Author Topic: Paid to surf program, $30+/day, just look! (Read 27443 times)

DrewKaree · « **Reply #120 on:** July 17, 2005, 05:01:51 pm »

Quote from: pointdablame on July 16, 2005, 07:32:07 pm

I'm seriously half tempted to try this with the free $10. No, I won't be making that much money, but I really wonder if it'll actually work... and hell... if they last a while maybe I can actually build up some decent amount of cash.

I looked into it further after starting with the exact same idea.

The "money" resets after a year, IIRC, so doing the $10 will only net you enough to POSSIBLY make a few bucks by the end of a year.

You'll have to invest in order to make any money quickly - and by quickly, I mean after the "X months" period after you've invested your initial nut. Did we determine that it's 3 or 4 months?

Going the $10 route is simply an exercise in frustration. You'll have wasted the time seeing if it "works". If this is something you'd like to try, emdkay's testimony and standing as a respected member of this community should be enough. I'm not saying anyone HAS said they don't trust HIM, I'm just trying to fast-track your success if you decide to give it a try.

For the record, this isn't a risk I'M wanting to take, and haven't done anything other than the $10 thing, and I've let that fall by the wayside as well.

Effayy · « **Reply #121 on:** July 18, 2005, 09:52:42 am »

emdkay: Grats on the new cheque. Just have one small peice of advice....

No matter what people say or how you feel about the whole ST deal, no matter how much money you return with this program, just promise me you'll do this: Don't spend ANY of your money (including initial investment money, not just the profit you make after 4 months).

Hear me out. I don't have the link to the news article currently, but in the past there was another HYIP program (which ST is a flavour of, let's be honest) which ended in it's profitting members being court-ordered to return ANY money given to them (including initial investment)... So take the money if you wish, but hold on to it for a couple of years after the site goes down. The money will still be yours, but just don't spend it right away. Please.

My rationalization for this is the fact that the only method of withdrawl is now through a verified StudioPay account. All "paid" members now exist in the StudioPay database with a record of all transactions. If ST turns out to be illegal, you could lose that money if the courts get involved.

Once I get home (at work right now) I'll pull up that article and post it.

And for the record. My account is at $210 with $23 in referrals for this month. I haven't withdrawn, and I don't believe I ever will. I'm just surfing day to day now as more of a game to see how high this can go.

Anyway, just promise me that. Please.

- FA

emdkay · « **Reply #122 on:** July 18, 2005, 11:48:01 am »

Quote from: Effayy on July 18, 2005, 09:52:42 am

My rationalization for this is the fact that the only method of withdrawl is now through a verified StudioPay account. All "paid" members now exist in the StudioPay database with a record of all transactions. If ST turns out to be illegal, you could lose that money if the courts get involved.

They've always required funds to be transferred into studiopay before withdrawing, but I'd still like to see the article.

Effayy · « **Reply #123 on:** July 18, 2005, 05:21:46 pm »

Ok, as promised, here's some reading material:

First, an article profiling the possibility of repayment... Please ignore the fact that it's from a religion website, the article has no religious slant to it at all. (For the record, I'm as religious as the chair I'm sitting on right now)

http://www.religionnewsblog.com/7384

Here's another explanation of repayment further down on this page:

http://townsend-law.netfirms.com/ponzix.htm

Here's an MSNBC article (once again, sorry for the source, but MSNBC is better than Fox)

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/3078800/

And last but not least... I'm sending you a PM.

- FA

emdkay · « **Reply #124 on:** July 18, 2005, 05:45:14 pm »

I skimmed those links real quick, but thanks for them - good reading material when I have more time later.

Studiotraffic has an enormous terms of service page, which you're required to agree to before signing up: http://www.studiotraffic.com/terms.php

It states that in the event that funds run low, they can pay you less than 1% daily, or nothing at all. All members must agree to this before signing up for an account. Everybody is aware of the risks. The terms of service are huge, but here's a snippet:

30) Indemnification and Hold Harmless

* User agrees to indemnify and hold harmless StudioTraffic.com, its officers, directors, employees, agents, affiliates and representatives from and against any claim, cause of action or demand, including but not limited to reasonable legal, accounting and other professional fees that may result from your use of our website services or your breach of these Terms and Conditions.

