Virtual Sourcing Inc. $PGCX pump and dump

I was first alerted to the promotion for Virtual Sourcing Inc (PGCX) by Tim Lento. See his post where he found the pump website PGCXreport.com. The stock had almost no volume so I didn’t write a post about it. I should have then set a volume alert for the stock — when it first starting getting volume it was down a lot from when Tim posted about it and in the next few days ran from about $0.20 to over $1.00 (that being said, I probably would not have bought it). I then noticed search ads on Google for another promotion page: StockAuthorityReport.com. That reminded me of the stock and prompted this blog post. StockAuthorityReport.com is a new website, not linked to any past promotions. The promotion pages seem pretty sparse considering the purported pump budget.

Disclosed budget: $750,000

Promoter: StockAuthorityReport.com

Paying party: NGS Ventures Ltd

Shares outstanding: 81,886,184
Previous closing price: $0.84 (I use the close just prior to my blog post here, not at the start of the pump)
Market capitalization: $68 million

 

Excerpt from StockAuthorityReport.com disclaimer:

NGS Ventures LTD has managed a total production budget of $750,000 for this advertising effort. StockAuthorityReport.com is being paid $200,000 and also expects to receive new subscriber revenue as a result of its participation in this advertising effort.

 

Excerpt from the PGCXreport.com disclaimer:

PGCXREPORT.COM is being paid $25,000 and also expects to receive new subscriber revenue as a result of its participation in this advertising effort.

 

Below is a screenshot of the promotion page:

pgcx_screenshot

The screenshot below shows an ad for StockAuthorityReport.com (lower right-hand corner).pgcx_ad

 

StockAuthorityReport.com Disclaimer:

Important Notice and Disclaimer – This paid advertising issue of StockAuthorityReport.com does not purport to provide an analysis of any company’s financial position, operations or prospects and is not to be construed as a recommendation by StockAuthorityReport.com or as an offer or solicitation or as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. StockAuthorityReport.com does not perform any due diligence on the stocks and companies discussed herein. Virtual Sourcing Inc., the company featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising paid for by NGS Ventures LTD. to increase public awareness of the company and its prospects. All information appearing in this advertisement is taken from publicly available sources. Although StockAuthorityReport.com  and its editor and publisher believe this information to be accurate and reliable, neither StockAuthorityReport.com nor its editor or publisher has independently verified any information contained in this advertisement. StockAuthorityReport.com or its editor or publisher does not makes any representation or warranty whatsoever with respect to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein. StockAuthorityReport.com and its editor and publisher expressly disclaim any liability resulting from how readers may choose to utilize the contents of this paid advertisement. Readers should perform their own due diligence and are strongly urged to independently verify all statements made in this or any other paid advertisement. Any investment should be made only after consulting with a qualified investment professional and after reviewing the publicly available financial statements of, and other information about, the company and verifying that the investment is appropriate and suitable for you. StockAuthorityReport.com nor any of their principals, officers, directors, partners, agents, or affiliates are not, nor do we represent ourselves to be, registered investment advisors, brokers, or dealers in securities. “Insert text here” is not offering securities for sale. An offer to buy or sell can be made only with accompanying disclosure documents and only in the states and provinces for which they are approved. StockAuthorityReport.com does not offer or sell securities. You can obtain more information about Virtual Sourcing Inc., from its website at http://www.virtualsourcinginc.com. Virtual Sourcing Inc., is a reporting company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and trades on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol PGCX. Virtual Sourcing Inc., periodic and other reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are publicly available from the Securities and Exchange Commission at their website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm. General investor information about publicly-traded companies like Virtual Sourcing Inc., advice to investors, and other investor resources are available from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov or from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority website at www.finra.com. Many states have established rules requiring the approval of a security by the state securities administrator. Check with www.nasaa.org or call your state security administrator to determine whether a particular security is licensed for sale in your state. Many companies have filed information with state securities regulators and many companies will supply prospective investors with additional information upon request. This advertisement is not intended for readers in any jurisdiction where not permissible under local regulations and investors in those jurisdictions should disregard it. NGS Ventures LTD has managed a total production budget of $750,000 for this advertising effort. StockAuthorityReport.com is being paid $200,000 and also expects to receive new subscriber revenue as a result of its participation in this advertising effort. Investing in securities is highly speculative and carries a great deal of risk, especially as to new companies with limited operations and no history of earnings. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This paid advertisement contains forward-looking statements regarding Virtual Sourcing Inc., its business and plans. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions created by these laws. Where Virtual Sourcing Inc., expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is believed to have a reasonable basis. However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, the size and growth of the market for Virtual Sourcing Inc., products and services, its ability to develop and distribute its products, the ability of the company to fund its capital requirements, competition, regulatory developments, the effects of short-selling and other market pressures, and other factors. , All other trademarks used in this publication are the property of their respective trademark holders. StockAuthorityReport.com is not affiliated, connected, or associated with, and are not sponsored, approved, or originated by, the trademark holders unless otherwise stated. No claim is made by StockAuthorityReport.com to any rights in any third-party trademarks. Read our Privacy Policy

PDF copy of promotion page.

