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Tag: shares

JBC, MCI Star Trader, CFS, GSI and Other Scam Trading Programmes

May 23, 2011 / / 1 Comment

A reader sent me a link to this video from the BBC programme Watchdog:

It is easy to feel that the people who bought this programme have themselves to blame. But that would not be fair.

JBC, CFS, MCI or whatever they are calling themselves since they last closed down and set up somewhere else under a new name, are very sophisticated. They have been doing this a long time. They provide professional looking literature, and refer people to ‘independent’ websites and magazines which have reviewed their product.

The problem is that the websites and magazines are fake, as is the software. This is a con.

I have written a number of previous posts about the JBC MCI CFS stock / share trading scam.

If you have been a victim of these conmen, please email me or comment.

I would very much like one of our Australian current affairs programmes to take a run at these swine.

JBC Global, CFS Live, ESL Trader Stock – Share Trading Scams

March 2, 2011 / / 393 Comments

I have written a couple of times about the JBC stock trading – stock market – share price prediction scam.

Nearly two years later, and after many complaints to regulatory authorities, they still seem to be in business.

JBC Global, CFS Live, and anything associated with them, are an outright fraud.

Some of the names given by its ‘senior analysts’ (telephone con agents) are: Paul Harvey, Chris Wallace, Mike Boyd, Bruce Jones, Scott Brennan, David Moore, Adrian Mathews, Gareth Hughes, Philip Duiker, Chris Davis, Danny Cook.

It is likely that these names are invented, as is the ‘senior analyst’ title.

JBC’s website is still active, but is now pretending to be wider than merely stock trading software. It claims to be a comprehensive business development group, offering software development, employment services, and project management. No matter where you enter your details on this site, you will receive a phone call offering to send you a brochure outlining JBC’s services.

This will be an impressive looking, professionally designed and printed brochure intended, like their website, to give an impression of wealth and stability. You will then receive a follow up phone call, offering you one of a very limited number of licenses. If you express doubts, you may be directed to scam websites which appear to review other, legitimate home business or investment packages, and which give glowing reviews, or even awards, to JBC’s program.

All of this is true of CFS cfs-live.com (I am not giving them a link). The same professional website, the same professional looking brochure, the same skanky con-men on the phone.

I suspect that cfs-live is simply a re-badged version of the JBC share price / stock prediction / share trading scam.

There are plenty of these swindlers around. The PCA (position cost averaging) system is another one, complete with its own fake independent review site at stocktradingeguide.com.

JBC and CFS are the stock trading scams which seem to be most active in Australia.

I am not sure why regulators and police seem unwilling or unable to do anything about these thieves. But as long as they continue to operate, ordinary Asutralians are losing their savings.

I intend to get in touch with A Current Affair or Today Tonight and suggest they do a story on JBC and CFS.

If you have been contacted by these groups, and would be willing to share your story, please add a comment using your correct email address (not visible to the public), or contact me – see my profile page for my email address.

Update:

CFS is definitely still active in Australia. I have received emails from a gentleman who spent $8900 in January to buy their programme. For $8900 he got a disk and a booklet, and a folder to put them in.

From his descriptions, the CFS package is identical to the JBC programme.

The software gives a points value to different stocks.  You are supposed to look at the points value and decide what to buy and sell.

The points value appears to be based on sudden movement of stocks up and down. For example if a stock has been stable for a long time and then suddenly drops, it will get a high points value – that is, a buy recommendation – on the basis that it is likely to come back up again just as quickly.

These are frequently very bad recommendations.

The recommendations are bad because the programme has no idea what is going on the real world. A stock that suddenly decreases in value usually does so for a good reason.

Stefan left this comment at one of the earlier JBC / CFS posts:

I’ve been contacted by a chris of cfs. He was trying to sell cfs end of day trading software. he gave me the websites gfmo.org homebusinessprofessionals.biz which have reviews of their software but the net has no links to these sites or to cfs which means they are all probably a bit dubious. His phone number was 1300 441 355.

