I’m going to save you time and say that yes, Traffic Monsoon was a ponzi scheme and was a scam. I say was because if you haven’t heard the news, it went down because of that.
However, while I will explain what happened, I will also show you real, legitimate ways to make money without getting involved with such programs (what really works).
Quick Report on Traffic Monsoon:
Creator: Charles Scoville.
Price: There is a free registration, but the pricing looks like it’s about $50 to join with other ad plans available where you can receive a certain amount of clicks for an X amount being paid out. I’ll show the chart.
Overall Rating: 0 out of 10 stars.
I’d reviewed Traffic Monsoon long before it went down, and I basically stated that I believed it was a ponzi scheme and should be very cautiously approached. Not too long after, it went down which is why I updated this review a little bit. Most of it is still written up in the way I talked about it when I first explored it (before my suspicions were proven true).
If you wish to know what is a good program to get involved with:
There are 2 important things I want to share with you regarding Traffic Monsoon:
Even though it went down, I want to say that:
1) I recommend reading this entire review anyway because it will explain how the scheme of this program actually worked and the reason I advise you look at it is because there will be many more programs like that one that will pop up after it’s fall and inevitably all fail as well.
This review will prepare you for any future scams like it that arise and save you money. Unfortunately there are now a lot of people who have put in good money into this program that will never see any of it back and even people who HAD made money with this program are now at “risk” of having to pay it all back…
2) Alternatives. I just gave you one above and it is not a ponzi scheme, nor a get rich quick scheme. It is legitimate because it requires what is legitimate to make money online, which is hard work.
Let’s get into what Traffic Monsoon was before it went down:
Traffic Monsoon in a nutshell:
This program offered a PTC (pay to click) where you can earn money by clicking on ads shown on the Traffic Monsoon network and also services where you can pay to get your ads clicked on. Basically you join the site and then pay to be involved in it’s operations as well as a revenue sharing program.
But while that’s an extremely vague explanation, the real story in my opinion is somewhere in between both what proponents were saying about this program, that is those who say you can make money on it and those who are on the other side, the ones who say it isn’t legit, is a scam and ponzi scheme.
A complex and ponzi scheme system hidden underneath simple hype:
1) First the simple hype:
You see I used the word decipher for a reason: It was NOT easy to understand this program. On the outside it looked like a simple pay to get visitors and click on ads to earn money and credits: You would get paid one of 4 (possibly 5) different ways. Well I suppose since it’s shut down now, I should use the word “could have been paid”. No more, but anyway, let’s assume it was still up:
Option 1:
You could have joined the network and click on ads being run by other members as I understand it, stay on the sites those ads go to for at least 30 seconds (less time means less money earned) and make pennies which ad up.
Option 2:
You could run your own ads and possibly get leads from people from within the network. I admit this is a possibility to earn money with.
Option 3:
You could participate in the revenue sharing program where profits made by the company (supposedly from the profits generated by the site through the next option I’ll show) where you must first pay about $50 to be a part of or click on at least a certain number of ads which make you eligible for the revenue sharing for 24 hours (ensuring that you keep clicking on ads).
Option 4:
You can buy their traffic exchange options, either credits or pay for clicks to your site:
Option 5: Or you can become a Traffic Monsoon affiliate and earn 10% for services purchased by your referrals within the program.
Now we move into the complex system (which was really a ponzi):
But looking past all that obvious information and understanding all the operations that go into it is where the difficulty lies. And it’s when I started trying to figure those answers, that the answers I found were only really through the sites which criticize Traffic Monsoon. I really don’t know how this program can answer those questions on it’s own…
For example, upon researching this program, at least from it’s official site, many questions arose. For example:
- Why is it that people considered it a ponzi scheme?
- Can you really make money with this program?
- Is it really legit?
- Are there people who are having problems withdrawing their money and are their policies being changed?
- Is it true that the owner of this program was previously involved in multiple programs like Traffic Monsoon which failed?
These were all questions I had to look to find the answers to from other websites and that’s when my research really started uncovering some really shady information, mainly about the owner Charles Scoville. That information would be one of the two main reasons I decided to stay away from Traffic Monsoon. The second reason I’ll get to later.
