In the Receiver’s Initial Report about the MOBE scam, we find out that he has recovered over $8 million to date, and is expect to recover another $6.3 million later on. We also find out that Suitepay a California-based payment processor has escaped with over $1.6 Million In MOBE money. The Receiver is investigating the matter, and may choose to file a criminal complaint.
This initial report has a lot of excellent details about the scam and what is being done to recover money for its victims. I have provided a link to the full report below. Here are some highlights:
NATURE OF THE BUSINESS
The Receivership Entities, which were controlled (mostly) by the Defendant Matthew Lloyd McPhee, a/k/a Matt Lloyd, operated a business education program which they styled “My Online Business Education,” or MOBE. The Defendants operated their business online, and accordingly marketed their business to consumers located everywhere in the world. The Defendants claimed that they knew, and would reveal, a 21-step system that would show consumers how to easily start and operate an online business that would generate significant income for them, without consumers needing to obtain or create any product to sell. When consumers visited the Defendants’ websites they were directed to a registration page for the 21-step system, which was offered for $49. The 21-step system was a series of online video productions offering vague teases about “funnels that have paid out millions and millions of dollars in commissions to people just like you who went through this training,” plus promises to reveal the secret method for generating substantial online income in subsequent videos. However, little substantive marketing or other useful information was provided in these videos; instead, the videos were commercials, narrated by the Defendant McPhee (an Australian national), designed to entice consumers to purchase additional MOBE memberships. The subsequent memberships were the
“Silver Masterclass,” which cost $2,497 (on top of the $49 initial registration fee, plus a $27 monthly subscription fee). Members of the Silver Masterclass were, supposedly, entitled to a sales commission of 50 percent when they sold a Silver Masterclass membershipto another consumer. However, the information revealed in return for the $2,497 payment did not permit most consumers to actually begin a successful online business. Instead, Silver Masterclass members were encouraged to proceed to the next level, which was the
“Gold Masterclass,” which cost $4,997 (on top of the $49 initial registration fee and the $2,497 Silver Masterclass fee, plus a $64 monthly subscription fee). Gold Masterclass members were entitled to a 50 percent commission when they sold a Silver or Gold Masterclass membership to another consumer, but again, the “how to’s” of online marketing and sales were sparse. Instead, Defendants encouraged members of the Gold Masterclass to upgrade to higher levels because at the “Gold” level consumers were entitled to commissions only on sales to the Silver or Gold Masterclass, not higher levels. The next level up was the
“Titanium Mastermind,” which cost $9,997 (on top of the $49 initial registration fee, the $2,497 Silver Masterclass fee and the $4,997 Gold Masterclass fee, plus a $121 monthly subscription fee). Again, the focus of Titanium Mastermind members was to sell Silver, Gold or Titanium memberships, for which Titanium members were promised a 50 percent commission. However, a significant, if not the primary, objective of the Titanium Mastermind program was to encourage consumers to invest in the next level, which was the
“Platinum Mastermind,” which cost $16,997 (on top of the $49 initial registration fee, the $2,497 Silver Masterclass fee, the $4,997 Gold Masterclass fee, and the $9,997 Titanium Mastermind fee, plus a $198 monthly subscription fee). The Defendants pitched the benefit of the Platinum Mastermind program as entitling members to earn a 50 percent commission for selling a Silver, Gold, Titanium or Platinum membership to other consumers. Defendants’ main objective, however, was to encourage Platinum Mastermind members to upgrade to the
“Diamond Mastermind,” which cost $29,997 (on top of the $49 initial registration fee, the $2,497 Silver Masterclass fee, the $4,997 Gold Masterclass fee, the $9,997 Titanium Mastermind fee and the $16,997 Platinum Mastermind fee, plus a $295 monthly subscription fee). Diamond Mastermind members were entitled to a 50 percent commission for selling Silver, Gold, Titanium, Platinum or Diamond memberships to other consumers. At all levels, consumers were told that the “secret” to earning money under the MOBE program was to lure other consumers into the program and earn commissions when new consumers purchased the same MOBE memberships.
Additionally, the Defendants hosted seminars and live events (which the Defendants called “Home Business Summits,” “Supercharge Summits” and “Mastermind Summits”) at resort facilities located throughout the world, including Orlando, Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Dallas, Chicago, Vancouver, London, Costa Rica, Panama, Sydney (Australia), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Bangkok (Thailand) and Fiji. The Defendant Whitney organized most of these events, and he served as a keynote speaker for many of them. “Home Business Summits” were available to entry-level members (i.e. those who had paid only the $49 initial registration fee), and involved MOBE speakers pitching the Silver and Gold memberships. The cost to attend a “Home Business Summit” was $500, plus travel and hotel costs. The “Supercharge Summits,” which were available to the relatively-low “Silver” and “Gold” MOBE members, involved the Defendants’ speakers making marketing pitches to persuade consumers to upgrade their memberships to the higher “Titanium,” “Platinum” or “Diamond” levels. The cost for the “Supercharge Summits,” which was open to Silver and Gold members, was between $500 and $800, plus travel and hotel costs. “Mastermind Summits” supposedly were available to the higher-level MOBE members (i.e. the Titanium, Platinum and Diamond members) to provide networking opportunities and learn from other MOBE members, but in reality these conferences were marketing opportunities for the Defendants to “upsell” additional MOBE products, including private mentorships with the Defendants McPhee or Whitney, or another high-level MOBE “mentor.” Mastermind Summits cost between $3,500 (for Titanium Mastermind Summits) to $7,000 (for Diamond Mastermind Summits), plus travel costs.
The Defendant Whitney pioneered an “add-on” product called private mentorships. A MOBE consultant (frequently Whitney himself) would provide either group training or inhome mentorships to MOBE members, for prices ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. Whitney claimed that through these mentorships consumers would truly learn internet marketing; amazingly, Whitney testified that the 21-step program was essentially useless to consumers. Whitney himself never went through the entire 21-step process.
Go to the following link for the rest of the story: https://ethanvanderbuilt.com/2018/08/20/mobe-update-suitepay-escapes-with-over-1-6-million-in-victims-money/