Thread: Property Wikia - fraud on so many levels

Originally Posted by path2prosperity

There is a new promoter from UK promoting something called Cash Wikia. Is it a poor sucker or a new con artist who is promoting this on Scamlandpro. Has anybody any clues about TimMaguire

I could go and visit the man, if he is prepared to talk about Scamland or Cash Wikia.

Same business, p2p

CashWikia is the supposed parent company of PropertyWikia and both are supposedly part of the RMV Group

All of them used to share the same virtual address at:

Level 33, 25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LB
United Kingdom
Europe

Go to: http://www.cashwikia.com/5667074791/Register and it redirects to a Property Wikia sales page.

Here is Tim Maguire on Adland



Here is his Property Wikia website:



It comes up as SELL12WEEKS.com

And here's his Tim Maguire CashWikia page

Originally Posted by path2prosperity

There is a new promoter from UK promoting something called Cash Wikia. Is it a poor sucker or a new con artist who is promoting this on Scamlandpro. Has anybody any clues about TimMaguire

Cashwikia.com is simply a domain name belonging to PropertyWikia... registered by the phantom 'Brian Thomas'... which they use for affiliates' referral links. Tim Maguire is a 'poor sucker', just like all the other affiliates. (CashWikiA.com - CashWikia)

Originally Posted by path2prosperity

There is a new promoter from UK promoting something called Cash Wikia. Is it a poor sucker or a new con artist who is promoting this on Scamlandpro. Has anybody any clues about TimMaguire

I could go and visit the man, if he is prepared to talk about Scamland or Cash Wikia.

Looks like he is just using the Free Advertising part to post ads. Been around since 2006 though.

Originally Posted by scratchycat

Looks like he is just using the Free Advertising part to post ads. Been around since 2006 though.

He is probably just a poor sucker. He has not been very active in Scamland as he has only made 13 Adlandpro friends. He may not know that Advertising web sites which appear bona fide is dangerous and that he should check with Advertising Standards Authority. I will see if I can find him in the local phone book and warn him about Scamland and Cash Wikea.

Yet another listing Property Wikia has stolen and doesn't really want to sell

Here's the real listing: note the asking price: $590,000



http://www.domain.com.au/Property/For-Sale/Rural/NSW/Nimbin/?adid=2008829020

And here's the same property listed on Property Wikia with an asking price of $690,000



http://www.propertywikia.com/For-Sale/House/NewSouthWales-Nimbin/2011

Once again, the PropertyWikia thieves have their money and don't really want the property to sell.

As for the poor owner, he/she has no clue the property listing has been hijacked.

Talking of things Down Under, have you noticed we've now gone over 8 weeks without a peep from our dear Terry Cuthbert?

Well I think I know why...

In January he accumulated $21,285 NZD ($17,725 USD) in PropertyWikia's own special 'Monopoly money' in his affiliate account. All of it compensation for unsold listings, of course (PW hasn't sold a single property... ever). All of it the result of listings through a single realtor.

This sum, by the terms of the compensation plan, he rightly claimed for payment, due at the end of February. But guess what?

The other day PW informed him they were delaying payment to the end of March. No reason; no apologies. Needless to say, no other affiliate has been paid a penny yet, either; and it looks like my hypothesis about a token payout to Terry is heading down the plughole (clockwise in New Zealand, isn't it?)

But then... get this... to make matters worse for our credulous Kiwi, PW said they were going to suspend his realtor's account for the bogus reason of them not keeping their listings updated.

So no more Monopoly money. As some wit said to me the other day: this game of Monopoly involves much less a 'Community Chest' than it does a 'Community Heist'.

Poor old Terry. Stitched up like a kipper. No... c'mon now guys... we really shouldn't snigger.

But... tee-hee... just thought of a new soubriquet for our antipodean patsy:

Terry 'The Kipper' Cuthbert.

Hmmn,

one could almost be tempted to throw out a line like "ain't karma a bitch" if one was so inclined.