Main reason #1 why I am against this program:
The creator of this website has a history that is very, very questionable. He has run several other websites in the past which from what I understand have operated very similarly to Traffic Monsoon. Those sites are no longer working and if you do a search on them, they will just not show up (there’s no longer a functioning website, but the domain is still up). Here are just some of the sites that already have gone down:
- Buxsecure.com
- Powerfulbux.com
- Infinitybux.com
- Tviptc.com
- And now with everything that’s happened, we can add this program to the list…
Just 4 (5) of many more other sites which Charles has been either an owner of or associated with. Complaints from those other programs included common things you see with ponzi schemes such as lack of payouts happening to members, changes in TOS, raising of threshold payouts, and even charging for support (?!).
A great program has to have excellent support. Here’s the best (not a PTC program).
Was Traffic Monsoon just a repeat operation taking place? Looks like it:
I don’t ever take everything I read on other sites as complete 100% fact, but it cannot be argued that those sites ARE down. And if it is true that Charles was behind them and kept re-opening new ones, running a similar operation, then it’s very possible to lean towards thinking that Traffic Monsoon maybe on the same path.
Main reason #2 why I was not for this program (when it was out):
I’ve been trying to find a way to give the business model Traffic Monsoon works under legitimacy but I just can’t do it. I never like calling anything a scam, but the more I think about how this business can work, the more I believe it really can be a ponzi scheme.
If you are paying to join a network and connect with other people that are part of it, you are essentially paying each other to view each other’s ads. It’s like a mutual “agreement”. That is how you get paid. But this is not a productive model. I always felt as though traffic exchange programs and PTC programs lacked productivity.
In my opinion, people who click on those ads aren’t really interested in offers. They are more interested in getting paid by Traffic Monsoon. I’m sure as an advertiser you want to compile leads, but it doesn’t seem like the most relevant scenario to do it under. So I think your ROI is going to be very, very low.
Final Rating: Traffic Monsoon (updated):
0 Stars
Red Flag (Total Scam)
0 star out of 10. Too much evidence points to this program not being legit and now more evidence basically makes it 100% true.
If you’re going to get involved with ANY program that is like this one, try to only invest the minimum amount, so even if things don’t work out, you will not have lost much. Personally, I don’t even want to get involved with programs similar to TM because they are not legit, so I’ll stick to what I trust, Wealthy Affiliate, which is not a similar program, but a great place to learn the system of creating a real internet business.
My final thoughts: Here is why I believed it was a ponzi scheme (before it was proven to be that):
I have tried to give this the benefit of the doubt, but I can’t. What we had, in my opinion, with this program is a system where you have advertisers paying to get clicks from other people who are trying to make money by clicking on ads and getting paid for each click, and vice versa.
Because these clicks do not in my opinion usually generate good leads which is very common with traffic exchanges and getting paid to click on ads, very little outside money is made by the actual investor, so as a whole, the big picture (again in my opinion) is that any real money made will be by the program which gets new investors trying to get into it, while the majority of it’s users are going to be stuck in a pay to advertise and then making very little money by clicking on ads with few leads being generated and little to no profit being made, but most of the money will go to Traffic Monsoon, while the rest is going to bounce between investors, which is very much like a typical ponzi scheme.
If that’s confusing, let me know in the comments section and I’ll clarify it, but if my theory isn’t something you believe in, then take into account the history of it’s owner, the programs he’s started which failed that look like Traffic Monsoon. That is really the big red flag in all of this.
A lot of people got taken by TM, and a lot more people will get taken by those types of programs if they aren’t careful:
Again, PTC programs like TM are build upon the ponzi formula and are doomed to fail the majority of people who enter it…
If you never want to get scammed by this again and/or want a legit alternative, again I recommend Wealthy Affiliate, the best work at home program I’ve ever come across.
Now that I’ve explained everything, I hope this knowledge arms and protects you from getting scammed ever again by PTC programs.
Charles is now making Traffic Monsoon a world bank over in Dubai, India to continue his scamming there so no one can touch him or do anything about it that is why he is transitioning away from PayPal to Payza then eventually Payza because PayPal froze his account and the U.S court justice seized his Payza account and took all the money he had on his Payza account.
Hi Hollie, is this Paypal thing you mentioned a recent issue? Because when I first saw this program, I also read about issues with Paypal which were cleared up. Just want to know if it’s the same issue or a new one. Plus I’ve never heard of anyone being able to start their own bank, but I don’t know how the rules work for that. Either way, I still don’t believe in Traffic Monsoon.