PGCXreport.com disclaimer:

Important Notice and Disclaimer – This paid advertising issue of PGCXREPORT.COM does not purport to provide an analysis of any company’s financial position, operations or prospects and is not to be construed as a recommendation by PGCXREPORT.COM or as an offer or solicitation or as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. PGCXREPORT.COM does not perform any due diligence on the stocks and companies discussed herein. Virtual Sourcing Inc., the company featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising paid for by Catalina Advertising Corp. to increase public awareness of the company and its prospects. All information appearing in this advertisement is taken from publicly available sources. Although PGCXREPORT.COM and its editor and publisher believe this information to be accurate and reliable, neither PGCXREPORT.COM nor its editor or publisher has independently verified any information contained in this advertisement. PGCXREPORT.COM or its editor or publisher does not makes any representation or warranty whatsoever with respect to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein. PGCXREPORT.COM and its editor and publisher expressly disclaim any liability resulting from how readers may choose to utilize the contents of this paid advertisement. Readers should perform their own due diligence and are strongly urged to independently verify all statements made in this or any other paid advertisement. Any investment should be made only after consulting with a qualified investment professional and after reviewing the publicly available financial statements of, and other information about, the company and verifying that the investment is appropriate and suitable for you. PGCXREPORT.COM nor any of their principals, officers, directors, partners, agents, or affiliates are not, nor do we represent ourselves to be, registered investment advisors, brokers, or dealers in securities. “Insert text here” is not offering securities for sale. An offer to buy or sell can be made only with accompanying disclosure documents and only in the states and provinces for which they are approved. PGCXREPORT.COM does not offer or sell securities. You can obtain more information about Virtual Sourcing Inc., from its website at http://www.virtualsourcinginc.com. Virtual Sourcing Inc., is a reporting company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and trades on the OTC Bulletin Board under the symbol PGCX. Virtual Sourcing Inc., periodic and other reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are publicly available from the Securities and Exchange Commission at their website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm. General investor information about publicly-traded companies like Virtual Sourcing Inc., advice to investors, and other investor resources are available from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov or from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority website at www.finra.com. Many states have established rules requiring the approval of a security by the state securities administrator. Check with www.nasaa.org or call your state security administrator to determine whether a particular security is licensed for sale in your state. Many companies have filed information with state securities regulators and many companies will supply prospective investors with additional information upon request. This advertisement is not intended for readers in any jurisdiction where not permissible under local regulations and investors in those jurisdictions should disregard it. Catalina Advertising Corp. has managed a total production budget of $750,000 for this advertising effort. PGCXREPORT.COM is being paid $25,000 and also expects to receive new subscriber revenue as a result of its participation in this advertising effort. Investing in securities is highly speculative and carries a great deal of risk, especially as to new companies with limited operations and no history of earnings. Past performance does not guarantee future results. This paid advertisement contains forward-looking statements regarding Virtual Sourcing Inc., its business and plans. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions created by these laws. Where Virtual Sourcing Inc., expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is believed to have a reasonable basis. However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, the size and growth of the market for Virtual Sourcing Inc., products and services, its ability to develop and distribute its products, the ability of the company to fund its capital requirements, competition, regulatory developments, the effects of short-selling and other market pressures, and other factors. PGCXREPORT.COM is a trademark of “Miski Inc., All other trademarks used in this publication are the property of their respective trademark holders. PGCXREPORT.COM is not affiliated, connected, or associated with, and are not sponsored, approved, or originated by, the trademark holders unless otherwise stated. No claim is made by PGCXREPORT.COM to any rights in any third-party trademarks.

 PDF copy of promotion page.

 

Disclaimer: I have no position in any stock mentioned. I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

How to design a big-budget pump and dump for cheap, thanks to eLance

I have previously blogged about The Alkaline Water Co. While looking up information for that blog post I performed Google searches for many different phrases, including “Investech Equity”, “Hennesey Road Media LLC”, “MaverickReport”, and “MountStockMore”

When I searched for “MountStockMore” I found a couple eLance jobs related to the website. Clicking on the person who listed those jobs showed me that that person had listed a total of 16 jobs, resides in Canada, and had only been a member of eLance since June of this year. I have saved all the jobs and the profile overview so that they can be seen in the future in case the account and jobs are deleted (I expect that to happen soon after this is posted).

PDF of account page listing the 16 jobs

Following are some excerpts from the various job and what I learned from them.

Hmm, it looks like someone is planning on putting up some Facebook ads promoting WTER:

We’ve got 25 characters for the headline and 90 characters for the body text in FACEBOOK and I need to make it pull.

We’ve got up 4 words in the title (17- 20 characters) and 55-60 characters in the body copy.

The ads are for Get rich quick, make huge gains/profits in your portfolio. People need money and are always looking for tips…we’ve got two penny stock alert sites that provide timely tips so people can get in early…

We’ve got 3 very specific angels we’re looking to write to….first will be as per the above.

Here are some samples:
Penny Stock Jumping 1000%
If This $0.50 Stock Hits $6.00, $10,000 Will $120,000. Learn How.

Would Warren Buffet buy this $0.50 stock?
Learn why this stock is our #1 pick in 2013.

