iteam about GotMatrix?

[Dreamer]

Hi all,

I think ychen posted a story that the iteam ran in February. I emailed one of the people on it about GM and here was his responces to my email (which I posted). I tried to edit anything bad out, so mods feel free to edit it more for me.

If anybody can be of better help than me in answering his questions, please contact me and I'll forward you his email address. He gave me his phone number, but unless its WD, I really dont' want to give that away. He can provide it for you I"m sure.

Mods: I did not ask to post his email, so if you feel it is safest to remove it, than remove the emails. I am responding to his email now, I'll give him this link, and I'll remove it myself if he requests. I don't like quoting people without prior permission, but it looks like he wants to get this done ASAP. And, if a story comes out of it, I think it is in all our best interests to try to get it out ASAP so people know what to look out on the internet this holiday season. But, again, if you think I should get permission first, remove it without hesitation, and if he says its ok for me to keep it, than I'll repost it.

Shaun,
Can we talk by phone? I'm very interested in pursuing this. Where are you
located? Is anyone in your organization who would be knowledgable about this
be available in Ohio, Indiana or Kentucky, by chance?
You can reach me at (513) xxx-xxxx or through this email address. I'm
working on a story to air Wednesday, but after that can start working
immediately on this.

Thanks,
Hagit xxxx


> Subject: illegial dvd sales report
>
> Hi. I am a member of http://www.matrixwatch.org . This is a site
> dedicated to
> bringing attention of the newest version of the ponzi scheme to the public
> so
> people dont' fall for it.
>
> A matrix site is a site where you buy these worthless eBooks for $50-$200
> and
> up (I priced them as fair market value of $.01 - $.99 on eBay) so your
> name can
> get on a matrix list for a computer, a plasma tv, etc. So, lets say the
> plasma
> tv costs $4000 and it has an eBook purchase of $200. That means all they
> need
> is 20 people to pay for it. So, the cycle might be 25. Once 25 people
> sign up
> for the product, the first person gets it. After 50, the second person
> gets
> theirs. After 625, that 25th finally gets theirs. So, only 4% of the
> people
> will ever receive anything.
>
> Well, one of the biggest sites just disappeared last week after being open
> for
> 2 years. It is based out of cincinitti by a guy by the name of Greg Day
> using
> the name GotMatrix as his LLC. I think he took in over 1/2million running
> this
> ponzi and paid out probably about half that to cyclers.
>
> I think being that it is almost christmas, a story like this would be good
> for
> the viewers. If its too good to be true...
>
> Anyways, here is the thread that a member posted your article on. If you
> navagitate around the site, you'll see alot of angry people at this greg
> day
> and matrix sites in general. Our goal is to bring this new ponzi scam to
> the
> attention of many people so more people won't be suckered into it.
>
> http://matrixwatch.org/forums/showthread.php?p=15450&posted=1#post15450
>
> I'm sure the members would get a kick out of you making a post there even
> if
> you decide not to do a story like this. And if its a story that you might
> be
> interested in doing it, there are alot of dedicated members there that
> would be
> able to answer any questions you might have about GM or matrix sites in
> general
> so you can decide if its worth persuing.
>
> Thanks
> Shaun



Hi. I've had a chance to cruise through your links now to get a better idea
of what's going on.
Questions: You say the site disappeared last week, but I see posts showing
matrixwatch has been after them for more than a year. How did they stay in
business in that time period?
Also, how did you determine that Greg Day of Cincinnati runs this site? When
you say he's nowhere to be found, do you mean on the web or you think he's
split town?
Finally, is there any way to know how many people won prizes and how many
got ripped off in the two years?

Thanks again for your help,

[MatrixWatch]

I don't know anything about the iteam, so I would not be able to comment specifically.

[Dreamer]

no, not comment about the iteam. I'm sure they know who they are :P If you can help them with info on GM, greg, or anything relating to that. I mean i Have the basics down, but if somebody is really up to this maybe they can help the iteam and maybe they can bring light to these matrix sites before christmas.

[MatrixWatch]

Here are a few answers for now. I'm sure that more detailed questions will follow.

Questions: You say the site disappeared last week, but I see posts showing
matrixwatch has been after them for more than a year. How did they stay in
business in that time period?
Why would posts here at MW mean that GM should have been closed? Perhaps the iteam thinks that we are a regulatory agency of some sort. This is not the case. We are a consumer-watchdog group which also facilitates consumer action when needed. We pass the information we receive on to the government, the media, or other interested parties. Our hope is that we can inform the public and warn them against these scams.

Also, how did you determine that Greg Day of Cincinnati runs this site? When you say he's nowhere to be found, do you mean on the web or you think he's split town?
The only thing that anyone knows is that someone under the name "Greg Day" was running the GotMatrix since early 2003, and he was collecting some payments by mail with an Ohio address. There have been a couple different ones listed on the GotMatrix Payment page throughout the past year. By "nowhere to be found" means that his website, GotMatrix, is down and he has not come forward to offer any sort of explanation. He could very well do this, since he owns the hosting company which serviced GotMatrix.com.

Finally, is there any way to know how many people won prizes and how many got ripped off in the two years?
Yes there is. We have a statistics team here at Matrix Watch, led by "ycchen". The data has shown that there were hundreds of victims and hundreds of thousands of dollars.

[mercinary]

If the I-team is looking at our site, direct them here:

http://www.matrixwatch.org/forums/showthread.php?p=15407#post15407

We are trying to mobilize the community. While the administrators of Matrixwatch.org are not victims of gotmatrix, we are trying to help those who are.

-Merc

[mercinary]

I will be willing to personally call these folks since I am heading this movement up. Give me their phone # & email address?

-Merc