro, which is being investigated by the FBI and officials in North Carolina and Georgia, according to a joint statement StormPay and LifeClicks released Tuesday.
12DailyPro is billed as an "auto-surf" Web agent where customers can buy online advertising and earn commissions from advertising revenue. Under the business relationship, StormPay processed third-party payments to 12DailyPro users.
An auto-surfing program is set up to generate money every time users visit a participating Web site.
The Better Business Bureau has described such programs as "thinly veiled pyramid schemes," according to a BBB statement.
Pyramid schemes, also known as Ponzi schemes, typically promise people a large return for a small investment. But the scheme only works as long as there are new investors to cover everyone else's investment. The scheme collapses when there are no new investors.
In the case of 12DailyPro, investors signed up and bought advertising space through 12DailyPro and received commissions from visits or "clicks" on their ads. The program is free to join, but members don't get commissions unless they pay to upgrade their accounts.
A portion of the earnings is funded through incoming member fees, according to the company's Web site.
The problem, Girsky said, is that many of the people complaining about StormPay have earned commissions, but the commissions are coming from new investors. StormPay has those frozen accounts to make sure longer-term investors don't pull out their initial investment and commissions — leaving new investors with nothing.
For example, "Investor A" may start out with a $1,000 investment in 12DailyPro and earn $500 in commissions. Some of those commissions may include investments from other people.
StormPay, Girsky said, has charged back — or refunded — the entire $1,500 to 12DailyPro so "Investor A" still gets back his $1,000 and the other people whose investments contributed to the $500 in commission get back their money as well.
Several complaints to The Leaf-Chronicle allege some frozen accounts at StormPay were not connected to LifeClicks or 12DailyPro.
Girsky said he could not comment on specific accounts without permission from the account holder, but he reiterated the company is working to rectify the situation.
"We're making sure we don't process any payments for any pyramid or Ponzi scheme," he said Wednesday.
Girsky also denied allegations that checks issued to StormPay customers have bounced and StormPay has canceled customer's ATM cards connected with their accounts. He said StormPay is working to make sure people can have their money invested with 12DailyPro refunded "to the extent possible."
"Every nickel in StormPay accounts is accounted for," he said.
Clement said she could not comment on specific complaints received about StormPay.
"We are now receiving complaints from consumers, and we will continue to mediate for the consumer with StormPay, but it is in the investigative stage right now," she said in an e-mail release.

Source: The Leaf Chronicle

If you like more news reports and articles published on 12DailyPro and Stormpay, do check out this link.

Meanwhile, Stormpay appears to be changing their Terms surreptitiously. Of course, nothing ever goes undetected for long. You can find references to the modification of Section 14 of Stormpay's TOS on Stormpayfraud.com as well as on DrunkOnLife.com.

Many people are wondering, how are the authorities handling the situation? Well, so far, there is no definite answer from the FBI, although numerous complaints have been filed with the BBB; a Ripoffreport.com search for '12DailyPro' 'Stormpay' and 'NetIBA' will generate a number of results, although it won't give us any more clues as to what's happening legally.

Related links:
NetMoneyBlog.com
Possible ways to support such a high percentage (theories on sustainable autosurfs)
SurfBoard Blogsite: The Stormpay Bomb (autosurfs affected and their responses)
Autosurf Industry in Turmoil
Lucre-here: Stormpay Saga
Pogue's Blog: 12DP vs Stormpay

Stormpay (Error - Site Unavailable)

2006-02-08T14:54:00.000Z

Site Temporarily Unavailable

Sorry, the site you requested is currently unavailable. It will be available as soon as possible. Please try again later.

Generated Wed, 08 Feb 2006 14:55:56 GMT by Prolexic.com (SI4MIA1/4.0)

That's the message I receive when I visited Stormpay's website today. People are getting very edgy, and Stormpay's website is probably being flooded with login attempts at this very moment.

The Leaf Chronicle (Clarksville, Tennessee), a local newspaper, issued another article today with statements made by Stormpay's top administration.

I have copied the text below for posterity:

Article published Feb 8, 2006
StormPay trying to resolve problem
Local company says every penny 'backed up' for victims of scheme
By JIMMY SETTLE
The Leaf-Chronicle

Clarksville-based StormPay.com issued a statement Tuesday night indicating it and another Internet company are working to resolve business disputes.
From New York to Chicago, across the West Coast and down to Atlanta — even to Malaysia and other points overseas, thousands of consumers have complained they could not access their StormPay accounts.
The Better Business Bureau alone has received nearly 19,000 complaints during the past week.
According to the statement, attorneys for LifeClicks — the owner of 12DailyPro.com — and StormPay have been negotiating the dispute.
The operator of 12DailyPro.com "after vehement denials to her customers that any investigations were ongoing, now retracts her previous statements and now admits that investigations into 12DailyPro are, in fact, being conducted by the FBI and various state investigative authorities as we have stated from the beginning," Steve Girsky, StormPay owner, said in a release Tuesday night.
Girsky asserted that 12DailyPro misrepresented its membership base that StormPay was unable to cover funds that customers had deposited into their StormPay accounts.
"StormPay's representatives have assured LifeClicks that StormPay is a viable company and is still open for business, and StormPay has provided assurances that it is able to cover, dollar for dollar with money in the bank, any deposits that may be held in any StormPay account," the joint statement reads.
StormPay has been in business since October 2002. It claims to conduct transactions in 200 countries and serves as a payment intermediary for online auction sites and other Internet businesses, with the intent of allowing customers and businesses to send and receive money.
12DailyPro, in turn, is billed as an auto-surf Web agent where customers can buy online advertising and earn commissions from advertising revenue. An "auto-surfing" program is set up to generate money every time a user visits a participating Web site.
Girsky and John McConnell, StormPay president, say they too have spent the past week fielding complaints about the accounts being frozen, with some of the complaints bearing a "threatening tone."
Pyramid scheme

12DailyPro's Internet activities are described as a Ponzi, or "pyramid" multi-level, auto-surf Web site that's claiming to build income for investors. Attempts to reach representatives of 12DailyPro — a business apparently based in Charlotte, N.C. — have been unsuccessful.
"Auto-surfing programs are thinly veiled pyramid schemes," according to a BBB statement.
Typically, pyramid schemes purport that for a relatively small investment, a huge amount of money can be earned. In order for all but the people involved early to receive money, a ridiculously large number of new participants must join.
The joint statement for StormPay and LifeClicks indicates some recent payments from 12DailyPro have been refunded back to LifeClicks by StormPay.
"We are working together to formulate an orderly and equitable reimbursement plan for refunding as many of you as we possibly can," the joint statement reads.
One complaint

Atlanta resident James Godwin is one of hundreds of people who have contacted The Leaf-Chronicle to complain about missing money.
Tuesday afternoon, Godwin said he is aware of 12DailyPro, but like most of the other people who have contacted the newspaper, he still thinks StormPay also is to blame for denying customer refunds.
Girsky said account funds have to be frozen because, "We have to protect our interests."
"I was using StormPay on an auto-surf called 12DailyPro, where you can go into their Web site and buy advertisements and get a commission from that revenue," Godwin said.
"StormPay is the processing company that pays (12DailyPro) and pays me my commissions. They have several ways of making money off of me. In fact, they charge me a fee of 3 percent right off the bat. They've got almost $4,000 of my money, counting my commissions, and at this point, I don't want my commissions.
"I just want the $3,300 that I invested in it, back. That was my life savings. It's all I had," Godwin said, adding he reported StormPay to the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday.
FBI neither confirms nor denies

Girsky and McConnell said they are working with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies that have begun looking into frozen accounts.
On Tuesday, FBI spokesmen wouldn't confirm or deny whether any such investigation was under way, saying they don't normally comment on cases unless an arrest is made or indictment is issued.
"Right now, we are directly cooperating with the investigative agencies, and we've secured the funds of this particular merchant (12DailyPro)," Girsky said.
"Potentially, this merchant owes these customers a whole lot more money than it has available to pay them." he said, adding, "Every penny of every StormPay customer is backed up at the bank."
Girsky said the problem is that "these people are expecting returns from this merchant that it just doesn't have to pay them."
"It's a classic pyramid scheme ... but they've been 'robbing Peter to pay Paul,' and that's why they don't have the money to pay these customers,'" McConnell said.
"They misrepresented their business model to StormPay," he said. "The merchant account funds have been frozen to preserve the integrity of these funds."
He said his company is trying to respond to every customer affected as quickly as possible, but "given the sheer volume, there is currently a backlog."
"We're getting to them as fast as we can," McConnell said.

Source: The Leaf Chronicle
You may also download these additional statements from their website:

BBB statement on StormPay

Statements by StormPay, 12DailyPro

And a related article on Stormpay's shady history with the BBB in Tennessee.

It does appear that Stormpay is systematically recovering 12DailyPro related funds, by issuing chargebacks on various accounts that have received payments from 12DailyPro, and putting it back in 12DP's frozen Stormpay account. You can find screenshots and more info on 12DP's forum. For some people this spells disaster, since the accounts are linked to bank accounts and that means Stormpay will be taking money out of people's bank accounts if their Stormpay balance is negative. Don't even get started on the various overdraft & NSF charges that the banks can impose as a result of this. Members of other autosurfs are also reporting similar chargebacks.

Until now, we've only had one-sided views, half-truths and misinformation spreading through the net. The latest Leaf Chronicle article actually clarifies a few things:

1. Stormpay has a shady past, and has had numerous complaints against them filed with the BBB.
2. 12DailyPro IS under investigation by the US authorities, which the admin Charis had deliberately denied until now. This fact is no longer being denied.
3. Stormpay misled the various autosurfs & HYIPs by stating that they HAD to use only one payment processor (them) or risk losing their accounts. Was that just a ploy to get more funds into Stormpay?
4. Stormpay is taking active measures to secure those funds, by hook or by crook. This means that withdrawal requests by various Stormpay members are not being met, and various accounts have been issued chargebacks.

Now, it looks like this will only get uglier by the day.

Related sites of interest:
http://xtreamsurf.blogspot.com/...stormpay-more-illegal-activities.html
http://drunkonlife.com/Daily-Blog.html
http://autosurf-advisor.blogspot.com

The general mood of Stormpay members...

2006-02-07T09:45:00.000Z

Can be summed up in 2 simple videos. Enjoy! :)

Or click http://www.youtube.com/?v=-f4zK2G7X74

Or click http://www.youtube.com/?v=BDcLunbq60A

Found the link off:
http://www.pottytown.com/cartoons/sp-ceo-last-day.htm
and
http://www.pottytown.com/videos/feb06/stormscam-ceo-speaks.htm

And for those who actually want to see more dirt on Stormpay... and 12DailyPro
http://www.amayesnbuys.biz/balance.htm
12 Daily Pro Crashes and Burns

So is Autosurfing Legitimate?

2006-02-06T07:14:00.000Z

That's probably the question riding on everyone's mind. Are they ponzis?

Ponzis imply that there's no actual tangible product being sold. In the case of autosurfing, it is supposedly advertising, and your time spent viewing advertisements.

I like the article posted on Sam Freedom's Internet Marketing Controversy Blog arguing about the sustainability of 12DailyPro's business model. The numbers presented represent a much more believable picture, compared to the sensationalised media arguments we've seen on ABC4. However, that doesn't mean that 12DP is infallible. For someone were to look at 12DailyPro's sales pitch (Earn 12% daily in 12 days), they would find it impossible to believe as well. 12DailyPro's model is similar to most other autosurfs, in that they pay a percentage daily for viewing a certain number of ads. Many autosurfs have come and gone, enough to raise the suspicions of the authorities and the online community.

Autosurf & Investments blog questions the legitimacy of autosurfs, but says that it really depends on how we define autosurfing. (Has legislation finally caught up with the autosurf craze?) Firstly, is autosurfing considered (online) work? In order to earn money with autosurfing, you need to surf daily. If you miss a day, you lose the potential % earnings for that day. That implies that some work is done, doesn't it? Maximum profit is earned from loyalty to the autosurf, ie surfing loyally everyday for the duration of the upgrade. The problem arises, because of the belief that advertiser earnings alone do not generate the required money to pay off the active members. That would imply that people are getting paid not from advertising earnings, but from the investments (upgrades) of new members.

Some autosurf sites claim that the money you put in isn't an investment per se. The upgrades are sometimes referred to as membership fees. So, it means you're paying for the right to surf the site, but have the opportunity to earn back your fees, by surfing and viewing advertisements.

But how much money can an autosurf generate from advertisements alone? IS that revenue enough to sustain the business? There are other income sources. With Stormpay & NetIBA, there (WAS) an opportunity for autosurfs to earn commission from referring new members to sign up under their referral link. That would count as revenue, right?

Sources and related links:
Google Blogsearch for Autosurfing
Autosurf & Investments blog
Sam Freedom's Internet Marketing Controversy Blog
Bradford Moore Autosurfing info
So, Are Autosurfs Ponzis?