Hello Vitaliy,
In order to open a bank you need a bank license first. The funny thing is that there where no new bank licenses issued in Dubai (united Arab emirates) since 2009. So since there is no TM bank license there is no TM bank coming anytime soon. It’s all a HOAX from a serial scammer.
Yeah when it comes to bank licenses, I can’t really say anything authentic because it’s just not something I know very well, but the term serial scammer is right on and that really is enough.
Does anybody know how we can delete our account from traffic monsoon? Can’t find it anywhere on that page 🙁 very funny and I kinda believe this messages about it cause as I said you cannot delete your account!
I am confused, can anyone make money this easily watching a few ads and pay money to buy ad packs? Sounds crazy.
That’s because it is crazy Rick. When I look at Traffic Monsoon, from my logic, how it works just doesn’t make sense unless it is a ponzi scheme.
Rick /Vitality,
Me and my husband have earned over $11,000 in less than 6 months. Of course it is possible. You just have to do your homework and learn about all the different services TM offers. The adpacks and the free cash links are fantastic… but are only a very small part of what TM has to offer.
Nearly every business you know wants more traffic…. who wouldn’t? This is a far cheaper way for people to generate more traffic to their websites than spending thousands with someone like google.
I have work from home mums who use TM to get more traffic to their MLM businesses like Avon and Herbalife and Jeunesse etc.
I also have some friends in the Philippines and Bangladesh who are poor and the free cash links are giving them a way to generate a bit of extra cash… even if its just to pay for bottled water for their family.
And I have a few businesses who purchase advertising services through TM, including Geo-Targeted advertising.
You earn 10% from these sales… so yes you can make money in lots of different ways 🙂
I have absolutely no doubt that Charles is doing everything right this time round. In business everyone makes mistakes. But if you are hungry enough to succeed you look at the mistakes you have made and those of similar companies and you rectify them.
I am very happy with how our TM business is growing and we are shortly going to be taking a £2,000 per month wage from it, which will not affect the growth of our business.
Hi Justine, when you said “this time” in regards to Charles, it made me think about the other scams he ran and if he really made a mistake those other 5 times. I do think that you’re trying to earn an honest living doing this, but I do advise that you do not put all your trust into this program even if it is “working for you”. Be prepared for the worst with ANY company you are a part of.
Much of that traffic being funneled in between members of TM in my opinion is just clicks. There’s a big difference between leads which click on ads to get paid for it and those who are clicking because they are interested. If you get paid more to click more, you’ll get a lot of junk clicks overall in my opinion.
That’s why I just don’t like this operation. And when you said that it’s building up in other countries (third world) where it’s very common for questionable companies to become popular is more worrisome to me.
Very good comments lads and ladies , I live in the United Kingdom England and just the other week a lad was talking about this traffic monsoon scheme it’s amazing how some people signed up too quickly, as for me I was asking too many questions and stayed clear.
I joined TM a week ago, and have made a small amount. Thing is, I have no idea how. The website is very confusing and muddled. I’ve had no help from “support”, and I have a “sponsor” who answers all my queries with how he made x amount by buying ad packs. I assume the “sponsor” gets a cut of each ad pack you buy. I’ll give it a few months, if I haven’t made back the $50 dollars or whatever it was for an ad pack, then I’m out.
P.S. I’m also a WA affiliate, and can vouch for it being a very good program, all the members are very helpful, the tutorials and webinars are easy to follow, and they do have a good product which they are promoting. Yes, they are looking for people to sign up, but they also offer good advice and tutoring on building a website from scatch, if you have very little experience. It’s not easy, but if you want free money, get a lottery ticket.
You clean up well Neil, but your just trying to get WA sign ups….Bottom line everyone is on the net to make money, If we’re talking in the arena of Traffic Monsoon and Wealth Affiliate, I know people that don’t agree with any of the two programs. Then there’s people all for them. Bottom line is money opportunity is in both. The only question, are ethics.
Well that’s what I’m questioning about it. I’m not sure if you were addressing Niel or myself directly Antonio, but when it comes to ethics, I’m coming from a position of what do you offer to your customers? I believe a program like Wealthy Affiliate offers a real business plan. I do not believe Traffic Monsoon does.
I have been looking for a option to start online marketing for about a year. I see something interesting, then research what I can find out, then I discover it is a pyramid or a Ponzi scheme. One authority says one thing then another authority says it is a bad system to be involved in! I have read good things and bad things about Wealthy Affiliate well as IPAS2 and Traffic Authority and Online Empire!
