California Attorney General sues YTB for being Illegal Pyramid
YTB (Your Travel Biz) faces legal actions from California Attorney General Jerry Brown for being an illegal pyramid scheme.
Ca. Atty. Gen. Brown Sues To Topple Online Pyramid Scheme
LOS ANGELES–California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. today sued YourTravelBiz.com for operating a gigantic pyramid scheme that recruited tens of thousands of members with deceptive claims that members could earn huge sums of money through its online travel agencies.
“YourTravelBiz.com operates a gigantic pyramid scheme that is immensely profitable to a few individuals on top and a complete rip-off for most everyone else,” Attorney General Brown said. “Today’s lawsuit seeks to shut down the company’s unlawful operation before more people are exploited by the scam.”
YourTravelBiz.com and its affiliates operate an illegal pyramid scheme that only benefits members if and when they find enough new members to join the scam. Once enrolled, members who join the pyramid scheme earn compensation for each new person they enlist, regardless of whether they sell any travel. The company lures new members by offering huge income opportunities through online travel agencies yet the typical person actually makes nothing selling travel.
According to company records there were over 200,000 members in 2007 who typically pay more than $1,000 per year–$449.95 to set up an “online travel agency” with a monthly fee of $49.95. In 2007, only 38 percent of the company’s members made any travel commissions. For the minority of members who made any travel commission in 2007, the median income was $39.00–less than one month’s cost to keep the Website. There are at least 139,000 of the company’s travel Websites, all virtually identical, on the Internet.
YourTravelBiz’s extensive marketing materials include videos of people driving Porsches and other luxury cars, holding ten-thousand dollar checks, and claiming to be raking in millions of dollars in profits. The company advertises through its Website www.ytb.com, and at conventions, workshops and nationwide sales meetings which have been held in California locations such as Los Angeles, Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego.
Brown charges the company, its affiliates, and the company’s founders J. Lloyd Tomer, J. Scott Tomer, J. Kim Sorensen and Andrew Cauthen with operating an “endless chain scheme,” an unlawful pyramid in which a person pays money for the chance to receive money by recruiting new members to join the pyramid. Brown also charges the company with unfair business practices and false advertising practices including:
* Deceptive claims that members can earn millions of dollars with the company
* Operating without filing legally mandated documents with the attorney general and the Department of Corporations
* Selling an illegal travel discount program
Under California’s unfair business practices statute, the company is liable for $2,500 per violation of law. Attorney General Brown is suing YourTravelBiz.com to get a court order that:
* Bars the company from making false or misleading statements
* Assesses a civil penalty of at least $15,000,000 and at least $10,000,000 in restitution for Californians who were ripped off by the company.
From August 6 through 10, thousands of members are preparing to travel to St. Louis for a national convention to learn new techniques to recruit more victims into the illegal pyramid scheme. Last year at least 10,000 people attended a similar national conference. For more details on the company’s plan to perpetuate its scheme visit:
http://www.yourtravelbiz.com/bizRep/BizReports/BIZREPORT_07-18-08.htm
For more information on pyramid schemes visit:
http://ag.ca.gov/consumers/general/pyramid_schemes.php
Any consumers who believe they have been bilked by YTB should send a written complaint with copies of any supporting documentation to:
Office of the Attorney General
Public Inquiry Unit, P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
Or through an on-line complaint form:
http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL.
Today’s lawsuit against YourTravelBiz.com, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court today, is attached. The lawsuit also names affiliates which include YTB Travel Network, Inc., YTB Travel Network of Illinois,Inc., as well as the company’s founders J. Lloyd Tomer, J. Scott Tomer, J. Kim Sorensen and Andrew Cauthen.
Duration : 0:1:55
[youtube pyJ1qigBJqI]
despicable me toys
bulldog costume
Cleaning Venetian Blinds
Comments are closed.
What ever floats …
What ever floats your boat. I’m not going to debate history with you. How pointless is that! It happened! Get over it! I think that the record speaks for its self. So…Good luck with YTB and all it’s problems. It’s not for me. I’ve got better things to do with my life.
Mark, I finally …
Mark, I finally received a response from you. As I expected, you continue in a feckless rant in which you site inaccurate and baseless accusations. Your claims regarding any difficulty for YTB to operate in California are laughable at best. California is booming! YTB is ranked 26 in the world by Travel Weekly! That’s right, IN THE WORLD!! Carnival cruise lines pinnacle award 4 years in a row? Put down the crack pipe and slowly back away!
