Sponsor's Message

This time the perpetrators have a slick website over at MasteryTV.biz but if you visit be prepared for a long wait as their 1MB Flash "movie" loads and fills your mind with a load of hype about "the future."

A number of Aardvark readers have already reported that they've received spams promoting this scam -- and one of the spams even came from a local Net user who's obviously fallen hook, line and sinker for it.

So what does Mastery TV offer its victims -- it's actually not that easy to find out unless you're stupid enough to hand over your email address by signing up - and even then the site is alarmingly short on detail.

However, this spam gives a little hint as to what they're claiming to provide -- when they launch of course.

The truth is that this appears to be just another pyramid scheme, carefully packaged up to look like a "genuine business opportunity" to those who can't tell the difference.

But here's a excerpt from one of the spams that promote Mastery TV:

"By helping us spread the word of this renaissance of television we can provide you with your own website and automated internet marketing system and a commission cheque when people you refer get a subscription.  And when your subscription refers other viewers we'll pay you on them as well.  This continues down unlimited levels of subscriber referrals.  You can also help us find other affiliates.  When you do, we'll pay you a commission on their subscribers, again down unlimited levels.  Our system is so simple, anyone can use it.  All you have to do is refer people and the system does the rest."

Why, if their systems are all so wonderfully automated -- with instant website generation and hands-off management of referrals, do they need any affiliates at all?

Yes, this offer looks suspiciously like a variant of the now notorious SkyBiz pyramid scheme that I warned reader about over three years ago.

The only difference is that this time, instead of claiming that stupid, lazy people could make a fortune by buying into "net marketing" as the "next big thing", the Mastery TV scammers are claiming that stupid, lazy people can make a fortune by buying into the convergence of TV and the Net.

If you receive a spam touting this "opportunity" then delete it.

If the spam comes from someone here in NZ, forward a copy to me and I'll try to educate them to the fact that they've been scammed good and proper.

And don't forget to tell your friends -- especially the ones who look like they'd be a sucker for this type of rip-off.

I hope that The Consumer's Institute add this one to their own list of scams that threaten to dupe unsuspecting Kiwis.

As a footnote, it's sad to see that ads for this scam are being accepted and displayed by Google -- just check out the paid placements down the right hand side of this results screen. These ads have obviously been placed by "affiliates" who are looking to make a killing by recruiting new dupes. Remember that Mastery TV is not selling any product or service -- just the right to recruit new salespeople who will become lower levels of the pyramid.

Although they're not asking for cash just yet, it's only a matter of time before they contact all those who have provided their email addresses and offer them the chance to become filthy-rich for a small joining fee. Of course those email addresses will also earn a nice sum when they're sold to other spamming scammers. In fact it might well be that this bare-bones website with its slick-willy flash presentation and promises of wealth is nothing more than a fishing expedition to harvest the addresses of the stupid and gullible -- that's still a scam.

To be quite honest, the likelihood of anyone delivering DVD-quality pay-TV over the net using current technologies and bandwidth is near to zero so I doubt you'll ever see any *real* product coming out of Mastery TV.

Plaxo - Address Harvester or Useful Tool?
I'd like to hear in advance from any Aardvark readers who've had experience with the Plaxo software that can be downloaded from www.plaxo.com (yes, I've seen the Slashdot article).

There is a degree of suspicion that this allegedly "useful tool" might actually be a "spammer's tool" as well (so don't download it just yet).

If any Aardvark readers want to share an opinion on today's column or add something, you're invited to chip in and have your say in The Aardvark Forums or, if you prefer, you can contact me directly.

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