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Report: #903410

Complaint Review: Rex Venture Group LLC - Internet

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  • Reported By: Zeekler = Pyramid Scheme — Dodgeville Wisconsin United States of America
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  • Rex Venture Group LLC 7489 W LAKE MEAD BLVD SUITE 200 Internet United States of America

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Rex Venture Group, LLC sent me a 1099-MISC tax reporting income of $753.59.  They said I earned it but did not get any of it because I reinvested 100%.  How it works:  I had to invest $2,000 of my own, then magically, without doing anything, I earned about $20 per day but that's only if I "reinvest" 100% of that earning; if I don't reinvest 100% of that earning, then I earn $0 or nothing; the reinvested money is is given a fancy term "giving away bids for penny auctions", meaning I am giving away little by little my $2,000 that I started out with; the money that I reinvested is distributed to the person who enrolled me and everyone else who enrolled before me, hence, the sophisticated term "profit sharing"; in order for me to earn more, I had to recruit more people under me.  When I asked how I could cancel and get my money back, Zeekler and Rex representatives told me that I couldn't and that the only way was to "allow the points reach retirement", meaning when all my $2,000 is reinvested until it reaches a balance of $0, meaning when there is nothing left of my investment and when Rex or Zeekler gets all of it.  This is the perfect pyramid scheme in the guise of penny auction.  My mother enrolled me into Zeekler but they didnot fool.  Unfortunately for my mother, she is being ruined by the pyramid scheme.  She gave so much of her money these types of fraud that she could not pay for her mortgages and has lost some of her real estate properties.  She is like a fanatic enslaved in some religious cult.  You should beware and be scared of people involved in pyramid schemes.  They are completely brain washed.

This report was posted on Ripoff Report on 06/26/2012 10:13 PM and is a permanent record located here: https://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/rex-venture-group-llc/internet/rex-venture-group-llc-zeeklercom-or-zeekrewardscom-pyramid-scheme-multi-level-networkin-903410. The posting time indicated is Arizona local time. Arizona does not observe daylight savings so the post time may be Mountain or Pacific depending on the time of year. Ripoff Report has an exclusive license to this report. It may not be copied without the written permission of Ripoff Report. READ: Foreign websites steal our content

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REBUTTALS & REPLIES:
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1Employee/Owner

#24 Consumer Comment

join6cess tell your friend the clawbacks are coming!

AUTHOR: adamgamz - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, August 27, 2012

Up Next For ZeekRewards Ponzi Scheme Victims...Clawbacks?

 
When the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) accused ZeekRewards (Zeek) and its founder, Paul Burks, of perpetrating a massive $600 million Ponzi scheme, hundreds of thousands of victims were shocked to learn that the healthy returns they had been receiving were the result of a massive fraud.  Many, lured by the promise of a steady stream of profits, had emptied retirement and savings accounts in efforts to maximize their gains.  Now, with the SEC arguing that Zeek was nothing more than an elaborate fraud, many wonder whether they will recoup any of their losses.  However, while thousands suffered losses, some victims were fortunate enough to profit from the scheme, withdrawing tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars in excess of their principal investment.  While court-appointed receiver Ken Bell has not publicly commented on the fate of those  so-called net winners, it is almost certain that they will be the target of clawback lawsuits seeking the return of those profits.


