Finanzas Forex, TIRN... I've seen this movie before, haven't I?
Investment firm springs up out of nowhere.
Investment firm has innovative, fast-and-loose strategy.
Investment firm posts record profits.
You invest.
Investment firm is being harassed by big bad government agencies.
Investment firm has to hold on to your money until this mess can get all cleared up.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because you’ve either invested in Finanzas Forex or TIRN. Finanzas Forex is being sued for libel by DWB Marketing, and by Crowne Gold, inc over contract issues. For TIRN, the bad guys are the Securities and Exchange Commission. They’re set to go to court with David Merrick soon, charging him with operating a Ponzi scheme (if you get a chance to read all of the documentation, do it. It’s a good read).
But I’d hate to jump to conclusions. Let’s analyze this from both a pessimistic and optimistic point of view.
Optimistic:
FFx and TIRN are victims of bad timing and poor management. They didn’t get the licenses they needed to operate in the United States, and they’re being busted because of the national paranoia that Bernie Madoff and other REAL Ponzi schemers have caused. The SEC has shifted into overdrive, and innovative risk-takers like FFx and TIRN are paying for it.
Verdict: Things will sort themselves out. Justice will prevail, and these noble companies will once again continue to churn out profits for us.
Pessimistic:
Let’s be honest. Both companies are mad shady. TIRN’s bank activity didn’t show any trading going on while it was operational, and FFx has never posted real trade information on it’s shabby website. Plus, FFx has a really stupid security feature. Both companies had an “unofficial” way to put money into the company (paying cash to other customers for them to transfer funds into your account), and both have jumped to create other alter egos (TIRN is now PMR, and FFx is pfplace.com) as soon as their money got frozen.
Verdict: Consider the money you invested a tuition payment to the School of Hard Knocks.
Positive or negative, your response to the situation can be nothing but passive. You either have to wait for the best, or forget about it and put it behind you. It’s a powerless situation to be in if you happen to have funds tied up in one of these companies (like me). Nevertheless, if we use this chance to learn and grow, we’ll at least have something to show in the end. But this is only possible if we share information.
With that in mind, do you have an “inside scoop” on what’s going on at Finanzas Forex or TIRN? Perhaps a link to obscure, overlooked information? Please leave a comment and share it!
Along the journey of yours truly, the Capitalist Bum, I’ve come across some interesting characters. Abel Mesa of La Promesa Corporation, German Cardona of Finanzas Forex, and Paul Orberson of Fortune Hi-Tech Marketing. All of these seem to be people that singlehandedly pulled up a company by its bootstraps and rode it to the top through Multi-Level Marketing goodness.
Now it’s time for a new Condender: David Merrick.
A Wikipedia search for Mr. Merrick revealed that he is a dead Tony-Award winning theatrical producer. Clearly this isn’t the man I’m looking for.
The other David Merrick is the founder and CEO of the Traders International Returns Network. They are similar to Finanzas Forex, in that they both trade on the Foreign Exchange market, and both are registered in Panama. According to the flash animation on their homepage, TIRN trades on the Forex market, commidities, financial instruments, precious metals, and retail investments.
Judging by their web presence, TIRN certainly seems to be up-and-coming company. They have a twitter feed (but don’t seem to be doing anything with it), and their website is chock-full of rss readers that display the most current investment-news charts and graphs.
On the business end, they seem to be fast. Deposits and withdrawls are quick, taking about one business day to process (take that, Finanzas Forex!), and debit cards from the company are sent promptly. Like FFx, you make money from the investments of people on your downline, with a 5% initial payment, then a small residual payment per month.
Here’s their Return on Investment breakdown:
$500 – $999 = 9% return per month
$1,000 – 3,999 = 11% return per month
$4,000 – $9,999 = 14% return per month
$10,000 – $ 24,999 = 17% return per month
$25,000 – $49,999 = 19% return per month
$50,000 = 21% return per month
Minimum investment: $500
Maximum investment: $50,000
Add 1% if the investment is maintained for 6 months.
However, TIRN does have a shady side: The Comision Nacional de Valores of Panama (their version of the SEC) put out a document stating that TIRN has no licence to operate in Panama, and are not regulated by anyone. One of the conditions of signing up for TIRN is that you not speak negatively of them online, or your account may be terminated.
I’ll edit this post as I get more information, but my prospect for TIRN is the same as Finanzas Forex. Scam or not, I know that there is money being made. If I invest sometime in the future (I currently find myself penniless), I’ll use only the money that I can afford to lose.
