College Power Scam Review – New FanBox/Empowr Scam Spinoff?

21 Comments

1. pousti is back at it again… next iteration of fanbox/empowr/college power is the movement dot college

   Same exact scam tactics, just re-skinned.

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   1. Thanks for the heads up Jan! We will investigate and update you once we have something concrete.

      Reply

2. I received an email from CollegePower that I was being fast tracked to Director because of my experience. Here is the email that I was sent through Indeed.

   Hi Patrick,

   Thanks for applying to the Sales – Entry-level / Recent Graduate position at CollegePower.

   After reviewing your resume, it seems like you might actually be well-suited for a different position that just opened up and takes good advantage of your skillset – the Hiring Director – a position that I think you’ll be very interested in.

   Here’s what’s great about it: You’ll be able to work from home, or from our San Diego office. You can set your own hours. You’re expected to earn as much as $800 per day for full-time work and can get paid at the end of each day.

   As I mentioned, we’ve already reviewed your resume. I am fast-tracking you through the interview process. The next step is for you to speak with our co-founder (Mike) and interview with my Managing Director.

   If interested, let’s book a time on their calendar quickly to ensure the position doesn’t get filled:

   (There was a Calendar with times that I used to set the appointment)

   I’ll get notified as soon as you book a time, using the above link, and I will reach out to you soon afterwards to confirm everything.

   Best regards,

   Mary Jensen
   H.R. Specialist
   —————end email —-

   I was thrilled although I was hesitant because of the negative reviews, but since I live in San Diego, I was willing to give it a chance hoping that it wasn’t a scam. I told them I was interested and they said I was being set-up for the next day to talk with one of the Cofounders Mike Pousti and a hiring director. I received an email with a link for my video call with Mike. It wasn’t a video call, it was a recorded video (that kinda pissed me off because I was lied to) from Mike talking about inequalities in the world and how CollegePower is trying to make a difference. The video was 51 minutes long and after the video (the video pumps you up though) I was called by a managing director. She asked me if I was interested and so said yes. She said welcome aboard and scheduled me for 8:30 am in their downtown office in San Diego (Little Italy) at 610 W. Ash St. Suite 1101. I showed up early and a nice guy, Bob had me wait in a room with a beautiful view of the North San Diego Bay (beautiful) with other new people. We were told to wait and our training was to began soon. We were finally asked to sit down at one of the many computers around the large office and bring up our email. Bob was sending us the information to start Specialist training. The training was poorly executed and disorganized (I was an Operations Officer in the military and have a MBA). On our email, we were given a script, a resume tool used to bring up resumes, and an appointment setting tool. Our job was to read the script and look at people’s resumes that applied for various positions on Indeed (Marketing Brand Ambassador, Marketing Specialist, etc…). We were instructed to follow the script and pretend like we were really interviewing them for a real job. Our real purpose was to set them up for a second interview with a Leader for the next day preferably. Overall, since we weren’t actually selling anything, it wasn’t too difficult to set that appointment. I did that until about 5:00 pm. The goal was to get at least 8 confirmed appointments scheduled. I think I had the highest numbers that day at 8. They project everyone’s name on the wall showing your progress, which is used to motivate you. The next day, I did Leader training. It was very similar, but easier because by then, the people you talk to have received a video about the company and how you can make a difference in the world. My job that day was to follow the script and tell them that the Specialist from the previous day recommended them and you could see why based on their resume. The goal was to set them up for the video call with the Cofounder, Mike Pousti and a Managing Director. This is the part I really disliked because it’s really a video that acts as if it is a live interview- the video goes as far as Pousti saying “oh your mike is too high, I’m going to mute it” to make you believe it’s a real call. I was informed to tell them to set aside about an hour for the video call (it’s really a 51 minute video). That day, I did 8 Leader calls (appointments set) and 5 Specialist calls (appointments set). That day I was number one with 13 total calls. While you are waiting for the next scheduled Leader calls, you are encouraged to make Specialist calls which I trained for on the first day. On my third day, I received the Director script. My job was to call the person as soon as they watched that 51 minute video (supposed to be a video call) and encourage them to come into the San Diego office and start the three day unpaid training sessions. That day I was second highest with a total of 8 appointments set (4 Director, 2 Leader, and 2 Specialist calls). The person that was number one that day had done a total of 12 confirmed Specialist calls. It was his first day and he did well.

