Banners Broker hired a PR person, Terry Stern to address the business model of Banners Broker, and to answer questions about Banners Broker. Here is his explanation of how Banners Broker works, and I quote:

“BB buys ad space from ad networks with the understanding that they’re going to package that ad space up and resell it to their network of affiliates. These packages contain panels, each panel has a certain value and each has a specific time period it will take for that panel to mature, some as little as 2-3 weeks and some take 5-6 months or more. Each panel also requires a specific amount of traffic to mature. Each panel also has 2 values, what BB paid for it and what it’s charging the affiliate for it.

As BB sells the panels through their packages, they require traffic for these panels to generate revenue, which BB purchases in order to service the traffic needs of the panels. In return for purchasing the panels, BB pays a dividend to the affiliate once the panel matures, however, that panel is generating live revenue as the panel is running from the ad network. So BB is generating revenue from the sale of packages to affiliates, as well as from the ad network for serving ads. The ads appear on the ad space BB has purchased from the Broker in the blind network, as well as on publisher sites BB has attracted. Whether BB has 1 site, 100 sites or 100,000 sites in their network, they’ve already purchased ad space through their affiliation with the ad network, and that ad space rests on sites within the ad blind network. So no matter what, there’s advertising that will satisfy the panel needs. Since BB is paid every 2 weeks from the ad networks they do business with, and the panels mature at staggered intervals, BB is constantly serving ads and generating income. Now, it’s understood no business will pay on its products what it gets paid to sell them, so BB reduces the amount it’s paid by the ad networks for that advertising so it can afford to pay its affiliates and generate a profit.

Now since it takes traffic to generate ad revenue, BB purchases bulk traffic from the ad networks as well, which generate upwards of 3 Billion impressions per day. Again, since no company will sell a product for what it pays, it marks up the cost of the traffic to resell to the affiliate, the difference of course is profit for BB, and as BB owns the space and ads keep running, this revenue flows to BB. As it takes impressions to activate panels, and impressions for panels to mature, those impressions or traffic must be purchased up front. Now, an affiliate isn’t required to use all their traffic up front, but they must purchase it up front, like a variety store can’t buy individual cans of soda, it must buy cases. Since the purchased traffic represents a specific amount, and since each panel requires a different amount to activate, traffic purchases are constantly being made, and since BB only pays for what it uses, there’s always going to be a surplus, which represents profit for BB.

So, if we look at things together, BB generates revenue from the banners placed in the space it purchases, and through the amount of time it takes for the panels (which is a virtual representation of an ad space BB purchased in the blind ad network) to mature, it generates revenue from the sale of traffic that it takes to activate those panels, and since it only pays for the traffic it actually uses, that’s where the revenue BB generates comes from. Since it pays less to the affiliate than what it earns from the ads, and (to use an analogy) it pays on the cans of soda used not the cases bought, there’s a surplus of revenue that represents profit that it can now turn around and pay its affiliates with while maintaining profitable growth.

Any advertising generated either through the site or through affiliates is passed through to the ad networks, BB takes a commission on that sale, and passes 10% to the affiliate for bringing in the business. When it comes to publishers (people looking to monetize their websites with ad revenue), those sites are added to the BB internal or “choice” network, and leveraged with the ad blind network to get better pricing deals. The affiliate is paid 10% of the revenue generated by the ads revenue to the publisher with BB and the publisher splitting the balance.

This is how BB works in a nutshell. We’ve already established what the Blind Ad Network is, and it can be easily researched. It’s easily discovered that these companies all offer the ability for companies to “resell” their products (ads and traffic) to other resellers. It comes down to packaging really and how these initial “resellers” package what these networks provide to them to add enough value to resell others.”

Now that you have read the explanation of what the official representative of Banners Broker has stated is how Banners Broker works, let’s now analyze this industry in regard to Banners Broker.

Before I go into the detailed analysis, I do want to address the banner advertising business industry.  The industry as a whole is shrinking at the rate of about 25% per year due to all the other types of advertising that are now available to an advertiser. This flies in the face of Banners Broker claiming their business is growing and will continue to grow in the years to come.  It simply does not compute. You cannot have Banners Broker expanding in a shrinking market, especially when Banners Broker is insignificant player in this market in the first place. Simply put, advertisers are moving into the newer forms of advertising and abandoning the banner advertising market.  In fact it is very possible the banner market will disappear within the next 2 years as a significant form of advertising.  I am sure there will still be some banner advertising done, but not at the levels Banners Broker must have in order to survive in this market. So the question is: How can you have a business that is expanding in a market that is shrinking?

Now let’s look at each part of Banners Broker and see if it passes muster as a business model that is generating the amount of business and affiliate payments they claim.  I am not going to address the ad-pub combo of Banners Broker mainly because it doesn’t exist. No-one has ever been able to purchase the publication aspect of Banners Broker business.

Banners Broker says:

“BB buys ad space from ad networks with the understanding that they’re going to package that ad space up and resell it to their network of affiliates. These packages contain panels, each panel has a certain value and each has a specific time period it will take for that panel to mature, some as little as 2-3 weeks and some take 5-6 months or more. Each panel also requires a specific amount of traffic to mature. Each panel also has 2 values, what BB paid for it and what it’s charging the affiliate for it.”

Banners Broker Panels:  Banners Broker has different color panels, and each panel has a different cost and days to cycle. They are: Yellow – 1,000 banner impressions Cost $10; Purple – 3,000 banner impressions Cost $30; Blue – 9,000 banner impressions Cost $90; Green – 27,000 banner impressions Cost $270; Red – 81,000 banner impressions; Cost $810 and Black – 243,000 banner impressions Cost $2430.

Now that you have seen the cost structure of Banners Broker panels, let’s compare them to the real world of banner advertising. For example, you can purchase 6 Million global ad impressions from Feedjit for around $49, but the same impressions would cost you around $18,000 from Banners Broker.  Feedjit is not the only company that provides the same number of banner impressions for about the same price, so Feedjit is not the only one in this price-range.

Next Banners Broker says, and I quote:

“As BB sells the panels through their packages, they require traffic for these panels to generate revenue, which BB purchases in order to service the traffic needs of the panels. In return for purchasing the panels, BB pays a dividend to the affiliate once the panel matures, however, that panel is generating live revenue as the panel is running from the ad network. So BB is generating revenue from the sale of packages to affiliates, as well as from the ad network for serving ads. The ads appear on the ad space BB has purchased from the Broker in the blind network, as well as on publisher sites BB has attracted. Whether BB has 1 site, 100 sites or 100,000 sites in their network, they’ve already purchased ad space through their affiliation with the ad network, and that ad space rests on sites within the ad blind network. So no matter what, there’s advertising that will satisfy the panel needs. Since BB is paid every 2 weeks from the ad networks they do business with, and the panels mature at staggered intervals, BB is constantly serving ads and generating income. Now, it’s understood no business will pay on its products what it gets paid to sell them, so BB reduces the amount it’s paid by the ad networks for that advertising so it can afford to pay its affiliates and generate a profit.”