Finanzas Forex recently sent out a communiqué, advising everyone that thay have nothing to do with GrupoSafengo.com, apparently an investment website. On their “Terms and Conditions” page, GrupoSafengo states that they are listed commercially as “Evolution Market Group, inc”. It seems like Safengo is registered with that name in Colombia, while FFx is registered in Panama… It’s strangely suspicious that Grupo Safengo would want to use the exact same name of a company that does the exact same thing they do. Reminds me of the “Abibas” shoes they sell at the flea market.
Finanzas Forex has been up to alot lately. They’ve lately required that every investor revise and sign a contract, and it’s rumored that they already have aquired a bank, and will finally have a defined place to send money to. It’s also rumored that Finanzas Forex is going to close itself off to new investors, and create a satellite company that will have all of the licenses needed to operate in the countries around the world (As of now, Colombians can’t sign up due to legal issues).
Although it’s annoying to have to sign a contract, and keep up on which country can and can’t sign up, it’s also reassuring. FFx is playing by the rules, which implies that they’re actually in the game. Every day I have less and less doubt that it’s a scheme. So far, I can’t complain. I’m coming up to the six month mark, and my investment seems to have paid off. Already people I know have taken out their original investment, and I’ve been able to withdraw without too much incident.
FFx or not, it’as always good to diversify. I recently bought stock in Calypso Wireless, a publicly traded company that has several patents in cell phone technology. Their big one is a patent on the technology that allows them to switch from the cell network to wifi seamlessly. T-Mobile is infringing on their patent. Last week, Calypso Wireless filed a lawsuit with them with the Williams Kherkher Law Firm, possibly the most powerful legal team ever (they hold the record for winning the largest settlement in the universe). The stock has jumped from two cents to four, and is rumored to hit 25 cents over the course of several months.
So i’m in. I’ll see what happens.
Okay, so I confess… I didn’t read the instructions completely concerning interest transfers. There are some rules that Finanzas Forex follows:
1) FFx will process your transfer request only after 10 days have passed
2) The transfers will take place either on the 5th or the 20th of the month.
3) They’ll take longer if you made mistake on your bank information
So, for example, I put in my request to pull money out on the first of the month. Ten days had to pass before they would even look at my request. When the 20th rolled around, I suppose they decided to punish me by making me wait until the NEXT payment period, the 5th of the next month, causing the 5 week wait. Mystery solved.
I thought I would look over the frequently asked questions (located in the “Attention to the Client” area), and sure enough, all the info was listed.
As I had mentioned in the last post, I put a request to retire another 300 dollars (after fixing the bank info), and after about three weeks, I found it in my account. Strangely though, they charged me 45 dollars AGAIN! I just put in a complaint, telling them the situation– Let’s see if they respond.
Finally!
After five weeks, I finally got my money.
“Make sure that all the data are correct, or if not, 45 Dollars fees will be at your expense”
Bad english and all, FFx made good on their threat, and for not putting in my full name and investor ID in the “note” box (something I find slightly illogical), I was charged 45 dollars. Either way, it’s real money. 255 real dollars, to my real account. I put in another request to withdraw 300 dollars more for this month, so hopefully the process will be faster (and fee-less) this time.
I’ve never understood this “security” feature on the sign in page of Finanzas Forex.
The numbers don’t look very distorted, and any “bot” with decent Optical Character Recognition would be able to recognize these numbers.
As it turns out, the truth is even more disturbing.
A right click on any individual number will reveal that each number is separated into its own file. I took a quick look at the properties of the file.
The file name CONTAINS the number! This goes beyond stupid. Although I can’t think of any practical application of sabotaging FFx’s website via bots, one would think that if a security feature were to be implemented, it would actually be SECURE. This is like tying a fence with a bowtie. A simple Java program could exploit this!
Finanzas Forex, you are a company that transacts business solely over the internet. I have money in your company. Your website sucks. Please protect my money and patch these gaping holes so I can write glowing reports about the profits you are generating for me.
Republic of Panama, September 12, 2008
Administrative Department
Friday came and went, and I’m still waiting. I sent out a quick notice to them through the “attention to the client” link. Let’s see what happens on Monday. or Tuesday.
P.S. the writer of Finanzas Forex Blog dropped me a comment on my last post, and explained a little more about commodities. I checked out his blog, and found a wealth of information. You can find the google translated version here.
Things are going nicely with Finanzas Forex so far. At the beginning of the month, I tried to make a small withdrawal, to see how it would work. Seeing as how the minimum was $300, I went with that.