   The original plan that I came in on was to train for three days and after that I would receive a team that I was responsible for. I was to make calls to them daily at 9:00 am and 2:00 pm to ensure they were making calls. I was led to believe that on my day six I could cash out (receive money). They told me that the goal was to promote four of my team leaders to directors and I would receive $800 (I found out later on that in order for the team leader to move up to director, they would have to pay $250 each. We were told that the $250 is actually the tip that is paid to the support manager since he’s the one that sends us the resumes and makes sure everyone gets paid. So, that’s $1000 that goes to the company and I would receive $800.

   On my fourth day, they brought us into the briefing room and said they were considering changing the pay structure to make it better for us. We would be able to cash out the first day as opposed to waiting till Day 6. The new pay structure would also pay us to actually make calls and not just set up appointments. All of us loved the new plan that was pitched to us. All we had to do was to make 5 Specialist calls, 3 Leader calls, and 2 Director calls and we could cash out that same day and make at least $200. This morning was the big day with the new pay plan and we waited for about 40 minutes before Mike was able to brief us on the pay structure going into effect today. Mike reiterated about making the 5 Specialist calls, the 3 Leader calls, and the 2 Director calls to cash out $200 and that we could cash out several times in one day. One of the new people noticed that we can only cash out the $200 if the 2 new Directors pay $99 to become a Director. If not, we can’t cash out that same day. I told Mike that that’s a huge obstacle to have someone fork out $99 just to become a Director. He didn’t like my questioning and said I shouldn’t poison this plan for everyone in the office and that it was possible to do.

   It’s at that point that I totally realized that it was a scam. My $200 would be paid with the two new people I bring in, not from the company.

   I told Bob (super nice guy) that this wasn’t for me and left. While I was outside talking to my wife on the phone, I noticed another Director like myself was quitting too.

   I have all the emails that I would gladly share of their training. And the photos of my second day and third day accomplishments.

   The good thing about this experience is that it was located in a beautiful building downtown San Diego with an incredible view. They provided water, sodas, snacks, and coffee all day long and beer at the end of the day. They also provided us a free lunch made by Johnny (another cool guy). Everyone there is super chill and seem to really want you to succeed and to assist you although the training was executed very poorly.

   After I left the office, I texted the Managing Director who brought me on and explained everything. She also confirmed to me that she has been performing unpaid training for over three weeks and hasn’t made anything. She had to pay $250 to become a Director. She was hoping that I was going to pay my $250 so she could make $200 off of it (the old plan, the new plan started today).

   I hope they regret the day they lied to me and all of us.

   Patrick Abney, MBA
   Major, US Army Retired
   majorpatrick0121@aol.com
   619-417-3688

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3. I just had these guys contact me for an HR Coordinator position I applied for. I could tell right away it was a scam from the first call when they wouldn’t give me a salary range when asked (now against the law in CA due to the Equal Pay Act) and the guy was clearly reading off a script. In the 2nd interview with the team lead, “Bob”, I insisted on getting a copy of the job description, which they won’t give without a lot of kicking and screaming (and it ended up going to my spam folder, haha). Of course it turned out to be a commission position purely recruiting people to recruit more people – he balked when I asked about the base pay before the commission. Since I’m an HR professional, I read him the riot act about how telling me this was an HR Coordinator position was misleading, and he started to try and give me the “we have patents!” excuse. Always feels good to throw it back in the scammers’ face!

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4. OMG it’s a total scam. I applied for a job via Indeed. The description was administrative and was offering $19 an hour or something like that. It felt scammy as soon as I received an email with videos how the company works. When they called for the 2nd interview I asked the girl “Is this hourly or commission based?” She said oh you could do either but commission based is more money. Ok sounded like a red flag but decided to flow with it. She then says she wants to schedule a face to face interview with Mike the founder. I go and it turns out to be a group interview. Ok weird. So he takes us in a room and is basically trying to sell us on it. Saying some BS that you could make up $50,000 a month. If you could make that much for just making phone calls then everyone would do it. It’s a total pyramid scheme. He said you get a bonus for every person you sign up yet you can’t get the bonus for 90 days and it goes to some cryptocurrency account?!?! All in all it’s screams SCAM. Stay away. Totally waste of my time

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   1. Hey Kiki,

      Thank you for taking the time to share your actual experience with College Power. You have no idea how much this could help others out there. Yeah, the 90-day thing is the same as what they did to their members in Empowr and FanBox. Spread the word.

      Have a good day Kiki and always be careful, lotta scams out there.