Now let’s analyze the “blind network” that Banners Broker talks about above. One of the companies that is providing advertising for Banners Broker is a company called Choice Network. This “network” consists of five sites. Yes you read that right – five sites. But they were sites owned by Banners Broker. When questions were raised about the Choice Network, the answer was it was in Beta testing.  Now stop and think about that for just a moment. Here is an advertising company that claims it is doing over $100 Million Dollars a year in advertising, and one of their networks is in Beta testing?  Later Banners Broker said there were real advertisers on the Choice Network to prove Banners Broker was real. Well, in reviewing those ads, and yes there were ads from real companies, only they traced back to www.ox-d.bannersbroker.com where the server is owned by OpenX Technologies. OpenX is a powerful ad exchange that offers publishers the chance to sell their own inventory, or broker through the OpenX Market.

Another market is Clicksor. Clicksor is a reseller network to sell ads. Banners Broker said that Clicksor was one of their advertising platforms. Clicksor Reseller Network specifically states that it will only grant the third party access to its publishers, not its advertisers. So how would Clicksor do business with Banners Broker as a third party advertiser? But there is another problem with their claim they use Clicksor as an advertising platform, and it is this:  In the latest 2011 data, Clicksor’s parent company Yesup Ecommerce Solutions Inc posted annual revenue of $17.5 Million dollars.  And yet Banners Broker claims to have paid out over $100 Million dollars, by brokering through Clicksor.

Next Banners Broker says:

“Now since it takes traffic to generate ad revenue, BB purchases bulk traffic from the ad networks as well, which generate upwards of 3 Billion impressions per day. Again, since no company will sell a product for what it pays, it marks up the cost of the traffic to resell to the affiliate, the difference of course is profit for BB, and as BB owns the space and ads keep running, this revenue flows to BB. As it takes impressions to activate panels, and impressions for panels to mature, those impressions or traffic must be purchased up front. Now, an affiliate isn’t required to use all their traffic up front, but they must purchase it up front, like a variety store can’t buy individual cans of soda, it must buy cases. Since the purchased traffic represents a specific amount, and since each panel requires a different amount to activate, traffic purchases are constantly being made, and since BB only pays for what it uses, there’s always going to be a surplus, which represents profit for BB.

Banners Broker said that the ad networks generate up to 3 billion ad impressions per day, or up to 90 billion ad impressions per month.  Clicksor provides about 5 billion ad impressions per month, and Tribal Fusion, which is the biggest company in this market, has a monthly capacity of 20 billion ad impressions per month. Now take into consideration how many affiliates are in Banners Broker, multiply that number by the number of ad impressions they have purchased, and immediately you have a problem with the number of ad impressions per month that Banners Broker needs compared to the whole market.  Simply put, Banners Broker would need 100% of the capacity of Clicksor to supply the ad impressions needed by Banners Broker affiliates.

Terry Stern, as I mentioned, who is the PR man for Banners Broker agreed to answer questions put to him at the FinchSells Blog and also at RealScam.  Well, let me just say he answered a few questions, but refused to or ducked the most serious questions put to him.  You can read this interchange with Terry and Finch here:  http://finchsells.com/2013/01/29/banners-broker-qa-with-terry-stern/ and at Real Scam here:  http://www.realscam.com/f8/banners-broker-question-answers-1924/.

I think you will find both these Q&A sessions most interesting reading, and will shed more light on Banners Broker as to what it claims as to what it truly is to many of us a Ponzi. One of the major issues with Banners Broker from my perspective was when Banners Broker was launched, they declared it to be the first real straight line cycler doubler. A point that Terry Stern, nor anyone from Banners Broker wants to talk about or discuss.  But another troubling issue was Banners Broker showing a stock photo of their CEO Chris Smith being white, and then when introduced publicly Chris Smith was black. This is another question that Banners Broker will not address as to why this was done.

Now we are told that Banners Broker is a Direct Sales Organization. The affiliates must now write blog posts in order for part of their panels to mature. No longer is it a “passive” program as it was advertised from its inception.  They keep changing the conditions their affiliates must comply with almost as frequently as people earn frequent flier miles.

As of this writing, the Banners Broker website is offline due to maintenance and moving to new servers. Payment problems continue and are behind as they have been since late October of 2012. Banners Broker has had their MasterCard pulled by MasterCard. Many of the affiliates were pointing out that if Banners Broker had a MasterCard, this proved they were legitimate. Now the question can be raised if MasterCard pulled Banners Broker MasterCard, does this now mean they are not legitimate?

World Tours have been cancelled. The closure of the India office, and the ongoing legal problems have not been resolved as claimed by Banners Broker. The legal case is still moving forward. There is confusion if the new office Banners Broker announced would be opened in India is indeed open and operational. All their bank accounts are still frozen, so one has to wonder how they are operating legally. There have been reports on how Banners Broker is accepting new affiliates and paying their affiliates, but if true they are doing it illegally.  One has to wonder with the current legal proceedings still ongoing why they would risk violating the law now.

There is no doubt the next 2-6 weeks are going to be pivotal for all the affiliates of Banners Broker as well as for the company. I will conclude by saying it is now just a matter of time before Banners Broker folds or is shut down by the authorities.  There are rumors flying all over the place, which is normal when a website is taken down for an extended period of time.  Especially when it is a IT-type company as Banners Broker operates as in their claim of advertising. If there system is down, how are they buying ad space for their affiliates?

I have already made my decision, and it was made a long time ago as to the legality of Banners Broker.  But as for you: As the motto of Real Scam says, “Is it, or isn’t it? You decide.”

The world is becoming increasingly virtual and having an online presence is a must for most businesses. With cyber criminals lurking behind every pixel there is a wealth of advice and warnings about your online security, but while your back is turned, staring at the screen, there are still physical offline threats that are ready to mount an attack.

For small and medium sized businesses it can be difficult balancing whether to invest limited security budgets in online or offline security. Taking the time to evaluate your business practices and the direction of likely threats can provide valuable information on where to erect your defences.

Information is Key

Businesses revolve around the information they hold and the battlements should be high to protect it. This may mean safeguarding intellectual property, protecting confidential information, or defending communication links.

Although common sense can help to avoid some data breaches, such as lists of passwords left on desks, there are more hazards waiting to pounce than just careless employee mistakes.

That’s Confidential

Data on your customer base is invaluable for decisions regarding research and business development, and as such should be locked in the safe with your diamonds.