Wow! Linda! You …
Wow! Linda! You must know something that no one else does! I have some swamp land to sell you…. and a couple of bridges! No need for more videos.
Conserv8ive…. you …
Conserv8ive…. you need to get a life buddy! Stop defending mlm scams that have major legal problems!
Perpetuating lies? …
Perpetuating lies? You need to catch up! YTB settled with California for millions of dollars…and California has made it nearly impossible for YTB to do business in the state. For the record…. I never joined YTB. Everyone should move on!
Mark, why do you …
Mark, why do you keep perpetuating these lies? YTB is still going strong in California, and COLORADO! Sorry, buddy, you need to move on!
YOU have a sick …
YOU have a sick sense of humor Mark. You think you have it right in attacking YTB by calling it a pyramid? Do you know what a pyramid is? Your videos are a comedy in and of themselves. Your perspectives are a series of jokes, feckless jokes, but jokes none the less. Give up this sick comedy of errors and stop attacking a business you can’t beat no matter how hard you try.
YTB IS THE BEST …
YTB IS THE BEST COMPANY OUT THERE! Im sure you have anout ten more videos you want to post about how “bad” YTB is. What do u do for a living? Yea focus on that!
YTB settled the …
YTB settled the lawsuit with California for being a pyramid scheme by paying the state a million dollars and paying money to ripped off customers. They also have to adhere to very stiff rules, that make it very very hard for YtB to do business in CA. They also have been slapped with more lawsuits from other states. They are losing money and people fast. If this is your idea of the “best” business, I’d hate to see the worst. Thanks but NO THANKS!
You have a sick …
You have a sick sense of humor Linda. Why do you laugh at people getting ripped off?
LOL… Funny video!
LOL… Funny video!
YTB Is the BEST …
YTB Is the BEST Business on the planet! People need to stop exerting so much energy on YTB , go about your own business if you aren’t interested. Why FOCUS so much of your time on YTB if it isn’t a threat to you? Shows how much we “YTB” burn so many people! By the way, California “law suit” only made YTB better! We will get sued again and again and again just like the large companies “Microsoft and Walmart” do. But we are unstoppable…!
It’s all cleared …
It’s all cleared and was not found to be a pyramid scheme! I am part of YTB and love it!
YTB Paid a …
YTB Paid a $1,000,000 fine and is BANNED from California until they come into compliance. Yeah YTB “won”
Things did not go …
Things did not go well for YTB in California. The settlement is very restrictive. Very hard for YTB to do business in CA. And with a hefty fine.
now Illinois (their home state) is trying to shut them down.
Thank you! I just …
Thank you! I just called them looking for a job, they told me about it and I started googlig youtube. Thank you for the information….
First of all, as of …
First of all, as of today date, no agreement has been reached. And… when and if an agreement is reached, it doesn’t change my position at all. I still don’t recommend YTB. They would have to make major changes before I would recommend them.
I would say that …
I would say that you need to check your sources. According to the Attorney General, it is not over. And then, I would wait to see what they agreed to before I would start celebriating a victory.
The lawsuit is over …
The lawsuit is over. An agreement has been reached. YTB is not only still going, but they’re still growing. What does the “expert” MarkEwing33 have to say?
I went through this …
I went through this entire, ridiculous thread. I just have one question. Now that an agreement has been reached and the lawsuit is history. What do you have to say now Mr. Mark Ewing33?
Great video. …
Great video. Thanks for being a voice of reason in the MLM craze. It seems like scam artists are taking every opportunity to either scare or excite people into trying to make “easy money” by scamming their friends and family.
I think it’s funny when people use the “my friend or I made big money in this” argument. They made the money by scamming their friends and family who probably all lost money. You can make a lot of money selling crack, but that doesn’t make it right.
I can think of much …
I can think of much better things to spend thousands of dollars on than a gigantic foam statue, Statue of Liberty or not. What the is wrong with them??!!
California is broke …
California is broke and they need the money
Microsoft was never …
Microsoft was never sued for being an illegal pyramid scheme. That is a big difference. YTB is being sued for being a scam. Microsoft was sued for being a monopoly.
So what? Microsoft …
So what? Microsoft has been sued on hundreds of occasions and look what happened. You get to complain about a company on your computer which was engineered by a successful company that was complained about.