It's lucky no one here would be so callous, isn't it ?

Originally Posted by littleroundman

Hmmn,

one could almost be tempted to throw out a line like "ain't karma a bitch" if one was so inclined.

It's lucky no one here would be so callous, isn't it ?

Or tempted to throw out a line like: "Terry's karma has run over his dogma."

P.S. to my earlier post about 'Kipper' Cuthbert...

Just heard that PropertyWikia have indeed closed his realtor's account and... surprise, surprise... deleted all that Monopoly money in his affiliate account.

Cue the Laurel & Hardy theme tune, I think.

Originally Posted by Julie Diligent

P.S. to my earlier post about 'Kipper' Cuthbert...

Just heard that PropertyWikia have indeed closed his realtor's account and... surprise, surprise... deleted all that Monopoly money in his affiliate account.

Cue the Laurel & Hardy theme tune, I think.

Not surprising, either, that Property Wikias' Alexa rank has dropped 60,000 over the past month and its' Alexa traffic stats are disappearing down the gurgler:



Funny thing is, Property Wikias' ratings in the Czech Republic could almost make you think its' owners are based there and not at Canary Wharf in London (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Originally Posted by littleroundman

Funny thing is, PropertyWikias' ratings in the Czech Republic could almost make you think its' owners are based there and not at Canary Wharf in London (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)

Ty by mohly mít pravdu, můj malý kulatý přítel.

So... it would appear that all that previously speculated about fiddling on the website wasn't just about making sure the fix is in, so no-one would get a payout... they still haven't... it was as much about covering up their 'Crimes of Persuasion'.

Here's the just-published adjudication of the UK's Advertising Standards Authority. I'll probably be posting some choice comments on it, later. So much to snipe about; so little time.

Enjoy!

ASA Adjudication on PropertyWikia.com

PropertyWikia.com t/a PropertyWikia (part of the RMV Group)


Date: 22 February 2012
Media: Internet (on own site)
Sector: Property
Number of complaints: 1
Complaint Ref: A11-172636

Ad: A number of claims on a property website offering a business opportunity on its 'Affiliates' page, seen in September 2011.

Issue: The complainant challenged whether the following claims were misleading and could be substantiated:

1. “Each property listed for sale – Earns YOU a £2,000.00 GBP once-off sales Commission"

2. “Each property listed for rent – Earns YOU a £100.00 GBP once-off rentals Commission"

3. "If we don't sell a listing within 12 weeks, we'll pay you £100.00 GBP Compensation every week until we do!".

4. "This is your opportunity to earn '£250,000.00 GBP in just 25 weeks' with NO; selling; risk; experience; knowledge;
special skills or referring required"; and

5. The income is "guaranteed against failure".

CAP Code (Edition 12)

Response

PropertyWikia provided the ASA with details of the total numbers of properties that were going into negotiation, were under offer or were further advanced in the sales cycle from July to November 2011.

They explained that PropertyWikia was a relatively new concept/business and that the website took three and a half years to develop overall. They said that the business was launched in 2010 and it took its first paid-up affiliate registration on 1 July 2011. They said that since then, they had not had an affiliate sale from listings made by the resources of an affiliate and that, to date, there had been fewer than 800 affiliates in the business. They said that once a property had sold, commission payment would be paid out 30 days from the month end of the month the property was sold in.

PropertyWikia said that while their affiliate programme was only launched in July 2011, property listings had commenced much later than this date and most of the listings that were made were done as a PAL listing (Partial Affiliate Listing) that required completion by the physical owner. They said that there were currently no properties older than 12 weeks and therefore, to date, they had not paid anyone £100 in compensation. PropertyWikia also said that no affiliates had been with them for more than six months in order to reach the 25-week point.

