No, I haven't
suddenly taken up profanity - I kid you not, Fred Srock and
company actually named their latest pyramid scheme, "1Heluva.com."
I guess they thought it was somehow more glamorous and endearing
than "ClickityCash.com," or "BubbleBucks.com,"
the names they use for some of their other Internet programs.
In actuality, Fred R. Srock owns a number of
web sites including: AutoLinkPro.Com, 1Heluva.com, BubbleBucks.com,
LuckyBuckyLinks.com, MyButterFlyLane.com and his most recent
claim to shame, ShowUdaMoney.com
After receiving a call from Cindi Kerst, an
investor in 1Heluva.com who suspected that she had been conned,
I looked this thing over. One of the things that first struck
me, was the fact that Srock seems to deliberately target single
mothers in his ads. It also struck me that he exhorts people
to borrow money against credit cards, or mortgage their homes,
to generate investment capital to pump into his Ponzi scheme.
"HEY - so you’re not a "salesman".
OK, fine. And you don’t have even $3,000. Ok, fine,
but I bet you can still get it. How much would it cost you
to charge $6,000 to your credit cards. Now come on folks,
honestly, you have to be NUTS not to do this! Take a second
mortgage on your HOUSE if you have to - you’re GOING
to make more, MUCH more than it will cost you! Fred Srock"
Schemes, scams and cons are always a crime,
and the big boys don't always prey upon those who can afford
it, but at least they prey upon adults who make bad choices.
Single mothers have no choices; when these people bait them
with an opportunity to support their children, and stay home
with them, they are capitalizing upon an instinct as fundamental
as life, and as old as time. Any mother, who is a mother,
will always risk anything for her children.
Encouraging single moms, and others similarly
situated, to borrow against their credit cards, to come up
with money so you can steal it, is an especially repugnant
outrage.
I thought this case would make an interesting
addition to this web site for a number of reasons. First,
Ms. Kerst has an unusual agenda in that she doesn't want to
recover money, or force the production of proceeds as promised.
She asked me to take my best shot at shutting this nonsense
down - PERIOD. There will not be any effort to call this off,
or any deal requiring non disclosure.
Second, many of you have consulted with me on
this issue, asking how to deal with the rampant proliferation
of con artists on the Internet - who to present these cases
to, and how to best present them. This case presents a good
opportunity to walk you through the process, so you can use
it as a guide in your own cases.
Third, the Srock organization did something
I have rarely encountered in this business. In the wake of
her complaints, Ms. Kerst has suffered a backlash of retaliation.
These people published her personal information on the Internet,
and exhorted their "investors" to harass her, claiming
that she was rocking the boat, and might cause all of them
to lose their "investment." Con men are usually
polite, sophisticated, people corrupted by sociopathic tendencies,
but they are almost invariably of above average intelligence.
Badgering, bullying and beleaguering a victim who has already
blown the whistle is a stupid thing to do.
Finally, I believe that Fred Srock will make
a wonderful poster child. He, and those who might choose to
be like him, should know that there are vulnerabilities that
should not be exploited, and it is unwise to start playing
hardball unless you can be reasonably certain that you have
the only bat.
Ye Shall Not afflict any widow or fatherless child.
If you afflict them in any wise, and they cry out at all
to me, I will surely hear their cry and my wrath shall wax
hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and your wives
shall be widows, and your children fatherless. Exodus
22: 22-24

Fred and Debbie Srock |
Fred Srock advertises wonderfully complicated
investment schemes in the form of Internet "click
for cash" programs, that none of the investors
I have talked to seem to understand.
One thing soon becomes clear to those who invest;
it's a Ponzi scam that serves to make money for nobody
except those who promote it.
Is it just me, or would the addition of a red outfit
and a pitchfork make 1heluva devilish looking dude
out of smiley? |
I invite those of you who consider yourselves
to be shrewd, sophisticated investigators, of above average
intelligence to visit http://www.1heluva.com and http://www.ClickityCash.com,
read the information, and try to figure out exactly what sort
of enterprise it is that he is encouraging people to borrow
against their credit cards and homes for the privilege of
investing in.