StormPay Strikes Back

2006-02-06T01:40:00.000Z

StormPay finally issued an official announcement on their website.

Rumors put to rest

05-Feb-2006 08:38
Recently StormPay.com closed the accounts of what appear to be some major ponzi schemes. These account closures came as the early results of investigations into those businesses by outside investigational organizations as well as our own internal investigations.

As a result, possible victims of these businesses are attempting to retaliate against StormPay.com by spreading false rumors and performing DDOS attacks against StormPay's servers. The rumors include such things as "StormPay.com has gone out of business", "Their building has been burned down", and other falsehoods. The DDOS attacks are "Denial of Service" attacks where massive amounts of traffic is sent to the website whereby disallowing legitimate web traffic to reach the website. These attacks only prevent legitimate traffic from reaching the website and pose absolutely no threat to the security of your StormPay account.

StormPay will CONTINUE to cooperate with authoritative investigations into these businesses which very heavily appear to be nothing more than illegal ponzi or pyramid schemes. Our hopes are to get these investigations completed as early as possible so that victims can quickly be refunded monies that have been captured in those account closures. However, we must warn that those who are impeding the investigation are only slowing the process for everyone involved.

StormPay Inc.

Sounds very official-like, right? Strangely enough, their previous announcement dated 31-Jan-2006 is missing from their site. Thank goodness for the miracle of blogging. I kept a copy, and so did many others. Perhaps they didn't want the authorities to see that they were openly supporting blatant ponzis (not the autosurfs, but those standardised Goldcoders HYIP ponzis).

In any case, Stormpay is not operating as a reputable company should be. Are Stormpay willing to refund the millions they made in transaction fees from these ponzi schemes? I seriously doubt that. If they want to talk about ponzi schemes, what about their NetIBA verification? Many still question the authenticity of NetIBA verification. So, if there is no actual service provided, doesn't that make NetIBA a ponzi? :) Talk about a double standard. Do as we say, not as we Do.

As far as we know, no authorities have been in contact with Stormpay and refunds are being made arbitrarily. This is not their first transgression. And it probably won't be their last.

I have never trusted Stormpay myself, as I found their business practices shady and unethical. If 12DailyPro is guilty (together with other autosurfs), then Stormpay is liable as well for letting it go on for as long as it did.

Related links:
Google BlogSearch for Stormpay
Does Stormpay owe you money?
http://9planetreviews.com/team/radiant/blog.shtml
Another news article from the Leaf Chronicle

StormPay: The Plot Thickens

2006-02-05T05:41:00.000Z

Wow! It has been quite a week for autosurfs and HYIPs. Last week, a major HYIP/ponzi Profits4InvestingToo.com shut down, citing server problems. That pales in comparison to this week, in a saga involving 12DailyPro (12DP), StormPay, BYU students, and numerous autosurfs & HYIPs using StormPay.

Here's a brief recap, to spare you from reading the previous posts [1][2][3][4]. The current autosurf leader, 12DP was stuck between a rock and hard place. 12DP was trying to withdraw a substantial amount of funds in order to meet their EMO payment requirements to its members. Apparently, StormPay was refusing to release any funds, until 12DP removed EMO as a payment option. The reason given for this demand, was to reduce fraudulent credit card chargebacks.

12DP released a series of statements, to the effect that they had complied as best as they could by removing EMO, and were waiting for StormPay to release the funds. Not soon after, the accounts of various autosurfs were reportedly frozen as well. The online forums were having a field day speculating, with members sharing wild conspiracy theories and rumours.

A statement supposedly from StormPay was circulated, claimed that Stormpay had suspended the accounts of various autosurfs and HYIPs because they believed that these were ponzi schemes and and were freezing the related accounts pending an investigation.

Around the same time, a student news broadcast caught the attention of ABC4, a US local TV Network based in Utah. The broadcast publicly condemned and denounced 12DailyPro as nothing more than a ponzi scheme. The facts supporting this were largely mathematical, (although the numbers shown on the blackboard represented an idealised % that didn't factor in transaction costs, log-in difficulties, downtime, etc). In addition, a big deal was made over the company registrant address being a residence in a downtrodden location (ahem, *cough* Stormpay NetIBA *cough*).

More announcements were made by 12DP and various autosurfs/HYIPs, and access to Stormpay and NetIBA websites have been patchy the last few days, fueling rumours of a big Stormpay scam. (At the time of writing this, Stormpay and NetIBA are both back online, but questions still remain.)

There has been a lot of misinformation being spread around, including a rumour that the Stormpay building had been burnt to the ground to hide evidence. LOL. :) But, the truth is slowly coming to light.

Here's an article from a local newspaper:

Callers concerned about StormPay.com
By HEATHER DONAHOE
The Leaf-Chronicle

Numerous customers of local online money transfer service, StormPay.com, expressed concerns to The Leaf-Chronicle about being unable to process transactions through the company’s Web site during the last four days.

The company’s Web site could not be accessed and returned an error message Saturday night. Three calls to StormPay.com CEO Steve Girsky were not returned Saturday night.

Customers contacted The Leaf-Chronicle because of a story available on the Internet announcing the StormPay.com’s sponsorship at Clarksville Speedway.

The business, which is at 1690 Golf Club Lane, appears to be undergoing a massive renovation project. The building, where lights were on Saturday night, remained set up with various office machines and equipment. No one responded to knocks on the business’ door.

An employee with the construction company performing the renovations said Saturday night he spoke with a StormPay.com employee Friday but could not offer any information about the company’s status.
For more on this story, see Sunday's edition of The Leaf-Chronicle.

Originally published February 4, 2006

So, who's scamming who? Who's been spreading misinformation? I honestly can't say with 100% certainty. All the parties involved are pleading innocence (or is that ignorance?)

Then, there's ABC4's update on their news report... their previous 2 news reports can be found here and here. Obviously, the focus of the attention is on 12DailyPro, but I expect this to shift in the coming days.

Whew... another long post. I know. But, we're almost at the end.

I found a recent article for motor racing, in particular StormPay.com Weekly Racing Series.

Here's what made me laugh...

StormPay.com is a globally recognized leader in online payment processing and free online auction listings. StormPay lives up to its name with “lightning quick e-commerce.” The StormPay.com Dirt Late Model Series is also lightning quick with the action on the track.

I wonder who does their PR? (the guys who did Enron's)?

How will this story end? Either way, I'll be glad when the dust finally settles.

Other links:
http://www.fairpatton.com/
http://drunkonlife.com/Daily-Blog.html
12DailyPro Announcements tracked here
TalkGold.com Stormpay Discussion

12DailyPro Announcement

2006-02-03T12:29:00.000Z

Another one? So soon? Well, here's the announcement (spelling mistakes and all, Charis must be fuming, and not bothered with a spell check):

We Are Being MisRepresented - by Charis - 12dp Admin at 2006-02-03 07:17:42
We have recieved notice that a group of 12daily Pro members who are students at a Utah university have created and have been promoting a website to fellow students, that falsely claims we are investment opportunity and urging students to contact them if they want to place an investment with our company. They have also been handing out business cards with our name on them. These students may have also given the impression that we are a pyramind scheme of sorts, which we cannot in adctuality be beccause we offer only a simple one level referral program.

Our terms clearly state that 12dp is not an investment opportunity and we have never presented it as such.

It seems that there are multiple sites and groups of our members doing similiar things. This has created a very difficult situation for us. None of these things were approved or sanctioned by our program.

Due to questions being raised, we want to be proactive in cooperating with any authorities that may want to ask questions. We feel at this time, it is best that we stop accepting upgrade purchases while we attempt to prove to whoever may question, exactly what our business model is and is not.

We are unsure what this will mean for the future of the program, but we want you to know we will do our best to communicate what is happening to you. We will also be formulating a refund strategy should that become necessary.

Our funds remain frozen with StormPay so we have no idea at this point how long that refund process will take.

Please know we are going to do all we can to prove that all we have done here is offer people a effective way to promote their online businesses and earn by engaging with the advertising of other members.

We will post news items as we have more information. Should the site need to be taken down for any reason as a result of these matters, you can still contact us by fax if needed. 1-866-308-0133

As I have supported and worked for you all over the past 10 months, I hope that I can count on your support in this matter as well.

Thank you.

Last change at 2006-02-03 07:22:14

Well, it looks like 12DP has taken a step to prove or rather, to disprove the accusations that it is NOT a ponzi. By not accepting any more payments, 12DP seems to be sending a message... that it does not rely on new investors to pay off the old. That the reason people haven't been paid, is that their StormPay funds are frozen. How this will play out is anyone's guess.

In other news, StormPay's website appears to have gone offline. Rumours are spreading like wildfire, and speculations range from the mundane to the extreme.
My favourite has got to be the Patriot Act defence.

Be sure to check out the following sites for more info:
http://www.drunkonlife.com/Daily-Blog.html
The latest on MMG discussing 12DP

NetIBA business info
StormPay business info
12DailyPro business info

Do check out my previous posts on the Stormpay debacle below.

Stormpay Controversy Episode 3

2006-02-03T05:45:00.000Z

StormPay vs 12DailyPro? Really? Because, that's what it's starting to look like... 12DP have released yet another statement concerning their account at StormPay:

Stormpay Manipulations - by Charis - 12DP Admin at 2006-02-02 13:22:46
From what we can tell, it seems that StormPay may not have in their bank account enough funds to cover the withdrawal we requested and thus could possibly be using the account suspension as a smoke-screen for their inability to pay us our requested funds.

It seems they may have fabricating the existance of some kind of investigation and suggesting that our account has been 'frozen' in an effort to deflect attention from their ability to pay us. We have verified that none of our other payment processing accounts, nor our bank accounts has been frozen. Those accounts are perfectly fine. We find it very curious that the only financial account we have open that is currently frozen is with a company that has found one excuse after another to pay us a large deposit we requested weeks ago.

We assume their tactic is to breed fear among members in an attempt to get them to place chargebacks so they only have to pay out to individual members in small amounts at a time and thus NOT have to pay us the large lump sum that we requested beacause they mau not have the funds in place to cover such a large withdrawal.

We are still researching and gathering information and will provide more as we have it.
Last change at 2006-02-02 16:16:46

About 3 hours later, 12DP released another announcement:

Stormpay Developments - by Charis - 12DP Admin at 2006-02-02 16:42:15
We have done some additional research and as you may have noticed, we have come to some decisions regarding our current issues with Stormpay.

We did everything we could to meet and live up to StormPay's blackmail attempts on Monday. We removed EMO, a payment processor with who we have a very solid relationship. At StormPay's demand, we completely eliminated all choice for our members of payment processors and put our business in a very difficult postition. After all of that, it seems that we have been betrayed.

The existance of 12daily Pro has profited StormPay over the course of the months perhaps more than any other of their clients or users combined. They seem to now have a problem with autosurf; we find it curious that they didn't have a problem with taking our money. We have learned that StormPay has suspended many other autosurfs as well witin the past couple of days. It appears they may also be sending out libelous answers to members questions about why we were suspended.

We want to let you know that we have decided to become proactive in this matter, after a full day has passed with no explanation from them of why our account has been suspended. Our attorney has submitted a letter to their attorney via email explaining our postion and requesting a response. Barring a legitimate explanation by Stormpay within a timely manner, we will be filing immediate legal action to recover all our funds by legal force if necessary so we can meet our responsibilities to all of our StormPay members in a timely fashion. We will update you on the progress of this matter. We promise to fight them to the death for money that rightfully belongs to you and us.

In the meantime, since our account has been locked, we cannot at this time make any StormPay payments. We also have been denied by StormPay the withdrawal of funds that we earmarked for the funding of our EMO account. So, this evening we will have to weigh a lot of factors in determining how we will structure a recovery plan for our Stormpay funds as well as determine an ammeanable and fair payment schedule for all members with currently pending withdrawals.

We will have some answers for you on this by midday tomorrow.

In the meantime, we have enabled EMO upgrades again, staff will be focusing on support tickets and the launch of the new program hopefully later tomorrow.

We need you all to understand that this is a very difficult situation which we never could have predicted. There will be a lot of change and uncertainty in the coming days. But know we are doing all we can to insure that StormPay does not bring this program down nor take advantage of members that we have spent months caring for.

We completely understand that you are all concerned as we are as well. We ask for your support and patience at this time. Rest assured we are here working our butts off for you. You can help by not creating more work by staff with support tickets about these issues. We will update the membership as a whole as developments arise in the member news area, so please check it often for new postings.

We will not let anyone destroy this program that our staff and all of you have worked so hard to build.

NOW is the time when we PROVE we are pros!

Charis
Last change at 2006-02-02 16:49:25

There has yet to be a statement from StormPay. So, what's going on?

