--------------------------------------------- Issue 4-
HYIP NEWSLETTER - stay up to date in the hyip world!

http://www.hyipinvestment.com
http://www.hyipdiscussion.com
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DISCLAIMER: All information in the HI Newsletter is neither an endorsement nor a solicitation of any sort and cannot be considered as a promotional offering. We do not provide free professional consulting on investment options or personal assistance with recovery of deposited funds.
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in this issue:

1. News on most popular programs
2. Security recommendations for HYIP investors from a professional IT technician
3. Matrix scams: what are they?

News on most popular programs

PIPS (People In Profit System): PIPS statistics page has undergone a few minor changes and adjustments. A special system to facilitate wire transfers has been set up, since the bank PIPS is using has confirmed its inability to process the huge volume of wire transfers to be sent out over a short period of time. The new system's launch is expected within the next couple of weeks, and members are encouraged to be patient during the time their withdrawal requests are being processed.

Global Mutual: Interest is currently paid on schedule. Keep in mind that if you choose PicPay as an investment option for this program, your interest will not be calculated until PicPay processes GM's withdrawal request.

Reality Millions: RM promises to close their investment program to new members starting on June 25, 2005. However, the problems with payout delays have not been completely resolved. Prospective members are urged to join the program as soon as possible. We would recommend our subscribers to restrain from investing into RM under pressure.

StudioTraffic: Upgrades via PayPal are not available anymore due to this payment processor having frozen ST's PayPal accounts. This was caused by some members reporting ST as "not paying" to Paypal's customer support during the delay related to the StudioPay setup. It remains unclear whether PayPal will be restored as an option next month.

International Trading: The program has been declared as ponzi scam by the HI Network and removed from the list of most popular programs. Now it can be discussed in the "Recent Major Scams" section of our forum. Pictures of some people behind this "program" have been published at the following link: http://hyipdiscussion.com/thread5983.html .

You can discuss these and many other programs with fellow high-yield investors on our forum at http://www.hyipdiscussion.com

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Stephen Taylforth (known as "Pluggy" on the TG forum) works as a full-time IT technician and has kindly agreed to share his tips on how to stay safe in the world of high-yield online investing.

Keeping your computer secure in the world of HYIP

Computer security is paramount in this world, The HYIP arena is full of seedy characters who have dedicated their lives to relieving you of your money. If it isn't bad enough that the vast majority of HYIPs are scams or at the very best financially unviable, we have the low life at the periphery who are just out to plain steal your money. This is where security comes in. Much of this is to do with the right mindset : Trust nothing and No-one. In this arena people must be judged as guilty until proven innocent. Trust me on this, I don't have figures but there are a lot of crooks on the internet generally and HYIP especially.

I'll try to keep this simple, but it is a complex area. The simplest, most effective but most radical way is to lose Microsoft Windows. Debates rage about this all the time, are Macs and Linux machines more secure because of the code that's built into them or merely because they are obscure? It makes little odds why - there are few or no viruses/trojans/spyware on other platforms, there is no argument, there is less junk on Macs and Linux. if you're running windows you're a big target. Look through a virus database, 99.9% of viruses are for Windows. The short answer to security is buy a Mac or format your PC and install Linux. Practically cast iron security with few technicalities. But this is the real world and most people reading this will have PCs running Windows so this is going to be how to make your windows Machine as secure as possible. Incidentally I'm writing this word document on a Mac.

Rule 1: Prevention is better than cure. If possible start with a clean machine that hasn't been connected to the internet at all and harden it before it gets infected. Cleaning malware (Read Viruses / Trojan Horses / Adware / Spyware ) can be difficult and time consuming, often the quickest way is to start afresh by formatting the hard disk and reinstalling everything. Even when you've accounted for the time of backing up all the stuff you need to keep and locating drivers etc it can be quicker than delousing a badly hit PC. I have spent a whole day getting all the malware off a PC. A scrub and restart can be done in 2-4 hours. But this is the real world and people are reluctant to ‘wipe' their computers.

Rudimentary guide to ‘Delousing' a PC.

