The ePerks brand had all but been abandoned in embarrassment when Ben Behrouzi and company lost their failed bid to take down blogger Vlad Zablotkyy’s blog, GoBeyondMLS.

When ePerks was exposed and Ben Behrouzi’s unethical business practices were given national attention in 2008, Ben changed the name of his original holding company from Brabus Ventures to DotNextInc due to the unflattering attention. Additionally, ePerks was no longer listed on the DotNextInc website as a Behrouzi owned company and his profile was removed from ePerks.com. Other companies listed in Behrouzi’s portfolio are Ziddler.com (landing page claimed Ziddler was “Launching Summer 2009″) which failed to launch and the ill fated iHype.com, another company that never got off the ground. Today Ben Behrouzi is at the helm of LeapFish, another company that expands on ePerk’s very questionable business model.

Where does one go from such a melodic sequence of events that is music to the ears of anyone that has ever had the unfortunate experience of crossing paths with Ben Behrouzi? The truth is that there is nowhere to go. A little unknown blog with little to no traffic like BrokerScience can never accomplish what TechCrunch accomplished yesterday. More importantly, we’ve done more than our fair share of the heavy lifting in exposing Ben Behrouzi, ePerks, Leapfish and DotNextInc’s business practices. This means we are no longer going to be writing about Ben Behrouzi or any of his “companies”.

There is one main factor driving this decision: time. There are not enough hours in the day to work on my own projects and there are enough hours in the day to cover the Ben Behrouzi and his exploits. We simply have to pick and choose where our energy is going. You may have noticed we weren’t blogging much anyways over the past months except for Benham Behrouzi news when it occurred and that was again, due to time constraints. That is also the reason that there has been a disproportionate amount of Behrouzi coverage.

It pains us to make this decision because we have an extremely in depth analysis of LeapFish almost completed and we were approached by a legal team that has volunteered to do a case analysis of Brabus Ventures vs Vlad Zablotzkyy, but we’re done. Additionally, there are many more stories that could be written even though we have printed virtually none of the first hand accounts and experiences of current and former employees, customers and acquaintances that have crossed paths with Ben that come in the form of voicemails, emails, and first hand experiences.

There are some great takeaways and lessons to be had in reference to the brand destruction (personal and otherwise) that Ben has achieved through his legal tactics and business practices. I believe that ePerks vs Zablotzkyy and any future litigation that Ben may engage in have great potential to become case studies for collegiate level courses or otherwise teaching online reputation management and brand management. There is a lot to be learned from his mistakes, actions and business practices.

While we will no longer be writing about Ben or his companies, we will certainly defend ourselves if attacked online or elsewhere. It also goes without saying that if Ben were to bring ANY legal action whatsoever, we will make publicizing, writing about and exposing the case and renewing our exposure of Ben and his companys’ business practices our number one priority. This will entail creation of a defense website and media campaign in addition to publishing the first hand employee and customer accounts we have refused to publish up to this point. The truth though is that we were prepared to do this six months ago.

Comments are turned off on this one for the obvious reasons.

Other BrokerScience Coverage of Ben Behrouzi / ePerks / LeapFish / DotNext:

Ben Behrouzi Caught on Tape: Threatens to Blackball Employee on Voicemail

Vlad Zablotzkyy Defeats LeapFish / ePerks / DotNext CEO Ben Behrouzi

Ben Behrouzi, LeapFish CEO Caught Spamming TechCrunch

Related posts:

1. LeapFish and Ben Behrouzi Spam Techcrunch. What’s new?
2. LeapFish CEO Ben Behrouzi Insinuates Legal Action Against BrokerScience, Cites “Damages”
3. ePerks Abandoned & Hacked, A Glimpse into LeapFish’s Future

Now Techcrunch knows what the rest of us have known for years. Ben Behrouzi, LeapFish and most of Ben’s companies are spammers. I’ve personally received ePerks and LeapFish spam and or phone calls. A former ePerks employee confided in me that Behrouzi employees are given free reign to use whatever techniques are necessary to hit their numbers.

Former Ben Behrouzi ePerks employee that wished to remain unnamed:

I graduated from USC, I never imagined I would be spamming for a living.

TechCrunch points out the obvious that LeapFish provides no real value to searchers. LeapFish claims to be the “first multi-dimensional information aggregator and search portal in the world”. In reality it is simply a search engine aggregator similar to DogPile (launched in 1996), Addict-o-Matic, or the hundreds of others that exist.

