Chat to Text facebook app MLM - Caveat Emptor

[Josh Anderson]

Hi Guys,

I got contacted about some facebook app with a multi level commission program that appears to be using paypal as the payment processor.

This app is called Chat to text.

1. At first glance this app function looks like a neat idea.

2. Multi-level affiliate programs are prohibited by paypal.

This could be a problem for promoters of this MLM and the owner since any paypal account associated with an MLM is likely to be shut down.

3. Business opportunities are also prohibited by paypal. This app is being marketed as a get rich quick scheme.

4. There are a myriad of other potential problems ranging from Facebook tos, federal Network Marketing financial reporting laws, whether the referral program is actually legal or not etc.

This may be a legit business model and a cool idea... or it may not. But it looks like it has some essential flaws in its foundation. So if you are going to invest your time and money into promoting such things...

Be careful and do your due diligence. I notice some warriors already promoting this.

Caveat emptor.

[Martin Luxton]

Josh,

I got a few promotional emails about it, too. After having a closer look, I decided to steer well clear.

Martin

[Jason Moffatt]

This got shut down a bit ago by Facebook.

Violation of TOS.

The spam was getting out of hand. And anyone running a multi level thing with Paypal is just asking for troubles. (And yes, that includes 2nd tier commissions as well)

[Destin Cribbs]

Yea it got shut down REALLY quick, but for the amount of spam I got about it it was hard not to take notice

[elvanvitar]

Anyone know how many members they ended up getting before it got shut down? They were a little under 5000 Sunday night.

[Alex Sol]

Over 18,000 sign-ups in less than 3 days... almost $110,000 generated by the creators... than BANG! Shut down.

I wouldn't be surprised if they had a "No Refund" policy

[Josh Anderson]

Shut down eh?

I feel bad for the poor sots who started this one up and did not think about the fact that they would likely be shut down in just days and face huge repercussions in massive refunds, charge backs, and of course the inevitable frozen paypal accounts that will ensue.

But how hard could it have been for the creators to open their eyes and realize they were setting themselves up for a massive "fail" from the start?

Who knows... maybe if they were a little smarter and did not add the get rich quick mlm scheme to it the app could have been something that they could monetize in a legit and sustainable way.

It's like watching a moth fly into flames but reading what's on the site here is an absolute joke:

http://www.chattotext.com/

Reminds me of so many other pyramid schemes to die before it where the members and owners just can't seem to grasp when its over its over.

[Kevin Riley]

Too bad. It looked to be a good idea. But, then it turned out to not work with my Japanese cell phone anyway.

I'm out $6. How will I feed my family? The hamsters are already looking hungry?

C'est la vie

[Barry Goss]

The "Ah shucks .... come on, let's show these guys" (facebook ) message they have on their HOMEPAGE ( CONTACT FACEBOOK! ) is ab-so-lute-ly for Comedy Central.

Holy @#@^ ..... a true case of techo geeks with no business sense.

A bonafide real-life case of how "HYPE is designed to recruit you, not inform or educate you." ( a la Len Clements )

Even when this App developer (developers) are holding on with one last breath, they're saying things like, "Just imagine how much money you can make if collectively we can convince Facebook to keep us going."

Check out their homepage !

LMAO !

A lesson for anybody in MARKETING: sell the virtues of your product and let its benefits do the talking. If people wouldn't use what you got WITHOUT a commission check attached, move on and make, sell, or market something else.

[Always-A-Warrior]

I was only in it for the texting.

Oh well $6 gone.

What's next?.

[Alex Sol]

ChatToText call themselves the "New Facebook Pyramid Scheme"...

Well what exactly is a pyramid scheme and why Facebook and Paypal do not allow it:

"A pyramid scheme is a non-sustainable business model that involves the exchange of money primarily for enrolling other people into the scheme, often without any product or service being delivered.

"Pyramid schemes are illegal in many countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Canada, Romania, Colombia, Malaysia, Norway, Bulgaria, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Nepal, Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Iran, and the People's Republic of China. These types of schemes have existed for at least a century." [from wikipedia]

Yes... ILLEGAL. Facebook or/and Paypal will not allow such application for that simple reason. The creators of the application will be lucky if they won't face criminal charges and a fine of a few $100k.

[SteveHachey]

It is my understanding that it has now been shut
down. Someone made some fast cash in the run
of one week. Hype, Hype, Hype...it will get them
everytime. It was only $6.00 but it will leave a
black mark on MLM.

Cheers
Steve

[bouncerhrc]

Chat to Text claims they'll still payout any commission earned in the first few days. I'm interested to see if that will happen at all. It would at least get me a few extra dollars back on top of my $6.00.

[bouncerhrc]

I just received this email, for anyone interested in what Chat to Text has to say:

Good morning James ,

Please read the update at (cant post links) then post at (cant post links)


Let's put the pressure on to bring it back!

We really appreciate your patience while we resolve this with Facebook. We
are not hiding, we are not going anywhere. We are doing everything we
possibly can. We have emailed Facebook many times, called them many times,
found employees that work for Facebook and emailed them and messaged them
on Facebook.

Facebook's offices are in California, so they are not even up yet (it's
early there).

Please post here:

(cant post links)

We fully read and reviewed Facebook's Terms of Use many times, and had our
lawyer do the same with a fine-toothed comb. We have spent months of very
hard work and tens of thousands of dollars creating this application that
was in complete compliance with every Facebook rule.

