IntellaShares Review: $2.50 advertising-based micro Ponzi

There is no information on the IntellaShares website indicating who owns or runs the business.

The IntellaShares website domain (“intellashares.com”) was registered on the 14th of January 2014, with a “Jay Fantano” listed as the domain owner. An address in the US state of New York is also provided.

Further research reveals the address provided to be that of a residential building.

On his Facebook profile, Fantano refers to IntellaShares as “our company”:

The use of “our” is explained through Fantano’s referring of his fellow IntellaShares admins as “the 4 horsemen”.

In an email sent out to IntellaShares affiliates in January, Fantano identifies the three other individuals running the company as Dave Reit, Joe Beach and Samantha Cruz.

The 4 Horsemen is a name that the Owners have adopted as sort of a battle cry against scams and quick to die programs. It is our way to promote the message that we are different.

We are competent, convicted, and committed.

We have seen enough failures in the last 90 days and we want to do something about it.

We are not a group of scammers. I, personally am a Golf Professional. I teach privately and compete locally.

Joe and Dave are musicians and fathers. Samantha is a professional young woman, background in sales, customer service, and restaurant management.

Somewhat curiously, Fantano refers to himself as “John Fantano” instead of Jay – as it appears on the IntellaShares domain registration and his Facebook profile.

Fantano’s Facebook profile meanwhile reveals he has been involved in

• AdsClickPay – $5 investments on the promise of a $6.50 ROI, launched December 2014 and collapsed in January 2015
• AdReverts – Ponzi investment scheme launched in December 2014, affiliates invested $5-$30 on the promise of up to $30,000 ROIs
• HeavenPaid – 130% ROI Ponzi investment scheme
• ClickAdPays – Ponzi investment scheme that solicited $1-$100 investments
• IQLife – recruitment-driven social network scheme

Prior to his involvement in the MLM industry, Fantano was delivering pizzas (2013). MLM promotion began on Fantano’s Facebook profile in early 2014.

After jumping from opportunity to opportunity over the past two years, evidently Fantano and friends have now decided to launch their own company.

Read on for a full review of the IntellaShares MLM business opportunity.

The IntellaShares Product Line

IntellaShares has no retailable products or services, with affiliates only able to market affiliate membership with the company itself (up to $10 a month).

Once signed up, IntellaShares affiliates can then invest $2.50 with the company and participate in the income opportunity.

Bundled with each $2.50 investment are a series of advertising credits, which can be used to display advertising on the IntellaShares website.

The IntellaShares Compensation Plan

The IntellaShares website sees affiliate invest $2.50 on the promise of an advertised $3.25 ROI.

Affiliates must re-invest 60% of any ROI paid out, with only 40% available for withdrawal at any given time.

Note that affiliates must view company-supplied advertisements daily to receive their ROI (ads from other investors), and weekly withdrawals are capped at $1000 a week ($250 a day).

Affiliates who invest over $250 (cumulatively) are charged $10 a month to maintain their accounts.

Earnings would appear to be tied into how many new investors an affiliate introduces to IntellaShares. The following exceptions to the above rules are applied if an affiliate recruits 80 or more new IntellaShares investors:

• $1000 weekly withdrawal cap is raised to $2000 and
• $250 a day daily withdrawal cap raised to $500

Note that these referred affiliates must have invested at least $250 (qualifying them as “paid members”).

Referral commissions do appear to be available, appearing to be 10% offered on level 1.

Refer a member get 10% for life!

Whether this is 10% of the amount they invest or the ROI they are paid is unclear.

Joining IntellaShares

Affiliate membership with IntellaShares is initially free, however affiliates who invest over $250 are then charged $10 a month.

Conclusion

IntellaShares’ Terms and Conditions are a comedic throwback to scams of the 90s and 2000s:

This program is a private business transaction, exempt from the U.S. Securities Act of 1933 and all amendments, The Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Regulations, The Investment Company Act of 1940 and the Rules & Regulations thereof.

We are not registered with any recognized body as financial advisers or dealers in securities per The Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

Visitors to this site must understand that most of what they receive here will be of a private nature and not available to the general public, and is therefore exempt from the Securities Act of 1933 and all amendments.

I declare that I am not in any official capacity relative to my involvement in ventures with “intellashares,” a member, agent, informant, or employee of any kind of investigative, law enforcement, media, news, postal service or other government agencies within any country.

Putting aside the fact that silly disclaimers aren’t going to stop a regulatory agency from investigating the company, you might wonder why IntellaShares sounds so paranoid about securities.

The answer is because, through their $2.50 in $3.25 out compensation plan, IntellaShares are engaged in the offering of unregistered securities.

Specifically, IntellaShares are running a $2.50 micro Ponzi investment scheme.

Affiliates invest $2.50 on the promise of an advertised $3.25 ROI, with this ROI paid out of newly invested funds.

Aside from being obvious, this is also confirmed in IntellaShares’ “no refunds” refund policy:

Can we get a refund if we want?

NO REFUNDS! We share the revenue from your purchase with all members, so we cannot afford to offer refunds.

This most definitely makes IntellaShares an investment opportunity, despite the company’s claims on their website.

Here is just a sample of the copious amounts of investment terminology IntellaShares use to market their opportunity:

How much does it cost to purchase a Smart Pack?

A Smart Pack costs $2.50 and it brings you a return of 130% = $3.25

How often do we process RevShare Bonus?

RevShare Bonus is distributed to all relevant positions every 30 minutes. We do not guarantee daily returns to all positions.

How long does it take for a Smart Pack to mature?

And so on and so forth.

Looking at Jay Fantano’s MLM history, it’s clear that he and his fellow admins have engaged in the MLM underbelly, lost money and decided that the best way to recoup is to run their own scheme.

There’s nothing new here, it’s the same old advertising-based Ponzi scheme we’ve seen over and over again. Destined to fail just like all the schemes Fantano joined prior to launching his own.

Past “failures” Fantano joined survived at best one to two months before collapsing, with IntellaShares likely to do the same.

Once new investor funds run out and the scheme collapses, naturally anyone with funds still in the scheme loses out.