History Bits from TalkGold

[shipdit]

I was doing some research tonight and ran across these related threads from four years ago.
If my observation that TG traffic is down very significantly over the last few years is valid,
I think I would point curious people to these two threads if they asked me why:

Cherry shares deleted posts
CHERRYSHARES ponzi scam

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[Whip]

I see nothing wrong with the posts made in cherryshares thread. Was told those posts were removed because they had wikipedia links in them. Those links lead to the definition of HYIP.

lmao. yeah.....can't have people reading the truth.

[Soapboxmom]

Talkgold:

Low Data

This site has relatively low traffic. While Compete can provide valuable insights about sites like these, data for this domain is currently only available to Compete PRO members.

Realscam:

Realscam Traffic October Traffic.JPG

[laidback]

I was doing some research tonight and ran across these related threads from four years ago.
If my observation that TG traffic is down very significantly over the last few years is valid,
I think I would point curious people to these two threads if they asked me why:

Cherry shares deleted posts
CHERRYSHARES ponzi scam

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Well, when you also consider that at that point in time they were going out of their way to ban the naysayers, since they were the nasty fellows spreading all that vicious truth....!

[shipdit]

Well, when you also consider that at that point in time they were going out of their way to ban the naysayers, since they were the nasty fellows spreading all that vicious truth....!

That's what those two threads illustrate so starkly.

The exodus of debate and dialogue there has left nothing but the repetitious promises of huge wealth by the scammers mixed in with the river of tiny "paid instant!" reports from the "monitors".

Not much of a spectator sport!
It's kind of like listening to a radio station that plays one really bad song over and over all day long.

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[shipdit]

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"Sorry, the website www.talkgold.com cannot be found"

Wow. I wonder if that is permanent?

Tremendous repository of Ponzi SCAM history down the tubes, if that 's the case.

Been coming a long time, I guess.

TalkGold 01-2015s.jpg

TalkGold 2016-07-16s.jpg

TalkGold 08-22-2017s.jpg

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[EagleOne]

It's not just TalkGold. MMG (MoneyMakerGroup) is also gone with the same message.

[laidback]

It's not just TalkGold. MMG (MoneyMakerGroup) is also gone with the same message.

Interesting? Looks like the TG Facebook page has been wiped also...!

[littleroundman]

It gets curiouser and curiouser.

The domain information for both sites was changed within minutes of each other before they were both pulled offline.

[ProfHenryHiggins]

Ir.net is still up, and has the same owners from what I can tell.
What other websites did the twins control, legit or scammy?

[EagleOne]

As I posted in the other thread Talk Gold Mods on a Banning Spree, my system was giving me all kinds of virus and malware warnings when I tried to access TG, and then on MMG, I kept getting warnings of a hazardous website from the HYIP Monitors posting on it. Makes me wonder if it had anything to do with this action, and they are just scrubbing the sites to get rid of all the viruses and malware on both. Okosh a few weeks ago said that the mods at TG had not posted in over a month, and it was a ghost town.

MMG was showing the site was up for sale, so maybe they sold it. It definitely was a surprise both were gone almost simultaneously. I also know that advertising revenue had fallen drastically at TG and was down at MMG. What is ironic is that they did this to themselves. They just didn't get it that us "haters, naysayers, trolls, negative posters, etc." were what was driving traffic to their sites. By banning us and/or giving us temp bans caused their traffic to decline.

Of course every time law enforcement shut down a major Ponzi that was pimped on both forums, they were mentioned in the press release and not in a positive light either. Law enforcement might have had a role in both of them shutting down.

Now it will be interesting to see if there is a new site that pops up to take their place, or at least tries. I have no doubt that the move to FB by the Pimps hurt them. They got fed up trying to get me and all the others exposing the Ponzi's banned at MMG. After their crying to them demanding we be banned, and they didn't, was when the exodus started to FB.

The one thing that I loved about both sites was they were a gold mine to keep up with all the Ponzi's that were being introduced in one location. So much easier to keep aware of who was pimping what, and to gage how big a Ponzi was getting. By going to FB, that common repository was lost. And of course on FB they can ban anyone and delete any comments they don't like, so they have total control they didn't have at MMG, and to a degree at TG. After all, it hurts recruiting.

[EagleOne]

This abrupt closure of both sites almost simultaneously might be due to law enforcement after all. Interesting news article: Business brothers own Lee home raided by Homeland Security - NBC-2.com WBBH News for Fort Myers, Cape Coral & Naples, Florida.

Since this raid took place almost a year ago now, it is possible the Feds have made their case and are ready to charge them thus why the sites are gone. This is just speculation at this time because we don't know why there are gone. It is just a possible plausible explanation as to what happened. Maybe before too much longer we will find out what happened.

[littleroundman]

Perhaps these will throw some light on what's happened.