Well, there are probably two ways to look at it:

1. Stormpay is stalling for time. 12DP has a large account, a real cash cow. And very difficult to payout, if 12DP decides to switch to alternative processors. StormPay hasn't responded to 12DP. That's not a good sign. In fact, if it's true, that's very bad customer service!

2. 12DailyPro is stalling for time. 144% return in 12 days (22 days if you count the processing time) is very high. Some of the earnings will HAVE to be from new members, i.e. part-ponzi.
Here's an interesting article I found via MMG's forum.
http://newsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/58189
http://newsnet.byu.edu/video/23170/video.asx (video)

Or perhaps there is a THIRD scenario... StormPay AND 12DailyPro in cahoots? Unlikely. Other autosurfs that use StormPay appear to be affected as well.

Other links of interest:
http://forums.12dailypro.com/smf/index.php?topic=23659
http://forums.12dailypro.com/smf/index.php?topic=24207.0
http://forums.12dailypro.com/smf/index.php?topic=23779
http://forums.12dailypro.com/smf/index.php?topic=24183.0
MMG 12DailyPro Discussion
HYIPDiscussion

MatrixWatch.org - an old discussion on StormPay
GetPaidForum.com - another StormPay discussion

Previous post: StormPay Controversy Part One and Part Deux

What do YOU think?

Stormpay Controversy Part Deux

2006-01-31T23:07:00.000Z

I posted an article earlier about Stormpay and the controversy over their practices. Well StormPay appears to be up to something. To anyone who's a member of 12DailyPro (12DP), a big autosurf program, StormPay has coerced 12DP into removing EMO as a payment option. At this point in time, EMO represents about 25% of 12DP's business. Now, this sets a precedent. StormPay has since issued a statement to this effect on their site. Any Autosurf or HYIP dealing with StormPay can no longer offer an alternative payment processor. Failure to comply means freezing of their accounts. This draws a comparison to the eBay/Paypal situation, in which no alternative online payment processors may be used for their Ebay auctions.

Below is the full text from StormPay:

31-Jan-2006 14:40
Due to high volumes of fraudulent transactions made to merchants with commission based business models, StormPay can no longer process payments for those type of merchants who choose to accept more than one payment processing solution.

Using more than one payment processor is exactly the situation that “fraud” seeks out. This enables the fraudulent user to set up a fake profile with either of the processors, make a purchase or join the program, and then withdraw their earnings to the other processor where the real identity is used. This sort of activity makes it nearly impossible for either processor, or law enforcement to properly handle the fraud because the “trail” comes to an end. This is the cause for a great many chargebacks to those merchants which can be avoided.

As of 1/30/2006 StormPay must require Merchants with a commissioned based business model who choose to accept StormPay, to only accept StormPay. StormPay certainly does not wish to dictate how our merchants run their business, all merchants are free to choose any processing solution that best suits their needs. We understand you have choices and certainly hope that choice is the online leader – StormPay. However, if another payment solution is used, please immediately remove StormPay from the associated website as a funding option and continue to use the StormPay account funds to finish payments to those members who paid using their StormPay account.

At StormPay we truly care about our merchants’ and the overall success of their business and sales and for that reason we have implemented these very necessary changes. Thank you in advance for your understanding in this very crucial matter.

StormPay Inc.

Now, to be fair to StormPay, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. This may lead to fewer fraud cases, perhaps. But then again, many sites offering more than one payment processor DO NOT ALLOW payment from one processor and withdrawal from the other. The contention put forward is that e-currency exchange is where the fraud lies.

The truth be told, is that many autosurfs and HYIPs DO have a ponzi nature to them. If StormPay really WANTS to eliminate fraud, they would STOP allowing blatant ponzis from using their services. No, the hard truth is, that these ponzis generate HUGE revenues for them, and to eliminate them from their customer base, would be corporate suicide. With fraud on the rise, it's only a matter of time before the US authorities start cracking down, and StormPay may have to relinquish their cash cows (autosurfs/HYIPs).

Now, the question is, what will the legitimate companies do? Will they capitulate? Well, that depends on how much they've invested into StormPay. Can they afford to do a dramatic switch over to a new processor, forcing their members to switch as well?

Take the example of 12DP. They have decided to comply. Below is the full text from a recent announcement:

Urgent - Payment Processor Change - by Charis - 12DP Admin at 2006-01-31 10:20:09
There has been a very disturbing development regarding our payment processors that we need to share with all of you.

As you know, we recently removed E-Gold as a payment processor and added EMO, as we wanted to provide our members with reliable payment processing options, that would allow you to make a choice as to which processor bests suits your needs. We developed a relationship with EMO who has been extremely helpful in making the transition as smooth as possible for our members and staff. We have nothing but praise for their security, their fee structure, and their professionalism.

We were actually very surprised at the large number of members who choice EMO as their new option. In fact the number of members who choice to have their compounded upgrades paid to EMO was exponentially more than we had thought it would be. Thus we ended up with a considerable surplus of Stormpay funds, money intended to pay the compounded upgrades. As soon as we realized this, begun to withdraw sufficient funds from Stormpay to our bank account so that we could properly meet our obligations to all Egold/EMO and Compounded/EMO members. We were due withdrawals in our bank account last Thursday that would have allowed us to complete all of these payments according to our 7 day terms. The money did not clear our banks on Thursday. It did not clear on Friday. At this point were forced to extended the payment of compounded EMO upgrades to 10 business days. However, anticipating the funds would surely clear on Monday, we maintained our Dec. 31 deadline for the payment of all E-Gold/EMO withdrawals.

We discovered Sunday night, that the delay in receiving funds was not simply slow banking. On Sunday night we received a notice from StormPay informing us that they had cancelled all our pending withdrawals and could only pay us by bank wire or check. They also informed us that they would not continue doing business with us if we continued to offer our members the ability to upgrade with EMO. On Monday morning we attempted to arrange our bank wire with Stormpay, hoping to have time to come to some fair resolution that would allow us to maintain both payment processors. StormPay informed us at this time that they would not allow the release of our funds until we removed EMO as a payment option from our site. We were given a 5pm deadline in order to do so. Not doing so would result in StormPay disallowing any further upgrades incoming purchases through them. The only account functions we would have been allowed at that point would have been to refund all funds in our account to the purchaser, which would not have allowed for any earnings or commissions to be paid to these StormPay members.

We held a conference all with StormPay yesterday evening, in an attempt to negotiate some other solution. They informed us that due to the high degree of fraud and chargebacks by some of our members and the associated credit risk for their company that they would not continue to put themselves at that risk as long as we were allowing our members another payment option. They also expressed concern over the potential fraud of members being using both processors as a means to pass money in a fraudulent way. They informed us that as long as we offer any other payment option to our members, they will not do business with us and will not allow us unrestricted access to the funds in our account.

While we are very disturbed by their requests and do not agree with their reasoning, right now we are forced to capitulate, due to the fact that now 75% percent of our membership utilizes StormPay as their payment option. So, as of 10am today, we have removed EMO as an upgrade option with 12daily Pro. At StormPay’s behest, the only payment processor that will be accepted at 12daily Pro is StormPay.

We are extremely disappointed at this turn of events and are going to do everything we can to make this transition smooth. We selected EMO as an option because our their security, their low fees, and the flexibility. LifeClicks wants to continue our relationship with this processor. Because of this and because of our dedication to all of our members who have now created EMO accounts, we will be stepping up the launch of our new program, which will accept EMO, by a few weeks. We hope to have the site launched and available within the next couple of days. Stay tuned for more information on this.

Currently pending Egold/EMO upgrades:
We have paid out approximately 80% of these. By this afternoon, we will have paid through half of the Jan 8 expirations. Due to the delay in placing the necessary funds in EMO to complete this payments, we will have to extend the deadline for the remainder of these to February 3. If you are wondering, while there are many expiration days left to be paid, there are considerably fewere upgrades on each day than for previous days which some days only have less than a dozen. We hope to have them done before that date, but it is all dependent on the speed of our banking transactions.

Currently pending Compounded/EMO upgrades:
For those of you that chose your compounding option to be paid to EMO, your payments will also be affected. We want to give you all again the option at this point to change your payment option to StormPay, which will allow you to be paid within 7 business days of your expiration. If you use to remain with the EMO option, the new payment deadline will be within 15 business days. We know that you have all already been very patient and that many of you have been waiting for payment since December. However, we hope that the extra monies you were able to earn by not having to pay pa processor fees for the compounded funds and being allowed to upgrade and earn far beyond our 6K limit in many cases, will help offset your wait. We will allow anyone that wants to change to StormPay at this time until tomorrow at noon before we will ‘lock in’ your payment Ids to your withdrawals again.

Currently pending regular EMO withdrawals:
Those of your who have currently pending EMO withdrawals, these will be paid within 10 business days of expiration.

Currently active EMO upgrades:
Those of you who have currently active EMO upgrades will be allowed to complete your 12 day upgrade cycle and will be paid within 10 business days of expiration.

E-Gold Upgrades which have yet to expire:
The EMO option will no longer be available. Also, if you choose to compound, you will only be able to receive the compunded withdrawal to Stormpay.

Again, we want all of you to understand that this choice is not voluntary and we did everything we could to try to negotiate some alternative. This final choice was one that we needed to make to insure that all of our members receive their deserved earnings and that the program and the company can continue for the benefit of all involved.

We will be making daily updates on this matter to keep you all informed as we move through this transition. We will also be arranging a moderated chat session, a LifeClicks town meeting of sorts later this week, to give members a chance to have any questions they might have about this matter or the program in general addressed.

We also want to ask you to refrain from any negative feedback to StormPay regarding this issue. While we don’t agree with their actions, we accept that they are doing what they feel is best for their company.

We thank you in advance for your cooperation and your professionalism as we overcome yet another challenge that will spur us on toward greater things.

Thank you.
Last change at 2006-01-31 10:42:49

You can read more about this on the 12DP discussion thread on MMG.

Or check out Blue Collar Surfer's Blog for a second opinion.
Also, HYIP Asia's Blog.

Profits4InvestingToo - another ponzi collapses

2006-01-31T05:55:00.000Z

Profits4InvestingToo (P4I2, as it is also known) is gone.

What astounds me, is the scale in which this ponzi operated. Within a week, it had garnered close to $1 million in investment (although a large portion was via re-investment of 'earnings', which is rather misleading). The cheerleaders were waving the P4I2 banners, even in the dying days of the scheme.

Here are the final words of the site's admin (also posted on the website):

I'm sooo Tired... for 37 days Profits4investingtoo.com has ran. We changed the way alot of HYIP's are run. We did alot of great things. I have not figured out a way to bring the databse back up. So as of right now Profits4investingtoo is over. We made payouts for the last couple of nights, and will continue to do so, till all the funds are gone. We are pulling the payouts one by one, and importing them Randomly. So we are paying all different dates. But as most of you know, i have to go back to work, and i won't have time to work on the database till next weekend. Thats why i'm officialy ending it tonight. After we finish paying out SP, we will move onto E-gold, E-bullion, and Uniclear. Till every account is a 0. I'm sorry this had to end this way. But we are going to pay millions of dollars out...Even after we closed.

I'm going to take a long need break, and get my mind back in order. But after 30 days or so, if everything goes as planned, we are going to bring profits4investing3 to the hyip world. We are going to start the site on a 3 server Mysql cluster. have a support staff of 4 from day 1. And hire profesional security, and server administration staff. All from day 1. I think Profits4investing3 will be bigger, and last longer that P4i, or P4itoo. I will still be around the chat boards, and e-mail will stay turned on. So you can e-mail with any questions. We are not going away, just taking a break.

Long live P4I
Admin

The die-hard fans will still vouch for this ponzi; obviously, since they probably made thousands off the backs of others.

Now, you may ask, did I invest? Hell, yeah. But, it was only a small amount. About $2. How much did I make? Well, in total I got back about $7 ($6 after deducting fees). $1 fees? Well, I was testing out StormPay (update: read the Stormpay story)

Would I invest in a similar program in future? No. Because it's not an investment. It's a gamble. That's what ponzis are.

Ponzi Scam Spam

2006-01-29T09:52:00.000Z

The Net has changed. Cyberspace has become a danger place to surf. Everyday, ordinary people like you and I, are bombarded with emails from people we don't even know, advertising some crappy unknown product. Just like real life, except this sort of advertising is unsolicited like junk mail in your postbox. We call this online junk mail SPAM.

If you've ever signed up to any ponzi HYIP, you may have unwittingly given your email to unscrupulous individuals. After their initial program has collapsed, they will bombard you with daily emails trying to entice you to join some new ponzi HYIP. Some of them don't even invest much in the new program. Instead, their goal is to earn money from referral commissions. These scammers are notorious spammers. Many use false email headers, anonymous proxies and other evil means (e.g. zombie PCs infected with trojans) to send spam, making them difficult to trace.

Enter> Spamcop.net

The first and last line of defence against spam. More importantly, it's free to join. Report your spam here, and help make the world a brighter place!

Here's another goodie:
Fight SpamBots!