Bens’ Fake TechCrunch Comments are a Thing of Beauty

After one shill comment after another, it becomes clear that most of the comments are simply fake and obviously made by Ben Behrouzi and or his employees.

When we pointed out that spamming blog comments is a Ben Behrouzi / DotNext Inc. / LeapFish hallmark, TechCrunch confirmed that in fact, all of the comments were coming the same IP address. This IP address was later banned.

Ben Threatens BrokerScience and Others Yet Again….

Also for the record you and your readers should know that, the trace richardson and lord matt commenting above are rogue bloggers looking for attention, traffic and destruction of others. They are motivated by a disgustingly shameful agenda that clearly manifests itself in their comments above and have a long history of stalking our people and spreading fabricated news in mass quantities. The company will be addressing each of their malicious activities soon. – Ben Behrouzi, CEO Dotnext, Inc. LeapFish

Welcome to Ben’s World of Fail:

Techcrunch Writer, Robin Wauters Finally Bans One of The IP Addresses:

Related posts:

1. BrokerScience Issues Ben Behrouzi Coup de Grace
2. LeapFish CEO Ben Behrouzi Insinuates Legal Action Against BrokerScience, Cites “Damages”
3. LeapFish / ePerks CEO Ben Behrouzi Voicemails Exposed: Threatens to Blackball and Sue Employee

The withdrawal was likely the result of a settlement with Vlad (the terms of which have not been disclosed) in which Vlad was required to post a statement which is essentially a lawyer contrived “I’m Sorry”. One highlight is where “Vlad” requests that other bloggers covering the story print retractions. Vlad was outgunned and his willingness to settle clearly reflects that.

Considering that Ben Behhrouzi has threatened BrokerScience with threats similar to those he made against Vlad, we see this defeat as fitting, to say the least.

“Behnam “Ben” Behrouzi filed what’s called an “unverified” complaint against Vlad.  That’s in contrast to a “verified” complaint, in which the plaintiff signs the complaint and declares under penalty of perjury that the statements in the complaint are true and correct.  The lawsuit ended in settlement without Behrouzi ever making any statement under oath.  Specifically, he never denied that he was responsible for the slander of Vlad.” – Brief Submitted to BrokerScience by Source that Wished to Remain Anonymous

While most intelligent CEO’s couldn’t attract the kind of bad publicity and ill will Behrouzi has managed to generate for ePerks on their worst day, this is an area where Ben truly shines. Then again, Ben has proven himself to be a tactless bully time and time again, so this is par for the course.

Ben’s reward for bullying Vlad Zablotzkyy with childish antics is the distinction of having negative results in 7 of the top 10 results for his name when googling “Ben Behrouzi“. Great job Ben! These will remain for YEARS and YEARS. A google search for “ePerks” shows 9 out of the top 10 results have negative content.

Spamming the Ben Behrouzi Way

To counter the extremely negative public reaction to his business practices in google, Ben began a spam / search engine dilution campaign in August by creating accounts with a large amount of service providers such as youtube.com, vator.tv and others in hopes these would replace the existing negative google results that come up when googling “Ben Behrouzi”. You can find the complete list at the bottom of this very unprofessional and amateur looking homepage Ben has created for himself here. Over time, these will end up being virtually useless for his end goal of spamming the results for his name.

He has also started maxstartup.com that was originally yet another ePerks splog until recently. Don’t laugh too hard when reading this gem from “MaxStartUp”:

I’ve had several failures in my life with some lessons that have left their spots, and have even been victim to online lies and an actual blog war instigated by the many that are motivated by the basest of human qualities.

Did Brabus Ventures Implode or is the Brand Simply Toxic?

It is worth noting that Ben Behrouzi’s parent company, Brabus Ventures has recently disassembled its corporate website at BrabusVentures.com including removing the Cultures and Values pages that Ben Behrouzi stole from Mervyns.com and Chevron.com. It seems that the root cause is that Ben Behrouzi is distancing himself from Brabus Ventures with a name change, after all a google search for “Brabus Ventures” shows 7 out of 10 listings have negative content regarding his company. We have no word yet on whether Ben plans on changing his own name to escape the embarrassment associated with it.

Simply Embarrassing:

Brabus Ventures Before Disassembly

Brabus Ventures After Disassembly

The New Face of Brabus Ventures - DotNext Inc.

The Next Generation of Fail: DotNext, Inc.

