If the account is to be used for higher volume transactions, then an identity check which is in two parts, must take place.

My own personal paypal account was made secure as mentioned previously, by the addition of my credit-card details ( which somewhat defeats the purpose of having a pp account). Nevertheless, this done, it is now not sufficient to secure the account.

The identity check requires the filling in of a form on-line, requiring physical address, birthdate, company name, and vat/ tax no.  All details, that many will be unhappy to hand over, due to identity theft on the net and management of this sensitive data by Pal pal. ( who of course promise not to share it with anyone).

Then one feels that should be sufficient, but no there’s something else, after being told this will suffice, another window comes up saying that there’s one final step. The final step being, you need to upload or fax through your drivers license, ID card or other photographic proof, such as a passport.

Well, I don’t know about you, but this always makes me nervous. How will my data be treated? Banks have had data breaches, so I’m almost certain Paypal could have the same sooner or later.

There isn’t much choice out there, Paypal has the Euro market pretty much sewn up.

Any other suggestions will be welcome, leave a comment for the benefit of our readers.

Can some e currency veteran comment on this? Are the requirements the same for e bullion and similar payment co’s.

Lets discuss this digital moneyworlders!

Yours in money,

Moneypenny

You receive 170% after 7 days
 Spent Amount $50 - $299
 Invest now!

Here’s a typical bullion ad to trade online, and quite typically there is no mention of risk in the stated fantastical returns. So who wouldn’t  want to get a  170% return in a week? This is the kind of thinking that I mentioned in my post on investing online. While driving to work one day in 2000 I saw a billboard that said ” If you can click a mouse you can invest and buy and sell shares online” my response to this kind of thinking? “Yeh, right, and you can also jump off the empire state building, and wish to catch an updraft, which  lands you safely and gently on your feet. 

Clearly there are a lot of people out there trying to get these returns. 

So here’s the challenge, since you are all heated up and ready for competition after the last post.

Tell us what your returns are in a week, in percentage terms. Your best week!

Need extra income? Or are you looking for a safe investment. Then HYIP’s are not for you.

What is a HYIP?
High Yield Investment Program.

HYIP’s are all over the net.  Check Google for “investing”.  Offering  insane  returns.  For those who are new to e investing,  these investments just cannot give the returns stated.

So you’re talking about several days, several weeks, or if they are really good, several months of return,  until they  close down  and start under a new name to avoid all the bad ”news” on them. 

Before you lose your money to these scams,  Check out www.talkgold.com or www.scams.com, and read the the forums and look in the HYIP area. You  will  see a list of stories on how people lost their money.

 Some of these internet sites are even referred to as games, so they are not liable under the law as they would be, if it was called an investment opportunity. 

Several of these internet sites open up every day and attract novices  looking for some extra income.   Check out out sites like www.hyipmonitor.com and  just see the amount of internet sites there are out there, and how many more are being added on a daily basis. 

How Do I Know It’s A HYIP Program?

Egold
Be careful of programs that ask you to send money through this desk because egold dealings are permanent and cannot be stopped, (unlike Paypal). Also no cash refunds or control over when you cash in. 

High Returns
Astronomical returns are a sure sign, anything over 5% -10% a month  should be a red flag for anyone looking for a good investment. Stocks usually average about 5-7% return over the long term.

Google any investment company before you invest. It may save you your money. Don’t let greed lead you to ignore what others have said on the net. Beware!

Yours in money,

Moneypenny

Most people know what e money is and have come across pay pal e pay e gold and the like. However, can these digital shares be traded like money or shares? The answer is yes, and as I’ve been saying in my last few posts, this has become a more popular investment. Much has been said about E gold ( based on gold) on this blog in the past, by Mark. I’m going to focus on digots, or digital shares which can be bought and sold and the risks and scams associated with them.

I remember driving down the road one day to work and  I saw a bill board, it said. “if you can click a mouse you can buy and sell and invest in the stock market”. At the time, I thought this kind of statement  and thinking was foolhardy and dangerous, and I still do. E shares could  fall under this same  thinking, but buyer beware! The only thing that is easy in trading online when you are a novice, is losing your money fast!

So how are digots traded? well here a simple explanation which I’ll elaborate on over the next few posts.