How can anyone find out the truth about any of these systems if there is no real legitimate recognized authority or no personage that is trusted to be ok?
Very good question and point made Richard. It is true that it’s hard to trust anyone these days. Obviously I’m not asking you to put your full trust in me. Do some research on Wealthy Affiliate outside this website. You may also want to read what I say about it as well as the comments from people.
That program is free to join and you’re not going to be pushed into anything bad like pyramid schemes, MLMs or ponzi schemes. That I can promise you 100%.
Well now you didn’t like my back fire, just goes to show you, you can give it but you can’t take it. Where is my post from the other day I put up here about you Wealthy Affiliate? I don’t see it, you like to give off about Traffic Monsoon but you don’t like to know how bad you are at tormenting people on email. Well now I have seen it all.
Hi Lisa, no I don’t mind the backfire and I expect it. I didn’t get to your previous message since I have a lot of them to go over, but since yours is the most recent one, let’s cover both of them and talk about your experiences with Traffic Monsoon and what you said about WA.
I did see that you said you liked Charles, said he was doing a good job, but unless this business lasts for a number of years, manages to get past the issues I covered, I will never trust it and I strongly recommend that you be careful with it too.
Now as for WA, the thing you said was that you were getting a lot of emails from them. These were simply notifications that are sent out to all members when new activity they are connected to comes up. If a member messages you, you’ll get an email. If someone answers a question you put up, you get an email. If a member follows you (meaning they join your network or sort of like a friend request), you get an email.
I can definitely see where this would get annoying but there is a function on WA where you can turn these things off and not get any notifications (or choose which ones you’d like to).
I have never met anyone who has ever been able to give me solid evidence on why not to join Wealthy Affiliate. There’s a business that does not have baggage like Traffic Monsoon.
Vitaliy,
There is one niche for whom Traffic Monsoon is the perfect place to advertise and get lots of good quality leads. That’s the make money online niche of course!! If you have great saleskills and have a product in that niche, there is no better place to advertise.
Everyone clicking ads on TM wants to make money online so if you have a good landing page/product you can make a lot of sales.
Secondly Neil,
It’s true that Paypal has a 180 day money back guarantee, but that’s only when the service/product isn’t delivered.. The main service/product of TM is an Adpack.. This includes 1000 visitors, 20 banner clicks and a share of profit made by TM.. If TM stops making profit (or is suddenly making less profit)
you could buy an adpack for $50 and get $0.55 back (or something in between), still you’ve gotten the services you’ve asked for so no refunds.. .
Example:
Buy 100 adpacks for $5000
Get payed $55 in revenue shares
You’ve gotten EXACTLY what you’ve bought…
We’ll see Elmor. I agree that the MMO niche would be “perfect” for this type of platform, but I am very worried about doing any sort of business with Traffic Monsoon. I think if I’m right, the only way to justify still working with this program is not being involved in the actual business within and only focusing on lead generation.
Hi there. You write this garbage but you have not got enough information to know much about it yourself. I joined TM on the 4th June 2015 and I bought 15 packs for £500. I have now had my money back and I’m earning nearly £200 a week and rising. I withdraw my money from TM to paypal and then directly to Barclays without any hassle.
It takes minutes to do. I’ve had a few businesses in my time where I’ve put much more money in and earned less. My family are split on this because people like you make them worried but to be honest have you done your homework? I don’t think so. Many billionaires had many failures before they made it big. My motto is if you get knocked down get up again, dont stay down.
Charles has got up again and I did my homework on this guy and he came up trumps for me. Traffic Monsoon has been under investigation by paypal for many many months. The huge income that has been coming in through paypal is what has been the cause of concerns for paypal. Charles (ceo) had explained he can now finally relax knowing paypal has accepted Traffic Monsoon to be a ligit, genuine company generating legitimate source of income.
Charles has also explained that if at any time TM was to go pear shape, we members do not loose our money, it will be in safe hands in paypal. There is a 180 days paypal buyer protection Guarantee which applies to all digital products and services. When you make a purchase, and the service was not provided to you, you are covered by PayPal to get a full refund. It is now safer than a High Street Bank all your money is protected, whereas in UK banks the limit is £85,000.00. In Paypal you are limited to $10,000.00 per day= depositing or withdrawing, $300,000.00 per month. If earning copious amounts of money is a scam, then I say bring it on.