Penny Stock Jumping 2000%
Sign up to the #1 PennyStock Newsletter Online For Free Today

I think we can find better motivating angles…

This job is for some copywriting explaining what alkaline water is.

Here is a good description of how the promoters want the promotional language to look like:

Article Conclusion:
The slant of this article is that Big Water will always try to control market share by buying Jr. brands – Numerous examples in Beverage consolidation investors should be aware of small BEV companies that could be acquisition targets.

TITLE: IE, Who Controlling the flow on beverage funding.

I prefer statistics and detailed information to be provided in bullets with explanation/conclusions to the stats provided with opening lines for context, and/or summary conclusions supporting the stats or main theme.

REFERENCES:
I want the article to site specific stats/Quotes/Articles from reputable papers/sources; Wallstreet Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, Bloomberg, CNN Economist etc.

Suggested Industry Resources:
BEVNET.com

 

Many of the jobs appear to be reposts of the same jobs.

See PDF copies of other jobs posted for this promotion:

elance9
elance8
elance7
elance6
elance5
elance4
elance3
elance2
elance1

 

Disclaimer: I have am long 5,000 shares of WTER and will sell soon, without notice; I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

 

The Alkaline Water Co. $WTER to be promoted by Francis Gaskins

Yesterday The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (WTER) had big trading volume of 1.9 million shares and at its high was up over 20%. Tim Lento noticed that and found the landing page for a promotion of the company at WTERReport.com. After he posted it the page was taken down. That website currently shows “under construction.”

Disclosed budget: “up to” $3,000,000

Promoter: Investech Equity and Francis Gaskins

Paying party: Investech Equity

Shares outstanding: 79,387,175
Previous closing price: $0.55
Market capitalization: $43 million

[Edit 2013-8-22]: Francis Gaskins / IPODesktop Premium now disclose that they were not compensated in the updated disclaimers. The old disclaimers will remain copied below for archival purposes. Previously, the disclaimer said, “IPODesktop Premium has received $15,000 from Investech Equity in compensation for this advertisement to enhance public awareness of The Alkaline Water Company Inc.” The current disclaimer is copied below. As to what this means, I do not know. Being involved in the promotion of a worthless pump and dump company looks bad to me whether an endorser gets paid or not.

 

Excerpt from disclaimer:

IPOdesktop Premium did not receive any direct compensation with respect to the writing of this online report and document. The stock was chosen to be profiled after IPOdesktop Premium completed due diligence on the stock. IPOdesktop Premium expects to generate new membership revenue, the amount of which is unknown at this time, it its paid website through the distribution of this online report and document.

Investech Equity has managed up to a $3,000,000 USD advertising production budget as of August 1, 2013 in an effort to build industry and investor awareness. Any funds leftover after expenses for research, overhead, advertising and public relations related to The Alkaline Water Company Inc. (ticker symbol WTER) will be considered profit. Entities related to Investech Equity hold a large amount of shares in WTER and intend to sell those shares. Their sales of WTER common stock will affect the value of your shares (negatively).

PDF copy of promotion page.

Embedded in the promotion page is this Youtube video of Francis Gaskins talking positively about WTER. The video was uploaded to Youtube on August 7th by someone who had not previously uploaded any videos.

New disclaimer:

beverageinvestor_new_621x610xdisclaimer.png.pagespeed.ic.kPPl-Rw3-b

Old Disclaimer:

621x561xdisclaimer_text_web.jpg.pagespeed.ic.s0ZEAr1RXd

 

[Edit 2013-8-19]: As of the middle of last week the WTERReport.com website was back up. I have since a few other websites promoting WTER. Looking at the other websites on the same server as WTERReport.com (using YouGetSignal). Below is a screenshot of the result, showing one defunct website (Garant.in) and one stock promotion website (MaverickReport.com).

wter

I signed up for the MaverickReport.com newsletter and my confirmation email was from publisher@outoftheboxstox.com. The CANSPAM-required information at the bottom of the email revealed the sender to be “Investech Equity, Pacific Place, 1 Queens Road East, Admiralty, Hong Kong, Hong Kong.” I had run across a promotion by OutoftheBoxStox.com before so I looked through my emails to see what they had previously promoted. They previously promoted NGRC in September and October of 2012.

Below is a chart of NGRC. While the stock did have a nice move during the first pump it didn’t last that long and dropped big.

ngrc

One of the problems (or benefits) of the internet domain name system is that changes take awhile to propagate. So if a change is made, different websites may display different information. That is the case with OutoftheBoxStox.com. While my favorite website didn’t display any other websites as being at the same IP as OutoftheBoxStox.com, DomainTools.com did; it showed MountStockMore.com as being hosted on the same server. Of course if I weren’t so cheap I would pay for a premium subscription to DomainTools.com or a similar website so I could see which websites used to be on the same server.

mountstockmore

 

I then went to MountStockMore.com and signed up. The email signup confirmation page included a link to a BeverageInvestor.com profile of WTER. After looking at that website it is clear that it exists solely to promote WTER. A look at the disclaimer shows that it is exactly the same as the disclaimer at WTERReport.com.