* Studio Traffic.com will notify users of any such claim, suit or proceeding in a timely manner.

* User acknowledges and agrees that StudioTraffic.com

RayB · « **Reply #125 on:** July 18, 2005, 07:38:12 pm »

Quote from: emdkay on July 17, 2005, 12:33:29 am

It does work so you'd be wasting your time with the free $10 account.

quarterback · « **Reply #126 on:** July 18, 2005, 08:04:43 pm »

Quote from: RayB on July 18, 2005, 07:38:12 pm

Quote from: emdkay on July 17, 2005, 12:33:29 am
It does work so you'd be wasting your time with the free $10 account. I've been paid $3,483.00 in the last 4 months from an intial $3,000 investment. That's $483.00 profit at this point, and now the next 8 payments I receive of ~$900.00/month - all of that will be all profit. Previous payments by check, paypal, and now direct deposit from now on:

So, 4 months of 30 minutes a day surfing... That's 4 x 15 hours = 60 hrs. You made $483 in that time. Wow. That's barely more than minimum wage.

But you don't even really surf. You open up a window and let it automatically scroll through pages that you never see.

The facts I've gleened from this thread:
(1) You don't get 'paid' unless you surf
(2) You don't have to actually look at any of the pages that you're "surfing"
(3) Even though you only get paid if you surf, the money you're getting paid doesn't come from advertisers, it "comes from the upgrades of others, withdraw fees, them not surfing cetain days, etc."

Basically you get paid for doing nothing. Well, not really 'nothing'. You get paid for doing nothing except:
(a) paying the initial "membership fee" (it's not an investment, it's a fee that you pay)
and (b) referring others....

oh, and opening up a browser once a day to 'surf' sites you never see.

Quote

We cannot guarantee earnings because we don't have control over the rate of growth of StudioTraffic. However, as long as we are growing, we should have money pooled from different studio programs to pay out to our members.

Sums it up. You get paid out of money that comes from other users like yourself. As long as the program keeps "growing" (i.e. people keep putting money into it), you'll continue to get paid.

As far as I can tell, the only significant income (money going INTO this company) comes from people like emdkay. The money going out to people like emdkay comes from people like emdkay. There are a finite number of people in the world and anybody with basic math skills can figure out the problem with that formula.

quarterback · « **Reply #127 on:** July 18, 2005, 08:59:20 pm »

I finally remembered the name of the previous scam that sounded so similar.

emdkay · « **Reply #128 on:** July 18, 2005, 09:32:49 pm »

Quote from: RayB on July 18, 2005, 07:38:12 pm

Quote from: emdkay on July 17, 2005, 12:33:29 am
It does work so you'd be wasting your time with the free $10 account. I've been paid $3,483.00 in the last 4 months from an intial $3,000 investment. That's $483.00 profit at this point, and now the next 8 payments I receive of ~$900.00/month - all of that will be all profit. Previous payments by check, paypal, and now direct deposit from now on:

So, 4 months of 30 minutes a day surfing... That's 4 x 15 hours = 60 hrs. You made $483 in that time. Wow. That's barely more than minimum wage.

..well next month when I spend 15 minutes/day again for another 30 days = ~8 hours and earn $900, that's about... $112/hour for the next 8 months.

This thread has gone from "its a scam - does not work" to "yea you're getting paid now, but good luck earning back your initial investment" to "yea you've made profit now, but you may have to pay it back eventually".

Raleigh · « **Reply #129 on:** July 18, 2005, 10:09:16 pm »

Not to sound harsh, but my question is are you really that naive to think that it is anything but a Ponzi Scheme, or do you realize that it is and are shamelessly promoting it to try and encourage new people to fund your investment? Whether or not you get your money back or a nice profit it irrelevant of the scam, you have become a integral piece of the scam, by promoting it here and elsewhere. It may not be you who gets screwed, and it may not be the people that you lead into the scheme, but eventually people WILL get shafted, people who have seen your testimonies and others like yours. I am glad you appear to make it through the scheme ahead, but I hope you have realized, or will realize that it is a scheme and you will stop heavily promoting it. Count you lucky stars and distance yourself from it, don't let yourself be a pawn in the scheme any longer.