Put this link on your website, and the would-be spammers will soon find their email list clogged up with randomly generated spoof email addresses.

And finally:
Try SpamGourmet. The ultimate spam sorter. Avoid giving out your real email address. Create custom email addresses that forwards mail to you, and make it easy to figure out who is sending spam to you. So from now on, you can send your emails to microsoftwindows.100.gforce2@spameater.org

Blogging for Cash

2006-01-28T01:57:00.000Z

Blogging is popular. No doubt about. There are blogs about everything, from business to leisure, from hobby to obsession. Like everything popular, it is an opportunity to generate money. Over here on Blogger/Blogspot, we can advertise any way we want, as long as it doesn't violate US laws. As some people may know, Blogger was bought by Google sometime in 2003. So, it's not uncommon to see blogs here with Google Adsense. Of course, you may choose other advertisers such as Bidvertiser, BannerBoxes, Clicksor and so forth. After all, that's what free enterprise is all about.

There are tons of other free blog sites, such as MySpace, MSN Spaces, etc. Everyone's blogging.

There's a new Blog in town, and it's called BlogCharm. is a free blog host that pays members to blog. Instead of using a separate advertiser to generate revenues, BlogCharm will provide the ads, and any revenue generated from your blog will be shared 50/50! What's more, if you're already using AdSense, you can still put those ads up. Of course, it's always a good idea to read the terms & conditions beforehand.

Anyway,
Here's my Blog on BlogCharm

A Brutally Honest Ponzi

2006-01-27T10:58:00.000Z

A few days ago, I posted an article about ponzis, and I remarked, how I would love to see a true ponzi with honest information; you know, none of that fancy investment management crap.

So, today, I stumbled upon White-Funds.com. Honestly, the comments there had me ROFLMAO! Seriously. If only all ponzis could do the same, and the world would be so much brighter.

I've copied the main text of the site, and pasted it below for your viewing pleasure.

Round 2 Coming!
More information will available soon...

Hello members of White Funds,

Well, just wished to tell all these happy members who have won this game and unhappy members who have lost in this game, that next round will start after 3 or 4 days and this round has already finished, because StormPay account balance cannot cover pending withdrawals anymore. Well, yes we still have cash in both StormPay and E-Gold accounts and we will pay out all this cash to all those who have pending withdrawals starting with the very oldest one even if it was skipped for some reasons before. I would be really happy if people who have lost their money in this HYIP would not scream and treat me as scam, I said from the very beginning that this is 100% return ponzi and I haven’t lied I will pay out all the money in both E-Gold and StormPay accounts during next two or three hours. And I guess some of you now are wondering – “My deposit has not appeared in my account yet. Why have you stopped making them appear there! You are not fair!” Yes I am very sorry I did not added it to your accounts, however I don’t think there was need for this because I have already seen that they will not get profits from this HYIP anyway. You just entered game too late and that is why you have lost, I am sorry try harder and jump in earlier, when you will play in next HYIP. Thank you for your trust and I hope it will not just disappear because some of you have lost! And one more thing: about StormPay claims, please do not post them, because you entered this game by your own choice, I have not pulled even single one of you in it.

I hope you will play in next round as well! More detail information about next round will be available soon in this page!

p.s. If you wonder how much I earned from this, I should say that I have not earned anything besides the amount I got from my own deposits.

NOTE: I guess some of you think that I have taken all the money that comes from difference between total deposits and total withdrawals shown in statistics. So, this is because “Total deposits” in GoldCoders script does not mean only deposits made direct from e-currencies but also virtual deposits made from account’s balance. So this is why there will be some difference between “Total deposits” and “Total withdrawals” shown in statistics.

Oh and we considered something about first round and now we will know how to make second round better:
- We will do fresh install of script and do a lot of testing so there would be no such StormPay problems!
- We will make lower returns so program could survive much longer and there would be more people in profit!
- We will hire some more staff, so it will be easier to cope with all the problems arisen!
- We will have good server from the very beginning so we will not have any downtimes at all!
- We will add some additional features to script so you could get more information about what is going on with money!

Short FAQ

Why didn't I get my money? SCAM!!! I hate you!
We are very sorry that you ran out of luck this time. This has happened because your money has been paid out to some other members of White Funds. This is ponzi and this is how it works.. If you have requested a withdrawal earlier than other member who got paid, you should consider these things:
- You have requested amount which was not available in StormPay account by the time your request had to be proceeded. So your request was skipped and we proceeded the next request.. Yes maybe you are right, I had to proceed your request with all amoust is available. Sorry, I have not thought of this.
- The other member has proceeded withdrawal using StormPay, and you asked money via E-Gold. E-Gold ran out of funds much faster than StormPay did and I can tell you clear reason why - there were much less deposits using E-Gold in the later days, as well we had not disabled currency exchange in the very first days so some of StormPay was exchanged into E-Gold without us willing for it. Yes, I know, I was responsible for these funds, so you should kill me now.. But better do not do this as you will not have any benefits from this. In the next round I can asure there will be no mistakes like this..
- You haven't had valid StormPay or E-Gold account in your account's information, so I could not proceed your requested withdrawal..

You are cheating cheating cheating! We didn't get paid in order!
Refer to upper post. And also, sorry, I paid in groups, so I might have missed something. I am human and mistakes are part of the game. Cannot do anything about this..

I have not earned anything! Give me refund! I will call FBI!
Sorry, if you are buying a lottery ticket and do not win anything, do you ask for a refund? I guess not. Or if you lose your money in casino, do you ask for refund? I guess not again. I cannot give you any refunds, because I have already paid all money to other users and you are simply the one, who have lost this ponzi scheme. Maybe you will be more lucky next time.

Why did the game ended just then most of 5 day profits had to be paid? SCAM?!?!
No, because it was the same day, we ran out of funds. Of course the fact that many huge profits had to be paid was one of the cause, which strongly decreased our reserve of funds and eventually just made it disapear. I hope you undestand that those who invested in 5 days plan had highest risk! I have not ever promised that I will pay everyone, because I did not add any more funds to program besides those, YOU deposited!

I have not had any profits.. Please pay me.. At least once!
Should I tell you again? Ask those who have profits to pay you! Because all the money deposited is in their hands I do not have a cent left (well.. actually $1.31 of StormPay and $0.21 of E-Gold. If someone really wants these unimaginable amounts of money, please PM me in MMG, I will give it to you!).

I put all the money I had in this! And I lost it! I will die from starving now!
Ah.. There was A RULE!! A LAW!! Do not invest that what you cannot affor to lose!! Or do you usually buy loto tickets from all salary you got!

Stop f**king around! You are scammer! All hyips are SCAM!
I do not know, maybe all hyips are SCAM. But yet, I tried to make fair one. If you are not satisfied with it.. So better leave MMG, TalkGold forums, withdraw all your E-Gold and other E-Currencies and do not ever come back! If you are crying even then you lose in HYIP which offered 100% of deposits paid out, so what the heck are you going to do with ones that offer 40% or 30% or deposits paid out (that is very regular HYIP!)

Admin, where are you?! I want to kill you!
Sorry, give me a rest. After spending five days 18 hours a day next to computer I want just some rest! You will be able to kill me after 2 or 3 days, when I will get back and start preparing 2nd stage..

Update: Seems like the honesty bug has been spreading. www.ponzi-fund.com claims to be a real ponzi, and declares that it IS gambling. Haha. Pigs really do fly. (Cue the flying pigs commercial).

January 2006 PTR Earnings

2006-01-25T05:23:00.000Z

Requested and paid
MoraTraffic.com - $10.22 USD (Contest winner)
earnbymails.com - $0.05 USD (paid on 4/1/2006)
X-mails.biz - $0.28 USD (member since 26/05/2005, paid on 6/1/2006, last paid on 10/12/2005)
Extraordinary-mails.us - $1.26 USD (member since 23/12/2005, paid on 8/1/2006) + $1.24 USD (paid 29/1/2006).
PolarPTR.com - $1.81 USD (paid on 14/1/2006) + $1.32 USD (paid 26/1/2006).
Searching4gold.com - $0.79 USD (paid on 18/1/2006)
GainPay.com - $1.00 USD (paid on 19/1/2006)
SoRedtheRose.net - $3.05 USD (paid on 22/1/2006)
Donkeymails.com - $1.05 USD (paid on 23/1/2006)
AvantCash.com - $2.02 USD (paid on 24/1/2006)
Random-PTCs.com - $1.60 USD (paid on 24/1/2006)
AdPaid.com - $5.00 USD (paid on 25/1/2006, last paid on 9/12/2005)
ShareAdSpace.com - $1.26 USD (paid on 26/1/2006, last paid on 11/12/2005)
Classical-Mail.com - $2.00 USD (paid on 27/1/2006, last paid on 21/12/2005)
Worldwide-Cash.net - $1.06 USD (paid on 28/1/2006, last paid on 31/12/2005)

Autopayment, no request necessary
UnitedMails.com - $0.07 USD (member since 2/1/2006, paid on 5/1/2006) + $0.61 USD (paid 31/1/2006).
MadEarnings.com - $0.09 USD (member since 29/12/2005, paid on 8/1/2006)

BannerFoxAds.com - $1.14 USD (paid on 8/1/2006, last paid on 6/12/2005)
DCGPartners.net - $0.56 USD (member since 8/12/2005, paid on 6/1/2006)

BlueBirdPTR.info - $1.14 USD (member since 19/12/2005, paid on 5/1/2006, last paid on 22/10/2005), +$0.81 USD (paid 21/1/2006).
KittensPTR.com - $0.43 USD (member since 30/12/2005, paid on 6/1/2006), +$0.31 USD (paid 21/1/2006).
SkunksPTR.com - $0.19 USD (member since 30/12/2005, paid on 7/1/2006), +$0.18 USD (paid 21/1/2006).

BestAdSite.com - $0.28 USD (paid on 10/1/2006)

January Total = $40.21

Note: Most of these PTRs are Paypal friendly. A few of them don't use Paypal, but you are given alternatives: e-Gold seems to be more popular, although some offer StormPay and MoneyBookers.

The Ebay Paypal Agenda

2006-01-18T08:29:00.000Z

There has been a recent change in the policies of Ebay. Apparently, you can no longer use alternative online payment processors to do business on Ebay. You can only use Paypal. NO e-gold, no Stormpay, no e-Bullion. In fact, if you so much as offer this as an alternative, your Ebay AND Paypal accounts could be frozen.

This was actually announced way back in Oct 2005, but has only been implemented since January 2006. From Ebay's viewpoint, it is just a way of killing a few birds with one stone:
1. Reduce fraud by eliminating alternatives.
2. Reduce competition by eliminating alternatives.
3. Increase profits by eliminating alternatives.

Sound familiar? Think Microsoft.

Compare the policies on Ebay's country-specific sites (use an online translator if necessary):
Ebay US
Ebay Canada
Ebay UK
Ebay France
Ebay Netherlands
Ebay Italy

Ebay Germany
Ebay Germany hasn't been changed yet, but I'm guessing it's probably because of strict antitrust laws and other business regulations.

So what is the average Ebay user to do?
Of course, you can always stick with traditional payment methods: debit/credit cards, cheque, postal orders, etc.

We all like alternatives. We yearn for it. So, if you really need to use something other that Paypal, perhaps you should be on the look out for alternative auction sites.

Other sources:
GoogleRumors

No-Scam.com Forum Referral Contest!

2006-01-18T05:21:00.000Z

This is a follow-up to my earlier post

No-Scam is currently having a referral contest to promote their forum!

Here are the details of the contest:

1. Earn 1 point for each valid unique hit to your referral link.
2. Earn 25 points for each valid Registration via your referral link.

The referral contest will run from 18/01/2006 to 18/02/2006.
The prizes are as follows:
1st - $50
2nd - $40
3rd - $30
4th - $20
5th - $10
6th - $9
7th - 8
8th - $7
9th - $6
10th - $5

Click on the banner below to find out more.

Now, here's an additional idea.

Why not sign up for a traffic exchange as well to advertise your referral link? Here's a special one. Carnival-Clicks is ALSO having a referral contest. You get $1 for activating your account AND automatically enter the Carnival Clicks referral contest for traffic credits (1 credit = 1 pageview for your site). In addition, you earn 20% of all direct referral credits.

Carnival Clicks Contest
Winner designated by the most new referrals from 2006-01-17 and finishes 2006-02-10
Winnings: credits
Placings:
1st - 21600 credits
2nd - 1000 credits
3rd - 1000 credits
4th - 1000 credits
5th - 1000 credits

Join Carnival-Clicks here!

Ponzi Gains and Losses

2006-01-17T01:26:00.000Z

Ponzis are dangerous. Still, people join them, because of the lure of quick bucks. And yes, they do pay... for a while, and not everyone gets a slice of the pie.

When you gamble in ponzis, you've got to know when to cut your losses.
Most ponzis last less than a week, although a few good ones (not good ethically, but they've got a killer publicist) last as long as 3-6 months.

