Russell Whitney settles MOBE fraud with FTC, stripped of assets
For his part in scamming consumers through MOBE, the FTC named Russell Whitney as a defendant in their fraudulent business lawsuit.
Rather than defend the FTC’s allegations and clear his name, Whitney has instead opted to reach a settlement.
As per the proposed settlement, Whitney (right) acknowledges that
- the FTC has sufficiently demonstrated that Defendant Whitney has engaged and is likely to engage in acts or practices that violate … the FTC Act, and that (the FTC) is therefore likely to prevail on the merits of this action
- The FTC has sufficiently demonstrated that immediate and irreparable harm will result from Whitney’s ongoing violations of the FTC Act unless Whitney is restrained and enjoined by order of this Court and
- the FTC has sufficiently demonstrated the need for maintaining the freeze over Whitney’s assets and the ancillary relief ordered below.
The settlement agreement goes on to prohibit Whitney from misrepresenting
- consumers who purchase MOBE’s goods or services will earn or are likely to earn substantial income;
- purchases of MOBE’s goods or services are refundable without conditions and;
- any other fact material to consumers concerning any good or service, such as: the total costs, any material restrictions, limitations or conditions; or any material aspect of its performance, efficacy nature or central characteristics
Whitney is further restrained from selling, renting, leasing, transferring, using, disclosing or benefiting from MOBE customer information.
On the financial side of things Whitney’s MOBE assets are to remain frozen, pending repatriation (for foreign held assets) and eventual transfer to the Receivership.
Whitney’s total assets obtained via MOBE’s fraudulent business operations have yet to be determined.
In a YouTube video published in mid 2017, Whitney claimed he was making over a million dollars in MOBE annually.
Once the FTC’s proposed settlement is approved, Whitney is required to provide the FTC and Receivership with detailed financial statements and records.
Looking forward beyond MOBE, Whitney is prohibited from creating or exercising any control of a business entity without first providing notice to the FTC.
Update August 22nd 2018 – On August 20th Judge Dalton Jr. granted the preliminary injunction stipulation between Russell Whitney and the FTC.
Any time a Whitney (Jr or Sr) gets slapped down by regulators, an angle gets their wings.
Time for RUSSELL WHITNEY to spend the rest of his fraudualent life in a jail cell.
What I don’t understand is that mobes top earners like Steven bransfield, Rosanna tello and Michael Gabrielli who work as a team in recruiting people to mobe are also with Russell Whitney on this, why is only Russell Whitney being charged but not the rest?
They all work as team together with Russell, what do u think will happen to them and are We getting our money back?
Thanks
That’s up to the Receiver.
The FTC has gone after key players in the operation of MOBE. The Receiver may pursue clawback litigation against top earners at a later date.
Is there a way people are gonna receive there full amount of money back.
No. It is impossible to clawback every dollar paid to every MOBE affiliate ever paid a commission.
Not withstanding the cost of recovering what is able to be recovered.
How do we go about getting our money back, at least some of it back? Are there forms to complete to set this process in motion?
@Anna
There is nothing you can do to get your money back at the present time.
You’re waiting on either a complete settlement or granting of a preliminary injunction. Then you’ll be waiting on the Receivership to recover what it can and then put together a claims process.
That can and has typically taken a few years.
I was with MOBE for a very short time. October 2017 until the shutdown of MOBE in June.
I, like so many out there, was convinced I was going to make a lot of money and to do what it takes to go all the way to Diamond status so I wouldn’t lose out on commissions. Now I’ve had to sale my car, I have sale my house.
Is anyone going to at least get what they have invested into MOBE, back? Do I still have to file a complaint with the FTC? Also, I was also convinced to invested money for the mentorship with Steven Brandsfield so that I would make money even faster.
After the FTC shutdown of MOBE, I was told by Steven Brandsfield, that he was not associate, in any way, with MOBE and that I was to start using his new program that he was almost finished implementing.
It was under his company, WeRunAds. What do I do, so that I won’t be lost in all the red tape.
Thank you,
Lisa (personal email (removed))
No.
No.
if Brandsfield recruited you into MOBE, cut all ties. Then wait for the Receivership to establish a claims portal (could be 12-24 months off).
I used credit cards to pay for my platinum membership, & was making minimum payments for the past year.
I sent my credit card company a letter explaining the situation along with a copy of the FTC info showing when MOBE was shut down & also a copy of my registration info for the upcoming Titanium mastermind which I never got to attend.
By showing them I paid for a product (Titanium Mastermind) which I never received (MOBE was shut down before I could attend the Mastermind), I was able to get a credit of $22,000 refunded back onto my credit card.
I have 1 more credit card I’m waiting to hear a response from, but it’s looking like I have a good chance of getting another refund of $4000 credited back onto my card – so a total of $26,000.
Although I will not have gotten all of my money back (I spent money on traffic, etc which I wont get back), at least I got a significant amount of money back without having to wait to file a claim with the FTC.
So for anyone who paid by credit card – I suggest contacting your credit card company & file a case with the dispute department.
Article updated with news of granting of Russell Whitney’s stipulated preliminary injunction.