DotNext, Inc. is the new incarnation of Brabus Ventures. When most companies change their name, they give notice on their home page and redirect visitors to the new domain. Not Ben Behrouzi. His ability to single handedly destroy brands is the reason he is running from the Brabus Ventures name / reputation. When people think of Brabus Ventures, they think of Ben Behrouzi, when they think of Ben Behrouzi, they think of ePerks and when people think of ePerks, they think of ….. well you get the idea. Ben Behrouzi, his brands and his ongoing business practices are very negatively viewed in the Real Estate Community.

Notice that at BrabusVentures.com lists ePerks and Brabus as the only company properties. It is not until you go to dotnexinc.com that you see LeapFish, Ziddler and Ihype as properties with no mention of Brabus or ePerks. They are clearly trying to stop the bleeding and brand destruction caused by being associated with the Brabus Ventures / Ben Behrouzi names by isolating ePerks and Brabus together. Wow and sad.

On a final note, in recent months, current ePerks employees have been briefing us on Ben’s latest “secret” project, LeapFish.com, but to be honest we don’t care. We’ve wasted enough time highlighting the EPIC FAIL that is Ben Behrouzi already. Surprisingly, Ben has failed to garner any top search engine spots for “Epic Fail” yet, but it is one thing Ben is consistent with, so give him time.

Thank you to the community and everyone that did what they could to help Vlad Zablotzkyy defeat Ben Behrouzi / Eperks / Brabus Ventures!!! While there are too many to thank individually, an honorable mention goes out to Andy Beard and “Big Gun” Swann for putting their weight behind Vlad.

ePerks.com: A Case Study in Greed and Self-Imposed Brand Destruction

2) Read the Blog Post / Comments That Started It All:

ePerks- A Scam or A Gem?

3) Read the Cease & Desist Letter, Threats and Lawsuit from ePerks CEO Ben Behrouzi:

Cease & Desist Letter: Chilling Effect: How A Behemoth Company Can Silence A Blogger

Read: BrokerScience Commentary on Suit

4) Read Vlad’s Response to Being Falsely Accused of Child Molestation:

How Far Do You Go To Silence A Blogger And When Does It Become Too Far? (Post deleted per Vlad’s Settlement)

5) Listen to the Shocking Ben Behrouzi Voice Mails:

ePerks CEO Ben Behrouzi Voicemails Exposed: Threatens to Blackball and Sue Employee

6) Learn about the ePerks Link to Vlad Zablotzkyy:

ePerks IP Address Link to Vlad Zablotzkyy: When the Hunter Becomes the Prey

7) Read about Behrouzi’s Threats Against BrokerScience

Ben Behrouzi Insinuates Legal Action Against BrokerScience, Cites “Damages” and his confirmation to take action against BrokerScience on Inman. Read BrokerScience commentary on Inman piece.

ePerks: A Case Study in Brand Destruction:

(These are the “minions” ePerk’s Attorney infamously referred to in the Inman Article.)

ePerks v Vlad: Strategies to Avoid a Viral World War

ePerks – I Am Not A Minion Mr Cook

Im Mad As Hell-You Will Be Too When You Read About Vlad Zablotskyy and ePerks

ePerks & Freedom of Speech?

An Open Letter to Ben Behrouzi

Real Estate Radio USA Interviews Mary McKnight

Vlad Zablotskyy V. ePerks The Cliffs Notes Version

Vlad Zablotskyy – A Martyr for Reputation Management

Do I look Fat in This Lawsuit?

Nominee for PR Blunder of the Year – ePerks

5 Ways to Support Vlad Zablotzkyy

Suport Vlad Zablotskyy in his defense against ePerks.com frivolous suit

Some companies are stupid, and eperks may be the stupidest

ePerks: A brand going down in flames

ePerks vs Blogger Vlad Zablotskyy, Freedom of Speech in Cyberspace at Stake

Suport Vlad Zablotskyy in his defense against ePerks.com frivolous suit

ePerks Sues Real Estate Blogger

Ben Behrouzi’s Fair Darts

Blogger Is Sued for Business Disparagement

Write a post supporting your fellow real estate blogger, Vlad Zablotskyy, in his battle with ePerks and I will give you a blog

ePerks Sues Real Estate Blogger, Blogosphere Unites to Destroy the ePerks Brand

RSS Pieces provides a rundown of how ePerks is destroying its own reputation

Want money back at closing?

Is ePerks.com’s Ben Behrouzi, infamous for trying to censor a real estate weblogger, stealing content from Mervyns and Chevron?