What I really hate, are all these scammers calling themselves HYIPs when they are basically ponzis. Just ONCE, I'll like to see a ponzi with some REAL honest information.

e.g.

xxx-ponzi is founded by a group of ponzi MLM experts. We are devoted to distributing your money to our various e-gold accounts. You can be certain that your investment will be handled by a group of qualified con artists. With us, the online investors can share in the experience of losing their life savings. xxx-ponzi is a short term high loss private loan program, NOT backed up by Forex market trading and investing in various funds and activities. We however do a lot of online betting for kicks at your expense.
Customer support is non-existent.

What are you waiting for? Give us your money now. Now Dammit!

Following my recent articles, 'Are HYIPs worth the risk?' and 'HYIP Strategy for the Cautious', I decided to share my recent ponzi 'adventure' with the online community.

My ponzi gambling attempts thus far...
(note: 5 of the 7 ponzis listed are now defunct, within the space of 3 weeks!)

Win2Cash
Spent $11, earned $20.46, e-gold Fees $0.61, Profit/Loss +$8.85

MediaHYIP
Spent $1, earned $1.45, e-gold Fees $0.09, Profit/Loss +$0.36

SontisInvest
Spent $1, earned $0, e-gold fees $0, Profit/Loss -$1

RushHYIP (This one closed down within THREE days!)
Spent $7, earned $2, e-gold fees $0.09, Profit/Loss -$5.09

Investmentboss
Spent $3, earned $5, e-gold Fees $0.21, Profit/Loss +$1.79

Cycle-HYIP
Spent $3, earned $3.89, e-gold Fees $0.17, Profit/Loss +$0.62

Profits4investingtoo
Spent $2.12, earned $1.32, e-gold fees $0.07, Profit/Loss PENDING (StormPay)

Final Tally = +8.85+0.36-1-5.09+1.79+0.62 = $5.53
Total Spent = $35.12
% profit = 5.53/35.12 = 15.7%
This was over a period of 3 weeks.
monthly profit (potential) ~ 21%

Now, it will be foolish to believe that this sort of results can be repeated with larger amounts of money. Lots of factors to consider:

1. The site may close down before you withdraw your initial spend.
2. Since it is basically a gamble, it's a matter of luck which ponzi you pick.
3. Greed sets in, and you forget to stick to a plan.

Update 11 Feb 2006
Please note that all of the above sites have since gone offline. Ponzis are risky, ponzis are illegal (in many countries), ponzis should never be treated as investment opportunities.

Get Cheap PTP Ads for January 2006

2006-01-16T09:54:00.000Z

SnowManMail.com is currently having a January Special for ads. The 1 pt 10 sec ads appear to be value for money, especially if you're promoting PTP pages.

# *Snow Storm*50,000 Non-Search PTC (1pt 10 sec) - $6.50
# *Snowman*25,000 Non-Search PTC (1pt 10 sec) - $3.50
# *Snowball*10,000 Non-Search PTC (1pt 10 sec) - $1.50
# *Snow Flurries*5,000 Non-Search PTC (1pt 10 sec) - $1.00
# *Snowflake*2,500 Non-Search PTC (1pt 10 sec) - $0.65

You don't have to join the site to advertise, although if you're a member, you can redeem your earnings for ads.

SnowManMail Site Stats:

Total Members: 2,096
Active Members: 1,786
Paid-To-Clicks : 73
Total Searchers: 815
Total US/UK/CA/AU Searchers: 613

Jan 20th Update: SnowManMail has recently increased their PTP from $0.61 CPM to $0.70 CPM.

Auto Traffic Exchanges

2006-01-15T09:40:00.000Z

1Visitor
CashMoneyHits
ViralCashMoney
ViralEvolution
ViralGalaxy
CashWayz (1 site only)
Eurosurf
HappyClickTraffic

KissFeeder
NaveGuay (1 site only)
NewYorkTraffic
NoBullHits
Prohits-4-u

ResultsTraffic
TraffPortal
AutoHits.info
EroHits

TrafficRacer

ViralCashMoney Referral Link

AutoHitsNow
1.5 credits per view, no popups

http://paidvisitors.com/?ref=11629
http://autosurfnow.com/?ref=17534
http://www.321hits.com/?refid=5192
http://www.teamhits.com/?refid=3589
http://www.sprutt.com/?refid=6664

http://www.kingdomofcash.com/?ref=90

http://www.visitorinvasion.com/signup.php?ref=315
4:3 exchange, 10 sec timer.

http://www.ozautosurfer.com/?ref=7797

http://www.stormsurftraffic.com/?ref=1436
2000 free credits, 10:7 traffic exchange, 15 sec timer

http://www.surfcash.us/?ref=3047

SmileyTraffic

Manual Traffic Latest

http://www.brastart.com/?refid=163600
http://carnivalclicks.com/?rid=1256
http://traffichour.com/?r=58023

http://www.clickmogul.com/?r=58455 - 1:2 exchange

http://www.trafficjam.se/?ref=273 - random bonuses

EM-Traffic - 1:1 exchange, 20 sec timer.

Blog Exchanges

http://www.blogadvance.com/?ref=1046
0.5 hits per pageview

http://blogclicker.com/?username=gforce2
0.6 hits per pageview

Do you want to become part of marketing history?

2006-01-13T07:01:00.000Z

If so, click on the following link!

TheRecordBreakingDomain.com

That's right. This site should put Alex Tew to shame. :P

Do You Require Web Hosting?

2006-01-09T08:28:00.000Z

The following three web hosting services have an affiliate program, which offers payment via Paypal.

1. Hosting2nv.com
Affiliates get $10.00 USD just for signing up! There is a low $20 payout, and earn 70% of commission sales. In addition, you also receive 5% of referral commission.
Webhosting packages start from as low as $2 USD per month!

2. NetFirms.com
Payout is $100.00 USD payout via Paypal.
There is currently a special offer for registering new domains - .com/.net domain registrations cost only $4.95 USD for 1 year! Webhosting packages start from $4.95 USD. Have a look and see. There is also a free web hosting option, if you want to just try it out before you buy.

3. Spyderzwebz.com
There is a low $10.00 USD payout, and you get 15% of commission sales. In addition, you also receive 10% of referral commission.
Web hosting packages start from $2.50 USD per month, with plenty of options depending on your requirements. There are also packages for web hosting resellers, if you're interested that doing that.

Here are two more options for those in the UK:

1. 123-Reg.co.uk
Minimum payout is £25 via cheque or bank transfer. The affiliate program offers 10% commission on domain name sales. This site specialises in .uk domains. Prices for domain names start from £2.59 (exc. VAT) per year.

2. UK-cheapest.co.uk
Minimum payout is £25. Payment is via PayPal, cheque or bank transfer. This site offers commission on domain name sales, web hosting sales and search engine submission sales. Currently, all new affiliates are automatically credited with £5. This site is currently offering free .uk domains for purchasing any web hosting package.

The Pixel Ad phenomenon

2006-01-09T02:18:00.000Z

The pixel ad... a marketing innovation, or just a one time fluke?

Well, for one lucky man, the pixel ad has really paid off. I'm talking about Alex Tew, the guy who started the craze, and made a fortune out of it.

Basically, the site sells pixels (minimum 10x10) at $1 per pixel. And the goal was to sell all 1 million pixels, thus achieving the $1 million target. The site took off, and made this young entrepreneur the talk of the town. In fact, the huge demand for ad space on his site, prompted him to sell off the last 1000 pixels on eBay! Winning bid is ~~over $160k!~~ $38,100. Fake bidders had it up much higher before it was adjusted.

You can probably find out more from his site.

The phenomenon has since spread. Many sites have duplicated the pixel ad format
A quick google search revealed quite a few:

http://www.milliondollarspixel.com/
http://www.freepixeladvertising.com/
http://www.tenmilliondollarwebsite.com/ - even greedier... :)

http://www.pixeladstalk.com/ - a forum on pixel advertising.
http://www.pixellist.com/ - a blog listing other pixel ad sites.

Neville's Financial Blog - offering ad space on his blog.

http://millionpixelbooty.com/ - this one cracked me up. Check out the ad between the legs. (NSFW)

http://www.milliondollarpixxxels.com/xxx.html
(definitely NSFW, so I won't make it clickable)

Well, it's only right to try and hop on the bandwagon. I've put a small free pixel ad on the following site, promoting my blog. Kudos to those who find it.

Other sites offering FREE (while stocks last) pixel ads:
http://www.pixold.com/
http://www.permapixel.com/

e-Gold Games

2006-01-08T09:32:00.000Z

Bored with ending clicking for cash? Want to gamble a bit of cash on card games, etc? Then, try the following...

GoldGameLand.com
Minimum bet: $0.50
Referral potential: Earn 10% of referral's winning margin.

GamesofGold.net
Minimum bet: $0.50
Referral potential: ~~Earn 10% of referral's deposit.~~
(EDIT: It's actually 5% of referral's deposit. I've been earning 2.5 cents for every 50 cent bet.)

RollTheGold.com
Minimum bet: $1.00
Referral potential: Earn 10% of every referral bet placed.

Goldencardgame.com
Minimum bet: $1.00
Referral potential: Earn 5% of every referral bet placed.

eGoldGame.be
Minimum bet: $0.05
Referral potential: Earn 10% of every referral bet LOST. One man's loss is another's gain.

Reminder: remember, these are games of chance (aka gambling), so there's no guarantee of making money.

If this isn't to your liking, why not try e-gold bubble games.
My favourite forum No-Scam has just started a bubble game.
http://www.no-scam.com/forum/bubble.php?ref=2226141

Stormpay Controversy

2006-01-07T11:31:00.000Z

Recently, StormPay started offering lower transaction fees, BUT only to those who sign up for NetIBA verification. NetIBA is a separate business entity, yet appears to be run by the same person.

The above picture shows the registered addresses of StormPay and NetIBA, only about 100 metres apart!

Now, signing up to NetIBA costs about $20 per year, which you have to pay via StormPay. NetIBA offers an affiliate scheme, in which you can earn $5 in commission for every referral purchase.

Now, for those who use StormPay, NetIBA offers a sizeable amount of savings on your transactions. The claim is that NetIBA verification increases the level of transparency to reduce fraud. The fact that they charge for the service, makes this a real cash cow for StormPay/NetIBA. Lower transaction fees allow StormPay to compete on some level with the other more established payment processors.
Now, when you have a verified StormPay account, it means that you've provided bank or credit card details to StormPay.

Now, the problems come when there is a credit card chargeback on your account. Say that someone sends you $10 via StormPay using a credit card, and shortly after asks for a refund. StormPay deducts the $10 from your account, AND ANOTHER $35 whenever there is a chargeback, and it is up to you to fight to get it reversed. For honest users of StormPay, this can be quite a shock.

Now, I recently came across a website, about one person's horror story with StormPay. Apparently, the above scenario occurred, and put the StormPay account into negative numbers. StormPay then TOOK the money from the person's bank/checking account, even though they can't do that without permission. The problem compounded, as the checking account was now in the negative, and the bank charged their own fee (Non Sufficient Funds fee).

Here's the link, read on:
http://www.mystormpaylawsuit.com/

Other sources:
http://server2.ihostphotos.com/show.php?id=20493
Thread on Ebay Forums
NoPaypal Forums
CNet Forums
http://hate-stormpay.blogspot.com/
whois info stormpay.com
whois info netiba.com

Other Posts on this blog concerning Stormpay

e-Gold Announcement

2006-01-07T07:30:00.000Z

e-Gold has been the topic of much discussion on various forums lately, due to an article that appeared in Business Week concerning the usage of e-gold by cybercriminals. Activities such as money laundering, credit fraud and others were cited in the article, which led to much speculation and rumour on the Net. In fact, many people were talking about switching to alternative payment processors.

In response to the negative news, e-gold released a public announcement, explaining the recent events, and thus setting the record straight. The full text can be viewed at:

https://www.e-gold.com/letter.html

Other references:
https://www.financialcryptography.com/
http://www.businessweek.com/
http://www.fbi.gov - Operation Cyber Sweep

HYIP Strategy for the Cautious

2006-01-07T02:47:00.000Z

This is a follow-up article to my previous post, 'Are HYIPs worth the risk?'

I am a HYIP newbie. However, I am a cautious investor and gambler. That being said, my foray into HYIPs is currently limited to small test spends below $10 (ok, it's more like $5).

Now, it doesn't take a genius to know that most sites claiming to be HYIPs are nothing more than ponzis. In fact, some of these sites have the word ponzi in their url name! Most of these sites use a standard script from the now defunct GoldCoders.com, which is apparently easy to hack. The script is now selling at really low prices from mirror sites trying to cash in on the scams.

Autosurfs are a bit different, in the sense that they require you to login daily in order to earn. But at the end of the day, these programs do depend on you bringing in new members in order to pay the high % returns.