Go into control Panel (Under the start button) and ‘Add/Remove Programs' Go through
The list and uninstall everything you don't need, use any more, don't know what it is , and especially remove toolbars, funny cursors and Internet freebies. They don't cost money but the majority aren't free. The other side of this coin is don't install software that isn't essential. Keep it simple, simple is good. A quick and dirty check can be done my Running task manager (Press Cntl-Alt-Delete on 2000/XP machines and click on Task Manager, Go into processes and see how many there are running. The less, the better, both for security and performance. A clean 2000 or XP install will be around 20, A useable machine can be had for around 25, If you've got more than 30 you need to do some pruning, if you've got more than 40 its definitely overburdened with software or its infected with malware.
Incidentally if you have 2000 or XP and Pressing Cntrl- Alt-Delete does nothing or task manager is greyed out, you're definitely infected with something. It's a trick of many viruses and spyware to disable the tools that enable detection or removal.
If your anti-virus is out of date you might as well uninstall it when you do the rest of the software, its doing little good if its more than a month old.

I use a tool called Macafee Avert stinger to get rid of the ‘thick' of viruses
It's a standalone and disposable, download it fresh from http://vil.nai.com/vil/stinger/
Its called s-t-i-n-g-e-r these days because some viruses specifically look for it.
Download it to your desktop and run it, It will take a while but will find and kill most of the real nasties out there. Once its run, and cleaned what it finds you may as well delete it. It shouldn't find anything if your AV is doing its job.

If you don't have an anti-virus get one. A good freebie can be had from www.avast.com
Install it and do a full scan. Get Microsoft antispyware from http://downloads.microsoft.com Install it and run it. There is a good chance that something will find something but can't remove it – try signing up at http://www.geekstogo.com/ and get specific help. There are some real tough nuts to crack, there is a good case for starting with a clean sheet and formatting….

I'm not a fan of Norton, its not very good in my opinion and because its so popular its often the first thing an incoming virus will cripple. Another pet peeve is software firewalls, I hate ‘em, You need a fire wall, no doubt about it but software firewalls are a pain. I use XP's own firewall when I'm on my PC and the Mac has an inbuilt firewall too. I like these because they are in in-obtrusive but I don't trust them to be an effective solution. The best, easiest solution is to use a broadband router or a combined DSL modem-router. These use a system called NAT, they aren't a firewall as such but they hide you computer from the internet by giving it a private IP address and taking the dangerous external IP address itself. If you don't play around with port forwarding all that can be seen from the internet is the router, it's a pretty stupid device and doesn't understand viruses at will turn off software firewalls. It's a good security solution – get one, they aren't expensive. They don't work with dial up modems however. If you have to use dial up, you'll have to live with a software firewall. Zonealarm is the defacto standard, I loathe it with a vengeance but its probably as good as it gets. Beware pop-up blockers built into some of these things they can cause no end of problems.

If you're keeping Windows, at least dump the Microsoft Internet programs (You can't actually dump them , but don't use then unless you have too) Use a third party web browser – Firefox is my favorite – http://getfirefox.com it has has some well publicised security holes but it is a bastion alongside Internet Explorer, They also do an e-mail client called Thunderbird – get it as well to replace Outlook Express. If you don't fancy Firefox, Opera is good, as is Netscape. Beware the Browsers that are jackets for IE – Crazy Browser, Avant and the like. They just put more functions around IE, they inherit all the security issues that go with it.. If you use Firefox, for best security turn off ‘Allow Websites to install software' and Java in ‘Tools', ‘Options'. The java can cause some websites not to function so its something of a trade off. Firefox has built in pop-up blocking so doesn't need an external one. It has an inbuilt search engine feature which is wonderful. Defaults to Google, its always there without 3rd party toolbars (most of which are spyware ) or having to go to the Google site. I use Firefox on the Mac too, it also is becoming the standard browser on many Linux distributions. Fifty odd million downloads can't be wrong….

Treat all e-mail as suspect. Don't open any attachments without verifying that they are legit – email the person that it appears to be from your self to check they did actually send it if you weren't expecting it. Never click on a link in an email. Go to the site from your bookmarks or manually, if its as big a threat as they make out, it will be all over the website. No company sends out unsolicited security alerts via e-mail to my knowledge, if it's a threat it will be on their website from your bookmarks. If you've asked to be on a security mailing list –it will be a different matter.

If you're running Windows 2000 or Windows XP, you can gain gain a significant increase in security by not running day to day as an administrator level user (the default is to run it like this). It means the user cannot install software which can be bind when you need too, but it foils many viruses and spyware which cannot install themselves with the users privileges. To do this you need to go into control panel and add a new user who is only a standard user and then log in with that user instead of the administrator one.