Support the Vlad Zablotskyy Legal Defense Fund: A real estate weblogger is being throttled by corporate bully ePerks.com. The free speech rights you will be fighting for are your own…

Memo to ePerks.com: You idiots! Trying to censor a real estate weblogger is a poor way to defend your reputation — such as it is…

ePerks To Sue Blogger – Freedom Of Speech Threatened

Looking for lawyers…

Blogger is Sued for Business Disparagement

Sometimes everybody’s gotta take a side

ePerks: What Were They Thinking?

Blogging and Freedom of Speech

Blogger Get “Cease and Desist” from ePerks

iHype & ePerks – How To Kill A Startup

Memorial Day and the Plight of a Blogger

Open Letter to ePerks.com

ePerks Shafts Realtors

Are ePerks Spammers?

Real estate rebates and referrals with a twist

ePerks & iHype – Legal Kneejerk – Sues Blogger

Related posts:

1. Ben Behrouzi / ePerks.com: A Case Study in Self Induced Search Engine Brand Destruction
2. ePerks Abandoned & Hacked, A Glimpse into LeapFish’s Future
3. ePerks IP Address Link to Vlad Zablotzkyy: When the Hunter Becomes the Prey

Since BrokerScience first began covering LeapFish and ePerks CEO Ben Behrouzi, we have received a lot of reader submitted information in the form of: stories of first hand experiences with LeapFish / ePerks / Ben Behrouzi (as employees and customers), emails, voice mails, and other miscellaneous information and data relating to Ben and company. We have published virtually none of it and do not plan on publishing it in the future unless it is pertinent to the facts involved in our coverage. The following voice mails are an exception. They help establish a pattern of legal harassment by Ben Behrouzi that goes all the way back to his days at Reply.com.

One common theme among all current and former employees we speak to that have worked under Ben Behrouzi at Reply.com or ePerks.com is that they fear the consequences involved with sharing their story. The legal harassment and worse that ePerks critics such as Vlad Zablotzkyy (link removed due to page removal as part of terms of legal settlement with Ben), Dennis Pease and BrokerScience have endured are a testament to those concerns.

One person that is not afraid of Ben Behrouzi is former Reply.com employee Scott Chestnut. Scott worked under Ben Behrouzi (who was the Chief Technology Officer despite the fact that he was still in school working on a philosophy degree) as a Senior Network Engineer. While building out what was to be a million dollar network, Scott realized that working for Ben was an unworkable situation, so he walked out in frustration. The following voice mail from Ben Behrouzi chronicles Ben’s threats to blackball Scott and insure he is unable to gain employment, insinuating this will affect him for life and have deep reaching effects.

“My new goal in life is going to become to ruin your name across this entire East Bay……..you can take that to the bank, you can put your future kids or your girlfriend or whoever you want to put on it.” – ePerks CEO, Ben Behrouzi to employee that left the company

Ben Behrouzi Threatening to Blackball and “Ruin the Name” of Former Employee

http://brokerscience.com/files/2008/06/benscott.mp3
Later, Ben left another message regarding a vendor, CDW. He again makes false allegations and threatens legal action. Even though he claims he is in the process of preparing legal action, no legal action ever took place, an experience similar to what others have faced.

Ben suggests “using dollars” to make up for the indiscretions he accuses Scott of, similar to the verbiage he used when he threatened BrokerScience and tried to set up a conference call to discuss “damages“.

At some point after Scott walked out, Ben and his team were reportedly let go from Reply.com and Scott was again offered his position back at Reply.com.

Ben Behrouzi Threatening Legal Action Against Former Employee / No Action Was Ever Filed

http://brokerscience.com/files/2008/06/benscott2.mp3
Conclusion. These voice mails are more evidence documenting a pattern of legal harassment and threats by Ben Behrouzi against anybody that gets in his way. While I am not familiar with the legality of of blackballing I am somewhat certain that “ruining someone’s name” for the purposes of insuring they cannot obtain employment is nothing short of defamation. Ben’s actions are consistent with the lack of ethics we have seen ePerks and iHype exhibit. There is now no question that in our opinion, Ben Behrouzi operates without an ethical or moral code.

Feedback: Do you have a negative or positive LeapFish / ePerks / Ben Behrouzi story you would like to share as an current or ex employee, colleague or customer? We can’t guarantee we will publish it, but appreciate your feedback and it may help bloggers like Vlad Zablotzky fight against Ben Behrouzi and company. Contact us here.