 E currency  trading - you may have thought it was trading foreign currency, Pounds Dollars or Euro, and making money on the exchange rate.

It is not currencies trading, and neither is it  futures trading.

E currency, also known as “internet money” or e money, is used on the internet by people who either do not want to use their credit card on the net or who do not have a credit card.

 A well known site claims ”They are used by thousands of people on the internet everyday using E gold, Net pay, E bullion and others, and is now being traded.  E currency trading  provides investment opportunity to many people who make steady daily profits of between 0,2 % and 5%. E currency is traded on  sites in digots or digital shares. consistently trading and growing your portfolio involves choosing the cheapest six digots or digital shares and adding them to you portfolio, you can make daily profits to grow your investment.” Putting the words digots, or digital shares, into google, will bring up the companies who offer these sites. and the scams acossiated with them , my next post covers these scams.

Disclaimer: this blog does not offer investment advice, only opinions. Any opinions expressed should not  be considered  investment advice. 

Yours in money Donna,

Moneypenny

And as a matter of fact, I’m sure its the same to all government laws and regulations on High Yield Investment Programs and I’m urging everyone never to get involve with them. 2 years ago I was involved in something pretty serious by a scam running in Malaysia by the name of PIPs and until now I still feel guilty of getting people into this scam ring unknowingly.

Since then, nothing is real. As long as you don’t have legal papers on your investing firm, don’t get involved with them. Mark has also written a piece on HYIP investors may face money laundering charges, as with Jamaican laws might even apprehend people who knowingly gets involved with HYIPs.

You can find out more about Singapore on Wiki, a lovely country that I reside in.

Here’s a blurb from a public Miss Ellen Lee to Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng of Singapore on online cheating cases (source: Ministry of Home Affairs, Singapore)

Q: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (a) what is the number of reported cases of online cheating scams in the past 2 years; (b) what is the number of these reported cases where the culprits were arrested; (c) what are the measures undertaken by the police to detect and prevent such online scams; and (d) whether the police works with Interpol or other agencies as these crimes often involve an element of extra-territoriality.

Read more

Gareth Manning from the Jamaican Gleaner is reporting information from an interview with attorney-at-law and University of the West Indies lecturer, Shirley-Ann Eaton.

HYIP ‘investors’ now stand to lose big as government laws and regulations change to target HYIPs and online ‘investments’. Gareth Manning did a recent interview with Shirley-Ann Eaton who is a former secretary of the Jamaica Bankers’ Association. Eaton says that money ‘invested’ with these type of schemes (A3union was included) CANNOT be returned by the court system in Jamaica. She points out, this is because the law does not cover schemes offering excessive interest on money loaned. The recovery provision only covers vehicles that carry a rate of 40% or less per year. The ridiculously high rates like 133% in 30 days is NOT covered by Jamaican law.

Furthermore, participants in the HYIP can ALSO FIND THEMSELVES IN PRISON if the schemes are found to be engaged in any sort of money laundering. Because these schemes are unregulated and high yielding, they do not operate within the normal regulated banking and securities system which makes them a desirable vessel for money launderers.

“I don’t know of anywhere in the world where anybody is getting a return of 120 per cent per annum on any kind of investment,” Eaton argues. “What if, willfully or inadvertently, these schemes contain proceeds of crime? What if money being given to them actually is criminal proceeds?”

Under the recently enforced Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering Prevention) Regulations in Jamaica, any person can be found to have committed an offence under the act if that person knows or believes or even has reasonable grounds for knowing or believing that those handling their funds are engaged in laundering. If your HYIP is not registered with the proper securities and tax related authorities and is not reporting your tax positions on a gain or loss, that is reasonable grounds to believe.

If convicted before a resident magistrate, that person could be ordered to pay a fine not exceeding $1 million or be sentenced to a term not exceeding one year or to both a fine and imprisonment. If indicted before a Circuit Court, however, that person could face imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine. In addition to prison terms for laundering, investors could face severe pressure from tax authorities. as under law they should be filing their tax returns.

In Jamaica the tax authority is investigating the use of proceeds from these ‘investments’.