I don't suggest that you waste a lot of valuable
time there - just put yourself in the position of the not-so-sophisticated
single mom, desperately looking for a way to make money from
home, and imagine trying to figure this out.
Now, having satisfied yourself that you have
no earthly idea how this investment scheme is supposed to
work, or where the money comes from, note that the 1Heluva.com
home page clearly has a banner that says ".02 per click"
and "$1000's in rebates paid each month." If you
study it, you will note that the banner is actually for some
other site. In the event that they change this page, a screen
print of the 1Heluva.com page that I am referring to can be
seen here: Exhibit.
Apparently, Fred Srock would have it believed
that he has somehow devised a program that will pay people
thousands of dollars every month for surfing the web, and
clicking from web page to web page. For those of us who spend
enormous amounts of time on the Internet, that sounds pretty
good. To the single mom, sitting at home, trying to figure
out how she can provide for her children, the opportunity
to make money while surfing the web from home is a dream come
true.
In fact, it's not just any old ordinary dream
he's promising. Just take a look at the ClickityCash "Commission
Calculator" to see what a saint Fred wants us to believe
that he really is. In case they take it down, a screen print
of the ClickityCash Calculator can be seen here: Exhibit.
It represents that with a $700 investment, "Your
monthly potential earnings" $38,659.50."
As you can see, Saint Srock is a self-professed
miracle worker. His program is supposed to allow people to
profit from their click, click, clicking - as well as the
frenzied clicking of every other wannabe work at homer they
know. Of course, that is assuming that they will invest every
dime they can borrow for the privilege of being part of their
program.
Just to be clear, this program isn't limited
to single moms - in the spirit of modern day social philosophy,
Fred Srock is an equal opportunity con artist. He will steal
from anyone.
Marsha K. Delfs is one of the victims who contacted
me, asking to join Ms. Kerst in pressing a complaint. She
is a lady dealing with some difficult personal challenges,
and trying to care for a mother with Alzheimer's as well.
She's not a single mom, but he took her money too. One hundred
seventy-one dollars and sixty-six cents is not a lot of money
to most of us, but to some people, it represents a lot. In
any event, where "Thou Shalt Not Steal" is written,
I cannot recall seeing a specified amount.
This isn't limited to women, or small amounts
of money either. Richard Morgan contacted me to join in pressing
a complaint, fully aware that Fred Srock has threatened to
close the accounts of anyone that do. Richard expressed himself
rather well:
"My name is Richard Morgan and
I also want to complain about the 1Heluva scam. I personally
"invested" over 18,000 when they guaranteed a
12% monthly return. That's the only reason why I invested
like I did. This months projected return on $18,000 is expected
to be around 7 dollars. This is totally wrong and criminal."
Yes, Mr. Morgan, it is - wrong, and criminal.
In fact, it is violative of state laws and federal laws, intended
to protect consumers and investors. I will bring this to the
attention of the appropriate authorities, and see what they
will do.
Having been employed by the US Department of
the Treasury, I am reluctant to turn in tax cheats and claim
a reward; however, I am loathe to let anyone get away with
anything who abuses my clients. This does present a good learning
opportunity for any investigator who may wish to go through
the process - but I won't give you the information you need
unless you have a valid PI License.
What you will do is, dial the Informant Communication
Hotline at 1-800-829-0433, Monday thru Friday, 7A-10P. Tell
them you have information that Fred R. Srock, SSN 301-54-5005
is engaged in criminal activities, and tell them up front
that you want to file Form 211, Application for Reward
for Original Information. They can fax or mail it to you.
Form 211 will ask for your true name and signature.
Mail it to the Informants Claim Examiner at the IRS center
nearest you. Addresses are listed on the back of the form,
or you can call the Informant Communication Hotline for help.
Identifying him won't get you a thing - you
will need the financial information I have to make the claim.
It will take a long time to process, and the most you will
get is 15% of what they recover. I will only provide the information
to an investigator willing to share their perspective about
going thru the process, although you can, of course, remain
anonymous here.