But they pulled a Goliath and disabled the app. And gave absolutely no
reason whatsoever. Did we threaten them because we finally found a real way
to make money with Facebook, where they have been struggling? Do they just
want a piece of the pie? Time will tell.

This just happened last night, so let's put the pressure on Facebook to
bring it back!

Sincerely yours,

Shawn Pringle
(cant post email addresses)

[realestate1022]

If they built a strong foundation being aware of the TOS for facebook and paypal and made some changes. they could have been around a long time - in the mean time made some serious money.

but alas it was annoying and not going anywhere - not for me.

I could be totally wrong here of course but I’d rather not be the person out promoting the latest junk all the time. I’d rather be the person who people trust because I don’t promote every junk program to come to me in email.

[PassiveCashGal]

It is actually a very good app but you would think they would look at FB TOS and get FB buy-in prior to launching. It would have been so much better if done properly and I typically always ignore all of the new opp emails, etc..But I'm sure getting a LOT of traffic to my blog as a result so I'll take that!

[appsrus]

I don't understand what this app did? Can someone explain please...

Also, I understand what they are doing is in violation of multiple TOS, but after seeing the message they are broadcasting to their members, why wouldn't the developers simply launch a new copy of the app and direct the users there...? FB cannot block access to their API without banning your entire domain/IP, in which case all it would take is a new domain on a new IP and a new account and the app could be back up and online, and their scam would be continuing.... These guys really aren't that bright....

An app doesn't have to be 'approved' to be used by FB users... This is exactly how people are consistently making $1000+ per day with simple Gift apps that have 'illegal' things like porn gifts or drug gifts in them. I know some people who make an absolute KILLING doing this.

The apps are created and promoted a bit to get things rolling, and never submitted to the app directory for approval... once some users start using the apps they will grow themselves that point thru the viral features and integration points with FB to the point where they are making ridiculous amounts of money each day. Eventually FB will catch on and delete the app, but in most cases won't ban your IP and sometimes won't even delete your Dev account. When the app is gone, simply rinse, and repeat... The entire process of getting an app like that to the point of earning even just hundreds of dollars a day can be done within 1-2 weaks, so with a few dif accounts, domains/IPs and a couple copies of the same app, it's quite easy to get consistent earnings with even the simplest app Of course, these 'taboo' apps will always grow more quickly than 'legit' ones, but even apps that don't violate the TOS are pretty damn easy to make money with....

By the way I sincerely do not run porn apps on Facebook. I am much more classy than that, but it can be done very easily if you don't mind pushing that kind of stuff.... It also opens the door for running adult CPA offers in place of banner ads in the apps, which can be VERY lucrative as well.

[bouncerhrc]

Chat to text allows users to chat directly with other users using the FB chat client via SMS messages and their cell phones.

Unlike FB mobile which allows you to receive alerts and PM's which you can then respond to. This is more similar to Mobile AIM.

FB chat to SMS and vice versa

[Josh Anderson]

I don't understand what this app did? Can someone explain please...

Its not the app that was the problem. It was likely the pyramid scheme attached to it and all the get rich quick spam going on sent from users of the app.

Also the commission system was a violation of PayPal's TOS which prohibits MLM and pyramid schemes.

No one has anyone but the creators of the app who decided to add a pyramid scheme to it to blame.

If they were just selling the app itself they likely would still be in business today.

Chat to Text claims they'll still payout any commission earned in the first few days. I'm interested to see if that will happen at all. It would at least get me a few extra dollars back on top of my $6.00.

They are liable for refunds and chargebacks due to non delivery of the product or service purchased that you would supposedly earn those commissions on.

I think you should be happy if you get your $6 back. But to expect commissions from sales of a product that no longer works.

Sure it's only $6 but that just is not right and the people you referred should get refunds and you should get Nothing.

I'd be surprised if these guys do not get investigated by the feds on whether they were running an illegal ponzi scheme.

Anyone who paid and now cannot use the app should request a refund from paypal.

[Justin Mandel]

Exactamundo Josh.

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

No one has anyone but the creators of the app who decided to add a pyramid scheme to it to blame.

If they were just selling the app itself they likely would still be in business today.

[Dave777]

Originally Posted by Josh Anderson

Its not the app that was the problem. It was likely the pyramid scheme attached to it and all the get rich quick spam going on sent from users of the app.

Also the commission system was a violation of PayPal's TOS which prohibits MLM and pyramid schemes.

No one has anyone but the creators of the app who decided to add a pyramid scheme to it to blame.

If they were just selling the app itself they likely would still be in business today.

They are liable for refunds and chargebacks due to non delivery of the product or service purchased that you would supposedly earn those commissions on.

I think you should be happy if you get your $6 back. But to expect commissions from sales of a product that no longer works.

Sure it's only $6 but that just is not right and the people you referred should get refunds and you should get Nothing.

I'd be surprised if these guys do not get investigated by the feds on whether they were running an illegal ponzi scheme.

Anyone who paid and now cannot use the app should request a refund from paypal.

Someone should just re-engineer the whole idea into a simple affiliate software product and service keeping it away from MLM! I'm sure a few warriors can make it work...

Dave

[PassiveCashGal]

I totally agree with Dave! Someone can make it work and make a ton of money! Just work with Facebook, that is the key.

[Fermin Suero]

ChatToText is back, I think. The website is up and still processing orders.

What do you think? ChatToText - Bringing The Internet and Texting Together.

[millionareteam]

hmmm. interesting