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Caner
05-30-2015, 09:39 AM
So I have had this thought in my head for some time but because of work and other stuff I didn't consider it until now. Based on many threads where you can clearly see known scammers (Simon Stepsys & co. comes in mind) jumping from one scam to another, I was wondering if there would be interest in some type of website listing every known scammers / ponzi / scams / pyramid schemes as well as their operators and people involved so this way it would be easier to keep track of everyone.

Let's keep Stepsys as my main example: the way I imagine it is if you click or search for Simon Stepsys (you could also search the company name), you would have a table showing what company he is involved in right now, if he was ever in previous scams and if yes you could see those listed as well. You could link / post screenshot of threads on this forum proving that from day 1 people calling it a scam were not wrong, were not doubters / skeptics / haters, but were right because some of these people are serial scammers and people keep falling for it. As time goes more features could be added.

The reason I am asking is because most of the content would be user submitted, I cannot do that all by myself since I don't have all the knowledge most people here have. Also, I do not want it to be seen as some type of competitor to this forum, more as of additional information and resources. I personally think it could be useful for keeping track of everything, instead of being ordered in threads that can go inactive for a long time and can be hard to go through when there's 100s of pages. Also possible future victims could see clearly. I would make it so people with accounts with the right privileges (mainly interested people from this forum as I'm only posting here) could edit / add information on an admin control panel type page.

My professional background is web development, so everything that has to do with the website except most of the content itself would be done by me. I have no idea how long it would take since I'd do it on my free time, but it is not that complicated. What I need is to know 1) if this is allowed by forum staff, 2) if you think it could be a good idea or not since forums are fine, and 3) if you would contribute some content.

To give you an idea there is a quick layout I made below.

Thanks for reading and possibly considering this idea!

http://i.imgur.com/DdadxjQ.jpg

Soapboxmom
05-30-2015, 09:52 AM
I will support your site. Education is the key to stopping scammers!

ribshaw
05-30-2015, 11:13 AM
My professional background is web development, so everything that has to do with the website except most of the content itself would be done by me. I have no idea how long it would take since I'd do it on my free time, but it is not that complicated.


As far as time, as much as you want to give the scam world will take.



2) if you think it could be a good idea or not since forums are fine, and


Aggregating existing data coupled with some sort of a news feed would provide a viable resource for people. I would think it would have to be kept at a pretty high level of scammer to be manageable. Mike Dillard, Fakeo Dr Lenny Coldwell, Ken Russo, Faith Sloan http://www.realscam.com/f11/thread-list-ponzi-pimps-4136/ and the crew get a lot of press. People that have had charges filed against them, or large scams that went down publicly.

Tara found a lot of dirt on Simon and his previous scams.

TARA TALKS: SIMON STEPSYS - BEWARE! (http://taratalkstoday.blogspot.com/p/simon-stepsys-aka-baxter-scammer.html)

No computer skills on my end, just a lot of Googling and trying to get things linked back to what others have uncovered.

http://www.realscam.com/f16/simon-stepsys-3342/

Funnel all that into one neat package and what's not to like?

One thing I found doing http://www.realscam.com/f44/sweetheart-scammer-did-really-hot-person-pick-me-above-all-others-2300/ is some of the scam groups can be rather petty. Either people are honored to have their work shared, or consider it worse than the scams they are trying to prevent.



3) if you would contribute some content.

Arrogant to mention myself, if you ever found something of merit that I wrote you are more than welcome to copy it and dump it on your site. While I read a lot of the other blogs like BehindMLM: MLM news, blog commentary and reviews (http://behindmlm.com/) and PatrickPretty.com: Ponzi schemes. Securities fraud. HYIP schemes. Pyramid schemes. Investment fraud. Internet crime. (http://patrickpretty.com/) I seldom comment just due to time.

Do you have some topics or scammers in mind?

Caner
05-30-2015, 04:13 PM
Thank you both for your support.

Ribshaw, the content I'm talking about is not necessarily user-generated content, I meant more like what you did above, list well known scammers and their companies or companies they are involved in, current or past so it's easier for me. Once I have a list of scams/scammers that is interesting, then it would simply be listing and gathering information about that person to submit on the site (picture, general info, realscam threads, archived pages of stuff they thought they could get away with by deleting it, etc). I'd also offer user accounts to edit/add data to people interested in helping. I am open to ideas of other features too. It's still a little vague for now but I'll have a pretty good idea of what to include when I put myself to it.

Also like you said it will be about people we are certain are scammers. I've seen the thread you're talking about and this is what reminded me of this project. This thread could be useful to gather a lot of information.

Char
05-30-2015, 04:50 PM
Also like you said it will be about people we are certain are scammers. I've seen the thread you're talking about and this is what reminded me of this project. This thread could be useful to gather a lot of information.

Good idea. Please define "scammers". IMO, all serial MLM promoters/jumpers should be included in the list.

Caner
05-30-2015, 06:40 PM
Good idea. Please define "scammers". IMO, all serial MLM promoters/jumpers should be included in the list.

As you said, if they are serial promoters/jumpers, I don't think there is a problem including them on the site without making a full research; it's safe to label them as scammers.
On the other hand the victims / people lured into this that in turn lure more people into these schemes should not get a title of "scammer" right away. Of course there's a fine line between all this, but I think as the time goes I'll / we'll figure it out. (maybe a "NOT CONFIRMED" stamp on the page of uncertain companies/people, i don't know)

ribshaw
05-30-2015, 09:29 PM
Good idea. Please define "scammers". IMO, all serial MLM promoters/jumpers should be included in the list.

It's interesting too Char, there are a few scams within MLM.

The earnings claims never materialize for more than a fraction of 1% in any MLM. In some senses the companies, the DSA, and the government all have a hand in letting the Pyramid fester.

The tool scam with people like Dexter and Birdie Yeager at the fore, and offshoots such as Robert Kiyosaki charging premium dough for fluff.

Then as you say the serial jumpers like Sheri Sharman brought on to get the next big thing up and running, with a pricey side of how to for the masses.

And that's just "legit" MLM companies.

ribshaw
05-31-2015, 09:09 AM
Wow, some of the people on this list have some major Ponzi implosions under their belts.

Top Internet Marketers In Direct Selling - Poll 2014 (http://www.businessforhome.org/2014/12/top-internet-marketers-in-direct-selling-poll-2014/)

Caner
05-31-2015, 10:46 AM
Wow, some of the people on this list have some major Ponzi implosions under their belts.

Top Internet Marketers In Direct Selling - Poll 2014 (http://www.businessforhome.org/2014/12/top-internet-marketers-in-direct-selling-poll-2014/)

This is very interesting. Almost all the work has already been done!