zeekrewards

Despite the hundreds of millions of dollars lost by affiliate investors in the Zeek Rewards Ponzi scheme, fourteen months after the SEC shut it down there are still those running around professing its legitimacy.

One such group is Robert Craddock’s ZTeamBiz who, in addition to swearing Zeek Rewards wasn’t a Ponzi scheme, look set to spearhead attempts to reintroduce the MLM industry to the Ponzi points revenue sharing model.

In an announcement published on October 18th that is full of Rober Craddock’s signature crackpottery, ZTeamBiz begin by explaining, in addition to operating on an implied >100% ROI guarantee over 90 days, why Zeek Rewards was so popular:

Why Zeek Rewards gained so much momentum

Simply, it was a revenue share model; the revenue sharing business is a new form of multi-level marketing. Revenue Sharing also known as a rev-share, this model has a unique compensation plan that breaks the mold of a traditional MLM company.

Unlike some MLM’s a rev-share company rewards its affiliates for giving away samples to attract customers.

The marketing technique of sampling is nothing new, just simply visit your local Sam’s Club, B.J. wholesale, food court at mall or any membership store where it’s done non-stop.

This highly effective new approach in network marketing makes sense to get new customers to try products or services. By giving away value to potential customers in order to get them to try products and or services builds a customer base very fast.

This word of mouth advertising with the incentive of a product sample is the complete opposite or simply it was the revenue share model, In MLM companies affiliates are trained to sell and recruit.

In a revenue sharing opportunity people are trained to give and share. This is the key reason the growth is so explosive.

First off, there’s nothing new about Ponzi schemes. The Ponzi points model was new sure, but the broader concept of taking in new investor funds to pay out existing investors has been around for almost a century.

As for ‘a rev-share company rewards its affiliates for giving away samples to attract customers’, that might have held water if the action of giving said samples away did not trigger the implied guarantee of a >100% ROI on every dollar spent on samples.

It is on this point that Craddock’s comparisons to Sam’s Club,B.J. Wholesale and food courts in shopping malls in the next paragraph fall flat.

And despite Craddock’s insistence that the Ponzi points model was ‘highly effective new approach in network marketing makes sense to get new customers’, as per Zeek Rewards’ financial records,

Less than 10% of daily revenues come from actual retail sales.

Approximately 98% of ZeekRewards’ total revenues, and correspondingly the purported share of “net profits” paid to current investors, are comprised of funds received from new investors.

Despite generating $600M in revenue, 2% or less of that revenue was retail.

And just how “effective” was the facade of sample marketing to mask the Ponzi points scheme in reality?

Almost none of the VIP Bids given away by Qualified investors are actually used on the Zeekler penny auction website.

Of approximately 10 billion VIP Bids purchased by or awarded to investors, less than one-quarter of one percent have been actually used in auctions on the Zeekler penny auction website.

Wanna take a stab in the dark guess at whether or not non-Ponzi points sample marketing has a sample consumption rate of less than one-quarter of one percent?

As hilarious as Craddock’s opening statements are, I’m going to preface the next paragraph with a warning. If you’re sitting on a chair and reading this you might want make sure there’s a cushion or some other soft surface for you to land on before continuing on.

In his next paragraph, Craddock gets the root of why he believes Zeek Rewards and the Ponzi points business model isn’t a Ponzi scheme (last warning about placing that cushion):

To the uninformed and outsider it appeared as you were depositing money and earning interest on the funds, but affiliates were instructed to accurately state the moneys used to purchase bids were not an investment and for each bid purchased you received a point that had an expiration date of 90-days.

According to Robert Cradock and ZTeamBiz, Zeek Rewards was not a Ponzi scheme because affiliates were instructed not to refer to is as such.

Y’know in the same way that even if an animal looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck – that it isn’t a duck unless someone states it’s a duck.

I know I mentioned the cushion thing twice, but I’m sure some of you didn’t realise just how hilarious Craddock’s “Zeek was not a Ponzi scheme” was going to be. Let’s give those readers a few moments to recompose themselves up off the floor.

Alright. Unfortunately the rest of Craddock’s update isn’t nearly as comical as his opening few paragraphs, however eyebrows are raised at the claim:

This hybrid MLM business model is still evolving and attracting a ton of people.

By “evolving” I guess Craddock means “moving to China and keeping a low-profile”, otherwise I have no idea what he’s talking about.

After the Zeek shutdown, every Ponzi points MLM revenue-sharing business has either collapsed or shutdown “due to legal concerns” shortly after launching.

Today there are only two major Ponzi points Zeek Rewards clones still operational, WCM777 and Better Living Global Marketing. Both businesses are based in Hong Kong and both are starting to show traits of the classic two-year Ponzi “we have to pay out more than we are bringing in” life cycle.

WCM777 recently abandoned US operations citing a failure to “abide by local US law”, and BLGM is struggling to cope with the problem of bid inflation the Ponzi points model brings with it.

As we work to explain the events and advantages of what we have all learned over the last 14 months we will feature some unique opportunities that are bringing back the excitement once enjoyed.

Despite closing out the announcement by claiming to have learnt something, what exactly Craddock and the rest of the ZTeamBiz crew have supposedly learnt is a mystery.

The fairness and high success rate of this plan allows the average person a chance for success.

The reason a rev-share business works so well is because there are no special skills or training needed. In addition, recruiting and signing up other promoters is optional.

The above paragraph precedes the “we learned stuff” one above, and clearly spells out the flaws of the Ponzi points business model. No recruiting, special skills or training is required because the sole determining factor for ROI payouts is funds being deposited by affiliate investors.

Got real world money you can exchange for virtual Ponzi points? Great! Hand it all over and you too can be “successful”.

Craddock ends the announcement with the following sign-off:

Until next week unless something new happens…

Perhaps in his next update Craddock can inform his followers on how much the Zeek Receiver is requesting he pay back to affiliates, and whether or not he’s returned the money yet.

Clawback’s a bitch.