Anyway, back to HYIPs.

Here's a few simple rules I try to follow:
1. Never invest more than you can afford to LOSE.
2. Test spends. Never put in too much initially. Get your initial spend back before investing with more. Alternatively, only invest with the profit from initial spends.
3. Avoid the 1-3 day programs. These don't last more than a week or two, except for a few that manage up to week 3 before collapsing.
4. Never join a ponzi that's more than 2-3 weeks old. Most start to buckle before then anyway.
5. Don't be greedy! I was, and got burnt (well, it was more like a slight paper cut really). Never again.

There are tons of online resources about HYIPs. The true blue HYIPs are few and far in between, and usually, they require you to invest real $, not the $1 minimum nonsense with most ponzis.

Now, the very meaning of HYIPs implies risk. But, compared to ponzis, true HYIPs are like the calm peaceful atmosphere of the countryside. If you find a good HYIP, share it with a friend. Or maybe, share it with me? :)

Updates:
Ponzi Gains and Losses
A Brutally Honest Ponzi

UK Targeted Sites

2006-01-05T05:45:00.000Z

BritishRewards

As you may guess from the site name, this program is restricted to UK residents. If you're not living in the UK, don't bother.

Basically, you get paid for signing up to other sites & programs, clicking, searching, shopping and referring new members.

There is a NO MINIMUM Payout via Paypal, although there is an option to request £5 gift vouchers for Amazon, AmberConnect and FireBox if you prefer.

The referral bonus is £0.30 per referral. Not bad, eh?

Sign up Now!

MyShoppingRewards

This one offers £8 per referral, but only if they earn above £20 cashback. However, there is a separate affiliate program that pays a progressive % based on the number of people you refer - up to 50% of referral earnings.

Minimum payout is £20, payable by cheque.

RPoints

RPoints uses a point system, where 100 points = £1. Redemption via Paypal is a minimal £1.

"You can earn £5 each time someone becomes an active Rpoints member, and your friend gets £5 too!"

But... there's a catch. Notice the word 'active'. Firstly, you need to earn 2500 points. Oh, and so does your referral.

FreeFivers

Another program. Get £5 credited to your account for signing up. Minimum payout is £25. Referring new members gets you £5 when they earn £25. Very similar to the above. There is also an affiliate program, for those who want to generate even more revenue. Payment is via cheque, on a Net-30 basis.

For those who enjoy Online Surveys, click here .

MoraTraffic - Join an Under-Rated PTR

2006-01-02T02:15:00.000Z

Earn between 0.25c - 1c per click.

MoraTraffic is currently having a referral contest up to 1000 members.

The top 3 members with the most referrals will be the winners.
The prizes are:
- First Place - $100 (Pay by PayPal)
- Second Place - $50 (Pay by PayPal)
- Third Place - $25 (Pay by PayPal)

Not, here's the catch. MoraTraffic only accepts members from countries in the list: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom & United States.

There is a Referral earning bonus of 15%.
Payout is a LOW $1 via e-Gold* Payout and No minimum PayPal** Payout (You may request your payment once per month).

*There is 5% processing fee for e-Gold payment and you need to send them a photo
ID that shows your name and address.
**You must have a verified PayPal account.

Only 32 members at the moment, so there's lots of time to get your own downline!

Sign up now!
http://www.moratraffic.com/pages/index.php?refid=gforce2

Are HYIPs worth the risk?

2005-12-31T18:28:00.000Z

High Yield Investment Program or HYIP is self-explanatory. HYIPs are investment schemes that offer investors a chance to earn a much higher revenue from their investments. The potential returns can be many times more than you would receive from the same investment in mutual funds, stocks or unit trusts. But, as we all know, more money means more risk involved.

Online HYIPs became popular with the introduction of various e-currencies that facilitated easy transactions of monetary value. The most popular is e-Gold, with its low transaction fees and a value that is 100% backed by gold (The rising price of gold has only served to boost its popularity as an e-currency).

Unfortunately, the lure of HYIPs has created a serious problem... scam HYIPs.
According to a few reputable websites, scam HYIPs & ponzis make up to 95%-99% of all HYIPs online.

Legitimate HYIPs are usually involved in high risk and speculative ventures. This may include Spread Betting, Forex Trading and Commodities trading - Oil and Gold trading is especially lucrative, but risky. Some diversify into property investments, stocks and other financial instruments, in order to ensure some income stability. These programs offer up to 1% daily return on investment (ROI). Some offer even more, but are generally more risky.

Even legitimate HYIPs can collapse. There is always an element of risk in any investment, and this is even more so with HYIPs. Here's a scenario. Some bad investments may limit the available funds in the HYIP. Delays in payment leads to Internet speculation and rumours spreading like wildfire. Investors decide to play it safe and take out their money, leading to a surge of withdrawals. The HYIP lacks the capital liquidity to fund the withdrawals, which worsens the situation. This leads to these sites being labelled scams and frauds, when in actuality, it is a lack of liquid capital.

Scam HYIPs, on the other hand, are typically ponzis or pyramid schemes. The scam artists attempt to portray themselves as legitimate traders, promising lucrative returns.

"Double your money in 1 day!"
"Earn 120% of your investment in 1 day"
"150% return in 3 days"
"200% of your spend in 4 days!"

We've seen hundreds of these. All of them claiming to make people rich. And people get sucked into it. Scam HYIPs can be addictive. The promises often don't last long. As soon as the scammers make enough from the scam, they shut down the site. Some are even more devious; they change the investment plans to encourage bigger investments and to perpetuate the belief that it is a long term HYIP. The late investors typically lose out. "A sucker born every minute", or so the saying goes.

So, why do people continue to invest? Or even promote HYIPs? That's because of the lucrative referral bonuses. Some sites offer 5%-20% of referral spends! Imagine, if you refer 10 people, who spend $10 each. With a referral bonus of 10%, you would earn $10!

Therein lies an ethical dilemma. Do you promote a site which you know is a scam, because you stand to make some money from it? And if you do, doesn't that make you as guilty as the scammers?

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HYIP
http://hyipguide.info/

Update: Please do have a look at my follow-up article:
HYIP Strategy for the Cautious

New Year Sign-Ups

2005-12-30T00:05:00.000Z

Paid-To-Promote Option - 60cent per 1000 Credits
No Minimum Monthly Payout! (EG, PP, SP)

Paid-To-Promote Option - 50cent per 1000 Credits
Monthly Payout (EG, PP)

Paid-To-Promote Option - 50cent per 1000 Credits
Monthly Payout (EG, PP)

A low $2 payout (EG, PP, SP). Random Payouts

January 7th Update:

No minimum payout. (PP, EG)

Low $5 payout. Free membership upgrade until 600 members!

Low $5 payout. Random Payouts!

Low $1 Payout. New PTR by the owner of Random-PTCs.

Traffic Exchanges
ILoveHits.com
ILoveHits - 3:1 exchange, 15 sec timer. Surf 3, get 1. Not very good, but the more you surf, the more bonuses.
Comparison: Similar to BigLeagueHits. Accepts some PTPs.

www.wolfsurfer.com
WolfSurfer - 1:1 exchange, 30 sec timer
Weekly Surf Competition, Cash prizes for the Top 5 Surfers. Interesting, but you will have to surf up to 10000 pages to win anything.
Earn Bonus credits for surfing.

www.ozautosurfer.com
OzAutosurfer - has both auto and manual exchanges.
2:1 exchange, 20 sec timer
Freebies - $2.00, 100 Manual and 400 Auto Credits Signup Bonus!

clickpirate.biz
ClickPirate - earn 200 credits on signup.

EarnByMails - Cheap Advertising

2005-12-28T22:59:00.000Z

If you're looking for cheap advertising, this one looks good.
There is a no minimum payout, via eGold and Moneybookers.

Join EarnByMails now.

p.s.
Another good advertising site is Worldwide-Cash. There is a 5% discount if you pay via e-Gold.

Win2Cash - My First Foray into HYIPs

2005-12-28T04:53:00.000Z

Site info:
Started Dec 20, 2005
Running days 7
Total accounts 371
Active accounts 255
Total deposited $ 14,262.50
Today deposited $ 0.00
Total withdraw $ 4,503.06
Visitors online 22
Members online 12
Last update Dec 28, 2005

-=-
Win2Cash.com

Firstly, I'm going to classify this as a really risky HYIP , because of the very short timespan for deposits.

There are two main categories: paid daily, or paid after 4 days. The 4 day deposit pays up to 175%, but only for large deposits. It is 140% for deposits less than $500. The paid daily option allows you to withdraw the money daily, and so it has a lower % return.

Minimum spend is $1.

I did a test spend of $2 over Christmas - there was a special 1 day deposit with 130% return, and received $2.60 in my a/c. Then, I did a test withdrawal for $1.60, and it was in my e-Gold instantly.

Click for Proof of payment

I have since re-invested.

Now, considering investments below $500, you can make back your initial investment in approx 4 days, after which, you're basically investing using your profits.

In my opinion, you should treat this one as a gamble. You may or may not get back your initial investment. The later you join, the riskier it becomes.

If you want to risk it, sign up under me. Thanks.

January 3rd Update: For the time being, there is a $5 daily withdrawal limit. This is normally NOT a good sign. I will be posting an update soon. Keep watching this blog.

January 6th Update: No payouts since 4th January 2006. It was fun while it lasted.
26th Dec to 4th January = member for 10 Days. Site paying for 16 days.
Payout ratio: 180%, i.e. invest 10, get back 18.
Daily average earnings = 18%

Update:
Please refer to my HYIP articles:
Are HYIPs worth the Risk?
HYIP Strategy for the Cautious

A great new Forum! Earn $500 monthly!

2005-12-24T22:30:00.000Z

No Scam Forums is a new online forum dedicated to identifying the scams from the true blue sites. They are currently having a contest, with a chance to win $10 daily, and $200 at the end of the month. The more active you are, the better.
I've won $10 USD today, and paid directly to my e-Gold account. A lovely Xmas surprise!

Join it early, share and learn some info on the GPT industry.

December 2005 Payouts

2005-12-24T16:14:00.000Z

A pretty good month for payouts.

AdPaid - $5.00 USD
Apple-clicks - $2.38 USD
Avant-Cash - $2.07+$2.24 USD
BannerFoxAds - $0.75 USD
BlueBirdPTR - $0.37 USD
Classical-Mail - $5.00 USD (this is my usual monthly earnings)
GainPay - $1.00+$1.00 USD
MoraTraffic - $0.41 USD
PolarPTR - 1.14 +2.39 USD
Random-PTCs - $1.13 + 1.72 USD
Searching4gold - $0.79 USD
shadowlinks.net - $0.10 USD
ShareAdSpace - $0.20 USD
WindSnowStory - $0.20 USD
X-mails.biz - $0.15 USD
YeahCash - $3.00 USD

Merry Xmas to all. :)

PolarPTR

2005-12-19T01:05:00.000Z

Are you looking to promote your website, or advertising a new search engine? Well, PolarPTR offers some cheap ads on their PTP rotator.

e.g.

100,000 Site Impressions (no PTP links!) - $25.00
100,000 Bottom Banner Impressions - $1.30
100,000 Text Link Impressions - $0.90

If that isn't of interest to you, you can also sign-up for their PTR. PolarPTR has a low $0.50 payout. PolarPTR's PTP section currently offers a decent $0.70 CPM with Tiers. Email ads range from 0.25c to 1c per click, and points can be redeemed for ads and other stuff.

This site pays promptly, usually within 1 day. So, what are you waiting for?

Latest Signups

2005-12-18T16:00:00.000Z

Traffic Exchanges

EasyHits4U.com - traffic exchange 1:1 ratio, 30 second timer.
MysticalMaze.com - traffic exchange 1:3 ratio, 15 second timer.
TrafficExperts.biz - traffic exchange 1:1 ratio, 15 second timer.
BigLeagueHits.com - traffic exchange 1:3 ratio, 20 second timer. The ratio improves the more you surf!
Paid2RockHound.com - traffic exchange 1:10 ratio, 30 second timer. (Tons of bonuses to convert into credits or cash)
Carnival Clicks - traffic exchange 1:3 ratio, 15 second timer.

PTRs with PTP

DCGPartners.net - Automatic monthly no minimum payout. (PP, MB), PTP for upgraded members only.
WorldWide-Cash.net - Automatic no minimum payout (EG, MB), PTP $0.80 CPM
BestAdSite.com - NO minimum payout (EG, MB), $5 payout (PP), PTP $0.70 CPM
BlueBirdPTR.info - $1 payout.
EarningAtHome - $5 payout (PP, MB, EG), PTP $0.75 CPM
DonkeyMails - no minimum payout (EG). $1 payout (PP, MB, SP)

PTRs

Ultra-cash.us - $0.50 payout (PP).
PooCool.com - $1 payout (PP, EG).
LookABC - $2 payout (PP, EG).
Tweetyfiedwebsites.com - $5 payout. Random payouts. (PP, MB)
TreasureHuntMails - Random payouts (PP, EG).
WindSnowStory - $1 payout (PP, EG).
Extraordinary-mails.us - $1 payout (PP). $2 (EG)
YourPTR.us - ~~$17.50 payout~~ lowered to $10

referral-exchange.net - referral exchange program

Get a Free iPod

2005-12-16T13:07:00.000Z

Yes, well. There is a catch. Usually.