Quotes from http://townsend-law.netfirms.com/ponzix.htm:

"How You Get Into a Ponzi Scheme"

"1. Know someone who is being paid. A close friend or relative often will innocently induce the investor into the deal by proclaiming that he has been timely paid. It is true that the friend or relative has been timely paid, because the promoter makes sure that certain people are

emdkay · « **Reply #130 on:** July 19, 2005, 12:21:47 am »

I'm not heavily promoting this at all. All the posts are from people saying its a scam - so clearly this isn't a place that I'm trying to promote the program.

Quote

the promoter makes sure that certain people are

Sephroth57 · « **Reply #131 on:** July 19, 2005, 12:25:14 am »

ah theyre just hating EMD, good job on actually making money on it. either way youre in the clear now it was a risk for you in the beginning and still a risk for anyone that joins. but youre an example that SOMETIMES a risk pays out. i dunno what this guys problem is, if you dont like it then dont worry about it

emdkay · « **Reply #132 on:** October 18, 2005, 12:15:44 pm »

I'm keeping posting about studiotraffic to a minimum since it stirs up the waters a little, so here is a quick update:

Initial deposit early this year: $3,000

Monthly payment amounts thus far (average month would be $900. months with less indicate I missed surfing a day or two. months with more indicate I earned referral commission)

$704
$864
$982
$931
$1046
$946
$2331

total earned back ~$7800

profit ~$4800

http://www.emdkay.net/wordpress for payment photos

Harry Potter · « **Reply #133 on:** October 18, 2005, 12:18:18 pm »

a shameless bump man. Not cool.

But still, hope you don't loose money on this.

pointdablame · « **Reply #134 on:** October 18, 2005, 12:19:21 pm »

Quote from: bosss7 on October 18, 2005, 12:18:18 pm

a shameless bump man. Not cool.

But still, hope you don't loose money on this.

did you even see his numbers?

He's already more than doubled his initial investment. Even if the site dies today, he's made an almost $5k profit.

I wish I had the money to start this up when you did emdkay

Harry Potter · « **Reply #135 on:** October 18, 2005, 12:23:52 pm »

Quote from: pointdablame on October 18, 2005, 12:19:21 pm

Quote from: bosss7 on October 18, 2005, 12:18:18 pm
a shameless bump man. Not cool.

But still, hope you don't loose money on this.

did you even see his numbers?

He's already more than doubled his initial investment. Even if the site dies today, he's made an almost $5k profit.

I wish I had the money to start this up when you did emdkay

From the look of it, he's been lucky so far but who knows how long it will last.

I'm not saying i'd like to see him crash and burn. It's just i've seen plenty of scams to have a bad feeling about this one.

pointdablame · « **Reply #136 on:** October 18, 2005, 02:12:24 pm »

my point was that you said you hope he doesnt lose any money.

He cant.

He's made back his principle and then some. Even if it crashes and burns today, he's not out any money.

missioncontrol · « **Reply #137 on:** October 18, 2005, 02:15:30 pm »

It's a good thing I didn't jump in or else it would have been doomed from the start.

JackTucky · « **Reply #138 on:** February 28, 2006, 10:34:01 am »

Back from the dead

SEC shuts down $50 mln Internet Ponzi scheme

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060228/wr_nm/sec_dc

It's a different one, but the SEC has warnings for all...
http://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/autosurf.htm

Jacktucky

Harry Potter · « **Reply #139 on:** February 28, 2006, 10:39:39 am »

I love a good ressurection.

*Braaaaaaaaiiiiiinnnnnnssssss

Ken Layton · « **Reply #140 on:** February 28, 2006, 11:26:10 am »

So it just goes to prove that the "paid-to-surf" programs are indeed illegal Ponzi schemes!

RayB · « **Reply #141 on:** February 28, 2006, 12:23:35 pm »

Quote from: Ken Layton on February 28, 2006, 11:26:10 am

So it just goes to prove that the "paid-to-surf" programs are indeed illegal Ponzi schemes!

...and the last remaining question is whether participants will then be forced to pay back any earnings...

clanggedin · « **Reply #142 on:** February 28, 2006, 12:32:17 pm »

I personally know a guy who has $4000 tied up in the whole 12dailypro scandal. They had a guy on the news that has lost over $27K.