Effective online security is needed to protect from information theft. Hackers want to get their grubby little fingers on your confidential information, from customer credit card details to your own earnings reports. Businesses need to be on their guard and using proper malware and virus protection, to prevent malicious programs that enable the theft of data, money or both.

Although you may not want to think about dissention amongst the ranks, threats from within are also a real and significant possibility, no matter how small your company is. Limiting access to sensitive information can significantly reduce the likelihood of it getting into the wrong hands, whether through accident or intention.

This can be implemented simply and cost effectively with an ID card and scanner system that monitors staff access to areas and hardware. Associated software will be able to detect unusual patterns of activity that can’t be explained by erratic staff wanderings.

Security cameras in restricted areas can help to distinguish between intent and mistake but are most useful for picking out the pieces from the ashes, rather than preventing the fire in the first place.

Is it On or Off?

Companies are dependent on their computer systems, and loss of information can be significantly detrimental on both finances and reputation.  It is imperative that data is protected and backed-up!

One option is to store hard-copy backups in offsite locations, which is useful for businesses where specialist software is used. Alternatively, lots of companies are now turning to online backups, which are completed securely across the internet and stored remotely, and are impervious to threats from manmade or natural disasters – unless the world’s entire Internet system goes down of course, but that’s unlikely.

Disruptive Behaviour

Worms and viruses are no longer just something unpleasant that requires a trip to the doctor, but are now the most common threat to online security. They are becoming increasingly more destructive, leading to disruption to businesses, corrupted databases, lost information and angry customers. Firewalls and anti-virus software are a must for front-line defence from this flood of nasties.

Ensure operating systems are kept up to date as these automatic updates will include vital security patches, although be aware that new hardware and software releases are frequent targets for viruses and updates should only be permitted from trusted sources.

However, there’s not just the malevolent presence of hackers to be worried about but the hapless mistakes of your own staff. Viruses can be spread by employees opening malicious websites or unsafe email attachments, especially if all the computers are hooked up to the same network so viruses can spread between them. Staff training on best practice in these areas will take the load off your malware and anti-virus software, and is easy on the company wallet.

Online or Offline?

Although the number and sophistication of cyber-attacks is increasing, the traditional dangers to business security still have a very tangible sting in their tail.

When deciding whether to spend more on online or offline security consider that although hackers, worms and viruses continue to dominate the press, easily-implemented offline security measures shouldn’t be overlooked. As the fight is brought to your PCs and communication links, don’t forget to look behind you at that shifty-looking figure entering the server room.

Are you strengthening your business defences? How are you managing to balance online and offline concerns?  Join the debate here.

Banners Broker is a program that launched the middle of November 2010.  At the time of its launch, it was billed as the first straight line cycler doubler, a new way to double your money. As with many of these programs, Banners Broker launched on the major Ponzi financial forums, many HYIP Monitor websites, blogs and the minor Ponzi financial forums.

It was posted by Banners Broker to confirm this was the “first” straight line cycler doubler as follows:

First, let’s clarify the claim:

“There are MANY Straightline Programs out there;
There are MANY Cyclers out there; and
There are MANY Doublers out there.

However there is NO OTHER PROGRAM that combines these three concepts together to deliver a powerful, sustaining, MEGA PROGRAM! In addition, the manner in which we seamlessly have these three popular trends working in unison is a work of art. In fact, if you can show us another program that is a Straightline Cycler Doubler will roll-up Panels, we will transfer $10,000 into your AlertPay Account! (We are expecting copy-cats, so any program you find must be operational prior to November 2010)

All Banners Broker marketers can feel proud repeating our claim; we are TRULY THE WORLD’S FIRST STRAIGHTLINE CYCLER DOUBLER! And Second to NONE.”

1. The office address for the headquarters of Banners Broker was initially:

Banners Broker Canada
100 King St W, Suite 5700
Toronto, ON – M5X 1B8
Phone: (702) 605-7410

This is a business executive suite with a central receptionist for multiple companies renting an executive office space.

2. Then it was changed to
1019 Nelson St., Unit 8
Oshawa, ON L1H 8A7

…which was an office above an auto repair/body shop.

3. Registration:

Banners Broker International was registered in Belize initially, and then was changed to the Isle of Man in August of 2012.

May 2011 – Banners Broker tries to recover from their failed marketing efforts

In May of 2011, to help gin up support for Banners Broker, they made a major pitch on all their forums, blogs and other advertising outlets to obtain more members.  It was obvious their previous marketing efforts had fallen way short of expectations.

This was their new marketing campaign (and I did not change anything from their announcement):

“We have Launched the Banners Broker Doubler more than 6 months! Many have already doubled their money.  Promote any program you wish, and we blast out your affiliate link. 

What is Banners Broker all about?  Did you guess that it has something to do with Banners? Well you are right! Banners Broker is a marketplace to BUY and SELL Banner Ad Impressions.

When you BUY a Banner Ad Panel Package, you get to paste your Banner Link to ANY program you are promoting! Are you in a Travel Program? Health and Wellness? Discount Savings? Has the company provided you with Banners to promote with but you are not sure what to do with them? Well think no more… all you need to do is paste your Banner Link into our backoffice and we will virally blast your link over the Internet.   

You can promote up to 10 different Banners. If you don’t have Banner Links, then just simply add the text link with a caption.  You are buying impressions, so whether you are promoting 1 program or 10, it doesn’t matter. They all go towards your impression count. (“Impressions” means the number of times your banner is displayed on unique viewers’ computers. When Joe sees your banner, that is 1 impression, when Sally sees your banner, that is a second impression, and so on).  

The Compensation Plan!

Simply put that you can and will double any amount you paid for your Banner Ad Panel Package, there is a small requirement to double your money which is to generate two sales which is equivalent to 2 referrals but if you want you can Test the Waters; and they will allow you to double your money Twice without having to get any referrals or sales.  You can double your money Twice without having to Refer anyone or make any else. 

There are 6 different entry packages as shown below: 

*Time Frame for Cycle Doubling: 

Yellow Panel 7-10 days. 

Purple panel 14-18 days 

Blue panel 30-35 days   

Green panel 60-70 days   

Black panel takes about six months for 1 double. 

* These are Approximation to the time it would take to complete a cycle. It can take less or longer.” 

Banners Broker Fails Again

The growth rate for Banners Broker was very dismal for 2011. Towards the end of 2011, there were payment processing issues, system issues that caused a lot of consternation with its affiliates as to its sustainability and viability as a real business.  They continued to limp through the first few months of 2012, and then they decided they needed to revise what Banners Broker really was all about as a business model.