      Cheers,
      ~Jack (BareNakedScam)

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5. The reason why I believe that it is a scam because I received an email saying that I’ve earned $30.4 (£37) is how it read. Also, the email comes from “empwr” and the subtitle is College Power. Let me add that I’ve never done anything to earn anything with these people. Never so much as logged in to their website…nothing. I applied for a job with them through Indeed, and have been getting emails since…but no job.

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   1. Hey Philly,

      Thank you for sharing your experience with College Power. Always be careful, lotta scams out there.

      Best,

      Jay (BareNakedScam)

      Reply

6. BE AWARE OF FRAUD!

   I feel being scammed by College power/ empowr …I was retaliated, blocked, and my success coach status removed for speaking my experience and for asking questions… All is just waste of your time. They claim that all they do is based on the democracy, but you as a guide unable to voice any concerns because you will be blocked and removed. The hiring process and positions advertised are misleading scam. This is a job scam! They get money by hiring pyramid scheme while refunding their coins for power levels to themselves. That is the factual evidence of my experience.

   Please see the email sent to me by my hiring success couch who represent ” WE” – that means the Company.

   W,

   We have decided to rescind your position and remove you from the platform. Calling the business a scam without factual information is poor conduct of a Guide. I’m very disappointed in you.

   Best of luck,

   S……

   *** The DOJ shall intervene of behalf of the public and student economic extortion scheme.

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   1. Empowr, sorry… collegepower is anything but democratic. They might say that the people decide what happens on the platform, but the guy pulling the strings is always going to be mike pousti. I used to work in the downtown office, and can say that crooked practices were the norm. No one is really able to cash out what they should be able to because the rules constantly change. Ever wonder why they shifted to crypto? It’s because all the credit processors and PayPal flagged them as fraudulent! If there were any citizens that didn’t “drink the cool aid” their accounts would get disabled, and any dissenting comments they made with keywords like “fraud”or “scam” would get hidden using what they called ODIN. They also use something called FRED to illegally log into anyone’s account – meaning that your privacy means nothing! Oh and if you didn’t know, the ridiculously long blogs from JC are actually from mike pousti. He monitors the comments and deletes the ones he doesn’t like!

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      1. Hi Marsha,

         WOW! Thank you so much for this valuable information that you shared with us. I hope your comment will enlighten a lot of people to never trust College Power. FanBox, Empowr, now COllege Power.

         I wonder how these people can sleep at night. How could they feed their families with the money they stole from anyone else. Help me spread the word that College Power is a scam. It’s supposed to launch in August. I hope many people will be able to read this so they won’t become a victim. You stay safe out there too.

         Best,

         Jay (BareNakedScam)

         PS. Jack’s a little busy with his usual detective work so I’m in charge of moderating the comments 🙂

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7. This “new” site reeks of empowr… the premise is the same, the run on sentences are the same, even the assets are the same! People should be aware of pousti’s latest rebranding attempt and steer clear – users and job seekers. He’s only going to continue to steal your money and bully his employees to work at a decade + old start up for free!

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   1. Hi Katy,

      Thanks for dropping by. Yes, College Power is exactly Empowr/FanBox rebooted. Help me spread the word so no more people will be taken advantage of these scammers.

      Cheers,

      Jack (BareNakedScam)

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8. I think it unfortunate that you feel the way you do about the platform. I am a part of CollegePower and I joined the platform for no money. The volunteer mission role is at no cost to anyone joining. There is no pressure or requirement to change that status. I came in skeptical, and tested the platform etc. for nearly two months and found that what I have stated above is true. I do not know about what you are referring to when you write about the co-founders, but so far I have not experienced any scam behavior. The screen at the end of the video lectures provide four choices and one of them is a volunteer option without any cost. I think you are correct that it is unrealistic to think you can get something for nothing. There is work to do to earn your compensation. The platform is not perfect, but the potential and the movement to improve it is real and fantastic.

   Perhaps the co-founders failed at another business adventure and it would seem that they have and are learning from that experience. The American people voted in a president who filed bankruptcy in his businesses more time that I can tell you, yet the citizens handed control of this great nation and all its resources to him. You are calling CollegePower a scam because the co-founders did not stop after, what you report a failure, but kept pursuing their dream. Maybe you should join, at no cost to you, and see for yourself what the platform has to offer.

   Definitely, I encourage everyone to do their research and see if this platform holds real opportunities, financial and humanitarian. This is something that we all should do in all business adventures.