If it sounds too good to be true, then it is.

jbox · « **Reply #143 on:** February 28, 2006, 12:50:19 pm »

Not to mention someone can't do their math properly either:

$50M / 300K scammers ~ $166 refund per scammer

Not counting legal fees and so on. Most likely about 1/3rd of the people will say "hey, another $166 of profit for me baby" while the last 2/3rds will of course be out anywhere between a few hundred up to tens of thousands of dollars.

And yet, I still have a hard time drumming up enough sympathy for people who are either too stupid to keep that money anyway, or realise deep down that they are essentially petty crooks themselves, but just not as good at it as the scheme founders.

hypernova · « **Reply #144 on:** February 28, 2006, 08:25:20 pm »

...And the last remaining question is whether participants will then be forced to pay back any earnings...

I've got two more:

Why haven't they shut this one down? They're up to nearly 400k users now.

Will emdkay reinvest? He could mathematically reinvest EVERYTHING he's made profit wise, never get paid again, and still come out even.

I know you wanted PMs, but could you give us an update? So long as you don't try to promote them, I think people should be civil. (They were before, just highly skeptical.)

The only way this company could be making money is if surfers were ACTIVELY surfing and doing business with the sites that were being advertised. But how many of us do that with banners on any website we visit? So it's not likely that enough other people are as well.

Oh...one more question. This is perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT ONE OF ALL. Should this company ever close, and emdkay knows people who invested heavily as a result of his promotion of the service, but lost most/all of their money, would he feel morally responsible? I'm not trying to bring you down or anything if you read this emdkay, but that's something you seriously need to consider.

Hey RayB...do they normally make people pay back their earnings in these types of cases?

hypernova · « **Reply #145 on:** February 28, 2006, 08:35:56 pm »

emdkay...Heck...Would it even matter if you knew the investors should this site close down? Just knowing that I took part in the "thievery" (for lack of a better word...) basically, would haunt me forever until I gave away the money to charity or something...

Or would I care? Hmm...sitting on the outside, I know I should care and I would, but I can't honestly say I would if I had a return like emdkay's.

Just one of those things you can't really say for certain unless "you were there."

Dartful Dodger · « **Reply #146 on:** February 28, 2006, 08:49:55 pm »

Don't worry about emdkay, as long as a couple of BYOAC members join each time he bumps this thread, he'll be okay.

hypernova · « **Reply #147 on:** February 28, 2006, 09:13:15 pm »

Well, so long as he doesn't reinvest more than he's profited from it, there's no need to worry for him.

RayB · « **Reply #148 on:** March 01, 2006, 01:53:47 pm »

Quote from: hypernova on February 28, 2006, 08:25:20 pm

Hey RayB...do they normally make people pay back their earnings in these types of cases?

I don't know. I think it depends on proving the members knew something was illegal. They could also be viewed as victims. Hard to say. IANAL

hypernova · « **Reply #149 on:** March 01, 2006, 08:13:28 pm »

ianal. Separate the I...looks bad on you!

Funny how things work...I was looking at that for about 30 seconds, couldn't figure it out. Stopped thinking about it as I turned away to look at the tv for five seconds. Turn back around. Immediately I realize what it stands for.

Ed_McCarron · « **Reply #150 on:** March 01, 2006, 09:21:05 pm »

I tried to convince a friend it was a scam.

He invested $9k.

He got in early enough that he made back the $9k and picked up about $3k more.

Bastard.

I guess its a gamble. You know its wrong, but try to beat the system anyway...

quarterback · « **Reply #151 on:** March 02, 2006, 05:13:19 pm »

Quote from: hypernova on February 28, 2006, 08:25:20 pm

Will emdkay reinvest? He could mathematically reinvest EVERYTHING he's made profit wise, never get paid again, and still come out even.

Oh...one more question. This is perhaps the MOST IMPORTANT ONE OF ALL. Should this company ever close, and emdkay knows people who invested heavily as a result of his promotion of the service, but lost most/all of their money, would he feel morally responsible?

It seems to me that the answers to both of those questions are already in this thread.:

Quote from: emdkay on July 19, 2005, 12:21:47 am

I know this is not going to last forever. I took the risk of hoping it did not collapse soon enough for me to make profit, which I have. I've won

emdkay knew/knows it wasn't/isn't going to last forever. His hope was to get in, make his profit and get out. He did that and considers himself a winner.