In May of 2012, Banners Broker re-defined their Straight Line Cycler Doubler and how Banners Broker worked as follows:

“Banners Broker (hereafter referred to as BB) buys ad space from ad networks with the understanding that they’re going to package that ad space up and resell it to their network of affiliates. These packages contain panels, each panel has a certain value and each has a specific time period it will take for that panel to mature, some as little as 2-3 weeks and some take 5-6 months or more. Each panel also requires a specific amount of traffic to mature. Each panel also has 2 values, what BB paid for it and what it’s charging the affiliate for it.

As BB sells the panels through their packages, they require traffic for these panels to generate revenue, which BB purchases in order to service the traffic needs of the panels. In return for purchasing the panels, BB pays a dividend to the affiliate once the panel matures, however, that panel is generating live revenue as the panel is running from the ad network. So BB is generating revenue from the sale of packages to affiliates, as well as from the ad network for serving ads. The ads appear on the ad space BB has purchased from the Broker in the blind network, as well as on publisher sites BB has attracted. Whether BB has 1 site, 100 sites or 100,000 sites in their network , they’ve already purchased ad space through their affiliation with the ad network, and that ad space rests on sites within the ad blind etwork. So no matter what, there’s advertising that will satisfy the panel needs. Since BB is paid every 2 weeks from the ad networks they do business with, and the panels mature at staggered intervals, BB is constantly serving ads and generating income. Now, it’s understood no business will pay on its products what it gets paid to sell them, so BB reduces the amount it’s paid by the ad networks for that advertising so it can afford to pay its affiliates and generate a profit.

Now since it takes traffic to generate ad revenue, BB purchases bulk traffic from the ad networks as well, which generate upwards of 3 Billion impressions per day. Again, since no company will sell a product for what it pays, it marks up the cost of the traffic to resell to the affiliate, the difference of course is profit for BB, and as BB owns the space and ads keep running, this revenue flows to BB. As it takes impressions to activate panels, and impressions for panels to mature, those impressions or traffic must be purchased up front. Now, an affiliate isn’t required to use all their traffic up front, but they must purchase it up front, like a variety store can’t buy individual cans of soda, it must buy cases. Since the purchased traffic represents a specific amount, and since each panel requires a different amount to activate, traffic purchases are constantly being made, and since BB only pays for what it uses, there’s always going to be a surplus, which represents profit for BB.

BB generates revenue from the banners placed in the space it purchases, and through the amount of time it takes for the panels (which is a virtual representation of an ad space BB purchased in the blind ad network) to mature, it generates revenue from the sale of traffic that it takes to activate those panels, and since it only pays for the traffic it actually uses, that’s where the revenue BB generates comes from. Since it pays less to the affiliate than what it earns from the ads, and (to use an analogy) it pays on the cans of soda used not the cases bought, there’s a surplus of revenue that represents profit that it can now turn around and pay its affiliates with while maintaining profitable growth.

Any advertising generated either through the site or through affiliates is passed through to the ad networks, BB takes a commission on that sale, and passes 10% to the affiliate for bringing in the business. When it comes to publishers (people looking to monetize their websites with ad revenue), those sites are added to the BB internal or “choice” network, and leveraged with the ad blind network to get better pricing deals. The affiliate is paid 10% of the revenue generated by the ads revenue to the publisher with BB and the publisher splitting the balance.”

Please note the major changes from when this first launched back in November of 2010 to what Banners Broker now is claiming they were all about in May of 2012.

I mentioned that Banners Broker had limped along from its inception in November of 2010 until the middle part of 2012.  We know this as it was announced on the blogspot that Banners Broker only had 50,000 affiliates at the end of May 2012.

In the middle of July 2012, came this bombshell announcement from Banners Broker:

“IMPORTANT INFORMATION 

Dear BB Affiliates, 

There comes a time in business where difficult decisions have to be made for the betterment and longevity of the organization. Kuldip Josun, our VP of Corporate Sales has been relieved of his duties and is no longer affiliated with Banners Broker or any Banners Broker partner companies. It has become apparent that the direction Mr. Josun wanted to proceed with is not the same vision of Banners Broker. Banners Broker is an online advertising company and will grow in the direction of providing online sales and marketing tools. 

We wish Mr. Josun the best of luck in his future endeavours.   

To address some important points, first and foremost, it is business as usual for all Affiliates, Leaders, Resellers and Independent Contractors.  Chris Smith is the sole owner of Banners Broker International since inception and is the sole signing officer for the Banners Broker International bank accounts.  As we continue to grow, Rajiv Dixit will be handling corporate sales for the interim, and we will be hiring a new on-the-road sales and presentation specialist for long term. Due to a breach of contract, Mr. John Rock is no longer assisting Banners Broker Canada with compliance and is no longer affiliated with Banners Broker or any Banners Broker partner. All decisions that have been made are final. 

We are extremely excited about the 2nd convention on Sunday, July 15th and we are expecting a huge crowd. This convention will be bigger and better than the first. Looking forward to seeing all of you there! 

Sincerely, 

Chris Smith, CEO Banners Broker International”   

Now what made this news even more newsworthy was Mr. Josun was listed initially as one of the owners of Banners Broker.

Banners Broker Secures A MasterCard. Affiliates Get Scolded.

In mid-July, Banners Broker announced they had secured a MasterCard that was issued through Vector Services. The purpose of the card was to offer another method of payment to pay their affiliates which would be faster than using the payment processors.  With this news, many of the affiliates began touting the fact that if Banners Broker had a MasterCard that meant that Banners Broker was being endorsed by MasterCard proving its legitimacy. This was to counter the growing voices claiming that Banners Broker was a Ponzi. It seems MasterCard did not appreciate this claim and this lead Banners Broker to release this announcement:

“TO: All Valued Banners Broker Affiliates 

October 1, 2012 

RE: Non Compliant Website & Marketing Verbiage 

URGENT NOTICE 

Hello all, 

We need your help and attention to this matter immediately.  Recently we have been informed by Vector Card Services, the providers of our Prepaid MasterCard, that there are numerous websites that have been promoting the Banners Broker program and its unique Prepaid MasterCard with verbiage and images that have not been approved by either MasterCard, Choice Bank Limited or Vector Card Services. 

We have been officially warned by MasterCard International and sanctions against our program may be imposed if our affiliates do not remove all unauthorised verbiage of the Prepaid MasterCard card. 

We take the promotion and marketing of our program very seriously and require every affiliate to adhere to our polices and guidelines. Communication and promotion of our products, services, and program needs to be reviewed by the Banners Broker corporate office before posting live. 

Our web compliance team actively scours websites for compliance adherence and we will immediately suspend your membership and all payments; until these impacted websites are removed or approved. 