Charles Ponzi, whose scam in the early 20th century has garnered lasting notoriety.(Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A receivership is founded on principles of equity.  Because the amount of assets ultimately available for distribution to victims is usually insufficient to satisfy the total amount of victim claims, the receiver is tasked with ensuring that any distribution treats similarly-situated victims alike.  This includes ensuring that some victims do not receive or retain gains at the expense of other victims.  According to attorney Gianluca Morello, who currently represents the court-appointed receiver in a large Ponzi scheme, it would typically be inequitable to leave net winners from Ponzi schemes with their profits, and a receiver will almost always fix this inequity by pursuing clawback lawsuits against net winners to recover their profits.  To allow some investors to retain any gains they received from the scheme would be in direct contravention of the receivers mandate, as those gains are, in reality, not profits, but funds belonging to fellow investors.  By recovering these false profits from net winners, the receiver is able to increase the total amount of assets available for distribution.
Move up http://i.forbesimg.com t Move down
Feds Halt Alleged $600 Million ZeekRewards Ponzi Scheme: How It Happened And What's Next Jordan Maglich Contributor
ZeekRewards Handed Over To Receiver; What's Next For Investors? Halah Touryalai Forbes Staff
Zeek receiver Ken Bell has not indicated whether he will pursue clawback litigation.  However, according to attorney Burton Wiand, who is acting as the court-appointed receiver in Arthur Nadels $400 million Ponzi scheme, Mr. Bell may have little choice.  The receiver has little discretion in his determination whether or not to pursue clawback claims, since those claims, and claims against third parties, are assets of the estate that cannot be abandoned without justification, said Wiand.  While victims with nominal amounts of gains may escape prosecution due to the cost of litigation, investors with tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in gains may not be so lucky.
While obviously unfavored by investors fortunate enough to eke out gains from the scheme, clawback litigation is often the single highest source of funds recovered for victims.  By moving quickly to freeze Zeeks assets, the SEC was able to preserve approximately $225 million sitting in Zeeks coffers.  However, this figure will likely be dwarfed by total investor losses.  Thus, absent recoveries from any third-parties for their involvement in the scheme, clawback litigation is also sometimes the sole method of increasing victim recoveries.
Courts routinely favor the use of clawback litigation to recover false profits from investors under the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (UFTA), which has been passed by nearly every state in substantially similar form.  Under the UFTA, transfers made to a creditor are deemed fraudulent when,  among other factors, no reasonably equivalent value was exchanged.  An investor is understood to give reasonably equivalent value, assuming they received the transfer in good faith, for any amount up to that investors total contribution.  Thus, an investor who received 100% of their total contribution usually cannot be compelled to return those funds absent actual knowledge of the fraud.  However, an investor who received funds in excess of their original investment is not as lucky, for in a Ponzi scheme, those purported profits are, in reality, simply the redistribution of other investor funds.  Allowing a fraudsters arbitrary determinations as to who is enriched under the scheme would be highly inequitable.
For example, consider an investor who contributed $10,000 to the scheme and, over the course of the investment, withdrew $40,000, netting a handsome profit of $30,000.  While the investor would likely be deemed to have given reasoanbly equivalent value for the withdrawals totaling $10,000, the additional $30,000 would be deemed false profits and likely targeted by the receiver in a clawback lawsuit.
The receivers immediate priority is the completion of his initial investigation, which will allow him to understand the extent of each investors gains or losses.  Typically, once this has occurred, the receiver may obtain court permission to contact those net winners before filing suit to see if the false profits could be returned without going through litigation.  Sometimes, a slight discount is offered as an incentive to avoid litigation.  With the number of net winners estimated to be in the thousands, this approach would seem likely in an effort to prevent litigation costs.  While some may hold out hope that the large amount of victims could possibly dissuade the receiver from pursuing clawbacks, this too seems doubtful. Kathy B. Phelps, a California lawyer who recently authored a book on unraveling Ponzi schemes, agrees that clawback suits are likely, but observed that the receiver could also take into account issues of hardship and collectibility.  Because the receivers investigation is expected to take several months, any clawback suits would likely not occur until 2013.  Until then, victims are relegated to a wait and see approach.

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#23 Consumer Comment

I lost money too, but I found a better program

AUTHOR: Dwayne - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, August 19, 2012

I hope we get some of our money back, but I don't expect it anytime soon. Since this has happened, I found a new program that appears better than Zeek and Bidify and it's currently  in prelaunch. You can sign up for FREE to check it out, public launch is next month. So, I locked my spot (((competitor's name redacted))) let's hope this one does not get shut down. Doesn't seem as risky and 100% legit. I signed up and sent the link to everyone I know because THIS PROGRAM IS JUST GETTING STARTED.

sorry, allowing you to give a competitors name would instigate others to just file against their competition, to only come back later to suggest their company, ..plus, if you post a competitors name more than likely they will show up on search engines as a Rip-off! - - your comments on this policy are welcome. CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report. In this case we removed an alleged competitors name

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#22 Consumer Comment

Too savvy to fall for it

AUTHOR: Concerned Citizen - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, August 19, 2012

Its nice to hear from someone with a little common sense. Of course now zeek has been shut down and it's common knowledge they WERE operating a ponzu scheme, although I doubt if the employees understood the true nature of their jobs. I think Burks orchestrated the entire thing, co-mingling accounts and hiding the "real profits" from accountants and business associates. I knew it was a scam because to me it was obvious but couldnt convince others, who didn't seem to care, as long as it produced an income stream for THEM.

All penny auction mlms are scams, people. Less than 1.5% of purchased bids were ever even used! So go figure; do u really think people are buying more bids? In this market? Use yr common sense. If it sounds too good to be true, IT IS!