GFMO and homebusinessprofessionals are  fake ‘independent’ websites, set up by JBC/CFS to reassure prospective buyers.

Referring prospects to fake sites to give an appearance of legitimacy makes it clear that the JBC or CFS packages are not  products offered in good faith.

Don’t fall for these scams!

JBC Share Trading /JBC Stock Trading Software

October 12, 2009 / / 21 Comments

JBC share trading software, JBC stockmarket tracking software, JBC stock trading software, whatever they call it, is a scam.

Hang up when they call. Run,  do not walk, to the nearest exit! Do not give JBC a cent of your money.

An email from a  friend:

I received a really nice, professional looking brochure from a group called JBC, offering a way to make a some extra income from home trading shares. Then I got a call from a guy called Christopher. It was all pretty convincing. I did a bit of research and didn’t find anything that said there was a problem. They gave me an ABN,  and have an impressive and professional looking website, so it looked like a legitimate business.

Eventually I agreed to buy, but said I would not authorise the purchase and deduction from my credit card over the phone. It was quite expensive. I asked for a tax invoice and a written guarantee. Once I had those things, and I said the invoice had to be dated in the 2009/2010 tax year, then I would either send a cheque or authorise a credit card transaction in writing.

Christopher said that there was only one license left for my state, that they were in demand, and if I wanted the license and software I would need to give my credit card details to hold it. JBC would not deduct any funds until I had the documentation and authorised the debit. That all seemed OK.

A few days later I noticed they had debited my credit card account with the full amount. A couple of days later I received the paperwork. The invoice was dated in the 2008/2009 year. I rang straight away, annoyed about the date on the invocie (which didn’t who any GST anyway) but more annoyed that they debited my account after I specifically told them not to, and they said they wouldn’t.

Christopher said he had come udner pressure from the directors because this was the last license, it was not fair to other investors to hold it, and so they had to debit my card to keep it for me. I could cancel the payment and get it reveresed, but the license would show in their system as available, and would be sold to someone else. He suggested I compete the paperwork, try the JBC software for a while, if I wasn’t happy they would refund my payment, or I could just my bank to do a chargeback.

I did this, and made a small profit in the first couple of weeks. But after that it just fell in a hole. I had about $4800 to invest in stocks. One of the companies the program told me to buy was delisted a few days later – $1200 gone. Another announced its intention to delist. $600 gone. Two others dropped to half their value a few days after the JBC program told me to buy them. After a month my $4800 was worth less than $2500.

I rang JBC to say I definitely was not happy and wanted my money back. The receptionsist said she would pass on my message. No one rang back. I sent an emal saying the same thing. No reply. A few weeks later I had rung JBC again and sent another email with no response.

I have asked my bank for a chargeback, and will complaint to consumer affairs. But even if I get the money I paid JBC for their dud trading program back, I have still lost over $2,000.

JBC advertise on Google with an ad that looks like this:
JBC
Make money with JBC. Proven Returns
Simple to use-Get the JBC Advantage
www.globaljbc.com

Make Money. Proven Returns. It sounds good. And their website does look impressive. But anyone can make promises, and anyone can write an impressive website. (Last time I checked, one of JBC’s ads appeared on this page, much to my amusement – please feel free to click on it – Google will pay me a few cents).

Potential buyers may be directed to a site called Sharesweek (I am not going to link to it) for an ‘independent’ review and recommendation. But Sharesweek is not a genuine publication. It is a fake website set up purely for the purpose of fooling people into buying JBC’s software.

The JBC share trading software package is a known scam. Genuine investment publications in the UK have warned about JBC for at least the last eight years. See Moneywise magazine for one example, under the heading Avoid This Investment Scam.

Update:

A reader notes that the International Stock Market Assembly is another superficially impressive fake web site, belonging to a fake organisation, which exists solely to give the JBC stock trading package an aura of credibility. I would be interested to hear from any others who have been caught in this trap. Comment or email me. If others have been caught in this scam, and are willing to provide details (not for publication) I will consider contacting the police.

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