Please help us by removing all mention of the Prepaid MasterCard program from your website until you have submitted it for approval. It’s a simple process, please send to Banners Broker’s corporate office (or your regional leader) the layout of any websites, marketing campaigns and/or brochures that you wish to utilise for the promotion of the program. We will endeavour to have these documents approved by MasterCard as quickly as possible. You can then officially post these documents back to your website. 

If you are not sure whether your website is compliant, please follow the same procedures to get it approved officially by MasterCard and Choice Bank Limited. Vector Card Services has committed to the quickest turn around for these approvals to reduce the impact to your business.

Your attention to this matter is urgent and vital to the success of our program.

Regards,

BannersBroker”

July 31, 2012. BannersBroker Limited Shuts Down

On July 31, Banners Broker announced that Bannersbroker Limited had shut down operations as a Reseller for Banners Broker International.  They also announced:

“Stellar Point Inc has been contracted to handle the support for Canada and Internationally. We welcome them aboard as our new Canadian Partner. All support services will remain unchanged.”

Banners Broker using its new definition of what kind of business Banners Broker was and how it worked soon ran into more payment issues.  In mid-September they also announced that any affiliate saying anything negative about Banners Broker would have their accounts closed and they would not get their money back.

In October 2012, Banners Broker announced a new comp plan with their release of BB version 2.6. Here is their announcement:

BB version 2.6:

“1) Traffic pack qualified panels will give 1/2 sales credit to inviter upon completion rather than full credit.

This means that anyone you have introduced who qualifies their panels using traffic packs you as the inviter, will only get half the sales credit. This is to encourage people to work with their teams to help them build their business and even help them with referring people

Currently if someone qualifies for example a yellow panel using their traffic pack you as the inviter get 2500 in credits. After upgrade to BB version 2.6 you will get 1250 (half)

In the future BB are bringing out an additional way to qualify panels alongside TPs

2) Traffic pack subscriptions will be automated

75% of your highest months TP purchases will be your monthly commitment

3) Auto admin fee charging – they have noticed that this has not been working correctly and they will be bringing it up to date The admin fees will be taken on the same date that you activated your package.

For brand new people joining if they activate their pack for example on the 15th September, there subscription will be taken on the 15th of October

4) Security layer – transaction pins and locked pages etc will be put in place

5) Automatic rollup Details are for Version 2.6 only. This will change in BBv3 it will be a bit different but for now it is as follows

If you have 10 or more unqualified panels of same colour dated older than 8 days, the system

Will automatically find them and roll them up when you visit the view panels page.

The panels need to be at least 8 days old for the auto-roll up to happen.

Example: if you have 100 unqualified yellow panels and you go to the view panels page It will automatically roll-up three yellow panels to one purple (if older than 8 days)

This will then leave you 97 yellow panels, if you then go to another page and come back to the yellow view panels page It will roll-up another 3 yellow panels to 1 purple

To avoid roll-up, DO NOT visit the view panel page.

Automatic rollup, will not roll-up panels that have already been rolled up from a lower colour

So if you have rolled 9 yellows to create 3 rolled up purples, the system will not roll those three purples to blue

Why 10 panels? next version BBv3 will have countdown timer and things will be slightly different and roll up will happen when you have 6 unqualified panels. This current version will roll up 3 out of 10″

Banners Broker Helps Themselves, Not The Affiliates

So basically they cut the earnings in half, which only benefited Banners Broker, not the affiliates. It also did not help their payment issues.  These continued up through the end of the year, but all was promised to be fixed with the release of their next new software come the first of the year.  Not only did they have payment issues, but the rotation of the panels had slowed to a crawl. If the panels do not cycle, the affiliates were not making money. They also made a lot of promises they did not keep and set deadlines to “fix” the payment and panel cycling that were not met. All of this adding to the confusion as to what was going on with Banners Broker.

Payment Problems Continue

They kept promising that the payment issues were being worked on and would soon be caught up. They made a big announcement that all affiliates who had submitted a withdrawal request by December 5th, would be paid by December 20th.

They also announced that Friday December 21st 4PM EST would be the last day the offices would be open and that they would reopen January 2nd. Support ticketing system would be offline during this time.

They claimed that the site would be monitored every day and that IT would be on top of things – and that if there were an issue with the site, they would still be here and this will be resolved.  They said that Banners Broker started 2012 with 1,000 members and had grown to 250,000+ members by the end of 2012.

Banners Broker Releases Another Bombshell In Their Last Update Of 2012

Another bombshell of a statement was also made in their last update of 2012, and it was this:

Banners Broker announced that Ian Driscoll’s UK’s independent contract had not been renewed, but the UK would have a new office in January located in Manchester. Now what was stunning about this announcement is that Ian Driscoll was touted as one of Banner Broker’s millionaires.  While they claimed there was nothing to be concerned about with this announcement, it still sent shockwaves through the Banners Broker affiliates.

Banners Broker’s Goa, Indian Office Gets Raided By The Authorities At The End Of Decemeber, 2012

But that was not the end of Banners Broker unsettling news for 2012. At the end of December it was announced that their Goa, India office had been raided by the authorities and the person in charge had been arrested and had charges filed against her. These charges still have not been resolved, and no word on a court date.

This is the end of the “overview” of Banners Broker, and next will be an in-depth review of Banners Broker, their claims of their business model and why it does not stand up to critical analysis.

Investing is one of the most well-known financial related activities. Absolutely anyone can get involved in financial investing, and the advent of the Internet has actually made it much easier for people to do so. The ease of use is an obvious advantage of online investing and research, and there are many other advantages as well. It’s important to note, however, that there are also some definite risks involved in this activity. You should take all the possibilities into account to fully understand the actual risk you face from online investing.

Advantages of Online Investing

There are numerous advantages to online investing, but the following are some of the most beneficial.

1. Real-time Stock Updates and News

One of the greatest things about investing online is the fact that a person can use programs, stock information websites, and even smartphone apps to get live information pertaining to their stocks. When a person chooses to invest in the stock market, this information can be the difference between making and losing thousands of dollars.

2. Speed of Investment

Another great benefit of online investment is the speed at which a person can operate. Individuals can make any type of business deal online with only the click of a button. This allows for quick action, and in the investment world, the ability to react quickly is absolutely fundamental.

There are also some distinct disadvantages related to online investing, and the following can actually prove detrimental.

1. Lack of Support

One of the largest disadvantages related to online investing is the lack of support a person has when participating in the activity. There are always going to be websites that offer “professional advice,” but this really doesn’t constitute a beneficial relationship between an individual and an investment professional. This lack of human interaction ensures that a person has no one to share ideas with or get opinions from.

2. Stock Fraud Hazards

Another huge flaw with online investing is the chance of encountering stock frauds. There are numerous frauds out there, and some are surprisingly simplistic to carry out. In September of 2000, for instance, a 15-year-old boy was fined for carrying out an illegal “pump-and-dump” scam.