Firstly, you would normally have to sign up for another paid program or subscription.
Secondly, you would have to refer others to join (5 unique referrals, who also have to sign up, etc).

http://ipods.freepay.com/?r=26046312

Well, let's consider the facts.

The retail price of the iPod 30GB is about £200. The sign-up offers can range from a few pounds to say, about £20. IF we take £10 as an average, you'll have to refer at least 20 people to pay for the product. But, of course, advertisers are looking for long term customers, so this is just an advertising expense for them.

Currently, this program only accepts members from US, Canada,UK and Germany.

Update: 6th Jan 2006
But, is it a scam? Maybe, maybe not. The offer advertisers pay the site owner, Gratis Internet, a certain amount per valid sign-up - they call this a bounty which may imply that it is quite substantial. There are also people who refer more than 5 members that complete all the required steps. The additional referrals don't contribute, since you can only get one iPod per account. There are some who complete the offers but don't/can't manage to convince enough of their friends to join as well (e.g. say only 3 friends signed up). This means, quite a number of people won't be getting iPods.

Jaybees wrote a very informative article on this, back in July 2004 - yes, this iPod thing has been around quite long. There's also another article on uglx.org (actually 3 articles) that basically equates this to a pyramid scheme in disguise. Viral advertising sounds trendy, doesn't it. Amazing what a good marketing/public relations team can do.

The maths is true. Less than 20% of all members will get an iPod. That's just the way it works. If you can live with those odds, then go right ahead, and promote this bad boy.

References, skeptics and believers:
http://www.freeipodguide.com/
http://info.freepay.com/

Matrix.org Discussion
http://www3.netmart.com/free-ipod.htm
http://www.uglx.org/scam
http://people.bu.edu/jbrock/ipod_analysis.htm

http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,64614,00.html
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/
http://collingrady.com/2005/03/02/my-free-ipods/
http://www.neilturner.me.uk/2004/Jul/16/a_free_ipod.html

ImageCash.net

2005-12-07T13:52:00.000Z

Do you need a site to host your banners, pictures and other graphics? Well, imagecash.net is a free image hosting service that also offers you a chance to earn some $$$.
How does this work, you ask?

Extract from http://www.imagecash.net/main.php :
ImageCASH allows you to upload/host your images FREE and earn cash from everyone who views them.

Our system works with EBAY, Message Boards/Forums, Websites, Signatures, Blog, etc,etc...

The current rate of conversion is USD 1 for 6666 imageviews, but this varies from month to month depending on the traffic generated.

Payout is at USD 20, and payment is made via E-Gold, Epassporte or Check.

Interested?
Sign up by clicking here

In case you were wondering, the site gets most of its revenue from adult-based sites. If you're easily offended by nudity and such, then don't bother signing up.

Update: There have been a few recent changes to the site. Earnings can now be generated by pageviews, uploads and referrals. Previously, earning were from pageviews and referrals.

The way I see it, if you want to get paid from this site, you need to accumulate at least 133320 pageviews. That's a pretty high volume of traffic there. Worst case scenario, you don't reach payout. Even so, there's a lot of pictures there, so perhaps you'll find something that interests you.

Update 2: Payout is now $5 USD. Earnings are now 66.6% of advertisement income. Referral earnings are now 10%.

Sites that have paid me recently...

2005-11-26T18:22:00.000Z

Well, after a 3 month hiatus, I hardly expected to get any cash from GPT sites... then, I remembered that I didn't bother to collect payouts for a few sites, and that some of those were PTP sites that still credited me for PTP visits.

PolarPTR - earnings from PTP mainly. Payout has been lowered to 50 cents.
ShareAdSpace - payment requested about 2-3 months ago.
Random-PTCs
MoraTraffic
SoRedtheRose
ItPaysToLearn
ArabianNightsPTR - Holiday Surprise Payout

Back to the Daily Grind

2005-11-25T17:05:00.000Z

After a 3 month break, it's back to GPT. Going to take it easy this time.

I put myself on vacation mode for most of the PTR/PTC sites. However, a few of my accounts appear to have been deleted for inactivity. Oh well.

Among those that got deleted are...
BeeHiveMail - payout increased to $4 from $1 previously.
RazzleDazzleAds (Ads only)
Searching4Gold
MikasCash - payout is now $10... looks phony.

Sites that have disappeared include...
Fishmails.info
YourPTR.com

WolfEmails.com has been changed to WolfEmails.net
SnowManMail has increased payout to $5 from $1.

It has been 154 days since I requested payment from WolfEmails, and I'm still 190th in the queue. Moneymkers is another slow one, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Searching4Gold jumps on the PTP Wagon

2005-08-23T00:50:00.000+01:00

Searching4Gold is offering an extraordinary $0.99 CPM for promoting their PTP pages. This is of course, for Tier 1 traffic (US, Canada, UK). How are they able to offer such a high payrate? Simple. By making sure that a lot of potentially fradulent traffic doesn't get rewarded. What do I mean?

Here's a quote from an email sent out recently:

We recommend that members promote using targeted emails for only USA, Canada and the United Kingdom. We want our members to earn the maximum income and to do that we need the maximum quality traffic.

Of course with this big jump in earning potential we have to configure the rest of the PTP to ensure sustainability. This has requires us to consider all traffic from the following countries as invalid: Belarus, China, Estonia, Georgia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macau, Russian Federation, Taiwan, Tajikistan, Thailand, Ukraine and Vietnam.

This may actually set a precedent for the other PTPs operating out there. Most of the advertisements are geared for Tier 1 traffic anyway. Proxy traffic is barred as well, for obvious reasons.

I have been a member of this site for almost 4 months now. You can request payment on a monthly basis. With PTP, I expect earnings from this site to really pick up.

Recent Payouts

2005-08-22T00:49:00.000+01:00

Classical-Mail has paid me again. That's the 4th payment in as many months; this time, I requested at $10 USD. In total, this site has paid me $22. The webmaster usually pays within 3 days of request. Membership at this site has grown from about 4,000 to over 6,000 in the last 3 months. The low 50c minimum payout is a major factor in attracting new members.

iBux.net has paid me again! This is my second payment from this site. $0.97 USD. Approx. half of the earnings were from some (very light) promotion of the PTP pages. Currently, the PTP section is offline, while changes are made to reduce PTP abuse.

StormOfCash has paid me again. $0.28 USD. I admit, I'm not very active on this site. Most of my earnings here are from paid emails. The site speed tends to be rather slow; not surprising, considering that it has over 80,000 members! Ah, but this total is misleading. There are many inactive accounts that have yet to be deleted. The low 2c minimum payout makes this a popular choice among newbies to GPT.

NickelsByEmail

2005-08-17T19:00:00.000+01:00

I don't know what took me so long, but I finally signed up for this one.

NickelsByEmail (NBE) has been around for over 2 years, and currently has over 11000 members. The first thing that makes this site unique, is that you can click on multiple links (similar to YourPTR. The site also promises the chance to earn a nickel from each email. The chance... not a guarantee.

NBE has a low $5 minimum payout. PTCs vary between 0.1-0.25c, and some are point clicks. Points are converted weekly into cash (Current conversion rate is about $0.30 CPM).

Oh, and I was lucky enough to win a share of last week's prize pot of $21 split between 20 random members... so I got $1.05, yay!

Autosurfs - Truths and Myths

2005-08-16T21:43:00.000+01:00

So, you're sick and tired of clicking on emails for fractions of a cent. Sometimes, you just want to sit back, and let the computer do all the hard work. Well, that's where autosurfs come in.

The idea of the autosurf, is that you don't have to do any clicking. You can sit back, and watch the pages load, and if something interests you, you can give it a click. But what do you get in return? Well, it depends on which ones you sign up for. Some offer a % return on investment (ROI) for surfing. while others generate huge amounts of traffic (100-200 hits/hour).

In the case of the former, the autosurf site generally offers a daily % earnings on investment for surfing a minimum number of sites. For instance, for a site that offer 2%, and you have an investment of $10, you earn $0.20 a day. Increase investment to $100, and you get back $2 a day (provided you surf enough sites daily). The investment, is non-refundable in most cases, and lasts a certain number of days - 30 days, or up to 1 year. You can choose to continue to invest, or withdraw, once you reach the minimum payout.

Sounds great doesn't it? Well, yes. If you pick the right autosurf; because for every stable autosurf, there's probably 10 unsustainable sites created that disappear within 6 months. The main problem with most autosurfs, is that they rely on growing paid membership and re-investment to continue. Advertising revenue tends to be low in comparison to membership investments/fees. Consider a site that offers 4% daily for 50 days, potentially doubling your $100 investment. Where does the money come from? Yes, new members. There are a few that claim to have external investment portfolios (stocks, bonds, etc), but in many cases, autosurfs tend to behave like MLMs.

For the average Joe, putting money into autosurfs can be risky. Firstly, you need to make sure that you can login regularly to surf 'n' earn. Secondly, trying to find the right autosurf requires a bit of research and luck. Online forums are generally a good place to start. Thirdly,
there may be additional charges to worry about, such as online transaction fees. The important thing to remember is to never invest more than you can afford to lose.

By autosurfing, you also build up credits for your website(s). But, if most people run these sort of programs in the background, they won't see your sites. Some people use these credits to promote Paid-to-Promote pages, which pays on a CPM basis. The problem is, many autosurfs are now banning P-t-P, due to various problems with the ads. And the last I heard, P-t-P has a backlog of payouts from May/June onwards. For those sites that use P-t-P ads, this may have some long-term consequences that should be addressed now.

Autosurf Pros:
1. Huge volumes of traffic generated.
2. Earning potential with investment.
3. Can be run in the background while you do other things online.

Autosurf Cons:
1. Low quality traffic.
2. Depletes limited bandwidth.
3. Possible hidden fees.
4. Too many scam and sham sites.

Sites of Interest:
AutoSurfGuide
AutoSurfMonitor
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Actual PTR/PTC Earnings

2005-08-15T23:08:00.000+01:00

In all honesty, you won't earn a great deal of money in PTR/PTC. I've seen people posting in forums that they're earning over $100 per month just from PTR. Well, I'm not saying that's impossible. It's possible, IF you have a decent downline. Different PTR sites have referral earnings ranging from 5% up to 30%. Some may offer higher or even multi-level referral earnings, but then, there comes the question of sustainability.

Below, I have listed a few PTRs to which I'm signed up, and the typical daily earnings (excluding referral earnings) if you're in a search country. The earnings stated also exclude PTP earnings, since that depends on how well you advertise the PTP pages. Those who aren't in a search country, will find their earnings significantly lower.

Average click value = 0.25c
Avant-Cash = 5c ($2 Payout)
Apple-Clicks = 10c ($3 Payout)
BeeHiveMail = 10-15c ($1 Payout)
Klikkini = 15c (euro) (€2 Payout)
MoraTraffic = 3c (No Min. Payout)
PolarPTR = 5-10c ($1 Payout)
Random-PTCs = 7-10c ($1 Payout)
SoRedTheRose = 5-10c ($2 Payout)

Average click value = 0.5c
AdPaid = 10c ($5 Payout)
Classical-Mail = 20-25c ($0.50 Payout)
YeahCash = 3-4c ($3 Payout)
YourPTR = 50c or more, but that's a lot of clicking! ($35 Payout)

Average click value = 0.75c
3QuaterMails = 10-15c ($2 Payout)

As you can see, most of these sites allow you to reach the stated minimum payout within 1 month of activity. Potentially, you could be earning $40-$50 per month from just these programs, without referrals. But, in all honesty, to earn that, you'll be clicking over 500 emails a day! In reality, you'll be lucky to be able to make $25 per month.

Then, why continue with PTR? For me, it's more of a learning experience. PTRs offer relatively cheap advertising, and allows advertisers to promote their website/products.
For PTR members, PTR offers a small incentive for their time. For some, PTRs are just a stepping stone before going into (riskier) online investments (such as Autosurfs and HYIPs).

More Payouts

2005-08-13T14:59:00.000+01:00

BeeHiveMail paid me today. I've been a member there for about one month now. Earnings? $1.61 USD. Automatic, no request necessary.

3QuaterMails paid me as well. $3.01 USD. Minimum payout is $2, but you can only request once every 30 days.

