A 'Muppet' tried to scam me

This fictional scammer takes his name from one of the Muppets. But the scam is no laughing matter.

I have said this before, but there are times when you don't know whether to laugh or cry. Now, following an email sent to a lovemoney.com colleague who passed it on to me, I know I should be doing both at the same time. I'm laughing because the contents are so ridiculous. And I am crying because some innocent will lose serious money.

It starts: “If you're tired of playing the market for mediocre gains then you should read on. I'm Mike Statler.” Mike then goes on to list a previous share winner.

The scammer that doesn't exist

The first problem - of many - is that Statler does not exist. No one has ever found a photo and a check on Linkedin throws up six men of that name, including a US navy officer and a Pennsylvania hotel manager. But there are no Mike Statlers in share-tipping, which is odd because almost everyone in finance has a page on this site.

A small print disclaimer says: “Mike Statler is a fictional name. The actor writing and performing under this name was compensated solely on a contract basis for participating in this campaign, therefore is not an employee or a shareholder in any of the securities mentioned in this video." There's a sense of humour here, however. Statler, who does voice-overs share plugging videos, is the name of one of the Muppets.

This makes “Statler's” claim to have invested $15,000 of his own money in his new tip dubious. If he does not exist, how can he buy?

“Statler” also has a sense of the absurd. He warns not to expect too much: “If you are interested in making a quick gain overnight, this is not for you.” But he then goes on to say the stock pushed “should go up more than six times from current levels. If you're serious about buying my new tip PRFC and you are willing to hold a few weeks and see magic happen then you're definitely at the right place.”

So there are no quick gains overnight, but there will be more than six-fold increases in a few weeks – conservatively as long as a month. That's plenty fast enough for me!

The last 'winning' tip

There is some more humour - for “Statler” and his pals, at least - in a previous share tip. In a torrent of emails, he recommended the very grandly named Pan Global Corporation. Its shares stood at $3 last April. Now they trade at just over 20 cents. At its height, it had a market value of $320 million, yet it had no assets, no turnover and obviously no profit or dividend payments. It has produced a flood of press releases - 16 in the last three months – mostly on its “small hydro-electric plant” in northern India. Unusually for press releases, not one contains the name of a human being.

“Statler” certainly loves email. In a previous pump'n'dump, “he” sent 31 messages in just three weeks for a stock whose promoters paid $1.1 million to a marketing company. Spamming skills do not come cheaply.

The current 'tip'

The current “Statler” stock is Epcylon Technologies, which runs under the symbol PRFC. Apparently the company “makes indispensable software that powers the back-end of mobile gambling platforms. You can buy lottery on your smartphone, spin the roulette, enjoy blackjack or even play a game of poker. All this from your iPhone or android phone. This is absolutely revolutionary and as we get closer to complete legalization of online gambling in America this little gem that is PRFC could soar dramatically. PRFC (or Epcylon Technologies if you prefer) is going to work wonders for my subscribers' portfolios.”

Well, that's not the way Epcylon, based in Toronto, sees it. With millions of pump'n'dump emails sent late last week, it issued a warning earlier this week.

This read:

Epcylon Technologies, Inc. (OTCBB:PRFC) ("Epcylon" or the "Company") has become aware of recent "spamming" and / or "spammers" that have identified Epcylon as a "target" to manipulate its share price.

Epcylon and management takes the following position:

• Epcylon has NO involvement in such activities

• Epcylon has NO knowledge of the author(s) of this "spam"

Epcylon's senior management has discussed the facts and circumstances directly with OTC Markets in regards to this unwarranted "spam" solicitation. Epcylon regrets that such unscrupulous action has been perpetrated by an individual / group of individuals.

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