Now, there are two ways to make a withdrawal in FFx:
1) Conduct a traditional transaction, where you put in your bank details, and hit send. The downside is that any transaction takes about two weeks to complete, in or out.
2) Do an account-to-account transfer of the money to someone that also wants to avoid the two week waiting period. You put the money into their FFx account, and they write you a check. Apparently, there are people lined up to do this kind of transfer.
Since I wanted to see all of the ins and outs of bank transfers, I went for option two.
I don’t know if it was a coincidence or some kind of cosmic irony, but a few days after I put in the request for my withdrawl, Finanzas Forex announced they were having bank problems, and was in the process of changing the bank they use to conduct transfers. I don’t know if that will set me back a few days, but i’m checking my bank account every day to see when the funds will come through.
Updates on FFx: Some unnerving things bubbled up to the surface in the last few weeks:
There was an email, sent out by the director of forexmillonario.com, stating that FFx would have a zero tolerance policy for those that deliberately defame and slander the company. Here’s an excerpt:
-La Compañía hará seguimientos a Inversionistas actuales y gente del común, deshonestos y que denigren de la Compañía; aplicándo ahora si, todo el rigor de la Ley para evitar comentarios negativos y mentirosos en contra de FFX. Abogados en cada País se encargarán de colocar las demandas respectivas. Además, si el infractor es Inversionista de FFX, perderá su inversión, como sanción punitiva para comenzar. Todo esto será obviamente con pruebas contundentes y no por comentarios o rumores de otros usuarios.
Now, I’m all for stopping slander and libel, but I certainly hope that they will allow investors to review the company with a critical eye. I am especially concerned about the threat to take away our investment, as a “punitive sanction”. Here’s hoping my blog isn’t considered “negative” to the company.
For now, i’m taking a “wait and see” approach. Several people close to me are already making contacts and signing up people, which I think is great. But as for me, I would like to be absolutely sure that everything is going to work as smoothly as I pitch it… As soon as those 300 bucks come through, i’ll let you know.
Here’s an email they sent me some time ago:
New Investment Product:
The new product, presented in the Convention, will be launched in the next few weeks.
We already have the Trading Platform ready, as well as the team of professionals who will be in charge of these investments, as a very high level of specialization is required.
At this moment in time, our Juridicial Department, is finishing the details for the contracts. Once this phase is complete we will activate this type of investment.
We will also publish the technical information about this product, as well as the conditions to be able to participate.
___________________________
It seems like FFX going to be getting into the commodities markets, with big, big returns… I’ve attached a Powerpoint presentation from the second convention they had (in Brazil), where they talk about the commodities market (*it’s in spanish). Now one thing i’ve noticed about FFX is that they have a tendancy to tweak the details of things they announce. Maybe it’s a latin american thing, or a new company thing, but I don’t know how many of these projects are still underway. However, it seems like the commodities investments are still being worked on. From what I heard, right now it’s only being offered to big investors ($100,000 or more), and will soon be opened up to us little people.
So La Promesa is going to launch… in a couple of days? If i’m not mistaken, La Promesa corp will go live from Puerto Rico on the 17th of August. Honestly, I still don’t know what they’re selling… Most companies give you an idea of what they’re launching before they’re launching it… Info is really scattered, and it seems like there’s going to be an event on the 15th… I’m really really curious to see what they’re going to do after their “launch”. Hopefully they won’t have another “restructuring”, like they did after they posted a launch date in January. I want to see actual business plans, and something that doesn’t mention faith (yessss, I know faith is important, but I’m picky about who I have faith in… ) We’ll see what happens after the 15th (or was it the 17th?), since it seems like there are quite a lot of people that have been sucked into all of this.
FINANZAS FOREX:
It’s been a couple of months that i’ve had my money in there, and don’t have any complaints. From the news they’ve been giving us, it seems like they’ve been working with Wells Fargo to try to work out bank accounts for the users, to make money transfers easier. It seems like the deal went sour, and people were talking directly to the bank. FFX sent out a memo to investors, saying this: “Les ponemos en conocimiento a todos ustedes que, con el fin de salvaguardar y proteger los intereses y la imagen de nuestra Compañía, serán expulsados todos aquellos inversores que se comuniquen con el BancoWells fargo.”
Needless to say, it made me uncomfortable. There’s a fine line between company transparency and an irresponsible use of information. But I’m still investigating. The next thing i’m going to do is see if I can turn those supposed earnings I have into cold, hard cash… I want to pull out some money.
By the way, There’s commission for me if people sign up for FFX under me. If you’re thinking of signing up ANYWAY, why don’t you do it through me?
Updates coming sometime later.