SEC Archives | Connect With Charles

If you have not heard by now it’s true, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a lawsuit Tuesday, June 26th 2016 against the company known as Traffic Monsoon.

U.S. District Judge Jill Parrish granted the restraining order Tuesday evening, freezing the assets of Charles Scoville and Traffic Monsoon, which is sitting on about $60 million in cash in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.

Traffic Monsoon was started by Charles Scoville in October 2014.

Pictured above Charles Scoville, founder Traffic Monsoon

What is Traffic Monsoon?

According to the company website,

TrafficMonsoon.com is a specialized advertising and revenue sharing company that allows international participation of individuals and groups. Our services provide high quality advertising targeted for people seeking for a way to earn money online along with complete account privacy, top level online security, efficient account management, and a dedicated support team

So basically Traffic Monsoon passes itself off as an online advertising services company.

Traffic Monsoon users purchase “Banner AdPacks” for $50 each and can earn $5 per AdPack in two months — or a return of about 10 percent — if they click on 50 other website ads in any 24-hour period. But clicking on the ads is highly automated and takes about 4 minutes a day, according to the lawsuit.

Scoville is the sole owner of the company and is aware that AdPacks could be considered investments and, therefore, fall under federal law,” the SEC says

Feds say Traffic Monsoon is a $207 million Ponzi scheme

It is estimated to have scammed around 160,000 investors out of $207 million dollars. 90% of Traffic Monsoon’s investors, roughly 145,000, are based outside of the US.

Because all investor returns are funded through new investor contributions, the company operates as a classic Ponzi scheme,” the SEC alleges.

The program appears to be most popular in countries that are also some of the poorest in the world.

For example, the Traffic Monsoon website is the 385th most visited website in Bangladesh, 366th in Venezuela, and 517th most visited site in Morocco.

Nearly 99 percent of Traffic Monsoon’s revenue comes almost exclusively from the sale of AdPacks purchased by new investors.

Traffic Monsoon has virtually no revenue from any other source.

Because all investor returns are funded through new investor contributions, the company operates as a classic Ponzi scheme.

PayPal froze Traffic Monsoon account – $61 million dollars of invested funds

Up until early 2016, Traffic Monsoon had been using PayPal Holdings, Inc. (“PayPal”) to take in and pay out all funds. At that time, however, PayPal noted the very rapid growth of the program, as well as other suspicious factors indicative of a Ponzi scheme, and froze the company’s funds – approximately $61 million.

Paypal seizure was a significant setback for Traffic Monsoon, with the SEC revealing that ‘almost all member funds were kept in PayPal‘.

Despite their current state of affairs, Scoville claimed he’s going to ‘stand up against (the SEC’s) claims in a court of law.”

Despite what has happened there are at least three fundamental lessons we can learn from Traffic Monsoon’s demise:

1) Always research the company, especially the leadership. Read a lot of reviews and don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t just jump all in because of the initial hype!

2) Examine the company product/services, what makes it unique?

3) Make sure the company compensation or pay plan is sound. Be suspicious if they pay commissions primarily on the recruitment of new affiliates.

NOTE: Traffic Monsoon’s revenue generation relied primarily on the sale of AdPacks by investors and all investor returns were funded through new investor contributions, the company operates as a classic Ponzi scheme.

ATTN: Former Traffic Monsoon affiliates and other Network Marketers

Traffic Monsoon is a great example of why it is important to brand YOURSELF and not the company you are affiliated with!

FINAL THOUGHTS

Revenue sharing and network marketing companies come and go all the time, just like many brick and mortar small businesses do but what I find especially disturbing with this development is the amount of people that were involved overseas and will be adversely affected by Traffic Monsoon being their first make money online or from home experience.

If you were promoting Traffic Monsoon please keep your head up and do not let this minor stumbling block quench your entrepreneurial spirit and keep you from pursing your dreams of financial freedom.

To Your Success!

P.S. Check out my RESOURCES Page to see the programs I recommend and tools I use to generate 20-50 new leads a day!

Your comments are welcomed below, and if you promote Traffic Monsoon IBO please share your experiences.

In case you missed it, WakeUpNow recently announced the CEO, Kirby Cochran, has stepped down and COO Phil Polich has replaced him as the new CEO.

Former WakeUpNow CEO, Kirby Cochran

His short bio from the WakeUpNow website,

Kirby Cochran, Chief Executive Officer, had been a career venture capitalist with a long track record of helping lead companies to achieve explosive growth. A professor in the Finance department at the University of Utah, he shared a passion for the mission of helping people improve their financial lives and for building a technology platform capable of delivering outstanding value to consumers.

Kirby drives WakeUpNow’s vision for helping people live life better. His inspirational vision created an opportunity structure unique in the industry and poised to change the world.”

There have not been any official press releases by the company so it is not immediately known exactly why Kirby Cochran stepped down.

New WakeUpNow CEO, Phil Polich

Short Bio from the WakeUpNow website,

Phil Polich, Chief Operating Officer started his career as a CPA with Ernst & Young, then transitioned to real estate eventually owning and directing one of the largest homebuilders in the Phoenix area, coincidentally one of the hottest construction markets in the U.S. at that time.

Phil understands the complexities that make a company run; he has built companies with staggering valuations and now brings his expertise as an operations executive to WakeUpNow, where his operational leadership is turning a bold vision into a reality each and every day.”

Is WakeUpNow in Trouble???

Maybe…

Here is what we do know about Wake Up Now:

According to the company, WUN actually states the financial survival of the company depends on recruiting affiliates.

Management’s plan of operation is based on three primary objectives (1) further development of its products with specific emphasis on its affiliate network, (2) continued domestic growth of its distributor base, and (3) expansion into international markets. If the company can’t successfully recruit more distributors, it may continue in the red.

In its SEC disclosure under the section, ‘Risks Relating to Our Direct/Network Marketing Methods’ it explained that:

If we are unable to retain our existing distributors and obtain additional distributors, our revenue will not increase and may even decline. Our distributors may terminate their relationship with us at any time, and, like most network marketing or direct selling companies, we experience high turnover among distributors from year to year. To increase our revenue, we must increase the number of and/or the productivity of our distributors.”

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) goes after companies that primarily base their income operations on recruitment and not retail sales. They call that operating a Pyramid Scheme.

A pyramid scheme is when distributors sell more product to other distributors than to the public or if they make more money from recruiting than they do from selling.

Recently WakeUpNow started selling energy drinks.