[EagleOne]

I do remember that when checking MMG on Saturday evening the website was up for sale, which means law enforcement had nothing to do with their disappearance.

Maybe a new owner will bring them back. I was asked if I had thought about buying them. I said if I had, not one Ponzi admin and pimps would ever promote on the site. I'd go broke as no advertising revenue would be coming in.

[shipdit]

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Someone with a Pacer account is going to be fascinated going through this one, I'm sure:

Brian Krassenstein 2017-10-02 .jpg

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[laidback]

Interesting that if you do a PACER search, there are no cases listed for Brian or Edward Krassenstein...!

[shipdit]

Interesting that if you do a PACER search, there are no cases listed for Brian or Edward Krassenstein...!

MoneyMakerGroup and TalkGold owners facing wire fraud charges

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[Gregg]

The possibilities of them giving evidence on pimps and promoters responsible for literally billions of dollars of fraud are staggering in its scope. Talk about know where the bodies are buried. Hell, they might flip enough people to get the government to let them have the house back.

Popcorn futures are gonna be way up on this news.

[laidback]

The possibilities of them giving evidence on pimps and promoters responsible for literally billions of dollars of fraud are staggering in its scope. Talk about know where the bodies are buried. Hell, they might flip enough people to get the government to let them have the house back.

Popcorn futures are gonna be way up on this news.

Not to mention suitable liquid refreshments...!

[EagleOne]

Sorry Gregg, but I have to share your comment from behindMLM with RS, and I quote:

"If you listen quietly, you can hear the sound of Ken Russo’s ass puckering up."

I am still laughing as it is so true. I bet there are thousands of Ponzi pimps about to crap their pants at what these two could reveal about all of them, and the potential legal problems they could be facing.

I have said all along if you go after the pimps and charge them equally with the perps running the Ponzi, it would kill the industry. I have been pushing this with Congress to change the law to make them equally responsible and charged with the perps.

[okosh]

I'm guessing that Akmed Malakar was a made up name and no person actually existed....

Who is Akmed Malakar you ask??.....That's who Brian claims he sold the forum to back in 2008.....

An Interview with Brian Krassenstein, Talkgold forum manager

[littleroundman]

I bet there are thousands of Ponzi pimps about to crap their pants at what these two could reveal about all of them, and the potential legal problems they could be facing.

Hopefully the DoJ will have seized the databases and server records, so the the Krassensteins' testimony will be superfluous.

[littleroundman]

I'm guessing that Akmed Malakar was a made up name and no person actually existed....

Who is Akmed Malakar you ask??.....That's who Brian claims he sold the forum to back in 2008.....

An Interview with Brian Krassenstein, Talkgold forum manager

Unfortunately the HYIP monitor sites carrying the story are all being blocked by Malwarebytes, but here's a press release from the time in question:

[sinip]

Hopefully the DoJ will have seized the databases and server records, so the the Krassensteins' testimony will be superfluous.

It will be interesting to watch what US DOJ can do against names possibly showing up in those records, who're outside of "the free world". :)

[EdKra]

Hey Guys, this is Edward, (the Past owner of MMG and TG). The MLM article is false and misleading. We aren't facing any charges for anything at all and won't be in the future. The Pacer document in question doesn't mention any charges of any kind. There was a seizure because Homeland Security had probable cause to believe we had information on a group of scammers or that we were working directly with the group of scammers. After a 1 year investigation this was not found to be true and the government found that all we did was provide space for free speech (advertisements). The advertisers advertising on our site were no different than those paying Google and Facebook for the same ads. In fact, these same advertisers still advertise on Google, Facebook, Yahoo, etc etc etc.

There was simply a very long investigation and assets were seized during that time. We are just now having our assets returned to us, and the Government has confirmed that they will not pursue any criminal charges what-so-ever. If you want more details, you can just ask. I wish the author of the article in question would have done so before running a slanderous story against us. Neither Brian or I have ever broken the law in our lives. Did we provide a platform for discussion and promotion of online investments (HYIPs)? Yes. So does Google, Facebook, and just about every other major website on the net.

The first amendment protects a publisher from facing criminal prosecution for the publishing of a 3rd party's speech. This is why Newspapers are able to sell classified ads without the worry of one of their advertisers ripping someone off and them then being held responsible. Any email we ever received from any user on our sites indicating that an ad was a scam, that ad would be removed. I agree that the hyip space is filled with scammers, but make no mistake about it, both MMG and Talkgold were more than just about HYIPs.

We decided to take these sites down on our own as we no longer wanted to risk the possibility of being sued and having to spend tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation in order to defend our rights. Having these sites down will unfortunately do more harm than good, as the real scammers will now all turn to Facebook and Google Adsense to lure in unsuspecting victims. Unlike TG and MMG, there is no back and forth conversation allowing users to warn others about such scams at these larger sites. We were providing an open discussion forum for people to learn and exchange ideas.

Edward