KenoClix

2005-08-13T04:46:00.000+01:00

I just won 200 credits on KenoClix!
I matched 9 numbers with my Keno Card, which is rather lucky, I think.
KenoClix is a traffic exchange program with an inbuilt Keno game. Free members earn 0.5 credits for each valid pageview. On each pageview, a number is automatically drawn. After 20 pageviews, the number of matching numbers on your Keno Card is tallied. The more numbers you match, the more bonus credits you earn from KenoClix.

KenoClix is only about 2 months old, and already has over 2500 members. It is also accepted on most PTP sites.

Site of the Day - Random PTCs

2005-08-12T00:39:00.000+01:00

I signed up for Random-PTCs on 30/07/2005. After almost 2 weeks, I'm up to $0.87, and over 1400 points. The reason I post this site, is because, I think the PTP point ad redemption is really worth it!

PTP Ad 500 Clicks - 700 Points (email ad)

I redeemed for this ad a little over 24 hours ago, for WolfEmails PTP. So far, I have received 125 clicks (according to the Random-PTCs ad stats). WolfEmails stats logged a total of 83 hits and 81 valid from Random-PTCs. Total PTP credits earned was 67, which indicates a good number of Tier 1 clicks.
81/125 = 64.8% actual valid.
67/81 = 0.827 credits per valid hit

In addition, the PTP ad is resent until 500 clicks have been recorded. Assuming the above numbers, this small ad campaign will earn me 268 credits at WolfEmails, equal to $0.1742.

Now, that's really not much to brag about, but when you consider that there are many 5 point clicks in the PTC section, 700 points isn't that hard to reach.

Compare this to PolarPTR point redemption for PTP ads.
1 point x 1000 clicks (PTP links only) - 1,250 Points (PTC ad)
1 point x 1000 email clicks - 1,300 Points (email ad)

Not much difference, you say? Actually, it's a big difference, because most of PolarPTR point PTCs are 1 point each! You'll have to click at least 5x more to get a similar point ad redemption.

Other good point redemption sites are SoRedtheRose and YourPTR. Be sure to check and see whether the site is PTP approved before redeeming for ads, otherwise you won't earn a single penny.

Developing a GPT Strategy

2005-08-11T11:03:00.000+01:00

Everyone has their own ideas and plans on how to make money from the GPT industry. How much you make depends on a number of factors. For instance, someone in front of the computer 12 hours a day, will probably have the potential to make more from GPT than someone who spends an hour a day online. The keyword is potential. This isn't always the case. Newbies to GPT are discouraged by scams and slow earnings. It usually takes a few months before the earnings from GPT start to grow. For the newbie, you will probably want to stay clear of autosurfs and HYIPs, which require you to invest money, with the potential to earn it back with interest. There's that word again. However, with autosurfs/HYIPs, there is an element of risk. People do make money from these, but then again, many don't!

My current strategy is a mixture of PTR/PTC/PTP, and using manual traffic exchanges to promote them. I am currently playing around with Paid-to-Promote (P-t-P), and autosurfs. P-t-P offers a range of ads, from banners to popups and layer ads. However, there has been numerous complaints about some of their ad scripts, which apparently attempt to install software (aka potential virus or spyware).

PTP is a subject of wide debate, due to the potential problems it brings.

Eureka!

2005-08-09T22:26:00.000+01:00

I found a backup copy of my original GPT blog entries! I've reposted them on my original GPT blog. However, I've decided that I'll be posting all future entries on this blog.

Latest Payouts

2005-08-09T01:39:00.000+01:00

Apple-Clicks - $3.21 USD. The official minimum payout is $3.00, but there is usually no need to request payout. There are also the occasional random payouts. I've been a member since May, and have earned a grand total of $11.60 from this site. The webmistress, Claudia, also owns a number of autosurfs and other PTRs. I am also a member of Granny's which is currently behind payments due to Paypal problems.

TyliaPays - $0.39 USD. This is another no minimum site, same WM as SendMeCash.net, and it pays on a monthly basis. Please note that the payment is made in the following month, so if you request in May, you get paid in June. Although the earnings are minimal, the points system is rather good for ad redemptions, so this may be worth joining for that.

DiggySearch - $3.46 USD. $3 minimum payout. This was my first attempt at making money from a PPC Search Engine. This SE pays 50% (up to 80%) of the bidded amount plus 10% of your referrals earnings and 5% of any money they deposit into their DiggySearch account. There is also a 25c referral bonus. I actually signed up for this search engine, in order to remove ads from my free GetAPortal webspace.

BannerFoxAds - $0.97 USD. No minimum payout. I've been a member with this site for about 6 weeks now, and this is my second payment. Payment is made in the first week of the month (no request necessary). Most of the earnings came from promoting their PTP page, which gives $0.70 CPM Tier 1.

Searching4Gold - $0.29 USD. No minimum payout. This is my fourth payment from this site since May (total = $1.19 USD).

Online Surveys

2005-08-05T03:52:00.000+01:00

For those of us who spend hours online clicking furious on PTC/PTR/PTP, online surveys represent something completely different. Marketing surveys are done on a regular basis by companies to find out what appeals to their target consumers. The internet is just another means to gather this data. Of course, here is where incentives have to be used to get the job done. A typical online survey would reward its participants with a standard monetary reward (usually between 1-5 USD, depending on length of time to complete and type of survey). Some sites offer other rewards such as gift vouchers in exchange for your time and effort.

The unfortunate thing is, there are tons of online survey sites, and quite a few scams. It is not always easy to distinguish the real ones from the scammers. The same rules apply: do your research before signing up! My advice would be to stay away from those sites that ask for an initial membership fee to join.

Here are a few sites that I've joined:

GoZingSurveys - the good about this site, is that there isn't a minimum amount before payout. You get paid for each individual survey completed (and verified). I actually got paid $1.30 USD recently for a survey completed in July, and another pending payment.

Ciao.co.uk - there is a minimum payout of £5. Completing surveys is however just one part of the site. You can read/write/comment on product reviews, and compare their prices online. The only downside is, the site does not seem to support Paypal; however, it pays directly to your bank account. Ciao has members in the UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.

ValuedOpinions.co.uk - this one offers gift vouchers for your time and effort. The minimum payout is £5.

The money's rolling in

2005-08-04T04:12:00.000+01:00

Well, not quite. But, it's just another opportunity to post the latest sites to have paid me recently. :)

ShareAdSpace (SAS) - It was my first payout request. After reading some good things about it, I started promoting the site in May. I requested payout after about 2 weeks. I was put in a payment queue, I forget how long, but it was definitely more than 1000. After 80 days (that's right), I finally got paid! Haha. How much? Well, the good thing about this, is that while you are in queue, and you continue to promote/surf, your earnings continue to increase. I got paid a princely sum of $2.72, minus 2% admin fee for withdrawal below $20... so $2.67 USD. To be honest, I hardly promoted this site. I basically used a few manual surfs to send some traffic to SAS. With the free membership, 60% of the credits earned are used for showing your site(s). Depending on whether you use the shared ad page or premium page to promote (and which Tiers you set), it costs between 1.5-2.5 credits to gain one page view. For the average surfer, SAS can appear quite complicated, but a quick visit to their forums should answer any questions.
Members: approx. 8000

Shadowlinks.net - $0.06 USD ($0.02 min. payout). Ah... Not really worth the amount of effort. Average click values are really too low (below 0.1 cent per click). However, payment requests are usually handled within a few days. There are also cheap ad promotion offers, if you're interested in promoting other sites.
Members: 1200+

Violet-Cash - $0.50 USD ($0.50 min. payout). Payment made within 3 days of request. Most of my earnings were via their Cash4Search portal.
Members: 300+

On another note, I'm still waiting to see whether Blogger will be able to recover my lost blogs. The realist in me says no, and that the last 3-4 months of blogging have gone down the toilet. (Serves me right for not setting the blogs up properly to send a copy to my email). Then again, I remember some of what I did write, and it depresses the hell out of me. Perhaps, it's for the best.

Traffic Exchanges

2005-08-03T06:50:00.000+01:00

Traffic Exchanges provide yet another means of generating traffic to your site(s). There are two types: Manual and Auto Surf sites. Some sites offer a mix of the two. In my opinion, Manual-Surfs are way better than Auto-surfs, if you're actually interested in getting people to SEE your site(s).

In theory, Auto-surfs allow you to sit back and watch the ads, without having to click anything. Like watching TV. In practice, most people will just start the auto-surf, and leave it running in the background while they do other things. However, a few dedicated auto-surfs have found a way to draw in the big bucks - % earnings on your investment for auto-surfing daily. This will be discussed in another entry soon, but in short, the more you invest, the more you stand to earn... WHEN you reach the minimum payout, and IF the site is legitimate.

In all traffic exchanges, you receive credit for your pageviews, which can be used to promote your site(s). Manual surfs require you to click a link to move on to the next page, and in order to keep click bots away, most manual traffic exchanges use rotating images or Turing numbers to verify activity. Many PTR/PTC/PTP sites offer Manual-Surfs as well, but these are usually for points to be redeemed for ads, etc.

Some traffic exchanges allow you to earn some money while you surf. How much you earn, depends on how well you promote the site, or how many sites you surf. ShareAdSpace is quite a popular one and seems to be some sort of de facto standard when it comes to PTP approvals.

Here's a short list of Traffic Exchanges I've tried (in no particular order):
ClickVoyager - rewards for top surfers. 2 credits (0.2 pageviews), 20 sec timer. The bonuses get better, the more you surf. In fact, I've earned more pageviews from the bonuses!
Members: 14000+
KenoClix - a game of Keno while you surf. If you win, you get free surfing credits for your sites. Watch out for the Powerhour (50% more credits)! 0.5 credits (0.5 pageview), 15 sec timer.
Members: 2500+
MoneyandHits - Surf 50 sites, and get 250 Free credits on signup. Random bonuses. In addition, there is a Promotion page, which earns you 0.4 credits per valid view. 0.5 credits, 25 sec timer. ~~Click here for my strategy on how to promote this site.~~
Members: 1200+
RandomRiches - Surf 50 sites and get a sign-up bonus of 50c, 50 credits, 200 textlinks & 200 banner credits. 0.5 credits, 20 sec timer. And like the name says, random riches! A monthly 50 credit bonus too.
Members: 700+
RewardingTraffic - 0.5 credits, 15 sec timer. Fun Yahtzee game. There is a cash incentive for surfing (currently between $0.13-$0.15 CPM)
Members: 4800+
TrafficSwarm - on average, between 1-5 credits per valid pageview. 20 second timer.
WebMasterQuest - Surf for traffic gives 1 credits per pageview, 30 sec timer. There are other surf options available too.
ClickThru - 1:1 pageview, 30 sec timer.

Some of the sites above offer upgraded membership, which can be quite rewarding ($) IF you can surf a high number of sites daily. Be sure to do some calculations and check, to see if it is worth the money and effort.

The following three are free 1:1 Exchanges that do not require registration. These are good for PTP sites.
ViewSwap.com
Clickbot.net
~~Co-opads.com~~

For More Traffic Exchanges, click here.

Restart

2005-08-03T04:22:00.000+01:00

It's kinda depressing. I didn't really save a copy of my blogs. My previous GPT blog, barely 2 days old, got deleted together with my other two blogs. :( Don't ask me how. Still waiting for word from Blogger Support. In the meantime, I thought I might as well continue with a secondary blog... and keep a decent backup this time!

I had posted about 6-7 entries for my previous GPT blog, of which I have a copy of 4 entries. Sad. As for the other 2 blogs... I didn't keep a copy. Bleh. That's the only word that comes to mind.

I won't bother to repost it all now.
Instead, I'll just provide links to GPT sites that have paid me in the last week. In all cases, I got paid within 3 days of request.

PolarPTR $1.24 USD ($1 min. payout). This was my second payout request. Payment was made on the same day as request. The majority of the emails are search emails worth 0.25c with 25 second timers. However, most of my earnings from this site were from their PTP page, which offers $0.65 CPM (Tier 1). There are quite a few good sites that allow you to redeem points for PTP/PTC ads, and PolarPTR is one of them.

ibux.net $0.97 USD ($0.50 min. payout). I've been a member since the early June, and this is my first payout request. Doesn't require much activity, and the earnings are minimal. There is a PTP option now, so, this might be good for those who promote on traffic exchanges.

MoraTraffic.com $1.35 USD. This is another no minimum payout site. This is also my second payout request (once per month). Initially, there were 1c PTCs and 0.25 searches. Membership is limited to certain countries (see website). With some effort, this site could do well.

Adpaid.com $5.00 USD ($5 min. payout). I started clicking on this site sometime in early May. So, about 11-12 weeks for a measly $5.00? Well, if you consider that the emails are between 1/3 to 1/2 cent per click, it's going to take that long without any referrals (to be honest, I missed quite a few days of clicking). In addition, you can only join if you're located in one of the following countries.

Fishmails.info $0.10 USD. The first 2000 members get no minimum payout, after which the minimum is $5. Payout requests can be made weekly. This is the second time I've requested in the last 2 weeks.