Quite frankly, in light of the growing attention and coverage Ben Behrouzi’s cease & desist letter and legal threats to Vlad, we didn’t think Ben and company would be so foolish stupid as to continue in such a self defeating manner. We have a lot to learn. Ben has continued his tour de force of driving ePerks into the ground by threatening BrokerScience with legal action and following up with a lawsuit against Vlad which will ultimately prove to be his coup de grace.

Online Reputation and Brand Destruction. Ben’s actions have exponentially increased the numbers of outraged bloggers and real estate professionals linking to Vlad’s blog. The result is that the very blog post that Ben / ePerks fought to suppress now ranks #2 in a Google search for ePerks, right below ePerks.com. Seven of the top 10 results contain negative commentary on ePerks. Even paid blog posts sponsored by ePerks are overrun by negative comments from unhappy ePerks users. Eight of the top ten results for “Ben Behrouzi” are negative. BrokerScience ranks number four and five for “ePerks.com”, number six and seven for “ben behrouzi” and number two for “iHype.com”. It is my opinion that this case will be referenced in future studies and textbooks dealing with online reputation and brand management. One thing is for sure Behrouzi and company are panicked and they should be.

Recognized SEO Expert Aaron Wall on the Brand Damage ePerks Has Caused to its Domain Name:

Lots of links will flow, but unfortunately their brand is destroyed. Perhaps they can later 301 redirect their site, but the PageRank is probably going to be worth less than the negative karma associated with the conflict.

Game Over. As bad as the ePerks situation has become, the greatest damage is likely still to come. If Behrouzi drops the case against blogger, Vlad Zablotzkyy, there will be a tidal wave of attention on his defeat. If he moves forward against Vlad, he will likely lose, if his case does not get thrown out first. More importantly, if a direct IP address connection is made between the false child molestation allegations, Ben and company will face not only civil action, but more importantly criminal fraud charges and intense media scrutiny and coverage. Of course, all of the negativity will also haunt Behrouzi in future projects such as his failed to launch startup, iHype.com and virtually guarantees his inability to attract investors in the future. His brand, name and reputation are in short, toxic. All of this damage done and the story has not even gone national yet. The real fallout occurs when the New York Times, LA Times, or similar carry the story, which is looking sooner rather then later. A likely trigger for this will be if Ben follows up up on his threats to BrokerScience or when the right person finally notices the story.

• BenBehrouzi.com
• BenBehrouzi.net
• BehzadBehrouzi.com
• BrabusVentures.net
• BrabusVentures.org
• BrabusVentures.biz

Internet domain name case law provides that these names can be used in a capacity that does not create confusion in the market place. In the future they may be used to host and support a Defense Fund for bloggers that are sued by ePerks / Ben Behrouzi / Brabus Ventures Corporation. Have an idea for what we can use them for? Drop us a line!

We left BehnamBehrouzi.com (Ben’s legal name) for Ben if he so chooses to use it. We’ve also left most of the Behzad (Ben’s Brother, “Director of Product for Brabus Ventures”) domain names untouched. We are disappointed to report that Behzad’s preferred pseudonym (as anonymously reported by current ePerks employees), Kevin Morris is not available as a domain name.

Related posts:

1. LeapFish / DotNext CEO, Ben Behrouzi Defeated
2. Ben Behrouzi Updates Company “Values” and “Culture” Web Pages. Only One Problem: They’re Stolen.
3. Beginning of the End: ePerks CEO Ben Behrouzi Sues Blogger, Confirms No Strategy in Place

While it is not uncommon for CEO’s to be upset with criticism that their companies receive, it is highly unusual, perhaps unheard of, for CEO’s to follow the path that Ben Behrouzi has in single handedly destroying his reputation, brand and likely becoming liable for slander and defamation. The secondary effect that is as the story continues to grow it only serves to increase his exposure to growing murmurs regarding a Class Action lawsuit by dissatisfied ePerks users. To date: 8 of the top 10 results in a Google search for “eperks.com”and likewise “ben behrouzi” point to content that has negative commentary or comments about ePerks and ePerks CEO Ben Behrzouzi.

This morning, Vlad Zablotzkyy was served with a civil action from Brabus Ventures Corporation (ePerks parent company, owned by Behnam Behrouzi) claiming unspecified damages for posting information on his blog about a false child molestation allegation that was made against him. Vlad made no accusations but simply presented anecdotal evidence indicating that ePerks was possibly linked to the false charges. The evidence showed that user names used by the person posting false child molestation allegations matched user names used by persons leaving comments on Vlad blog originating from ePerks.com corporate IP address.