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#21 Consumer Comment

Good question

AUTHOR: Concerned Citizen - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, August 19, 2012

Wow, good question! Hope u didn't put qany $ in, since what u predicted did actually happen, within a month!

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#20 General Comment

Dibidee, Dibidee, Dibidee, That's All Folks!

AUTHOR: Cblox - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, August 19, 2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/halahtouryalai/2012/08/17/sec-shuts-down-600-million-internet-ponzi-scheme/

Ok, once and for all you Brainwashed fools. Are you going to admit you were active players in a giant Ponzi scheme now? Can you at least Man up to the fact that IF you made made money doing this you are essentially a criminal that did so upon the backs of other poor fools.  Probably Not.  Anyway, I'm sure all you Cracked out Zeekheads will find something new to throw your money away on within a month, I see Empower Network, is offering a brand new way to make yourselves feel important, better jump on the bandwagon. What irks me the most, is that you people that "made money" can't even admit that you STOLE my from others in order to do so. Pathetic.

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#19 Consumer Comment

BREAKING: Zeek Rewards pull plug on Ponzi scheme

AUTHOR: adamgamz - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, August 17, 2012

Just over a week after the North Carolina Attorney Generals Office confirmed theyd demanded information from Zeek Rewards and had concerns about their business model, Zeek Rewards has pulled the plug on both Zeek Rewards

http://behindmlm.com/companies/zeek-rewards/breaking-zeek-rewards-pull-plug-on-ponzi-scheme/#more-8983

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#18 Consumer Comment

BBB reporting about Zeek Rewards

AUTHOR: ABN207 - (United States of America)

POSTED: Friday, August 17, 2012

Here's a news report about the Better Business Bureau (BBB).  How can anyone even rebutt what the BBB says about a company when they require you to pay to tell your side of the story?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo8kfV9kONw

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#17 Consumer Comment

It will come out in the wash

AUTHOR: Zaffiliate - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, August 16, 2012

So, north Carolina Dept of Justice is investigating the 8 complaints and several inquiries and then we will know if Z is a ponzi scheme, huh?  FTC is trying to figure out how to make penny auctions illegal, why doesn't anyone contact the FTC and ask THEM about that investigation???  Laggos warned affiliates to start taking 20-30% out of their accounts in preparation for penny auctions to fail by election time at the soonest - so take out your funds now, protect yourself, take out the initial funds you bought your bids with (even if your bids have not built up 25K+) and then if it fails, you have taken your funds out.

I hope it is not a ponzi scheme, I understand that the funds I initially bought bids with that have doubled could be paid to me from other peoples funds.  I hope that is not true.  Heck, with all of our subscription fees, charges for the compliance course and training videos, etc. they have enough money from 1 million affiliates to pay out!  I have doubled my initial funds use to buy bids, I have had them paid back to me, so now it's just pure profit and I hope the cash cow is not heading to slaughter.

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#16 Consumer Comment

Zeek rankings

AUTHOR: adamgamz - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, August 16, 2012

People love to point out the Alexa rank as 131, however that is the ranking of Zeek Rewards, Zeekler is ranked 1,058. I thought Zeekler is supposed to be the read business? I mean everyone is placing their ad's to drive people to Zeekler, if that was working zeekler should be killing Zeek Rewards in the ranking. The real business here is the affiliates buying bids, not the penny auction. Thats great your friend made 3 million. I had a friend who made a boat load of money in Learn Waterhouse Ponzi, after all of his friends and family lost their money this freind of mone was sued for his earnings. Don't spend too much lol.

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#15 General Comment

YOU ARE JOKE!!

AUTHOR: join6cess - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, August 15, 2012

I have made a ton of cash with zeek!

My buddy has made over 3 million...!!

Understand, if you have a problem, you caused it!!

Zeek is rated 131 on Alexa ranks.

In case you didn't know, that is where you check to see top rated sites.

You dont get that kind of ranking with no advertising.

Those ads that everyone is posting are doing more than you think buddy!

This company is huge, and you are wrong!! :-) hee..hee!!! "YS" stand for "You Suck"!

I just made that up!! all right got to go, have a nice night; and life!

Hope you all make lots of cash! woohoo!

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#14 Consumer Comment

Zeek

AUTHOR: adamgamz - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, August 15, 2012

http://behindmlm.com/companies/zeek-rewards/nc-ags-office-concerned-about-zeek-rewards/#more-8864

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#13 Consumer Comment

Zeek Rewards is Not a Ponzi Scheme !!