A pump-and-dump con occurs when a person posts false information and undertakes other fraudulent activities in an effort to get people to purchase a certain, usually worthless, stock. That person then sells all of his or her shares once this valueless stock has unnaturally inflated. Once the “pumping” ceases from the criminal, the stock will usually return to its former low price.

There are other fraudulent stock activities that can be perpetrated against unsuspecting victims via the Internet. Online stock trading makes unsuspecting customers more likely to fall for “chop stock” investments where companies sell certain stocks for much higher than they’re valued in an effort to turn a substantial profit for the person selling them at the expense of naive customers. In worst case scenarios, a stock fraud attorney may even need to get involved.

Online investing has made it much easier for the common person to get involved in financial investing. This is a great thing for the economy in general, but it’s imperative for a person to recognize the risks involved in this type of activity. It’s not that the Internet isn’t a safe place for investing; it’s just the fact that if a person doesn’t take proper safety measures, they could be scammed. As long as you follow appropriate investing practices, you should be relatively safe online.

5 Things Businesses Should Know About The False Claims Act

As a business owner, it is crucial for you to know how laws affect your daily operations. From a financial and moral perspective, knowing these laws will often determine if your business will be a success or come under federal scrutiny. Unfortunately, each year, many business owners find themselves squarely within the cross-hairs of the False Claims Act, a law designed to catch business owners who defraud the government. With that in mind, consider the following:

1. Governments Contracts
As with any contract, you, as a business owner, are required to abide by the terms of any contract you agree to with the government. Because the False Claims Act strictly speaks to contractors who become involved with the government, it’s important for you to understand it. Essentially, you need to educate yourself and your employees regarding the Act itself and what practices it defines, bars and permits.

2. Blowing the Whistle
If your company is found to be in violation of the False Claims Act, it may be sued for its actions. Essentially, the law allows citizens to act on behalf of the government to sue companies that are engaging in fraud against the government. As a reward for doing the right thing, such citizens are offered a portion of the successful judgment, and these portions can be up to 30 percent. It’s important to know that someone like a Goldberg whistleblower attorney will be extremely effective in fighting to convict your business should you move against the False Claims Act. And also, keep in mind that money is a motivating factor in the decisions of many people, meaning you never know when an supposed trusted and loyal employee will turn your company in for illicit dealings with the government.

3. Disclosure
Prior to 2010, cases involving the False Claims Act were struck down if they involved public disclosure arguments, but today, such cases are allowed to proceed. What this means for your business is that you must disclose everything that you offer publicly to the government when the information becomes available. For instance, if you offer a special discount to a certain set of consumers, yet you don’t offer this same discount to the government, you must disclose this information or else your company may be in violation of the law.

4. Overpayments
In addition, your business must also report any overpayments by the government or you may be at risk of violating the False Claims Act. Overpayments might seem like a nice bit of extra money, but if someone reports you for them, you’ll likely be sued. When you are, you’ll not only need to reimburse the government for the overpayments, but you’ll also be penalized for violating the law.

5. Kickbacks
You need to realize that referring customers, vendors, or partners to governmental services that will benefit your business is a violation of the Act. If your company is intentionally directing customers to government programs for the purpose of making more money for your business, this is considered a kickback, and it’s illegal.

One of the best ways to defend yourself and your business from the potential for falling victim to the False Claims Act is to ensure that you and your employees are educated. In addition, you may consider partnering with a False Claims Act attorney to discuss your current business practices and government contracts. Even if you feel that all of your practices are legal, they might not be, and an attorney will be able to give you expert advice and direction to ensure your company’s success for many years to come.

Featured images:

•  License: CC by 2.0  image source

Saam Banai is a freelance writer and editor and advocate for legal and moral business practices. If you wish to educate yourself on the False Claims Act, or if you know of the illegal actions of a business, contact a Goldberg whistleblower attorney from the firm Goldberg Kohn Ltd. The attorneys at their firm are committed to aiding in the fight against defrauding the government, recovering as large a share of any recovery as possible, and protecting your rights.

Research shows that by 2 years old more than 90% of American children have an online history and, at 5, more than 50% regularly interact with a computer or tablet device. It is more important than ever to consider the relationship between the internet and our children. The internet can influence and change childhood, emotional growth, social development, educational prospects and we need to understand the risks.

The uptake of social networking in young children has increased rapidly over recent years and, with the development of sites such as Club Penguin and Webkinz, social networking is now being directly targeted at younger children. The worry is often of the dangers that can come with internet use and there is a tendency to want to stop children using the internet all together.

With adequate privacy settings, and an understanding of what your children are using the internet for, we can regulate the use of the internet. By taking an interest in what they are doing, just as you would for sport or homework, they will take it more seriously and try to meet your internet expectations. Teach them from an early age about privacy and their identity; that they need to protect their identity and not give out personal information, and also make sure they understand passwords and who to interact with online.

Research shows that there are risks but that we need to understand their severity. As parents we worry about the internet because of the unknowns and because, often, neither children or parents fully understand all of the risks out there in the online world. The basic fact is that the risks that are in the offline world exist in an intensified and often more accessible form online.  Research shows that it is everyday factors making children more vulnerable and that those children with offline vulnerabilities – such as no support from parents, poor relations with friends, or those who are simply lonely  – are extending this to an online vulnerability. It is the job then of healthcare professionals, social workers, teachers and parents to see this problem offline and extend their concerns to children’s online behaviour.

Considering that children as young as 5 or 6 are as familiar with the internet and computers as they are with toy cars or dolls it is now necessary to regulate the use of the internet in a reasonable way for your children. Some advice is to keep the computer in a family room and not allow computers in a bedroom. If the computer is kept in a family room then time spent on the computer will be seen as a family activity and you can keep an eye on it.

Social media etiquette and appropriate behaviour is now a part of something we need to teach our children. Teaching your children the correct etiquette for social networking, the appropriate behaviour when posting information about themselves, and what they are uploading is important. Research is showing that young people are regretting what they have posted about themselves by high school and a rise in cyberbulling relates to the information that is being posted about them.

Media and technology impact on children’s social, emotional, and cognitive development is only beginning to be studied. There is some indication that our over exposure to the internet might be linked to a limited attention span in children, a lower comprehension, poor focus, and lack of basic literacy skills. This is affecting children’s work habits, thought processes and how they feel so, as parents, we need to be taking better steps to improve our families internet safety.

Jane writes about internet safety for kids based on raising awareness to resources such as the Vodafone Parents’ Guide.