Fluff. The purpose of a Cease & Desist letter is to forewarn of pending legal action in lieu of compliance. When legal action is taken, the actions should be consistent with the items cited in the Cease & Desist letter if they have validity.

Break down of Specific Complaints in ePerks C & D Letter vs. Actual Complaint:

• C & D: “Your only goal is to cast ePERKS in a negative light for personal gain…………your blogs deceptively fail to inform the reader that you are motivated by an undisclosed proprietary interest in an ePERKS competitor.” Not Included in Complaint.
  
• C & D: “Having researched the content of your blogs, we have come to conclusive proof that a substantial number of your postings are bogus, in that they frequently describe experiences that never happened and people who do not exist.” Not Included in Complaint.
• C & D: “Our research also shows that negative remarks are not only invited, but are posted without a challenge.” Not Included in Complaint.

Central Complaint:

“Defendant Zablotskyy published an accusation on his blog website that plaintiff was responsible for an anonymous internet posting alleging that defendant was a child molester. Said post by defendant is attached hereto as Exhibit “A”. At the time the Exhibit “A” post was published, defendant had no reasonable basis to accuse plaintiff, or its internet name ePERKS.com of being the author of the child molester post.”

Stupidity. ePerks is going after Vlad for accusing them of being behind the child molestation allegation on Yahoo Answers. The fact is that Vlad did not accuse them as such, he simply presented anecdotal evidence. The irony is that the single piece of information that will confirm what IP Address the Yahoo Answers post originated from and will likely invalidate ePerk’s complaint is one subpoena away and is the also the single piece of evidence that will provide Vlad with an airtight Libel and Defamation case against ePerks should it link ePerks to the allegation.

On June 5th, one day after ePerk’s complaint against Vlad was filed, BrokerScience laid out the connection between ePerks and the Yahoo Answers child molestation post. While the link will only be definitive once Yahoo is subpoenaed, the anecdotal evidence points strongly to ePerks. One thing is for sure, it is very likely that Ben Behrouzi and company are panicked in light of the IP Address link to ePerks presented by BrokerScience only one day after their complaint was filed.

If ePerks was so unhappy with Vlad’s assertions, how will they feel about ours? Will BrokerScience be served in the coming days? Our fingers are crossed. An ePerks case against BrokerScience all but guarantees the story goes national, gaining exposure to Vlad’s plight and consumer complaints against ePerks.

The Complaint:

ePerks.com launched in 2007 to connect consumers with professionals in the real estate, automotive and home improvement verticals, with an emphasis on real estate. Real estate agents pay territory based subscription fees and share commissions with ePerks on completed sales. ePerks was Founded by Behnam (Ben) Behrouzi, 27, who also co-founded reply.com with his uncle, Payam Zamani (founder of autoweb.com) and one John Truchard. The three Reply.com founders also founded Imotors.com (Ben’s profile subsequently removed from iMotors.com). Ben also owns Echostar Financial (update: they have gone out of business), a mortgage company, Brabus Real Estate (update: link removed, out of business), and Brabus Ventures (update: links removed, out of business).

Marketing the ePerks Way

Paid Review Posts. ePerks launched by engaging in pay per post marketing (where blogs are paid to write a review of the company). Pay per post marketing is controversial because of the ethical dilemna it presents to marketers because it is inherently deceptive in nature, lacks transparency (many blogs do not disclose or poorly disclose that they have been paid to write a review) and reviews are by and large positively biased. Consumers can usually spot a fake endorsement a mile away and this means that the goal of raising awareness of a brand has been successful via these paid posts, but in reverse. Consumers are now aware of your brand, product and or service, but have been made so through a medium that inherently builds mistrust and skepticism about your company. Many still, would argue that pay per post campaigns have little reach and influence even when properly executed.

Seeding Positive Comments in Paid Posts, Forums and Blogs. ePerks then took the step of starting fake forum posts like this one by “RKS6″ which are easily identifiable when they are created by users that create a new account on a forum and only make one or two posts regarding the company they are spamming for. Then they seeded their paid posts with false praise of ePerks and started seeding other forum discussion threads (another example of “RKS6″ inquiring about ePerks similar to many inquiries by “RKS6″ on various forums and blogs). Many of the seeded comments are little more then thinly shield corporate talking points and never include links or contact information that can be verified. We were able to find two commenters with positive ePerks feedback that did have verifiable contact information but both declined to comment for this story and both said they longer worked ePerks due to ePerks performance issues.