AUTHOR: nbzeek - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, August 15, 2012

My response to the gentleman spreading lies and rumors about Rex Venture Group's Zeekrewards business is as follows:

1) Rex venture group will send a 1099 on any profit earned that is used to re-purchase bids as well as profit taken out of the business.  The 1099 forms that correspond to the profts earned and used to re-purchase more sample bids are called "constructive receipts".  This profit is not treated as income and will be designated as such by your accountant because it was technically used to be reinvested into the business (re-purchasing of sample bids).  Judging by the small amount of $753.59, this man has little to no experience with this business and should not be posting such rubbish.

2) You do not have to re-purchase bids with your profit (re-invest).  That is completely voluntary and you can choose to cash out your profits at anytime that you want.  Again, another false statement.  If you want to get out of the Zeekrewards program, you would set your bid-repurchase level to $0 and your account will be depleted each day by 1-2% and tranferred into a "cash" bucket until your account is empty.  Therefore, if you have $2,000 or (2,000) VIP points, your account will be depleted at a rate of approximately $40.00 per day until it is empty.  This money is then transferred from your cash bucket to an e-wallet account and you can choose to write yourself a check once per week or in a lump sum after your account is depleted.

3) The $2,000 used to purchase sample bids are converted into 2,000 VIP points once the sample bids are given away to customers.  This is the crux of the business.  Sample bids are used to draw traffic to the Zeekler Penny auction website.  Customers can use these free sample bids to try out the website and bid on products.  Once they win a few bids and realize how cheap then can acquire products by simply bidding on them, the idea is that the customer will hopefully register and purchase more bids to use for additional product bidding.  When they use these purchased bids, the company makes money on each $1 bid that is used.  Zeekrewards members can earn proft when they give sample bids away to customers because the bids are then converted into VIP points.  These VIP points qualify for a 1% -2% daily commission.  The higher the VIP point total, the higher the commission.  This is why members choose to re-purchase more sample bids with approximately 80% of their profits each day.  The affiliate member can set up his daily bid-repurchase option in his back office at whatever level he chooses.  The idea is to continue to re-purchase more bids and grow your VIP point total. By re-purchasing sample bids with some of his profits each day, and converting those profits to more VIP points he can continue to keep his VIP points pool viable, earn profits each day and cash out some money (suggested amount is 20%) each and every day well into the future.  This is called the 80/20 rule!
 
This man does not understand Zeekrewards and should not be spreading lies and rumors because it is simply wrong !!!

4) Affiliates do not have to recruit anyone if they choose not too.  They can earn money through the sample bids they purchase.  If they choose to sponsor an affiliate then the sponsor can make a percantage of the profits that his downline makes.  This is not a Ponzi Scheme !  It's multi-level marketing that has been around for decades and is completely legit.  Zeekrewards requires it's affiliates to take a comprehensive compliance course to assure that no information is mis-represented and that strict rules are followed.

5) I'd like to know how his mother lost money?  How is she being ruined?  Give specifics don't just make outrageous statements that can scare people away from making a legititamte profitable business from Zeekrewards.  I've been and affiliate of Zeekrewards for 2 1/2 months.  I started off slow, bought $1,000 in sample bids, made over $900 in profit, paid my membership fees through my profits and have decided to use more of my money to purchase a larger amount of sample bids.  I am completely satisfied.  I've tested the program, set up an e-wallet account and can pay myself with the profits that I earn anytime I want.  I chose to re-purchase more sample bids with most of my profits because I want my VIP point level to reach a certain amount so that my daily, weekly and monthly profits are more subtantial in the future and so that I am assured that my account has enough VIP point to continue to earn profits well into the future.  An affiliate has to manage their VIP points so that their business stays viable.  In other words, they have to make sure their well doesn't dry up!

6)  As for this man's poor mother...so sorry to hear she's having a rough time financially.  Please don't blame Zeekrewards for her misfortune.  It sounds like she got into some other bad investments or business which he does not care to specify again.  People like you give legit MLM companies a bad name which is too bad because there are a lot of people out there that can benefit from a easy to manage home based business.

Zeekrewards is completely legit.  Don't take my word for it.  Do your own research like i did. Just make sure to recognize false claims, lies and rumors like this guy's. 

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#12 Consumer Comment

The term Pyramid scheme

AUTHOR: ThasayIT - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, August 12, 2012

Pyramid schemes are illegal and shut-down relatively quickly by the authorities. There is never a product and idiots that use the term without having a clue what it means should the sewed for liable!