As you have gathered, this security business isn't simple and to keep things reasonable I've had to gloss over many of the nitty gritty details, but if you want detail you can use this article as a guide to ‘Google' the details from websites. Security for HYIP is just standard stuff but you have to be more careful because you're dealing directly with money as e-currencies.

Or you could just buy a Mac… :-)

Stephen Taylforth (aka "Pluggy")
(http://www.pluggy.me.uk)

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Due to an increasing number of matrix programs, altogether with the number of people losing money in them, we have decided to make our subscribers aware of the nature of these scams. The below information has been provided to us by www.matrixwatch.org - a professional group of dedicated people, involved in fighting all types of Internet fraud.

-What is a Matrix?

This is basically how a matrix scheme works. When a customer makes a purchase at a matrix site, that investment goes into a "pool" for the matrix. Once the required number of purchases are made for that specific item, the first person at the top of the line "cycles" and recieves the "free gift".

Matrix sites are popular because they offer the opportunity for a consumer to receive expensive electronic products for a mere fraction of the price. The catch is that the participant receives the prize only by paying a fee to enter a “matrix” list, and then only if a certain number of consumers also join the matrix afterwards.

The matrix, just as many other conventional pyramid schemes of the past, becomes unable to fulfill its promise of continued new entrants and eventually collapses under the weight of its own devise.

At the time of collapse, many consumers whose names are still on the list are left “holding the bag.” These “victims” try to recoup their losses by starting their own matrix websites and advertising their sites through eBay auctions.

The results of this process are catastrophic. Between November 2002 and April 2003 over 250 new matrix sites had been launched, and the epidemic continued to multiply exponentially as more new sites entered the market and more fraudulent auctions flooded eBay.com. It is for these reasons that MSNBC has deemed the matrix sites as “the fastest growing internet scam of the 21st century.”

-I'm involved in an active matrix site and I want out. Help! What do I do?

If you are currently involved in a matrix site, you have a few options at your disposal, but you must act quickly. We recommend that you utilize every option listed below for maximum effectiveness. If not all, then you should perform at least three of the four steps.

DO NOT wait for your name to cycle. Remember that matrix sites are illegal scams. Often, the names on the lists are fake, the testimonials are made up by the owner, and gifts are NEVER sent out. Those messages on the forums where someone claims to have received their gift are often the owner posting under an alias. Matrix sites are designed to show up for 2-15 months and then disappear with your money. Don't be fooled. Act quickly.

In every case, you should immediately write down a chronology of events from the time you first heard about the matrix site until right now. Make a list of the email addresses, amounts paid, how you paid, and to whom you paid it. It will be much easier for you to start filing claims if you have all of the information in one list. You can also draft a basic letter to mail off, and just change the "To" field depending upon who you are sending it to.

You must be quick and aggressive. We highly recommend that you DO NOT contact the matrix owner with refund requests or complaints. Remember that you will often be dealing with an internet scammer, and it is wise to not get close. Allow the courts, police, or banks to deal directly with them.

Option 1: File a Lawsuit

This is a very effective option, and it will prevent others from being scammed as well. It helps to bring these scammers to justice. We will promote your lawsuit on this website if you choose. You can have the opportunity to help thousands of people if you decide to file a class-action lawsuit.

Option 2: Contact your Bank or Credit-Card Company

If you do this, be sure to be honest and open with the representative. Many banks and credit-card companies (CC's) have fraud-prevention programs and they will refund your money to you and go after the matrix scammers for the bill. Individual banks and CC's are different, so you will need to contact yours directly. Remember, do not ever lie to your bank or CC company. Don't tell them that you never received a product, or some story like that. You don't want to get yourself into as much trouble as the matrix scammers are.

Option 3: Contact the payment company you paid through

If you paid through a payment company (i.e. PayPal, etc.) then you may be eligable for a refund under certain fraud-prevention programs. You will often need to act within the first 30 days.

Option 4: File a complaint with the government authorities

We have a list of authorities under the "File a Complaint" link in our Main Menu box (to the upper-left side of your screen). We recommend that you send a letter to your Attorney General's office and the IFCC. Local police and FBI are good options as well. You are not in any trouble, so you need not hesitate to contact them. In filing a report, you will prevent others from being victimized by these scammers.

-Why are matrix sites illegal?