I want to provide you, the reader, with a little background about Eagle’s foray into the Iraqi Dinar debate.  When Eagle was launched online back in June of 2008, one of the first several inquiries we received was what we thought about the Iraqi Dinar, and what would we recommend regarding the purchase of the Iraqi Dinar as an investment.

It October of 2008 I wrote a commentary about our position on the Iraqi Dinar. In this commentary we pointed out that we did not see the Iraqi Dinar revaluating (the actual term for the Iraqi Dinar is redenomination) anytime soon, and we thought it would be at least 4-5 years in the future.  Needless to say that did not sit well with all the people buying the “Hype” being put out by the so-called Iraqi Dinar Gurus as well as the Dinar Gurus.  They were telling people they had to buy now as the Dinar would revalue at any moment in time.  They had their “inside” information that this was going to happen and soon.

Even though people wanted us to change our stance on our commentary, we told everyone we would not change our position.  If we were wrong in our assessment we would gladly admit it, but we did not see the Dinar revaluation happening in the near future.  We also told people that we did not see the Iraqi Dinar being a scam, as it is real currency, but as a sham. Our position was that the only ones who were going to make any money off the Iraqi Dinar were the so-called Iraqi Dinar Gurus selling the Iraqi Dinar. Needless to say we did not win any friends from the Iraqi Dinar Gurus at the time.

Then in 2010 we were again asked about the Iraqi Dinar, and if our position had changed since 2008.  So again we took another look at the Iraqi Dinar and advised people our position had not changed from our previous comments, but in fact we felt that it would be at least 2014-2016 before we thought any revaluation/redenomination would take place.  A position that again found us at odds with the Iraqi Dinar Gurus and the people who had bought into this being their road to riches.

Again we were met with derision and people claiming we didn’t know what we were talking about and not to believe us.  Now what was truly interesting is that from 2008 through 2010, all the Iraqi Dinar Gurus had been predicting the revaluation/redenomination at any time yet it had not happened.  But of course their pitch was to buy even more Iraqi Dinars because it would make anyone who did multi-millionaires.  When we pointed out that they had been 100% wrong, while we had been 100% right during these two years, it fell on deaf ears.

Now what we have found fascinating is that going on four years now, all the Iraqi Dinar Gurus have been predicting the revaluation/redenomination was going to take place at any moment.  They all claimed to have inside information that assured all the people who bought the dinar from them that this was true.  Yet absolutely none of their “inside information” was correct.  In other words, the Iraqi Dinar did not revaluate/redenominate from 2008-2010.

Now let’s fast forward to this year.  In the spring of 2012, we began monitoring the Iraqi Dinar Gurus and their claims.  What was truly amazing to us they were saying the exact same things they had been saying since 2008 and all claimed to have this “inside information” that the Iraqi Dinar was soon going to come through for everyone.  When asked what our thoughts were on the Dinar, we responded by asking how many times does a guru have to be wrong before they are no longer a guru?  Well, you would have thought we had attacked the Pope with the response we got.  Yet the bottom line is we have been right 100% of the time and they continue to be wrong 100% of the time.  In fact, they are still claiming this will happen any day now.

But now things have started to crumble for some of the Iraqi Dinar Gurus.  An 83-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Toledo naming Mr. Huebner, who is chairman of BH Group, which specialized in the sale of Iraqi currency; Charles Emmenecker, 65, and Michael Teadt, 66, was unsealed after the three men were arrested. All three men pleaded not guilty during their arraignments in U.S. District Court in Toledo.

Also indicted was Rudolph Coenen, 47, of Jacksonville, the owner of Bayshore Capital Investments LLC. He is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

According to the indictment, the men fraudulently marketed and sold dinars, the currency of Iraq, causing investors of the BH Group to lose nearly $23.8 million. They also are accused of selling more than $700,000 in nonexistent hedge-fund assets.

Bradford L. Huebner, 65, of 2936 Pembroke Rd., Ottawa Hills, is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and multiple counts of money laundering.

The sale of Iraqi dinar is not illegal. But the indictment said that beginning in August, 2010, the defendants falsely told investors and promoted through the Internet, email, and weekly telephone conferences that buying the dinar involved minimal risks because the currency was protected and regulated by the “Overseas Investment Protection Act and a presidential executive order, guaranteeing 90 percent reimbursement,” among other misrepresentations.

As reported by:  by Erica Blake and Nolan Rosenkrans, TOLEDO BLADE STAFF WRITERS, following on the heels of these indictments, a civil lawsuit was filed in Lucas County Common Pleas Court by two Texas investors against four men and their companies accused of a criminal scam involving the sale of Iraqi currency.

In the civil case, John R. Merritt and Arley G. Lee say they each purchased several thousand dollars of Iraqi dinar based on the representations of the defendants and that the defendants’ actions were in violation of the U.S. securities laws. Toledo attorney Thomas Pigott, who filed the complaint, said that he plans to ask that the lawsuit be made into a class action to cover all the investors who bought into the alleged scheme.

“Our case is different than the federal criminal allegations in that we are alleging violations of the federal securities act,” Mr. Pigott said.

In addition to the four defendants, the lawsuit specifically names Energy Savers Advisors LLC, which does business as the BH Group; Bayshore Capital Investments LLC of Jacksonville; Treasury Vault LLC of Draper, Utah; and Dinar Trade Inc., of Las Vegas.

Mr. Pigott has asked that anyone involved with any of these defendants involving the Iraqi Dinar contact him about becoming parties to the potential class action lawsuit.

So the question is, as I posited it in my title of this piece: Will the Iraqi Dinar be the road to riches or will it be the road to disappointment?

From our perspective, we believe that everyone who has fallen into the pitfall of believing the Iraqi Dinar will make all of them millionaires is not going to happen.  You see no-one knows what the true value to the dollar the Iraqi Dinar will be when it does finally redenominate/revalue.  We see this as another means that some people have taken advantage of the masses for their own financial gain, while leaving so many people devastated when the Dinar does not become the financial windfall they have been promising.  We have never believed the Iraqi Dinar was going to make millionaires out of anyone except the ones doing the selling.

We have been telling people all they have to do is go to their local bank and ask them about buying the Iraqi Dinar.  We also pointed out that the banks are not holing the amounts of the Iraqi Dinar that the Iraqi Dinar Gurus have been claiming all along. All you really had to do was read the banks 10K reports, or their annual reports. Since banks are publicly traded institutions, they have to disclose all their holdings.  The Iraqi Dinar is not one of them, no matter what bank’s annual report or 10K report you read.

We do feel sorry for all the people who bought into this hype and know there are some people who have been counting on the Dinar to get them out of debt.  Others have put themselves even deeper into debt counting on the Dinar to save them from financial ruin.  We see this as being the road to devastation, not disappointment.