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#11 Consumer Suggestion

Not investing

AUTHOR: Zaffiliate - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, August 09, 2012

When you join Zeekler, you are not investing, if you were a real affiliate, then the training by Kevin Grimes taught you that fact.  You are buying bids to give to the leads you get on your own or you can buy leads, give those leads those bids (you bought) so they can try out the penny auctions.

Investing is for companies belonging to the security exchange.  An look up the definition of a Ponzie, you don't get anything back in a ponzie scheme. I have gotten regular paychecks from placing my daily ads since April.

learn more from MlM helpdesk.com

 http://mlmhelpdesk.com/breaking-zeek-rewards-news-the-facts-behind-the-nc-doj-investigation-zeek-rewards-recording/

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#10 Consumer Suggestion

Abandon Ship! Insiders are Bailing!

AUTHOR: adamgamz - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, August 01, 2012

Keith Laggos: FTC to hit Zeekler within 6 months

http://behindmlm.com/companies/zeek-rewards/keith-laggos-ftc-to-hit-zeekler-within-6-months/#comments

"As for the asinine comment on Dr. Laggos Yes he is a paid consultant. However, with a little due diligence, it is easy to see his reputation as an expert in his field is second to none."

-Troy Dooly, MLM Helpdesk

Keith Laggos credits himself as a marketing and management consultant and claims to have worked with dozens of direct sales companies as well as to  other sales and distribution companies outside of the (MLM) industry.Laggos joined Zeek Rewards as a paid consultant around June 2011 and shortly after the company switched from guaranteeing a 125% ROI on every bid purchased, to paying out a variable ROI over 90 days.Laggos largely credits himself for instigating such changes, claiming on a recent promotional call for MLM company Lyoness that hes been able to help them (Zeek Rewards) change the comp plan to keep within the pyramid scheme and Ponzi scheme laws.With Zeek Rewards still refusing to divulge whether or not the daily ROI they pay out to affiliates contains mostly affiliate money (this is proprietary information), Laggos claims of being within pyramid scheme and Ponzi laws are naturally still questionable.That said, Laggos appears to believe that as far as being a Ponzi or Pyramid scheme, that Zeek Rewards are in the clear and has since shifted his focus to the penny auction side of the business.This shift in focus ultimately resulted in the abrupt and completely unexpected parting of ways between Laggos and Zeek Rewards last week.So just what happened between Keith Laggos and Zeek?It would appear the fallout between Laggos (photo right) and Zeek Rewards might have something to do with a recent call Laggos took last week, promoting the MLM company Lyoness.Lyoness allow members to make investments with the company, and after a specific number of investments have been made by people in your downline, the company pays you out a ROI to the tune of 730-1164%, depending on how much you invest.

Laggos claims that his Lyoness group is the fastest growing group in the history of the company [21:50], and when comparing investments in either Zeek Rewards or Lyoness thatYou put ten thousand dollars in Zeekler, if nothing happens over the next year, youll probably make twenty or forty thousand if thats all you do without building the front end.If you put the same amount of money in Lyoness and dont do anything else, without a single sponsored person you could probably make a quarter of a million dollars. [21:16]Not building the front end of course refers to the passive investment nature of Zeek Rewards, in that members can simply put ten thousand dollars in Zeek Rewards, purchase alleged retail customers (who are nothing more than email addresses) or create fake customer accounts themselves, automate the publishing of a daily ad and receive, according to Laggos, a return of around forty thousand dollars in 12 months.Opening the Lyoness promotion call by acknowledging listeners on the call were all in Zeekler [13:04] before strongly advising them to join Lyoness and make it their Plan B, one possible reason for Laggos leaving Zeek Rewards might be the blatant cross-recruiting that occurs during the call.This is not tolerated by Zeek Rewards, who state in their affiliate policies and procedures thatREX Representatives shall not sell or represent non-REX products or represent marketing opportunities from other companies to other REX Representatives.Zeek Reward warns that failing to adhere to their policies and procedures may be terminated for violating the terms of his or her agreement.Whilst Zeek Rewards and Laggos himself have confirmed he is no longer a paid consultant with Zeek Rewards, Troy Dools today claimed that Laggos is still an affiliate [10:47].Laggos mentioned on the call that he has a Zeek Rewards downline of about 4,500 people and that his total income with Zeekler is only about $40,000 a month, before rhetorically asking you think I wanna lose $45,000 a month? [45:13].Infact, by all accounts it appears as if Laggos was taken completely by surprise and might not have left voluntarily (I wont go so far as to say he was terminated, as the nature of his consultant agreement and what exactly transpired between him and Zeek Rewards following the call is unknown).