The screenshot above is from perhaps the most humorous example of ePerk’s use of seeded forum comments where there are dozens of fake ePerks comments. This forum automatically assigns a city to each comment based on IP address, making it simple to see which comments are fake. In this example all one has to do is note which posts are from Brentwood, CA to spot the fake ePerks comments. This isn’t always reliable though because ePerks likely pays people to seed fake comments from different states and IP addresses but in this case a good number are obviously fake, especially those purporting to be satisfied ePerks users that are in Washington, for example, even though their IP address has outed them as being in Brentwood as occurs with dozens of other fake ePerks testimonials.

This entire blog (update: link removed as blog has been password portected), started by “Michael K” is dedicated to getting ePerks “feedback” so that the “Michael K” can make a decision as to whether or not he is going to join ePerks. Not surprisingly, there is nothing but glowing praise about ePerks in the comments.

Again, consumers can spot comment spam very quickly and there are fewer things more despised online more then spam in the form of fake forum posts or fake comments in blog posts or forum theads. Ultimately, the paid blog posts and fake forum posts have served as a launching pad for ePerks users to vent and complain about their bad ePerks experiences.

Spam. Legitimate companies and smart brands do not spam for obvious reasons. Many have complained about ePerks spam and I too have received it. Spamming is one of the single best ways to build distrust and resentment towards your brand.

Poor Marketing Decisions. Commercials like this are not only offensive to your intended client base of real estate agents but some might argue are unnecessarily lacking the taste and sensibility necessary to engage the public in a meaningful way.

ePerks Performance

Execution. Performance is marketing through execution and based on online user complaints about ePerk’s performance, they seem to be failing to achieve user satisfaction on a large scale. Complaints include claims of being misled about how ePerks works and the results that can be expected, failure to honor an in place refund policy, charging credit cards after accounts were canceled, difficulty in canceling services, lack of communication (especially once a complaint was lodged), failing to produce results and misrepresentations about promotions such as a super bowl commercial to generate traffic to the site, among others. Virtually any forum thread or blog post you can find about ePerks is bound to include user negative feedback with consistent complaints about ePerks performance across the board.

The Tale of the Tape. The ePerks model enables ePerks users to pay for the right to receive leads for specific zip codes that are generated on ePerks.com. In exchange for the monthly fees members pay ePerks, ePerks is responsible for marketing and advertising to bring traffic to the site that can then be converted to leads. ePerks, like most online lead generation companies will see an increase in the leads they generate as they increase their online ad spending and media buys. If they do not increase their traffic as they add users, the number of leads should remain constant overall, but will decrease on a per user basis as more users are added. For this reason, ideally, they should use internal data to estimate the number of page views necessary to generate their desired baseline or target number of leads per user. This would enable them to estimate how much ad spend is required on a per user basis and as they add users, can estimate the required total online ad spending / marketing budget based on users participating and adjust it as necessary. Theoretically, as the company grows, so should their traffic as they increase ad and marketing spend to achieve the traffic necessary to meet their per user lead targets.

Example Based on Generic Numbers: If ePerks determines that they want to generate 15 leads per user per month and it takes 500 page views to generate one lead, they will then know that they will need to generate around 7500 page views per user per month (500 page views x 15) to generate the necessary 15 leads per user. If they estimate it will cost $15 to generate 1000 page views then they can estimate it will cost $112.50 ($15 x 7.5 = 7500 page views) to generate 15 leads per user.

As they add users, their ad spend (assuming advertising costs don’t change) and overall site traffic should increase. If their number of users stays the same, their ad spend and traffic should go sideways to maintain the necessary lead generation required to hit user lead targets and if they decrease their user base, their ad spend and traffic should decrease. They should maintain a volume of traffic that is equivalent with generating the page views and leads necessary to satisfy their existing pool of paid users.

The chart above shows an approximate 75% reduction in traffic from March to May. If their traffic is tied to their ad spend as necessitated by the number of users participating as I demonstrated above, then there has been a clear exodus of ePerks users away from the company.

Reality. The much more likely possibility that ePerks never engaged in a marketing campaign tied to the size of their user base which would explain user complaints of receiving few or no leads. In this scenario, users would not be receiving a consistent or adequate amount of leads because of the liklihood that there was inadequate marketing / traffic to begin with and as new users were added to the pool, they only served to dilute the already inadequate available lead pool.