The laws being broken by matrix sites include state laws against lotteries, pyramid schemes and unfair business practices. See the EZExpo lawsuit, available for download in the Main Menu area for further details.

Since matrix sites are, by the very nature, illegal it is recommended that customers stay far away from them. Several lawsuits have been filed and not once has the matrix site owner or credit card processer even tried to argue the sites are legal. Although some credit card processors obtained dismissals (now under appeal) it was only based upon their argument they did not know what the matrix sites were doing (i.e., they did not realize they were aiding and abetting a criminal operation).

Matrix sites are also a "scam" in that only a tiny percentage of participants can win. That is of course the case is most gambling or lotteries but in the latter no claim is made that everyone will win, while in matrix sites the claim is often made every participant will eventually win. That is a false claim as matrix sites will inevitably collapse before the vast majority win anything.

It will always be a matter of chance if the person cycles and it will always be the case that eventually the matrix will collapse as the number of new entries that must be obtained increases exponentially. In fact, guaranteeing that customers will cycle invites a fraud claim.

Don't be fooled by the claims these sites make to be "100% legal". Some matrix sites are currently hiding out in a foreign jurisdiction, but by doing business in the U.S. and in other countries with laws against them, they are in violation.

-How Does a Matrix Site Work?

Matrix sites operate in the same way as do the pyramid or ponzi scams. That is, early investors are paid off by later investors, and the cycle continues until it collapses under the weight of thousands of signups.

For example, here is a 5 person matrix with an entry price of $100:

Person #1 pays: Becomes the one currently cycling. Pot becomes $100.
Person #2 pays: Pool becomes $200.
Person #3 pays: Pool becomes $300.
Person #4 pays: Pool becomes $400.
Person #5 pays: Pool becomes $500.

Person #1 "cycles" and recieves free item (worth $350), website takes $150 profit and Person #2 moves to currently cycling position.

Person #6 pays: Pool becomes $100.
Person #7 pays: Pool becomes $200.
Person #8 pays: Pool becomes $300.
Person #9 pays: Pool becomes $400.
Person #10 pays: Pool becomes $500

Person #2 cycles" and recieves free item (worth $350), website takes $150 profit and Person #3 moves to currently cycling position.

Matrix site total profit is now $300, and a total of 50 more people will need to join the matrix for Person #10 to receive their $350.Matrix

-The matrix site I was involved in disappeared! What happened?

There are two likely causes to a matrix site disappearing:

#1: All websites that use the matrix as a business scheme will eventually fail. This is a mathematical certainty (see the mathematics). When a matrix site gets to the point where they cannot recruit any more customers, the number of people cycling drops to 0. The entire site becomes stagnant. The existing customers of the matrix site begin getting upset and requesting refunds. Most times the matrix own cannot afford to refund everyone and the only answer is to close up shop and prevent any further damage. The owner will close down the matrix site and run.

#2: Website hosting services are subject to liability for fraudulent websites that they host. In many cases, a hosting service gets wind of a matrix website running on its servers. When this happens, an investigation is launched. Should the hosting service find the matrix website to be a liability, it will remove the site from its servers. The matrix owner sometimes finds a new hosting service and re-opens. Other times the matrix owner never opens again.

One way or another, you can now consider yourself a victim of a matrix scam.

-Why does Paypal freeze the accounts of matrix owners?

Paypal has recognized matrix schemes (as well as other "get rich quick" schemes) as potentially illegal, and a liability to them.

To protect themselves, Paypal will freeze the assets of any Paypal user that accepts funds via Paypal for a matrix site. Freezing those funds allows Paypal to refund victims of a matrix site that paid via Paypal. This also protects them from credit-card charge-backs.

-I've lost my money in a matrix site. Why should I bother filing a complaint?

Filing complaints with government authorities is the only way that word gets out about internet scams. If the government doesn't know that people are being defrauded, how can they stop it?

Complaints can be filed online in many cases. We even provide a complaint letter template for you to use! If you have been a victim of a matrix scam (or any other internet scam for that matter), take a few minutes and file some complaints.

Matrixwatch can't take on the matrix scam alone. We need you to help us get the word to the government that this is a real problem. When enough complaints have been filed, they will have no choice but address this epidemic.

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If you are an admin of an investment program and would like it to be reviewed in our newsletter, feel free to contact us by e-mail at bravehoststamps@yahoo.com
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Bravehoststamps (bravehoststamps@yahoo.com)
HI Newsletter