On the call, recorded last Tuesday just one day before Zeek Rewards latest Red Carpet Wednesday affiliate event, Laggos statedI told him (Burks) about Plan A / Plan B and weve had a conversation.He laughed and said I believe in Plan A / Plan B. I said as you know for most people that got involved Zeekler, Zeekler was their plan B and he laughed.He said yeah, the majority of the big hitters were all plan B for all of them I dont have a problem when it comes to Plan A and Plan B [39:23].Im going to be at the red carpet service on Wednesday [24:48].Zeek Rewards CEO Paul Burks didnt seem to have a problem with Laggos promoting Lyoness (his plan B), but sometime over the next 24 hours Keith Laggos ceased being a consultant for Zeek Rewards. Nor was he present at the Red Carpet event.Troy Dooly tried to get an answer from Zeek Rewards and was told by recently appointed Chief Operating Officer, Greg Caldwell that[2:26] Keith Laggos and Rex Venture Group have agreed to part company effective immediately.

We wish him the best and we wish him luck in his future endeavours.Troy, dont ask me about this ever again.Unless something else happened within 24 hours of the Lyoness call going live, the only other reason I can think of was Laggos spilling the beans on alleged FTC going after Zeekler (and penny auctions in general), and his appraisal of Zeek Rewards and its future.Citing contacts in the processing and banking sectors informing him of the FTCs actions, Laggos claims[14:06] The FTC has been taking action against all 32 penny auction sites. They put out letters to the top big four banks asking them not to, to encourage them not to open up accounts for penny auctions.They call them illegal gambling. Their idea is that you buy bids, you place bets with those bids and only the winner gets the pot or the prize, and the rest of the people lose their chips or bids.So they (the FTC) consider it to be illegal gambling online and theyre trying to stop it.They (the FTC) sent notices to all the major (payment) processors in the US (telling them) that they do not want them to process a penny auction site as of July 5th. And most of them quit processing, if not all of them, on July 5th for penny auctions. Wont do them, closed the doors the rest of them will go offshore.[14:55] I already had, as you probably know, moved Zeek processing to Hong Kong and other places outside of the US so it looked like it didnt affect them.The reason it took them so long to get the processors in the first place, is because they (the FTC) were actively trying to shut em, block em (in the US) so we had to go offshore.

Zeek Rewards stopped issuing checks to affiliates back in late May 2012, claiming their bank accounts had been closed because the company was too big. Since then, affiliates have experienced credit card charges originating from Panama, South Korea and Hong Kong (China), with many of these charges being initially blocked in the US for suspected fraud.Additionally the company currently only pays out affiliates via third-party offshore payment processors. Then COO Dawn Wright-Olivares even went so far as to tell affiliates that unless they deposited new money into Zeek Rewards e-wallet accounts, they wouldnt be able to withdraw commissions from them.The company does claim to currently have US-based bank accounts but to date refuses to divulge to their affiliates or anyone else who these bank accounts are with.Despite Laggos best efforts to help Zeek Rewards circumvent US laws and regulations, his predictions on the future of Zeekler remain grim:[15:20] Unfortunately I dont think the FTC is going to be satisfied with them (Zeek Rewards) going offshore.When they did the same exact action against online gambling with poker and they went offshore, shortly (after) they (the FTC) prepared regulations, calling it illegal gambling, and made sure that no poker sites could have paid gambling online in the US.Troy Dooly meanwhile claims that no such regulations exist, stating that the FTC has never regulated online gambling at all [4:13].Laggos seems confident they do though, and continues his frank assessment of the future of Zeekler and Zeek Rewards:[15:52]

Online gambling in the future is going to be highly regulated and theyre going to apply that same law Im afraid to penny auctions. I dont know if its going to be one month, or three months or six months.[16:30] That is what Im afraid the situation is. Ive got an idea to help Zeekler continue if they lose the penny auctions, with other ideas that would be equally good but no doubt what theres going to be a bump in the road followed by some loss in momentum. [17:08] I believe theyre (Zeek Rewards) are going to lose their momentum shortly.[35:50] The FTC caused problems for Zeekler by making sure they couldnt get their credit cards open for a long time, their merchant accounts, by causing them discomfort using the bank accounts they couldnt process orders, couldnt pay their commissions and that caused hundreds if not thousands of complaints (from affiliates) to state attorneys and the FTC.[23:50] I dont think its (Zeek Rewards) going to last. I think the FTC will take action within 6 months, maybe 3 or less. I dont think theyll go a year before they take action.[24:52] I cant stop the FTC but I can have plan B for Zeekler in place when the FTC does take action.I dont want to be alarmist but I know whats happening, I know whats coming down the pipeline, were taking action to defend ourselves, to protect ourselves and our families.Ive been teaching this for over forty yearsand if youve been in the industry for long you know what Im talking about and wont fault me for saying that, cause you know Im right.

