AdSurfDaily charged with Scam
Photo by: Bloomsberries
Scam investigations have been launched on a Quincy, Florida-based Internet marketing company, AdSurfDaily (ASD), for allegedly operating a Ponzi scheme. Florida Attorney General’s office took this step after receiving 20 or so complaints from subscribers to the company’s services.
ASD is said to have solicited businesses to avail of its online advertisement package. Doing so, it claimed, would hand out a 150 percent return to subscribers.
According to the complaint, ASD offered its scheme as a business opportunity to those who owned websites. Such members were asked to subscribe to the company’s online advertising service through which their websites were guaranteed with a huge viewership. This would translate to an increase in revenue generated from sales by the website.
Those who wished to subscribe were asked to pay a fee, sometimes amounting to thousands, upfront.
Subscribers were also offered the opportunity to earn some money by agreeing to view websites of other subscribers for a certain amount of time each day.
Authorities believe the company was really operating a scam that mainly benefited officials at its helm. The complaint alleges that the company was not making any real revenues. It was simply presenting to old subscribers the money received from new ones. This would go on until the program would go bust. It is said to have made $100 million from investors in the Florida region in this manner.
AdSurfDaily is now faced with a civil lawsuit, a criminal investigation, and the prospect of getting released a substantial part of its funds frozen by federal authorities. Legal action has also been initiated against its president, Thomas Andy Bowdoin Jr.
Source: BusinessWeek.com
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August 8th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Your information regarding ASD is very
inaccurate. For example everyone joined the
company for free and purchased advertising
as they desired to do so. ASD was never
promoted as an investment.
August 9th, 2008 at 1:25 am
@ Dale…
This is what Florida’s Attorney General has to say about the company:
Read more at a press release on his website.
Best Wishes!
August 11th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
ASD never has said they would pay 150% return, why don’t you read the “Terms and Conditions” of the company instead of listening to some one that has no clue! Same to you reporters, you ARE Supposed to be better than this!
August 12th, 2008 at 3:15 am
@Judy…
Forget the fine print…
Most people would still like to stay away from a company that is presently being investigated upon by law enforcement agencies…
Thanks for bothering to comment, Judy…
Best Wishes!
August 15th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Ad Surf Daily Members Fight Back Nationwide - Petition The United States Senate.
For more information: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/asdmemberspetition
August 20th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
We have so many franchises today, franchises was almost made illegal by the US GOVERNMENT it was made legal by one vote
August 30th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I find this scam to be particularly interesting to me because I know several people that were involved in it. It has shown me the mindset of them and how so many people can be sucked in. They all agreed it looked too good to be true — the web site telling you that you can make 125% on your initial “advertising package purchase” (don’t want to call it an investment!) in six months. One of them even repeatedly called it a Ponzi.
But their justification was “If it just stays good long enough to get my initial money back out….” So they were suspicious but letting greed overcome their judgment. After a few months of it not collapsing, they became believers. I was called a nay-sayer and a skeptic when i would ask such things as “Where is the money coming from?” and “Has there ever existed anything in the history of mankind that will return that much money consistently?” Even now, after ASD has been shut down by the feds, they say that the government has been known to be wrong on such things and that we can’t trust the government all the time.
Truly, denial is not just a river in Africa, but alive and well everywhere.
March 26th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
typical ponzi scam
invest your money, surf their ads, and get SCAMMED! lol