Alertpay has had it funds frozen by the US Government in 29 states; there is a strong possibility that the other states will be affected in the same way. Once the account has been frozen, there is no way to access the money within. Transferring it to another member is also prohibited. Many holders of these frozen accounts have taken to online media to express their disgust at such an occurrence. One blogger advises that if you live in the USA and still have access to your money you may wish to withdraw it whilst you still can. Currently 62% of all accounts are in a frozen state and it won’t be long before this figure is 100%.
This same blogger goes on to publish the
reply which was received from Alertpay when logging into their account.
QUOTE
With regards to your funds:-
The funds currently held within your
account are safeguarded and secure as stated by the regulatory guidelines
published by your state.
We are currently unable to complete any
transactions whether its withdrawal or transfer at this moment in time due to
the funds being withheld by Ultralight Financial Services, formerly known as
“Obopay”. This company is a licensed US money transmitter and Alertpay acted as
an agent on their behalf. This has come about due to a change in management,
though it is unclear why this should be.
Despite repeated efforts to resolve the
problem we have contacted both their management and their legal department and
your state regulator. We are currently considering legal action against Obopay,
Ultralight and their CEO, Carol Realini. As with most legal processes, this
will be time consuming.
Your state regulator has informed us that
they will only intervene on your direct instructions, as the owner of the
funds. We therefore strongly advise you to demand action from Obopay/Ultralight
and you state regulator. We suggest you use the following template for your
complaint:-
Dear (insert name of state regulator),
Alertpay has informed me that Obopay/Ultralight
is refusing to release my money or make it available for transfer to another
account. Please look on this as an official request to intervene and take
immediate action to resolve this situation.
Thank you,
(Please sign the document and clearly print
your full name).
We would like to take this opportunity to
stress that your current funds are securely held and are safeguarded by the
Issuing Agency relevant to your home state.
In December 2012 Alertpay locked a
considerable amount of Uinvest funds which prevented access to the funds which
they contained.
Alertpay is not too friendly towards HYIP
companies and Uinvest is no exception. Many HYIP accounts have been blocked in
the past after it was discovered that it was turning into a scam and making “selective”
payments to their investors. This can often happen after suspicious money
transfers too. The accounts are then subject to verification which in the case
of so many HYIP operators, the accounts that are used are fake or have been
stolen. Because of this, the process cannot be completed and the funds remain
frozen, indefinitely.
The problems began for Uinvest when some of
their accounts were hacked and the shares sold off or funds withdrawn. The
company was threatened by the hackers if the money was not released. This came
to the attention of Alertpay who decided that Uinvest was a risky company and
locked down a large percentage of their accounts.
Most HYIPs can be considered to be risky
due to the nature of their business but Uinvest suggests that their funds are
blocked due to Alertpay running out of money. They go on to say that the money
is used to solve the problems that they have with the Canadian authorities but
also say that they will dissolve the current agreement which they hold.
It is common knowledge that Visa and
MasterCard payments are currently suspended. This is the second time in a few
months that this has happened. The first time was in March last year when a
German partner of Alertpay suspended operations with them due to the
accusations of them processing payments on behalf of child pornographers, drug
dealers and illegal gambling services. The second time was when one of the
company’s bank accounts, Norway SEB, suspended Alertpays’ account. Firoz Patel
who is listed as the CEO was quoted as saying that this was part of a smear
campaign by a former employee who was trying to discredit him before he started
his own company in direct competition.
It is noted that both Visa and
MasterCard payments are still suspended, but Firoz Patel assures us that talks
between both parties will soon resolve the issue. Uinvest replied with the
following comment:-
Lawyers were instructed to act on the
situation due to Alertpays unprofessional approach and the fact that they
locked several accounts for no apparent reason. They went on to say that they
are currently holding talks with another payment gateway provider and hope to
finalise the details by which time, they will sever all dealings with Firoz
Patel and his company.
A counter statement from Firoz Patel’s
press office stated that they are not having any problems with the Canadian
authorities and have received no instructions from Uinvest’s lawyers.
This is a very complicated saga with
differing accounts coming from each side. The fact still remains though that
the US Secret Service instructed the FBI and the Department of Homeland
security to freeze all assets held by Patels company until a resolution was
found. This had the effect of denying access to funds for all US account
holders. These accounts were inaccessible for well over a year and many
customers have since reported that they never saw their money again. They
considered that it had been stolen whilst in the frozen state.
Alertpay continue to deny this by stating
that it was Obopay who refused to release the money which was under their
control. However, we have already seem that Obopay were only ever acting on
instructions and had no control of the money which they processed on behalf of
Alertpay. Most customers who were victims of this scam wholeheartedly recommend
others to avoid Firoz Patel at all costs. You have been warned!