PropertyWikia confirmed that they had been asked by some affiliates when commission would be paid and had also been asked about guaranteed payouts, how they were validated and when they would be due if validation occurred. However, they also said they had not received any complaints concerning non-payment of commission or compensation because no sale had been due to an affiliate. They said that the £100 compensation was paid out on the same basis as the commission payments, but only when a £2,000 threshold had been reached. PropertyWikia confirmed that they had refunded just over £18,750 back to affiliates who decided to opt out and supplied the ASA with some refund examples from Paypal.

Assessment

1., 2., 3. and 4. Upheld.

The ASA noted PropertyWikia's response that their first affiliate joined the website on 1 July 2011 and, up to the present date, there was no record of any compensation or commission being paid to affiliates, nor had anyone earned '£250,000.00 GBP in just 25 weeks' as claimed on the website. We noted that both commission and compensation would only be paid to affiliates once a £2,000 threshold had been reached and while we noted that this was in the site's terms and conditions, we did not consider that this was suitably qualified as the page where the claims appeared was not linked to the terms and conditions page on the website.

We also noted that although we asked for contact details of affiliates in order to establish whether they were owed commission or compensation, PropertyWikia did not supply us with any of their details. Further to this, we also noted that PropertyWikia did not provide us with any information on the progress of any specific affiliates nor were they able to provide us with a better understanding of how the affiliate system worked. Because we had not seen adequate evidence to support the earnings claims on the PropertyWikia website, we concluded that they had not been substantiated and were misleading.

The claims breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.9 (Qualification), 3.10 (Exaggeration) and 20.7 (Business opportunities).

5. Upheld

We noted that PropertyWikia had supplied us with a number of records from Paypal, which indicated that they were happy to offer refunds to affiliates on request. However, we considered that the claim "guaranteed against failure" would have been interpreted by users of the website to be in reference to the money-making aspect of PropertyWikia and we did not consider that just refunding affiliates the money paid to be part of PropertyWikia justified that claim. We also noted that PropertyWikia had not supplied us with any evidence of affiliates who had so far benefitted from the scheme or made any money from it. We therefore concluded that because PropertyWikia had not adequately shown that their affiliate scheme had generated any success, the claim that it was "guaranteed against failure" had not been substantiated and was misleading

The claim breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rule 3.1 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.10 (Exaggeration).

Action

The claims must not appear again in their current form. We told PropertyWikia to hold evidence for any earnings claims in future.

http://www.asa.org.uk/ASA-action/Adj...DJ_172636.aspx

You mean the affiliate that posted in this thread lied? I'm shocked!. lol.

The UK Advertising Standards Association has released its' adjudication findings to the public:





http://www.asa.org.uk/ASA-action/Adjudications/2012/2/PropertyWikia,-d-,com/SHP_ADJ_172636.aspx

The good news is, the Property Wikia scams' Alexa rankings have dropped another 50,000 over the past few weeks:

Hmmm... since the cheeky Czechies have blown their cover, makes me wonder whether they've relocated PropertyWikia Central Command -- 'ScamCom' for short -- to the Phillippines. Or maybe they're just on vacation there, spending some of those thousands of filched affiliate fees.

A few comments about the ASA adjudication...

Don't be fooled. The Advertising Standards Authority, like the UK's Press Complaints Commission, is like a toothless rottweiler... it can't bite but it can sure give you a nasty suck.

It has no legal powers vested in it; it's just a code of behaviour voluntarily adhered to by the advertising amd marketing industry. All it can do is give miscreants a slap on the wrist and name and shame them on their website. It can't investigate, subpoena, or prosecute.

Now, to a reputable company expending big PR budgets cultivating their reputation, a negative ASA adjudication is something to fear and avoid. But to a professional scammer, it's a minor inconvenience. They can answer ASA enquiries with any old concoction of truth, half-truths, and complete ruminant poop... or give no answer at all... with impunity. To wit...

"The ASA noted PropertyWikia's response that their first affiliate joined the website on 1 July 2011..."