Whatever Laggos contingency plan for Zeek Rewards was, by severing him as a consultant it appears they werent interested.I do however note the apparent similarities in Lyoness retail cashback frontend and Zeek Rewards much hyped to-be-released Zeebates shopping portal. Whether or not Laggos is behind Zeebates however is unclear.Although not confirmed, it appears as if Zeek Rewards members are going to have to find customers for the shopping portal to qualify for their daily ROI through Zeek Rewards, something many affiliates are not happy about.Laggos goes on to finish up by accusing the FTC of being willing participants in extortion (a federal crime in the US):[43:18] Even if they dont win in court, they (the FTC) know they can extort money from them (Zeek Rewards), legally extort money from them.

Zeek Rewards has never made public mention of the FTC or any possible future action against Zeekler or penny auctions in general. If Laggos comments are accurate, in that he claims hes been reporting to Zeekler for months that the FTC has been becoming more active on penny auctions [2:42], this is something theyre well aware of and have known for a while.In the meantime, while all this has been going on, the internet has been flooded with Zeek Rewards marketing from affiliates, making no mention of the difficulties the FTC have allegedly imposed upon Zeek Rewards and other penny auctions.Instead, the company has been busy running around ensuring its members dont use investment terminology to describe the business. Yet when push comes to shove, here weve got Keith Laggos himself publicly defining participation in Zeek Rewards by affiliates as simply putting money in.In his defense, Laggos told Dooly that he did not know they were recording (the call) or how many Zeekler people would be on it.

Although I cant say Im surprised, I find the notion of simultaneously being a paid consultant and enrolled affiliate ethically abhorrent. How on Earth are you expected to consult impartially when youve got such a big potential financial conflict of interest always looming over your head?Then again, when it comes to Zeek Rewards one of the most worrying points of contention has always been that executive management in the company also have enrolled affiliate positions.With insider knowledge of pending FTC action and contact with regulators, Zeek Rewards financials and the company backend, when you consider it takes 90 days to fully withdraw earnings on VIP points they are wholly at an unfair advantage when compared to your average non-executive Zeek Rewards affiliate.Zeek Rewards management and Keith Laggos know whats coming, do you?

 Footnote: Troy Dooly broke this story a few hours ago and to his credit published the full Lyoness marketing call referenced in this article my thanks to him for that as its likely this important information would have been buried had he not gone public.All timestamp references contained in this article are in relation to Doolys video that accompanies his article, Breaking MLM News: Zeek Rewards Officially Parts Ways With Dr Keith Laggos After Recorded Call Goes Public.

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#9 Consumer Suggestion

BBB - Better Business Bureau

AUTHOR: BBB - (United States of America)

POSTED: Monday, July 30, 2012

The Better Business Bureau tells a different story. Your Business is Rated as F. The Government Watch Dog BBB rates you the lowest possible score.... 

If that many people can't understand your business model or structure, it seems to me that you are misleading people. As a professional, your business is a pyramid scheme and I wouldn't let you hold of as single penny of my money hostage.

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#8 Consumer Comment

Zeek is NOT a pyramid

AUTHOR: WSmith5212 - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, July 29, 2012

The person who filed this "Zeek pyramid scam" report obviously did not take the time to understand the business compensation plan.

The 2,000.00 they claim they were giving away and not earning unless they reinvest is erroneous. The 2k earns on average 1.5% daily if they post a single ad. So after day one ad is posted their balance would be 2,030.00. By day 5 their balance would be 2,154.00 and so on. You do have to reinvest if you want your balance to grow (which is the point) and you have to place an ad every day. If you do not reinvest and want your money back simply continue posting and ad with your reinvestment % set to 0. You will get paid the 1.5% daily and it will go into your "cash available" account while being subtracted from your total balance. Do this until all of your balance has been cleared and request a check. The few complaints I have seen are the result of simply misunderstanding the business. There is a product to be sold and an effort is required by affiliates if they wish to profit. I was living on disability until I joined Zeek and I can promise you it is NOT a scam.