So, even though he knew it wasn't going to last forever he started this thread so he could "share".... IOW, so he could (a) increase the likelihood of the scam continuing until he "won" and (b) because the more people who used his referral link, the more money he'd make.

Quote from: emdkay on March 10, 2005, 10:29:17 am

I was the first one to call this complete BS and a scam, but it's worth taking a look into. I don't want to sound like a salesman or anything, but I really have to share.

Basically, in four months your money will have doubled, regardless of the amount in your account. All money past the four month period will be pure profit.

Check it out, at least try a free account. If you use my referral link, I'd be every so grateful.

Based on his posts, hypernova, I believe the answers to your questions are "no" and "no".

quarterback · « **Reply #152 on:** June 12, 2006, 01:09:23 pm »

Quote from: quarterback on March 24, 2005, 01:58:04 am

it's a tried and true formula. Get the early guys in to do word-of-mouth advertising for you, then get lots of money up front and leave town.

Done and done.

Studio traffic has packed up and left town:
http://www.studiotraffic.com/

Dartful Dodger · « **Reply #153 on:** June 12, 2006, 03:17:18 pm »

Quote from: quarterback on June 12, 2006, 01:09:23 pm

Quote from: quarterback on March 24, 2005, 01:58:04 am
it's a tried and true formula. Get the early guys in to do word-of-mouth advertising for you, then get lots of money up front and leave town.

Done and done.

Studio traffic has packed up and left town:
http://www.studiotraffic.com/

Lets hear the scores.

Who won, who lost, and how much?

Ken Layton · « **Reply #154 on:** June 12, 2006, 05:36:52 pm »

So what does emdkay have to say about all this? You've been awfully bquiet about this for quite a while.

Did studiotraffic.com just disappear overnight?

quarterback · « **Reply #155 on:** June 12, 2006, 11:53:11 pm »

Apparently it disappeared around April of this year. One post I read said that their forums shut down on April 1st, but I don't know if that's true or not.

There is a backup of their forums (being hosted elsewhere) from March 18th where the wheels are clearly in motion for them to go down. Prior to that point, there were complaints that people were being prevented from cashing out, but the March 18th forums show the 'management' making their last ditch efforts after some kind of major lay-off or resignation of all "top management", causing offices to be closed in Canada and elsewhere. And there are statements about them "cut down our manpower from 150 to less than 15 or 20 people."

Whatever. My guess is that this whole scam was run by 2 to 5 people.

And there was apparently some kind of attempt to get people to buy stock in the company (or something) and the forums show a number of members volunteering their time/energy to keep StudioTraffic alive.

Frankly, reading the forum backup makes me feel ill. There are way too many people who, even to the dying day, are pledging their allgiance to Studio Traffic.

Here are the forums:
http://oldstforum.studiotraffic.co.uk/

And a couple informative threads:
http://oldstforum.studiotraffic.co.uk/showthread275c.html?t=43489
http://oldstforum.studiotraffic.co.uk/showthread1343.html?t=43593

NOTE: studiotraffic.co.uk is NOT StudioTraffic's UK division. It's a website that saw the scam that was going on and, on March 18th, archived the StudioTraffic forums before they completely disappeared.

Other talk can be found via google at places like talkgold.com where StudioTraffic has its own forum with a number of interesting posts:
http://www.talkgold.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=58

JackTucky · « **Reply #156 on:** June 13, 2006, 09:46:18 am »

Reading those forums, it's just sad. There are posts from moderators that things are great now that everyone has resigned and been laid off. I bet all along they were still collecting the $.

Jacktucky

Ken Layton · « **Reply #157 on:** June 13, 2006, 09:56:06 am »

I was correct from the very start-----it's a scam very definitely. After reading the forums referenced in the above post it's sad to see all the people who lost money.

And suddenly where is emdkay in all this now? He sure is silent now isn't he?

JackTucky · « **Reply #158 on:** June 13, 2006, 10:18:26 am »

I think Emdkay got his money out. But obviously, his money was someone elses loss.

Jacktucky

hypernova · « **Reply #159 on:** June 14, 2006, 07:02:41 pm »

He invested, and made out like a bandit.

Just hope for his sake he didn't reinvest big...


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