So how does that square with the written affiliate testimonies displayed on the site that pre-date July 2011... some by 6 to 9 months, if my memory serves me well? I say memory because... surprise, surprise... the incriminating testimonies, which were all complete fabrications, have been pulled from the site.

And how does that response square with the widely publicised Jim Portman cheque for £180,050 actually dated 1st July 2011? That was a total hoax, too, of course; Portman doesn't even exist.

This made me chuckle:

The claims breached CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation), 3.9 (Qualification), 3.10 (Exaggeration) and 20.7 (Business opportunities)."

They needn't have bothered with all those different codes. All they needed was this one:

The claims breached CAP Code (RealScam Edition) rule 1.0 (Big Stripey Lies)

http://www.facebook.com/sellyourhomein12weeks?sk=app_6394109615

http://www.facebook.com/MyPropertyWikia

Originally Posted by Julie Diligent

A few comments about the ASA adjudication...

"The ASA noted PropertyWikia's response that their first affiliate joined the website on 1 July 2011..."

So how does that square with the written affiliate testimonies displayed on the site that pre-date July 2011... some by 6 to 9 months, if my memory serves me well? I say memory because... surprise, surprise... the incriminating testimonies, which were all complete fabrications, have been pulled from the site.

Oh, bad luck, PropertyWikia. Two of those incriminating testimonies have turned up... reproduced on an affiliate's website:

Date of testimonial: 01 May 2011
Writer’s name: Dann Baker, Colchester, UK
Testimonial title: Got paid twice and I’m loving it

These guys deliver commission, payouts and support flawlessly!

I’ve been marketing other bizops for many years and I have tried every imaginable affiliate program out there. There are three things I look for in a business – an easy service or product to sell, commission and good support. Property wikia delivers on all 3 flawlessly.

My affiliate support manager is always there to answer any questions that I have about the best areas, promoting and introducing…

This business definitely attracts clients, I have introduced 52 property owners and agents in the last 30 days and have experienced a pure shockwave of property listings! I am dumb struck to be honest.

My next commission transfer is going to be well over £100k. I have never earned anywhere near this amount of money before. I highly recommend this business.

Date of testimonial: 03 May 2011
Writer’s name: Louise Taylor, San Fran, USA
Testimonial title: I got my first check today!!

I just wanted to let you know that I received my first commission check yesterday and was ecstatic!!! I love this. I have never had a paycheck this big before! $28,800 is more that I earned last year. I am dedicating my time to double my next check.

Thank you so much. This is by far the best opportuity on the web. Thanks again."

Looks like the illusory Louise and phantom Dann got their HSBC cheques a couple of months before the apocryphal Jim Portman got his.

Slowly, slowly:

I think it's now safe to say the fraudsters behind the Property Wikia fraud have been stopped in their tracks:

Property Wikia at the height of the scam in August 2011:



Alexa global traffic rank: 176
Website value: USD $24,269,023

Property Wikia today, in March 2012:



Alexa global traffic rank: 281,207
Website value: USD $3,938

Even if that site was ever legit, I just wouldn't see it worth 24 mil..

Originally Posted by littleroundman

I think it's now safe to say the fraudsters behind the Property Wikia fraud have been stopped in their tracks:

If you check out the older Alexa screen grab, above, you'll see PropertyWikia's traffic peaked a few days into September 2011, which is precisely when the SHTF on Scam.com with the initial 'PropertyWikia (RMV Group) Scam' thread.

Just goes to show how the Internet is a double-edged sword for scammers. It's both the means to quickly defraud a lot of victims and the means for those victims to quickly blow the whistle and send the scammers packing with only a fraction of the filthy lucre they'd planned on banking.

I sincerely hope, after all the time and expense they put into setting up their 3iCatalyst-PropertyWikia grand deception over the last 4 years, these thieving bastards are out of pocket. Hope even moreso that they end up getting their soft, white-collar criminal asses well and truly shafted by 'Big Bubba' and his chums in a grimy, deeply corrupt, blue-collar penal institution.