   Yet look how we are scammed every day by Facebook who minds our data, provides little to no protection and sells it anyone with money, all while offering the consumer who makes that data possible nothing, but an opportunity to continue to be the source of all their revenue. There was a time when Facebook offered a value for the price of data mining to businesses and soloenterpreneurs, but that has been eliminated now you can’t get your message out to your own fans unless you pay for an ad, due to the ever-changing algorithms that take more of our data and provide us the consumer less and less without compensation. I welcome this new and exciting and thoughtful social media outlet and see great success in its future.

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   1. Hi L.Perry,

      First off, thanks for dropping by and sharing your honest experience about our College Power review. In behalf of Jack, we truly appreciate it.

      Now regarding your concerns, I see no reason for you to stop being a member of College Power if, to quote your statement “I do not know about what you are referring to when you write about the co-founders, but so far I have not experienced any scam behavior.”

      NO HARM, NO FOUL. Right?

      On a more serious matter, have you really read our College Power review thoroughly? Please do so.

      The co-founders Michael Pousti and Brandi Williams are scammers. They scammed countless of people from their previous platforms Empwer and FanBox, both of which are “COINCIDENTALLY” exactly what the College Power platform is all about.

      You can continue to believe that Michael Pousti and Brandi Williams are simply pursuing their dreams, but after scamming plenty of people twice? I hardly believe College Power is the duo’s penance to make up for their crimes.

      But that is just my opinion, base on the facts and proofs that we here at BNS acquired. Clearly, I cannot tell you to believe the same thing.

      So by all means, College Power all the way my friend, College Power all the way. No one is stopping you. But you have been warned.

      May you continue to share any further developments about College Power and again, I appreciate your honesty.

      Cheers,
      ~Jay (BareNakedScam)

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9. I went through all the college power videos to be a “leader” and after completing them it took me to a page to purchase different “mission founder roles” . Definitely a scam . I have screen shots of that page if needed for proof.

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   1. Hello Daniel,

      Thank you very much for sharing your opinion. We (BNS Scum Buster Team) also manage to get access to a video presentation for College Power by Michael Pousti (thanks to an insider) and that has been our main source (among a few others) in writing this College Power review.

      Yes please feel free to share your screenshots if you think those would help our readers get a better understanding on what really College Power is.

      Cheers,
      ~Jay (BareNakedScam)

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10. Hi, my name is Jordan and I represent College Power. College Power is not a scam, it is simply misunderstood because it is unlike anything the world has seen. Only college students with a .edu email address are able to sign up. The beta launch date you noted is correct and the first market targeted is college students (remember when Facebook first started?) The companies founders have been working day and night alongside engineers to get everything working properly and prepared for Beta launch. One fact you might not know- it has been founded without a single dollar of investor money. Why is this important? The goal is that all money is returned into the platform to run the economy which is powered by its own cryptocurrency. The mission is allow anyone with an internet connection, any where in the world, instant access to a productive economy where they can buy, sell, and trade products and services. Maturation occurs because we are trying to stabilize the economy. Citizens selling on the marketplace receive 100% of the asking price for what they are selling. College Power adds 15% to the sale price for operational expenses. The one piece currently missing from the economy is critical mass. When enough people are participating in the platform, amazing things will happen for all involved.

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    1. Hello Jordan,

       Thank you for sharing your experience with College Power. Did you happen to read my whole College Power review? I lay out in details the key points why I think it is a scam.

       One of the aforementioned points is that College Power is created by the same personalities who are behind the Empowr and FanBox scams.

       I shared more red flags about College Power in the entirety of the review. But of course, I understand that my opinion could very well be different from yours and I respect that.

       Thank you Jordan and may you find the legit online business opportunity that you are hoping for.

       Cheers,
       ~Jack (BareNakedScam)

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11. How are we going to get the word out in a major way? They are starting to recruit college students now. These are people who cannot afford to get ripped off. I know this because I almost fell for this mess. I sat in a seminar of sorts with this Michael character. There were about 50 people the day I went. This means that wherever the campus, there are San Diego county College students getting scammed here.

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    1. Little by little, they’ll do it. In the past, with Fanbox and Empowr, they will ask people to “pay to receive reward”, and if you didn’t read one of the clause, it says that they have the right to automatically deduct money from your PayPal account when you provide the account information to them. They are sneaky in that way.

       So, I hope that college students, whom I believe they are smart enough, will do research before getting into it.

       Cheers!
       ~Jack (BareNakedScam)

       Reply