I also paid with credit cards, Platium member in 2016. I called American Express card, they told me it’s to late.
I’m struggling to even pay the minimum amount. My credit was awesome before MOBE. Now I’m going down. This is putting me in a dark place.
I also called Bank of America, getting the run around with them. The struggle is real.
Do we just not pay or file bankruptcy?
@Kathy
I suggest you talk to a financial advisor. Money being locked up is par for the course when a scam is shut down by a regulator.
You’re not going to get relief any time soon so talk to someone and know where you stand.
Can anyone suggest how to get the money back which was paid to Bank of America through wire transfer?
Sure. Wait for the Receiver to set up a claim portal like everybody else.
I was scammed by Wealth Building Technologies and You Get Paid both run by Russel Whitney. I bought the Platinum package at their workshop in Minnesota, for 25,000.
I’m working with my credit card companies on their fraudulent charges since everything halted in June when Whitney was arrested for MOBE fraud.
I hope more people will report to BBB and FTC about this program, like I did.
The instructor was Scott Zuckerman, if that’s his real name. Maybe all these scammers can be caught and jailed.
I’m 65 and this is devastating at this age for me.
Russ Whitney JR has passed away Thanksgiving morning.
I’ve checked local (Cape Coral) news and obituary sites and so far I am not able to confirm the younger Whitney’s entrance into Hell.
I’ve also checked Jr. and Sr’s social media profiles and found nothing, though perhaps they have multiple accounts.
I’m not disputing Little Birdy’s assertion but if they pass this way again, any corroboration would be greatly appreciated.
Whitney Jr has passed away. It was shared on Facebook with a mutual friend of mine.
Don’t buy for a second, that the scumbag Russ Whitney passed away, this seems like a normal excuse in the online world.
I remember when the claim was made that Bob Roberts of Options Rider passed away, all bullshit, to bad it wasn’t true.
Until you have actual proof from the city and county records, consider this piece of crap still out there scamming victims probably under an alias name…./
I think in this instance it’s probably happened. This article has been receiving more attention than usual over the past week.
This FB post claims the same. Definitely the same guy. 14 comments w/ condolences, etc.
Source: facebook.com/search/top/?q=Russell%20Whitney%20Jr&epa=SEARCH_BOX
Nothing on his own Public Page though.
If I was being accused of FRAUD and possibly facing jail time, I also would find any means necessary to put the word out there that I passed away.
Move to foreign country and create a new idenity which seems like this is what happened in this case, dont be surprised if Whitney Senior disappears.
Someone show real proof!
Scams are notorious with that name.
Russell Whitney Jr. died. It’s on the Medical Examiner’s website that anyone can google right here: miamidade.gov/medicalexaminer/RecordRequest/recordsrequest2.asp?NAV=3
It’s open record, you can request his autopsy rather than trash him. Now he’s dead so really, he paid the price.
His new wife is destitute with an infant son who’ll never know his dad – and the last thing about him is that he died at scam artist at 37.
Couldn’t stand the guy, but even I’m not so soulless I wish that on someone. What an ignoble end – instead of having at least the option to turn his life around for his kid’s sake.
I can’t stand that there are now two more victims. I am not happy he’s dead and find it horrible.
I am sickened that the only people paying any consequences are not Matt Lloyd, Athar Roshan, Russ Whitney (the father) and they are all still raking in cash in other countries under various schemes and won’t face a single day in court.
It’s not justice.
@Justice League – He (still) died at scam artist at 37.
What does Whitney Sr. have to do with this company? It has been said that Matt L. is the one and only owner?
As stated by JusticeLeague, you never want to wish anything like this on your worst enemy, but sometimes it’s true when they say “The sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the sons”.
@J.L. Thank you for your confirmation and also for your kind sentiments.
@EMack, I don’t know if Russ Sr. played a roll in MOBE but he definitely made a mark on his son. As you implied, Sr. has been defrauding people since before Jr. was born.
We all bare responsibility for our own actions but Russ Jr. grew up in a family to which fraud was a way of life and victims were just bitter losers to be discarded and ignored.
@EMACK “What does Whitney Sr. have to do with this company?” LETS NOT BE NAIVE PEOPLE?!
Senior is the root of the scams along with his wife & daughter who ran all his offices bringing in more people to scam!!
@Julia Marte, it’s not about naiveté. As stated by @GlimDropper, Sr. made his mark on his son but can anyone definitively that Russ Sr. was behind the MOBE company as a founder, investor or even as a consultant? I doubt it.
Jr. may have followed in his father’s footsteps and in some way tried to be like his father but let me tell ya, Russ Sr. would have fought the FTC, SEC and any other government entity that came after him tooth and nail.
And by the way @GlimDropper, as true as it MAY be, I did not mean to imply that “Sr. has been defrauding people since before Jr. was born” but only that I believe the FTC went after Jr. for revenge because they could not get his father years ago.
That’s not to say that Russell didn’t do what the FTC claimed. I don’t know, I was not privy to their program.
I’m curious how Russ died at 37. He was very healthy from what I could tell.