Hi Niel, if you’re going to call my opinion garbage, I’d at least like it if you challenged me on my biggest problem with Traffic Monsoon and that’s why you think I’m wrong about it being a ponzi scheme. Nowhere in your rebuttal did you address this problem. You just said you make money with it basically. That doesn’t disqualify my argument at all.
The one very good point you did make however (but we’ll see if in the future this holds up) is about paypal. You may have noticed I didn’t even mention the paypal part in my review because there was way too much speculation from too many sources so I just decided not to add it in until there was hard evidence and that’s going to take time…
So let’s give this program a year and let’s see where it is by then. If it’s still going well, not shut down or doesn’t repeat the same trend Charles’s previous programs did, I’ll happily admit I was mistaken.
I want to thank you for posting your review on this company I was ready to jump in feet fist until I read your review . I only wish there was a legitimate company that a poor girl can get into and make REAL money without it costing my arm and a leg, I have to admit that I have tried many and to say the least IM STILL POOR and have no job
SINCERELY : Christina
Thanks Christina, there is a legitimate company: Wealthy Affiliate.
I came across your review on Wealthy Affiliate and that really interested me and I have signed up to explore further. I was though a little surprised of your style of review for Traffic Monsoon. I always say the proof is in the pudding. I was very skeptical of this Traffic Monsoon scheme when it was introduced but the person who introduced it to me clearly showed he had made (not making) some very good income. I went in small (like you said) and 4 months on am making a healthy wage (clear profit) as are many of my referrals and dozens of people I know have made a small fortune. All hard evidence of a success that worth doing. You are right in the website is poor, very poor for information. The support is done by part timers. As for Mr Charles, I take what he says in from various YouTube videos where he speaks in reference to his previous companies and what really happened. Maybe I am easily fooled or maybe people do learn from their past and some of the stuff written on the Internet is garbage. To give 1 out of 10 with hardly any information is not fair plus too many assumptions. Anyway positive I am signed up to Wealthy Affiliate and looking forward to seeing how this ones goes. If it half as successful as Traffic Monsoon, I will be pleased.
The 1 out of 10 is because I believe the program is a ponzi scheme, not because it doesn’t work. People make money with schemes all the time, but that doesn’t mean the program is great.
I mean I could understand if the owner had just 1 website previous to Traffic Monsoon which failed for not working for the reasons I talked about, but there’s multiple ones…
Yes you’re making money right now and let’s say the referrals are too, but how is that money made? Is it made through you running ads and getting leads into a program you made that’s outside of the Traffic Monsoon network?
If so, I’m fine with that and you’re giving people value, but if you’re just clicking on ads and being paid to do that, there’s no real purpose being served other than money and the illusion of profit (again it’s my opinion that this is happening). Be very careful with how much you put into this program. What you can also try doing is taking money out and seeing what they say. Be very careful to read their TOS on withdrawals and let me know how it goes.
As for Wealthy Affiliate, it’s a wonderful program, but it’s not based on the click to make profit scheme. It’s based on creating a valuable website to help a niche audience, but I do know you’ll like it there because there is an overwhelming amount of explanation on it with no secrets.
Hi Vitality..
As an affiliate of TM, I can honestly tell you that there is no limit on the money you can take out. When you want money you can withdraw it as you please. I mean I withdrew $600 last week with no problems. My sponsor is on 1,300 ad packs ($1300) he buys more ad packs Monday-Friday and then on Saturday-Sunday he withdraws it and places it in his bank account. That’s $2,600 a week which of course increases every week since he purchases more ad packs.
You asked where all the money comes from? Well 3.4 million people have a TM account. 95% of those members only purchase services that will help to promote their website. The remaining 5% use the rev share option. All the money generated via the other services are collected and distributed daily over a 24 hour period to the 5% affiliates.
TM isn’t a ponzi scheme because most ponzi schemes literally pay other members money from new members. But TM isn’t like that because we have over 30 million dollars in reserves. Ponzi schemes don’t provide reserves. And Charles is very transparent. He has shown us the money in paypal. That’s more than enough to pay people. The money he pays does not even scratch the surface of the revenue he generates daily. That is how he has been able to pay us religiously and generously with no issues for 15 months!
Hi Arianna, thank you for explaining these things. Although I am still not sold on TM and likely will not be for awhile, I do thank you for stating your viewpoint professionally and giving me these numbers.