Tax Administration Department spokesperson Meris Haughton, while unwilling to disclose the approach being taken to recover the billions owed to it in income tax by these investors, noted that “all annual sums invested are taxable and we would not want to disclose exactly how we will recover those taxes”.

The Jamaican Financial Commission (FSC), there are over 20 “extremely high-yielding unregistered investment schemes operating in Jamaica”. Here is their published list.

• Caribbean Real Estate Investment Fund (CAREIF)
• World Wise Partners Limited
• A3 Union
• Swiss Cash
• Higgins Warner Music and Entertainment
• MayDaisy E-Partner Plan Club
• F1 Investments/F1 Holdings
• Wealth Builder and Associates
• Right Vision E-Partners Private Members Club
• Strategical Alliance Investment Company
• SGL Holdings
• Partner Financials
• Kingdom Investments Unlimited International (KIUI)
• Image Consultants & Services
• Nipo Farms
• USIMO
• Other investment schemes not Included because of court proceedings:
• Cash Plus Group
• OLINT Corp. Limited
• Overseas Locket International Corp.
• LewFam Investments and Trading Limited
• LewFam Investments Club

Source: jamaica-gleaner.com

Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Dear Liberty Dollar Supporters,

Usually at this time of the month, it is the deadline for the Liberty Dollar News, our monthly newsletter that has chronicled the Liberty Dollar for over nine years.

Of course all that came to a screeching halt when the g-boys raided the Liberty Dollar just two weeks ago on Wednesday, November 14. 2007.

So now I am running from the government, afraid for my life and trying to figure out what the hell to do next! Right? Wrong! Nothing could be further from reality. Please read these quick bulleted (no pun) items for a quick review of the latest developments:

IMPORTANT: If you have not received your order and you paid for it with a bank card, please call your bank immediately, cancel the transaction, reversing the transaction and GET YOUR MONEY BACK. Don’t let the government steal your money!

1. First I am not running “from” the g-boys. It is just the opposite. I am running “to” the government. I see the current situation as an ideal opportunity to validate the Liberty Dollar. Otherwise they will have to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am guilty and the Liberty Dollar is the scourge of the country. Luckily, my favorite FBI Agent “Andy” just called me yesterday… on my private cell phone. Well the cell phone is suppose to be “private” as most people don’t know the phone number. So I complimented Andy on his resourcefulness and he responded that he was the “FBI”. Now that impressed me and gave me a good secure feeling… because if the FBI could not find my cell phone number, we would really be hurting. In any case, Andy and I had a very “friendly” discussion for about 10-15 minutes. Seems that he wants to “talk” to me. I took that to mean that he wants to arrest me. So I asked about that and sure enough… a Grand Jury, indictment and arrest seems to be a given at this time. Read more

Perhaps like me, you have seen the annual US car show, either in person or on the TV. Each year the best and the brightest of the auto industry get together with some off duty strippers in short skirts and preview the best Detroit has to offer.

These same designers also show us some of the coolest ‘concept cars’. They all have sleek designs and if you are at the car show in person, you have to see these models before leaving the building.

We all stare at the possible futuristic cars and wonder what the world will be like when that ‘concept car’ pulls up next to me at a stop light.

Well, the “Amero” is a concept currency. It’s not out yet, but some day it might work its way off the drawing board and into your pocket.

Today, we look up and wonder what will the world be like when the woman next to you at the supermarket pays with her new Amero Coins. (its possible stop smiling:-)

What is the Amero?

In plain language? It is a really dumb idea created by a really goofy bunch of politicians from Mexico, Canada and the United States. However, unlike many of Detroit’s concept car designers these wacky politicians might be able to successfullymove the Amero from a drawing board into the real world.

The “Amero,” is an idea much like the Euro and would replace the US Dollar to become the currency of Canada, Mexico, and the United States.

So be careful!!! There are two things American’s can’t get enough of….Britney Spears and shopping. With enough sizzle the new Amero currency might just have the ‘get-up-and-go’ for the public to buy it. Remember the “Pet Rock”? Wrap it in colored paper then call it fashionable and everyone may just want it.

Read more

The following is a letter from Bernard von NotHaus dated today:

I sincerely regret to inform you that about 8:00 this morning a dozen FBI and Secret Service agents raided the Liberty Dollar office in Evansville.