BeverageInvestor.com disclaimer:

beverageinvestor_621x561xdisclaimer_text_web.jpg.pagespeed.ic.s0ZEAr1RXd

PDF copy of BeverageInvestor WTER pump page.

After looking that over it was time to go back through the steps I went through earlier on this new domain name:

beverageinvestor_ip

 

That led me to EconomistTimes.com, which is of course reminiscent of other fake online newspapers such as FinancierTimes.com and ChicagoFinancialTimes.com (now defunct). A reference to The Economist Times could also be found in the disclaimer at the bottom of MountStockMore.com:

xdisclaimer.png.pagespeed.ic.kizl4O2l8i
(click to enlarge)

A quick look at the home page of The Economist Times led me to the promotion page on WTER: http://www.economisttimes.com/wter_report/ Once again the disclaimer at the bottom is the exact same as that of WTERReport.com and BeverageInvestor.com:

economisttimes_621x561xdisclaimer_text_web.jpg.pagespeed.ic.K1TZ3TzJVj

PDF copy of EconomistTimes WTER pump page.

It seems that online promotions like this are getting more and more complex. It used to be that there would be a promotion website linking to a fake news article. Now we have multiple promotion websites linking to multiple different fake articles.

Besides the blatantly obvious WTERReport.com (that Tim Lento was the first to notice when it first went live), this promotion of WTER involves four different websites:
MaverickReport.com
EconomistTimes.com
BeverageInvestor.com
MountStockMore.com

[Edit 2013-8-22]: Search ads and display ads are now beginning to appear promoting WTER. Thanks to Tom McCarthy of PrePromotion Stocks for pointing this out.
$WTER Promoted On Yahoo Finance photo wter-yahoo-finance_zps28ce86f0.png

Also, Outoftheboxstox.com has sent teaser emails indicating their next promotion will come on August 26th through August 30th (different dates to different emails). See the screen capture of the email below:


Disclaimer: [Edit 2013-8-22] I have no position in any stock mentioned. I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

SEC suspends trading in Hutech21 (CLGZF)

Hutech21 (CLGZF) had been promoted by a large number of D-list stock promoters back in May and June. Today the SEC suspended trading in Hutech21’s stock.

SEC press release (pdf)
SEC trading suspension order (pdf)

The reasoning for the trading suspension was the usual:

The Commission temporarily suspended trading in the securities of Hutech21 Co., Ltd. because
of questions that have been raised about the accuracy and adequacy of publicly disseminated
information about Hutech21 Co., Ltd., concerning, among other things, Hutech21 Co., Ltd.’s
business operations.

Disclaimer: I have no position in any stock mentioned and no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

High likelihood of an SEC trading suspension of Bayside Corp $BYSD

Today Bayside Corporation (BYSD) was promoted by numerous 3rd-rate stock promoters. Coinciding with the promotion, the company put out an absurd press release yesterday touting a huge purchase order. This was only the company’s second press release this year (the first one was a week ago). Here is an excerpt from the press release:

DALLAS, July 23, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Bayside Corp. (BYSD) today announced that the company has been awarded a purchase order to supply 3,600,000 Metric tons of heavy fuel oil exports annually.
Additionally, the order represents approximately $160,500,000 in gross revenues every month for the next thirty-six months. Heavy fuel oil exports is the first step in the company’s long-term expansion plans to develop its oil and natural gas business in the international marketplace.
Gordon Johnson, Chairman of Bayside Corp., was quoted saying, “we are thrilled to expand our revenue base with international heavy fuel oil export orders.” Furthermore, the contractual finalization of the purchase orders and the heavy fuel oil exports is expected to be completed within the next 30 days.

Thanks to Pumpsanddumps.com for pointing this out (see their article on BYSD). Extraordinary claims demand extraordinary proof and I cannot imagine any crappy penny stock company (particularly one with a $4 million market cap as of yesterday) ever receiving such a large order. With the stock up 93% to $0.009 as I write this, I anticipate the stock dropping by over 60% in the next day or two even if the stock does not get suspended.

I previously thought that SKTO would likely get suspended by the SEC but that never happened.

[Edit 2013-7-25]: See the Promotion Stock Secrets article on BYSD.

Disclaimer: I have no position in any stock mentioned above and no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

North American Oil & Gas Corp $NAMG gets a Tobin Smith pump

I first received emails yesterday promoting North American Oil & Gas (NAMG) from Global Marketing Media LLC websites.

PennyStockCircle is owned and operated by Global Marketing Media LLC. Global Marketing Media LLC has been compensated thirty five thousand dollars for a two day marketing and promotional effort on NAMG by Lake Group Media, Inc.

The Global Marketing Media LLC websites are:

Pennystockpros.net
TheStockScout.com
PennyStockClub.net
PennyStockCircle.com
123StockAlerts.com

Quickly searching the web and my past emails I saw that Lake Group Media Inc., which had paid for the promotion, had been the paying party in many other promotions, including a couple bigger mailer pumps. I tweeted about that after Ivan tweeted that he thought that NAMG might get a big pump because of the high share price. This morning I then saw this tweet linking to this website promoting NAMG (http://namginfo.com/index.html) with Tobin Smith as the promoter. So far the trading volume on NAMG is fairly low. I am definitely not looking to buy this promotion but I am not in a hurry to short either.