Don’t know how exactly he did it but general consensus is suicide.
I joined MOBE in 2015 thanks to scumbag Chris Cobb from the UK, who scammed me out of thousands, taking my last £10,000, promising a working funnel into MOBE, knowing I was on my last legs as nothing was working as MOBE had implied.
& yet his system didn’t funnel into MOBE until 6 months later by which time I had drowned financially into £55,000 worth of credit card debt (due to subscriptions as well as traffic & the MOBE products, $11,000 of which went towards the diamond mastermind but I never managed to pay the rest & it was ‘non-refundable’, so all wasted!) & had to pull the plug & quit.
As far as I’m concerned he should be named & shamed as a lying internet scammer.
At Titanium mastermind I attended in Dominican Republic John Chow revealed how MOBE sold back to us traffic that was collected by him through cookies on people’s computers clicking MOBE after they’ve received our link, so effectively paying for the same traffic time & time again!
We were shocked he was allowed to share such info! It was there that the whole scam showed it’s face!
I ended up selling my house to clear my debt. The whole thing has left a very bad taste in my mouth.
I’m sure after nearly 4 years it’ll be too late to claim back from my credit card company. Well done to those who did!
I was a Titanium Consultant in Mobe. I invested my hard earned money in Mobe to learn and earn in more better and smart ways like others.
I was reading all queries and was waiting for receivership’s Claims Portal setup.
Please anyone can tell me how to contact Mr. Bernet (receivership for Mobe case) to ask for taking further steps in order to get if not full then some part of my money back I sent by wire payment to Bank of America, and could not earn even One dollar after investing and was with then for One year until June7,2018, Mobe shutdown date.
I could not able to find the Claims Portal Form or something to fill to contact Mr. Bernet if that is the way to go further.
Please help!!
There is no claims portal because the submitted claims process hasn’t been approved yet.
I am just learning of this. I am going through my storage unit and came across three totes full of Russ Whitney tapes, books you name it.
– Russ Whitney’s Building Wealth System
– Starting from Zero
– Communication, Negotiation and Salesmanship
– Millionaire U… Maximum Knowledge for Maximum Success (volume 1-12)
Plus..
– Attorney Shawn Casey’s Millionaire Success System
– How to never pay taxes when you sell real estate
– How to protect yourself and reduce your taxes using trusts
– The ultimate asset protection system
– How to create and use corporations
I was looking online thinking I would sell them for at least a couple hundred, but after finding this out I think I will throw them out.
I am very sorry to hear that all of you were scammed too. I was in 2002 and I paid 35,000.00.
I hope you all get your money back.
Best of wishes,
Mechelle
The title of this book in particiular stood out.
I figure if Whitney actually knew how to start from zero, he’d wouldn’t have offed himself.
Reminds me of Michael Force’s “lulz let me show you how to make $100K in 90 days” course. And then getting called out by the FTC over being unable to find work.
There are so many ignorant comments on this site so, below are some truths
First of all, Russell Senior was consulting Matt Lloyd- they were also doing side businesses together.
Secondly, the comment about Russ Sr ‘wife and daughter’ is ridiculous! They have NOT been involved in the seminar world for over 10 years. The daughter doesn’t even speak to her father.
Thirdly, Russell did not ‘off’ himself. He had some health concerns and with the added stress of this investigation, it was too much.
He had a beautiful wife and 10 month old son and was excited to ‘start over’ with them. This was 100% not a suicide and yes, he is dead.
@JamesAndrews exactly!! Why is this whole thing focused on the hired speaker who got paid to sell, what he thought, was a legitimate service. How is that fair?
Shouldn’t this hate and anger go towards Matt Lloyd who is the coward hiding away letting HIS company crash down on the people he employed.
As much as I don’t like Susan as a person, she didn’t have a clue as to what was happening, really happening, with this company.
Russell is gone, let him Rest In Peace and move on with your lives. You were scammed and I’m sorry that happened but no one, deserves to die at 38 years old. Life didn’t even start for Russell.
Chris Cobb was well into Mobe, I know even through his other schemes he’s had over £40k from people investing in his business and once he has it, you never hear from him again…
Read the reviews of him…keep away at all costs…I know various people he’s had £40k of and no response to messages, calls emails.
lazymoneymaking.com/chris-cobb-review
webmarketsupport.com/automated-income-stream-system-review-better-run-fast/
Google says…
Here are the links…
I wasn’t involved in MOBE; I just thought Russell had an interesting presentation style with a heck of a life story.
So here’s one additional fact according to the coroner’s report: Russell Whitney Jr. died on November 20th, 2018 of “Acute Combined Drug Toxicity (Heroin, Fentanyl, Acetyl Fentanyl, Oxycodone and Cocaine)”.
No matter what pre-existing health problems Truth knows he had, that drug combo will put a lot of stress on anybody.
(My personal theory is that it wasn’t suicide but an accidental OD because he went back to old habits after being clean a few years and losing his tolerance. That and the fentanyl that started turning up in other drugs; he might not have been betting on that.)
I feel really bad for his family, and really bad for those victimized by MOBE. Sad situation all around.