For approximately six hours they took all the gold, all the silver, all the platinum and almost two tons of Ron Paul Dollars that where just delivered last Friday. They also took all the files, all the computers and froze our bank accounts.

We have no money. We have no products. We have no records to even know what was ordered or what you are owed. We have nothing but the will to push forward and overcome this massive assault on our liberty and our right to have real money as defined by the US Constitution. We should not to be defrauded by the fake government money.

But to make matters worse, all the gold and silver that backs up the paper certificates and digital currency held in the vault at Sunshine Mint has also been confiscated. Even the dies for mint the Gold and Silver Libertys have been taken.

This in spite of the fact that Edmond C. Moy, the Director of the Mint, acknowledged in a letter to a US Senator that the paper certificates did not violate Section 486 and were not illegal. But the FBI and Services took all the paper currency too.

The possibility of such action was the reason the Liberty Dollar was designed so that the vast majority of the money was in specie form and in the people’s hands. Of the $20 million Liberty Dollars, only about a million is in paper or digital form.

I regret that if you are due an order. It may be some time until it will be filled… if ever… it now all depends on our actions.

Everyone who has an unfulfilled order or has digital or paper currency should band together for a class action suit and demand redemption. We cannot allow the government to steal our money! Please don’t let this happen!!! Many of you read the articles quoting the government and Federal Reserve officials that the Liberty Dollar was legal. You did nothing wrong. You are legally entitled to your property. Let us use this terrible act to band together and further our goal – to return America to a value based currency.

Please forward this important Alert… so everyone who possess or use the Liberty Dollar is aware of the situation.

Please click HERE to sign up for the class action lawsuit and get your property back!

If the above link does not work you can access the page by copying the following into your web browser. http://www.libertydollar.org/classaction/index.php

Thanks again for your support at this darkest time as the damn government and their dollar sinks to a new low.

Bernard von NotHaus

Monetary Architect

Ever wonder why all the ’smart’ people are using that powerful encryption stuff on their computers? Do you really need it, seems like a hassle right?

Well, if your private life or finances has ever become the topic of conversation in a chat room, forum or Interpol morning detectives meeting, you should understand the reasoning behind using powerful encryption. Protecting your email content and files is very important in today’s world.

For years I was a fan of encryption but just never could figure out how to set it up or use it. Everyone said, “why don’t you just use PGP? That is the free version and easiest encryption on the Internet…everyone uses it”. Thanks for the advice but downloading, installing and leaning how to use that stuff is like rocket science for a goofy guy like me, so I never managed to get it going. I never found ‘instructions’ I could understand. To this day, I still don’t know what a libarary or a .cab file is or what to do with them. I needed simple, easy to understand instruction to walk me through it. I need the easy to understand version that has instructions like this,

“Now move the mouse to ‘File’ on the ‘Notepad window and select “Save”.

If you search around the Net you will find dozens of webs talking about PGP and describing its advantages and feature but you won’t really find one that tells you exactly how to install, how to use and what’s important to protect. At least I never found that web.

Well if you are interested in protecting yourself with PGP, quickly learning the setup and operation, plus what to use it for and other tricks….then you may want to check out “Encryption on the Fly” over at the EscapeVelocityPub For beginners or intermediate users, this program is super helpful. Its not a free publication right now it will cost you about $6 in gold or silver, but IMHO its worth it. Its even got some mega cool info on hiding a file within a picture for you James Bond types. Here is the pitch:

This easy to read detailed publication tells step-by-step how to:

• Install PGP
• How to encrypt a file to include it in the body of a webmail message
• How to put your Public Key into the body of a webmail message
• Where to get the best free version of PGP
• and even gives an easy to understand explanation of Public Key Infrastructure.
• How to Implement ‘One-time Pad’

Additionally, basic instructions on using an excellent Steganography program- S-Tools, are also presented in detailed step-by-step format. This publication is one of the few MS Windows based instructional manuals to be produced by escapevelocitypub.com. But we feel encryption is so important to know that we’re offering it for the sake of giving a greater number of people the ability to encrypt messages and files.

I wish I had this publication about ten years ago, reading this one I could have been up and running in just minutes!