Disclosed budget: $340,006.08

[Edit 2013-8-4: The budget is now disclosed as $939,443.70.]
[Edit 2013-8-23: The budget is now disclosed as $1,338,546.80.]

Promoter: Genius Marketing Ltd. & NBT Equities Research / Tobin Smith

Paying party: Genius Marketing Ltd.

Shares outstanding:  60,125,000
Previous closing price: $0.90
Market capitalization: $54 million

Excerpt from disclaimer:

North American Oil and Gas Corporation (hereafter “NAMG”), the company featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising. Genius Marketing Ltd. has budgeted $340,006.08 [sic] for the dissemination of this info to enhance public awareness for NAMG.

TS has received twenty thousand dollars for this and related marketing materials. TS also expects to receive new subscriber revenue, the amount which is unknown at this time, as a result of this advertising effort.

namg_screenshot

PDF copy of promotion page.

Disclaimer:

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER: This paid email advertisement by Tobin Smith (hereafter “TS”) does not purport to provide an analysis of any company’s financial position, operations, or prospects and this is not to be construed as a recommendation by TS, or an offer to sell or solicitation to buy or sell any security. North American Oil and Gas Corporation (hereafter “NAMG”), the company featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising. Genius Marketing Ltd. has budgeted $340,006.08 for the dissemination of this info to enhance public awareness for NAMG. Although the information contained in this advertisement is believed to be reliable, TS makes no warranties as to the accuracy of any of the content herein and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize it. The information contained herein is based exclusively on information generally available to the public and does not contain any material, non-public information. Readers should perform their own due-diligence before investing in any security including consulting with a qualified investment advisor or analyst. Readers should independently verify all statements made in this advertisement and perform extensive due-diligence on this or any other advertised company. TS has received twenty thousand dollars for this and related marketing materials. TS also expects to receive new subscriber revenue, the amount which is unknown at this time, as a result of this advertising effort. TS nor any of their principals, officers, directors, partners, agents, or affiliates are not, nor do we represent ourselves to be, registered investment advisors, brokers, or dealers in securities. TS is not offering securities for sale. An offer to buy or sell can be made only with accompanying disclosure documents and only in the states and provinces for which they are approved. Research and any due diligence was conducted by an outside researcher for this advertisement. More information can be received from NAMG’s website at www.namoag.com. Further, specific financial information, filings and disclosures as well as general investor information about publicly listed companies and other investor resources can be found at the Securities and Exchange Commission website at www.sec.gov and www.nasd.com. Any investment should be made only after consulting with a qualified investment advisor and only after reviewing the financial statements and other pertinent corporate information about the company. Many states have established rules requiring the approval of a security by a state security administrator. Check with www.nasaa.org or call your state security administrator to determine whether a particular security is licensed for sale in your state. This advertisement is not intended for readers in any jurisdiction where not permissible under local regulations and investors in those jurisdictions should disregard it. Investing in securities is highly speculative and carries a great deal of risk, which may result in investors losing all of their invested capital. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The information contained herein contains “forward-looking” statements and information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding expected continual growth of the featured company. “Forward-looking” statements are based upon expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ materially from those anticipated. “Forward-looking” statements may be identified through the use of words such as expects, will, anticipates, estimates, believes, or by statements indicating certain actions may, could, should, or might occur. Any statements that express or involve predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, goals or future events or performance may be “forward-looking” statements. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the publisher notes that statements contained herein that look forward in time, which include other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the company’s actual results of operations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, the size and growth of the market for the company’s products and services, regulatory approvals, the company’s ability to fund its capital requirements in the near term and the long term, pricing pressures and other risks detailed in the company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All other trademarks used in this publication are the property of their respective trademark holders. TS is not affiliated, connected, or associated with, and is not sponsored, approved, or originated by, the trademark holders unless otherwise stated. No claim is made by TS to any rights in any third-party trademarks.

[Edit 2013-8-23]: I continue to get emails promoting NAMG from various promoters. I was made aware of another online website promoting NAMG, Californiaoilboominfo.com. It shows the same Tobin Smith pitch as NAMGInfo.com. I did notice that the total budget for the promotion has been increased drastically, to $1,338,546.80.

New disclaimer:

IMPORTANT NOTICE AND DISCLAIMER: This paid email advertisement by Tobin Smith (hereafter “TS”) does not purport to provide an analysis of any company’s financial position, operations, or prospects and this is not to be construed as a recommendation by TS, or an offer to sell or solicitation to buy or sell any security. North American Oil and Gas Corporation (hereafter “NAMG”), the company featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising. Genius Marketing Ltd. has budgeted $1,338,546.80 for the dissemination of this info to enhance public awareness for NAMG. Although the information contained in this advertisement is believed to be reliable, TS makes no warranties as to the accuracy of any of the content herein and accepts no liability for how readers may choose to utilize it. The information contained herein is based exclusively on information generally available to the public and does not contain any material, non-public information. Readers should perform their own due-diligence before investing in any security including consulting with a qualified investment advisor or analyst. Readers should independently verify all statements made in this advertisement and perform extensive due-diligence on this or any other advertised company. TS has received twenty thousand dollars for this and related marketing materials. TS also expects to receive new subscriber revenue, the amount which is unknown at this time, as a result of this advertising effort. TS nor any of their principals, officers, directors, partners, agents, or affiliates are not, nor do we represent ourselves to be, registered investment advisors, brokers, or dealers in securities. TS is not offering securities for sale. An offer to buy or sell can be made only with accompanying disclosure documents and only in the states and provinces for which they are approved. Research and any due diligence was conducted by an outside researcher for this advertisement. More information can be received from NAMG’s website at www.namoag.com. Further, specific financial information, filings and disclosures as well as general investor information about publicly listed companies and other investor resources can be found at the Securities and Exchange Commission website at www.sec.gov and www.nasd.com. Any investment should be made only after consulting with a qualified investment advisor and only after reviewing the financial statements and other pertinent corporate information about the company. Many states have established rules requiring the approval of a security by a state security administrator. Check with www.nasaa.org or call your state security administrator to determine whether a particular security is licensed for sale in your state. This advertisement is not intended for readers in any jurisdiction where not permissible under local regulations and investors in those jurisdictions should disregard it. Investing in securities is highly speculative and carries a great deal of risk, which may result in investors losing all of their invested capital. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The information contained herein contains “forward-looking” statements and information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, including statements regarding expected continual growth of the featured company. “Forward-looking” statements are based upon expectations, estimates and projections at the time the statements are made and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual events to differ materially from those anticipated. “Forward-looking” statements may be identified through the use of words such as expects, will, anticipates, estimates, believes, or by statements indicating certain actions may, could, should, or might occur. Any statements that express or involve predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives, goals or future events or performance may be “forward-looking” statements. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, the publisher notes that statements contained herein that look forward in time, which include other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties that may affect the company’s actual results of operations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to, the size and growth of the market for the company’s products and services, regulatory approvals, the company’s ability to fund its capital requirements in the near term and the long term, pricing pressures and other risks detailed in the company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All other trademarks used in this publication are the property of their respective trademark holders. TS is not affiliated, connected, or associated with, and is not sponsored, approved, or originated by, the trademark holders unless otherwise stated. No claim is made by TS to any rights in any third-party trademarks.

Disclaimer: [Edit 2013-8-23 I am long 13,450 shares NAMG in one account and short 16,700 shares NAMG in another account. I may change this position at any time. I will not update this disclaimer when I change my position except if I edit this post again.] I have no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

Sanwire Corporation $SNWR pumps itself

This morning I received an email from Investors Alley (email@investorsalley.messages4.com) promoting Sanwire Corporation (SNWR) and linking to http://snwrbreakingnews.com/snwrreport/ This is an interesting promotion because the company itself is not only paying for the promotion but managing the promotion.

snwr

See the PDF copy of the pump page.

[Edit 2013-7-13]: The British Columbia Securities Commission has issued two separate cease trade orders (first back in May and then on July 12) on Sanwire (SNWR). The practical effect for traders outside of British Columbia is nil but I believe multiple such orders may indicate a greater chance of more serious regulatory trouble.

See the Promotion Stock Secrets article on Sanwire (SNWR).

 

Disclosed budget: $314,259

Promoter: Sanwire and Future Money Trends

Paying party: Sanwire

Shares outstanding:  41,451,937
Previous closing price: $0.52
Market capitalization: $21 million

Excerpt from disclaimer:

Sanwire Corporation has managed a total production budget of $314,259 for this advertising effort. Future Money Trends is being paid $50,000 and also expects to receive new subscriber revenue as a result of its participation in this advertising effort.

Full disclaimer:

Important Notice and Disclaimer This paid advertising issue of Future Money Trends does not purport to provide an analysis of any company’s financial position, operations or prospects and is not to be construed as a recommendation by Future Money Trends or as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security. Sanwire Corporation, the company featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising paid for by Sanwire Corporation to increase public awareness of the company and its prospects. All information appearing in this advertisement is taken from publicly available sources. Although Future Money Trends and its editor and publisher believe this information to be accurate and reliable, neither Future Money Trends nor its editor or publisher has independently verified any information contained in this advertisement. Future Money Trends or its editor or publisher makes any representation or warranty whatsoever with respect to the accuracy or completeness of any information contained herein. Future Money Trends and its editor and publisher expressly disclaim any liability resulting from how readers may choose to utilize the contents of this paid advertisement. Readers should perform their own due diligence and are strongly urged to independently verify all statements made in this or any other paid advertisement. Any investment should be made only after consulting with a qualified investment professional and after reviewing the publicly available financial statements of, and other information about, the company and verifying that the investment is appropriate and suitable for you. You can obtain more information about Sanwire Corporation from its website at www.sanwire.net. Sanwire Corporation is a reporting company under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and trades on the OTC Markets Group under the symbol SNWR. Sanwire Corporation’s periodic and other reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, are publicly available from the Securities and Exchange Commission at their website at http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm. General investor information about publicly-traded companies like Sanwire Corporation, advice to investors, and other investor resources are available from the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov or from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority website at www.finra.com. Many states have established rules requiring the approval of a security by the state securities administrator. Check with www.nasaa.org or call your state security administrator to determine whether a particular security is licensed for sale in your state. Many companies have filed information with state securities regulators and many companies will supply prospective investors with additional information upon request. Sanwire Corporation has managed a total production budget of $314,259 for this advertising effort. Future Money Trends is being paid $50,000 and also expects to receive new subscriber revenue as a result of its participation in this advertising effort. Future Money Trends does not own any securities in Sanwire Corporation and will not buy, sell or offer to buy or sell any securities in Sanwire Corporation Investing in securities is highly speculative and carries a great deal of risk, especially as to new companies with limited operations and no history of earnings. This paid advertisement contains forward-looking statements regarding Sanwire Corporation, its business and plans. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are intended to be covered by the safe harbor provisions created by these laws. Where Sanwire Corporation expresses or implies an expectation or belief as to future events or results, such expectation or belief is believed to have a reasonable basis. However, forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, which could cause actual results to differ materially from future results expressed, projected or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such risks include, but are not limited to, the size and growth of the market for Sanwire Corporation’s products and services, its ability to develop and distribute its products, its ability to enter attract customers, the ability of the company to fund its capital requirements, competition, regulatory developments, the effects of short-selling and other market pressures, and other factors.

 

snwr_chart

 

Disclaimer: I have no position in any stock mentioned above and no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

SEC Freezes accounts used in illegal sales of unregistered shares of Biozoom $BIZM

Earlier today the SEC announced that it froze accounts of eight different Argentinians who had illegally sold unregistered shares of Biozoom (BIZM). Two others who had not yet sold shares also had their accounts frozen. A week ago the SEC suspended trading in Biozoom. See my original post on the Biozoom promotion as well as the Promotion Stock Secrets post on the individuals behind the promotion.

SEC press release
SEC complaint

The sheer number of shares sold and the profits involved are impressive. Here is a good description of what transpired from the SEC press release:

The SEC’s complaint alleges that from March to June 2013, the ten defendants received more than 20 million shares of Entertainment Art, which was one-third of the company’s total outstanding shares. In a one-month period beginning in mid-May, eight of them sold more than 14 million shares. The sales yielded almost $34 million, of which almost $17 million was wired to overseas bank accounts. Their U.S. brokerage accounts, which include approximately $16 million in cash, are subject to the asset freeze.

The ten defendants in the litigation are: Magdalena Tavella, Andres Horacio Ficicchia, Gonzalo Garcia Blaya, Lucia Mariana Hernando, Cecilia De Lorenzo, Adriana Rosa Bagattin, Daniela Patricia Goldman and Mariano Pablo Ferrari (Mariano Graciarena and Fernando Loureyro are also named but had not yet sold shares). The defendants claimed to have purchased shares in Biozoom (then known as Entertainment Art Inc.) from the company’s original seed shareholders between November 2012 and March 2013, but those shareholders had already sold all their shares back in 2009.

Despite the SEC’s quick action, over $17m in illicit profits were already wired overseas and are now beyond the reach of American authorities. Most likely none of the individuals whose names appeared on the accounts were behind the fraud. It is believed by many that Francisco Abellan has controlled scheme from the start.

The US brokerages used by the defendants are well-known to everyone who is familiar with the penny stock world: Legend Securities and Scottsdale Capital Advisors.

For further details, I suggest reading Promotion Stock Secret’s post on this litigation (same post as here).

Disclaimer: I am net long 1700 shares of BIZM (long 11,700 shares in one account and short 10,000 shares in another account); I have no positions in any other stock mentioned and no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

Penny Stock Pillager and the neverending Xumanii $XUII pump and dump

Note: I am short XUII (see disclaimer at bottom of post for details).

This morning I received an email from InvestorsHub promoting Xumanii linking to the following page: http://pennystockpillager.com/xuii/index.html. Penny Stock Pillager is published by Capital Financial Media, also known for running SmallCapFortunes.com. They have produced mailers for multiple AwesomePennyStocks.com pump and dumps and now Xumanii as well. This post is a bit tardy as Tim Lento posted that he received a XUII hard mailer from CFM on May 23rd.. Perhaps they had another batch to send out and that is why they didn’t let the pump die despite it breaking below the price at the start of the pump on June 11th.

Xumanii was first promoted by Victory Mark Corp on May 1st and then the AwesomePennyStocks websites joined on May 13th. On May 14th George Sharp sued APS, Victory Mark Corp, Xumanii, and other companies APS and VMC have recently promoted, causing XUII to fall to $0.23 before rebounding.  On May 28th after the market close I published a negative article on Xumanii on SeekingAlpha (and in that article I describe Sharp’s lawsuit). Sharp’s lawsuit and my negative article on SeekingAlpha (which has received over 6300 page views) likely hurt the performance of XUII.

XUII_mailer

See my PDF copy of the pump page.

xuii

Disclosed budget: $1,600,000 (see bottom of post for the compensation of VMC and APS)

Promoter: Capital Financial Management aka Penny Stock Pillager

Paying party: Oligarch Management Ltd.