Now let me clear, we have no crystal ball to know when the Dinar will actually redenominate/revaluate, nor what the rate will be.  It could happen at any time, but based on the conditions in Iraq we just do not see this happening anytime soon.  Our detailed analysis of the Iraqi Dinar can be read here:  http://www.eagleresearchassociates.org/IraqiDinar.php.

What we do know is that when the Dinar finally does its thing, there are going to be a lot of strained relationships, dissolved relationships, financial devastation to so many. We know there are people who have been ruined financially due to the false promise the Dinar was going to revaluate any day now over the last four years.

We truly hope that when the Dinar does redenominate/revaluate, that people who have invested in the Dinar will at least get back most of what they invested; or possibly make a little profit.  We do not see this making anyone who bought the Dinar becoming millionaires as hyped and promised by those selling the Iraqi Dinar.

The trickle becomes a torrent

However, just a few minutes each day is something that you can live with, even if you don’t necessarily condone or enjoy doing it. Life is full of little grievances like this that we just to do our best to ignore and carry on regardless. But what happens when the trickle becomes a torrent and you find yourself flooded with spam. It doesn’t happen often but when it does you can’t help feeling overwhelmed and like there is nothing you can do to stop it.

Rest assured, that there is a way to beat the spammers and stop your inbox getting drowned by rubbish. There are many spam prevention techniques that you can use to win the war on this tiresome email pest. Of course, you need to use your email every day, so the solution has to be a little bit more complicated than just logging out for good.

The right tool for the job

The first thing you can do is to use your email account’s spam filter. If you have an account with one of the big providers, these should be relative easy to use and quite effective. Just turn on the filter and you should stop a large percentage of the spam reaching your inbox.

If your email account is administered by your firm, then there should be systems administrators to help you try and block spam. But if you work for a smaller company this might not be the case. In which case it might be up to you to try and prevent the spam personally. Your first step is to use the filters but if you feel these really aren’t working it might be time to invest in some spam fighting technology. There are a number of open source anti-spam tools out there that are designed to spot and defend against spam.

Coming up for air

In the event you do get flooded, you need to utilise these tools to allow you the time to clear out your inbox and get back to doing your job. The last thing any of us needs in the modern world is to have to take up valuable time fighting a battle against spam without the tools necessary to beat it.

Tracy Smith

Junk mail, the bane of my inbox

Some companies are being extremely unethical when it comes to online review sites. No matter which review site you’re visiting, the reviews are supposed to be honest reviews from real customers. But some companies are posing as customers and creating their own online reviews, either to make their business stand out or to make their competition look bad.

That’s right. Some businesses want to earn those good reviews so badly that they’re writing their own fake reviews. But what these companies fail to realize is that if they get caught writing these fake reviews, there are many consequences to be had.

You will disappoint your customers.

First and foremost, if you’re caught writing a fake review, you will extremely disappoint your customers. If you need to write a fake review for your business, it means that your business must not be that great to begin with. By writing a fake review, you’re lying and telling your customers that your establishment is wonderful, and when they visit your business and don’t have a wonderful experience, they’ll be disappointed.

Your business page will get banned.

Online review sites are taking matters into their own hands and looking for signs of fake reviews. If your company is caught with fake reviews, you run the risk of being banned from using the review site. Sometimes this ban may be very temporary, and other times it can be permanent.

Your business will no longer be trusted.

When you’re caught writing fake online reviews, people will stop trusting you. This means that your customers will look down on you, and other businesses will look down on you. It will be very hard for you to climb your way out of the hole you dig yourself into, and it will be even harder to get people to come back to your establishment.

You can lose your ranking.

You may not know this, but your online reviews affect your search engine ranking. If you’re caught writing fake reviews, you could drop in ranking. If the review site removes your listing, that’s less keywords and less backlinks leading to your website. If it doesn’t remove your listing (of if your ban was only temporary), your page will now be flooded with complaints and negative reviews based on your lack of ethics, and these negative reviews will also harm your ranking.

You can be fined.

Online review sites may be banning you from their listings, but the FTC is taking the fake review crackdown a bit further and fining companies who are found guilty of posting fraudulent reviews. And they’re not cheap slap-on-the-wrist fines either. These fines are averaging out to be hundreds of thousands of dollars, and if you don’t have that kind of money to throw away, you may want to avoid writing the fake reviews.

Though writing fake online reviews may be tempting, the risk is too big to take. If you get caught, you can do major damage to your online presence and your brand, and you may not be able to fix it.

The digital or electronic signature is powerful technology that uses a combination of private and public software to encrypt documents. You attach your personal key to the document and send it off. The recipient then checks the document when it is received and verifies it has not been altered and is from you the original sender. If any alterations have been made while in transit the document then comes up as unauthorized. This improves business security, is completely legal and if done the right way can be the future of sending and receiving documents both internally and externally.

Are they legal?

The validity and legal constraints of using a digital signature to enter into contracts has been approved since 2000. To be legal they must meet a few requirements. Each signature must be unique to the person signing them. Using a password, public key number or receiving the document through a secure password protected provider like an email account is necessary. When the document is signed it must be secured by a tamper seal ensuring that no one can alter the document by locking it. Doing this helps prevent fraud and ensures that document is legally sound.

Advantages of Digital Signatures

The advantages of using digital signatures is very enticing for businesses. The ability to turn around contracts much more quickly than traditional sign and wait procedures is a big advantage if you have to wait for signature to get started on a project. A contract can be sent and signed without using the postal system and risking lost documents in the mail. Each party, both sending and receiving, are ensured of the validity of any document sent using electronic signatures. Finally when using digital signatures you can eliminate the use of pen and paper to sign contracts. This is a great cost cutting service for any business especially startups. The average cost of printing, signing, packaging, sending and verifying a document is roughly five dollars. Think of how many documents you sign each year and the cost can be in the thousands of dollars for each employee. In the case of health care or legal businesses the cost of signing each document can be significantly higher.

Future of signatures

In a world with instant downloads waiting for things like a book from Amazon can seem like it takes forever. Signing, sending, reviving, and sending back contracts and other documents will soon make us feel the same way. It takes too long and costs too much just to send a document. Add the expense of sending document overseas and the thought of not going electronic is a bit silly. As the cloud becomes more widely used it would be wise to implement electronic signatures into your new ventures now and save the trouble of upgrading later on as their use becomes more standard.

Conclusion

Simply signing your name on an electronic tablet, phone, or ups device is not the same as a digital signature. The electronic signature has a secure encryption attached to each user that cannot be duplicated. It is time stamped and can be verified on the receiving end to ensure quality control. Every person in your organization will simply be assigned a personal key they use when sending documents. Security in your organization is paramount for success in the coming years. Using digital signatures will give you the peace of mind that you are saving money and securing your documents.