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#7 Author of original report

A little sympathy please

AUTHOR: Zeekler = Pyramid Scheme - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, July 22, 2012

Hey, are you actually making fun of me and laughing at my mistake?  Hey, I am very upset for receiving a 1099 that says that says I earned something that Rex didnot even pay me.  I am filing complaints to the authorities and I have to pay for a lawyer.  I am the victim fraud, and it hurts my feeling that you think I am stupid.  I thought I was helpful you and other people by informing you and alerting you, but all I get is ridicule.  However, I am glad that you agree and understand what a scam Rex Venture and Zeekler is.

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#6 Author of original report

Paper Trail

AUTHOR: Zeekler = Pyramid Scheme - (United States of America)

POSTED: Sunday, July 22, 2012

Make sure to print everything, keep hardcopies of every detail, everyday, and give to your lawyer, the IRS, and Consumer Proctection.

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#5 Consumer Comment

Misinformation

AUTHOR: Darryl Hayes - (United States of America)

POSTED: Saturday, July 21, 2012

Nice analogy Fermillion. Unfortunately most people do not have the mental capacity or business savy to understand international Internet marketing. Fortunately they can use the lights in their homes without understanding electricity. Rex Venture Group, the parent company, is debt free and does not accept ANY investment monies from anyone or source. With Zeekler.com penny auction within the top 1300 websites on the planet, the affiliate advertising is definitely working! How many advertising firms can guarantee those results even if you are paying them $2 million a day! Alexa.com traffic ratings do not lie. Alexa has probably never even heard of Zeekrewards. www.bidsrfree.zeekrewards.com for more info. Serious BUSINESS builders only.

Respectfully Darryl Hayes darryl@carolinaautos.net

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#4 REBUTTAL Individual responds

to learn more about zeekreward

AUTHOR: dan - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, July 19, 2012

i am trying to learn more about this company.  If i send my money to zeekrewards tomorrow and the next day or next couple of days zeekrewards website disappear(no longer available) and all contacts are no longer available... Please let me know that how i can get my money back ?

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#3 General Comment

Hogwash

AUTHOR: Cblox - (United States of America)

POSTED: Thursday, July 19, 2012

Look, it is more than abundantly clear to anyone with even half a brain, that the whole "advertising" / SPAMMING for them is just a clever way to get around the whole business model being lipstick on a pig.  They can claim legitimately that affiliates are actually doing something of value for the company, when in point of fact, the advertising is generally doing nothing of benefit revenue wise.  Anyone investing in this company that actually believes they are accomplishing anything by placing those ads is an idiot, period, and should probably just get it over with and join a cult. Almost all of the revenue comes directly from the affiliates in the form of monthly fees, initial investment money and the purchase of bid packs to "give away" to bogus accounts.  It is clearly an unsustainable model, and for those that got in on it early, hooray! You should hold onto the money though because you bet your life at some point you will be paying it all back to the countless suckers who are getting ripped off by this clever little scheme.  What I find most amusing is the fact that you get a 1099 for income you never see, wow, I can't believe how stupid people are in this country.  All I can say is, I sure wish I'd thought of it first. Lol.

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#2 Consumer Comment

Zeek Rewards comment

AUTHOR: Bob - (United States of America)

POSTED: Saturday, July 14, 2012

Dear Sir/Madam, You lost credibility in your write-up when you said "without doing anything".... in Zeek Rewards, of course we have to do somehinng....we have to advertise every day for them. It's made clear that if we don't advertise daily for them we are not eligible for participation in the daily profits. 

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#1 Consumer Comment

It takes hard work to make money

AUTHOR: Fermillion - (United States of America)

POSTED: Wednesday, June 27, 2012

I'm sorry that you had this happen, It's sad that you didn't have a sponsor to guide you and show you how to properly make a successful business. I can tell you now that Zeekrewards and Zeekler by Rex Venture group have been good to me.

This is like anything else, I for example had a subscription for a Gym membership for 3 years... and I only went to the gym for 3 months, I wasn't on a contract so I could get out at any time, but at the end of the 3 years of throwing money away I didn't blame the gym for not having the results I was expecting. It takes a lot of work to be in the shape I wanted to be in. Same in this case there are many people that are potentially throwing their money away because they are not working hard to achieve their goals. Talk to a sponsor that knows what they are doing, and instead of attacking Rex Venture Group, Please report the person that enrolled you because they are the fraudsters for not informing you that it takes work to really make money.



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