We will initiate a link to the story once that
process has been initiated.
I am also preparing a Complaint and an
Affidavit to submit to various enforcement authorities.
The Affidavit is available for your review by clicking on
the following link, Affidavit;
we will initiate the following links (they will turn blue)
once we start sending them out on Monday as follows:
Affidavit
in Support of Complaints
Internet
Fraud Complaint Center (IFCC)
The Internet Fraud Complaint Center
(IFCC) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation
(FBI) and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).
It's mission is to monitor trends in fraud perpetrated via
the Internet and provide a convenient reporting mechanism
that alerts authorities of a suspected criminal or civil
violation. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at
all levels, IFCC offers a central repository for complaints.
To see the Complaint, please click the blue link.
Securities
Exchange Commission (SEC)
The SEC Division of Enforcement was
created in August 1972 to consolidate the SEC’s enforcement
activities. They are empowered to pursue a variety of administrative
proceedings, which are heard by administrative law judges
and the Commission itself. They petition for Cease and Desist
Orders to be , may be instituted against any person who
violates the federal securities laws and the Commission
may order the respondent to disgorge ill-gotten funds in
these proceedings. With respect to regulated entities (e.g.,
brokers, dealers and investment advisers) and their employees,
the Commission may revoke or suspend registration, or to
impose bars or suspensions from employment. In proceedings
against regulated persons, the Commission is authorized
to order the payment of civil penalties as well as disgorgement.
John Stark is the Senior Investigator responsible for the
investigation of violations of securities laws perpetrated
via the Internet.
Federal
Trade Commission (FTC)
The Federal Trade Commission, is an
independent agency of the United States Government created
by statute. 15 U.S.C. §§ 41-58. The Commission
enforces Section 5(a) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. § 45(a),
which prohibits unfair or deceptive acts or practices in
or affecting commerce. The Commission may initiate federal
district court proceedings to enjoin violations of the FTC
Act and to secure appropriate equitable relief in each case,
including restitution and disgorgement. 15 U.S.C. §
53(b)
VA
Division of Securities
The Virginia Division of Securities
and Retail Franchising is responsible for the regulation
of securities, broker-dealers, broker-dealer agents, investment
advisers and their representatives. They handle complaints
and conduct investigations regarding code violations or
misconduct relating to Securities and Retail Franchising.
Max Zoeckler is their Chief Investigator.
VA
Office of Consumer Affairs
The Virginia Office of Consumer Affairs
provides protection to consumers against fraudulent, deceptive,
and illegal practices in the marketplace. They serve as
the central clearinghouse for the collection, evaluation,
investigation or referral of consumer complaints. Stuart
Ashby is the Manager of this office.
Local
Law Enforcement: Chesterfield County, VA
I contacted Sgt. Marrian, the Supervisor
of the Chesterfield County Police Department's Economic
Crimes Unit. Sgt. Marrian, a career investigator with twenty-three
years experience, expressed significant interest in the
situation and indicated that he would pursue the complaints.
Oftentimes, local law enforcement can be the most effective
resource available.
Local
News Media
I discussed the situation with Donna
C. Gregory, an Investigative Reporter employed by the Chesterfield
County Observer. She seemed to have a firm grasp
of the financial issues involved in these sorts of scams
and appeared to be sincerely interested.
Update
- Click
here for News Article
I addition to my own research, and in order
to better support my assertion that Fred Srock is engaged
in the propagation of various Ponzi scams via pyramid promotional
schemes, I consulted with other investigators who are recognized
experts in the field of Internet crime. I elicited the opinions
of: Brian Ingram, Texas; Kevin Ripa, Canada; Ian Carter, the
United Kingdom; and Jim Parker, North Florida.
Once their comments are available, the following
links will make them accessible.
Brian
Ingram
Ian
Carter
Jim
Parker
In actuality, there's no shortage of comments and opinions on
the net about this guy and his scams. You can visit various
forums by clicking here,
here
and here.
I
welcome your comments,
questions and suggestions.
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