Shares outstanding:  341,300,300
Previous closing price: $0.29
Market capitalization: $99 million

Excerpt from disclaimer (all incorrect spacing is in the original):

Xumanii (XUII), the “Company” featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising, paid byOligarchManagement, LTD. to provide public awareness forXUII

CFMhas received andmanaged a total production budget of $1,600,000 for this print effort andwill retain any amounts over and above the cost of production, copywriting services,mailing and other distribution expenses, as a fee for its services.

Disclaimer:

IMPORTANTNOTICEANDDISCLAIMER: This featured company sponsored advertising issue ofPennyStockPillager does not purport to provide an analysis of any company’s financial position, operations or prospects and this is not to be construed as a recommendation byPennyStockPillager or an offer or solicitation to buy or sell any security.Xumanii (XUII), the “Company” featured in this issue, appears as paid advertising, paid byOligarchManagement, LTD. to provide public awareness forXUII.PennyStockPillager andCapital FinancialMedia (CFM) have used outside research andwriters using public information to create the advertisement coming fromPennyStockPillager aboutXUII. Investors/shareholders of theCompany may orwill sell shares at or about the timePennyStockPillager is distributed.Although the information contained in this advertisement is believed to be reliable,PennyStockPillager and CFMmakes nowarranties as to the accuracy of any of the content herein and accepts no liability for howreadersmay choose to utilize the content.Readers should performtheir own due-diligence, including consultingwith a licensed, qualified investment professional or analyst. Further, readers are strongly urged to independently verify all statementsmade in this advertisement and performextensive due diligence on this or any other advertised company.PennyStockPillager is not offering securities for sale.An offer to buy or sell can bemade only with accompanying disclosure documents and only in the states and provinces forwhich they are approved.Many states have established rules requiring the approval of a security by a state security administrator.Checkwith http://www.nasaa.org or call your state security administrator to determinewhether a particular security is licensed for sale in your state.Many companies have information filedwith state securities regulators andmanywill supply investorswith additional information on request.CFMhas received andmanaged a total production budget of $1,600,000 for this print effort andwill retain any amounts over and above the cost of production, copywriting services,mailing and other distribution expenses, as a fee for its services. *More information can be received from XUII’s investor relations representative. Further, specific financial information, filings and disclosures aswell as general investor information about publicly traded companies like XUII, advice to investors and other investor resources are available at theSecurities and ExchangeCommissionwebsitewww.sec.gov and www.nasd.com.Any investment should bemade only after consultingwith a qualified investment advisor and after reviewing the publicly available financial statements of and other information about the company and verifying that the investment is appropriate and suitable. Investing in securities is highly speculative and carries a great deal of risk especially as to new companieswith limited operations and no history of earnings. The information contained herein contains forward-looking informationwithin themeaning of section 27a of theSecurities Act of 1993, as amended, and section 21e of theSecurities ExchangeAct of 1934, as amended, including statements regarding expected growth of the featured company. In accordance with the safe harbor provisions of thePrivateSecurities LitigationReformAct,XUII notes that statements contained herein that look forward in time,which include everything other than historical information, involve risks and uncertainties thatmay affect theCompany’s actual results of operations. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the size and growth of themarket, theCompany’s ability to fund its capital requirements in the near termand in the long term; pricing pressures, technology issues etc.

 

Here is an excerpt from the disclaimer of Victory Mark Corp:

 Selectpennystocks.com is owned and operated by Victory Mark Corp LTD, 4 Lords Bank, Ladyville, Belize City, Belize. Questions regarding this website may be sent to info@Selectpennystocks.com. The company expects to receive $500,000 USD from a third party for publication of this information.

And  below is the disclaimer from Awesomepennystocks.com:

apsdisclaimer_4

 

Disclaimer: I am short 13,875 shares of XUII at Interactive Brokers. I and no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.

Naked Brand Group $NAKD pump and dump

This morning I received an email from Manny Backus (manny@wealthpire.com) promoting Naked Brand Group (NAKD) and linking to http://nextapparelrocket.com/ Earlier today the stock was easily shortable at Interactive Brokers. I would love to short this if only the volume were higher.

NAKD

See my PDF copy of the pump page.

 

Disclosed budget: $50,000

Promoter: Wall Street Investigator

Paying party: FullCorp Trading Limited

Shares outstanding:  31,904,000
Previous closing price: $1.12
Market capitalization: $35 million

Excerpt from disclaimer:

Wall Street Investigator received a ten thousand dollar editorial fee from FullCorp Trading Limited to cover editorial costs associated with the development of this email and online report. Wall Street Investigator stands to make a profit from the editorial services charted. FullCorp Trading Limited has paid or expects to pay upwards of fifty-thousand dollars as a total production budget for this online advertising effort.

Below is the disclaimer (annoyingly, an image and not actual text):nakd_disclaimer

 

Disclaimer: I have no position in any stock mentioned above and no relationship with any parties mentioned above. This blog has a terms of use that is incorporated by reference into this post; you can find all my disclaimers and disclosures there as well.