At the time of this writing we were unable to find any banner ads anywhere or pay per click advertising for ePerks on google using keywords they would be likely to target. Delisting by google might explain such a drop in traffic, as shown above, but at the time of this writing ePerks has around 60k pages indexed, further indicating that cessation of marketing activities is the cause.

Further Confirmation. KeywordSpy.com measures Pay-Per-Click advertising used by advertisers and indicates that ePerks stopped all advertising in February.

One early ePerks adopter we spoke with quickly ditched the program when “it became clear that their marketing strategy did not work and appeared to consist of a one tier approach of posting their one commercial on youtube.com”. In all likelihood, according to the data in the charts above, ePerks ceased whatever marketing it was engaging in at the end of January, even though it continues to collects fees from past customers and new signups. Such data fuels speculation and online chatter that a class action lawsuit is inevitable.

Sloppy on the Simplest of Tasks. The screen shot below shows the domain name registrant information for ePerks.com. They have provided a false address, false phone number, and questionable email address. Per ICANN, this is grounds for cancellation of the domain name.

Notice that Ben was able to input the correct information for the soon to be launched Ihype.com.

Engaging the Industry the ePerks / Ben Behrouzi Way

Attacking Critics. Perhaps the most egregious of all of ePerk’s indiscretions has been how it has handled its critics, online peers and customers. In perhaps the single largest real estate marketing debacle of 2008, ePerks has managed to turn one of the original pay per post bloggers it hired to write a blog review for the company, Vlad Zablotskyy of Go-Beyond-MLS.com, into one of its most vocal opponents. With ePerk’s decision to send a cease and desist letter to Vlad, ePerks instantly transformed Go-Beyond-MLS.com into a negative ePerks publicity machine and lightning rod that has created a grassroots underdog pseudo-celebrity in Vlad with the full sympathy and support of the real estate community, including heavy weight real estate bloggers like Greg Swann and even spawning ShaftingRealtors.com (update: link removed as website no longer operational)”.

Excerpts From the ePerks Cease and Desist Letter:

Your blogs create the false impression you are inviting comments from legitimate ePerks customers, when the truth is your only goal is to cast ePerks in a negative light for personal gain. In that regard, your blogs deceptively fail to inform the reader that you are motivated by an undisclosed proprietary interest in an ePerks competitor.

We have determined that our damages as a direct result of your activities are in multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars. Such substantial money and brand name damages can no longer be tolerated.

You are hereby instructed to promptly do the following: (1) shutter and prevent access to all blogs with any ePerks reference or content; (2)remove any record of their existence; (3) terminate any links pointing to any blogs that reference ePerks; and (4) cease and desist from any and all current and future digital, print, Internet or verbal reference to ePerks.com or Brabus Venture Corporation. This includes closing down your January 28, 2008 blog that continues to direct readers to your previous remarks and postings. We demand that you complete these actions immediately, and in no event later than five days of this letter. Your failure to comply will result in prompt legal action, including, but not limited to, a claim of money damages and appropriate restraining orders.

We will be closely monitoring your activities. Brabus Ventures Corporation continues to reserve any and all rights under the law, including the right to pursue any and legal remedies against you, your employer, your clients, and/or your web host. Should you have any questions or comments about the contents of this letter, please contact the undersigned.

Any resistance to our demands will be met with swift and decisive action.

We will be closely monitoring your activities.

ePerks fails to name the competitor that Vlad has a “proprietary interest” in and fails to make any connection between Vlad and any such competitor.

CEO, Ben Behrouzi later followed up with this email:

“I have no idea what you just did but clearly your mind shifts like the wind. I have now made my effort to work outside of the legal system and have no regrets with the suit that we will file shortly, which will stay in California for various reasons you’ll be made aware of by the way.

At this point any and all of your activities are being recorded by the watchful eyes of our legal team for use in assessing damages.

At this point I am ending your conversations on proposals, as this avenue and conversation are now over.” – CEO, Ben Behrouzi

Glass Houses. BrokerScience has uncovered evidence that suggests ePerks or their representatives have engaged in the exact behavior it accuses Go-Beyond-MLS.com of in the C & D letter above. In this post, all seeded or fake comments are easy to detect because they all originate from Brentwood. Among the fake pro ePerks comments are also comments denouncing Go-Beyond-MLS.com and an apparent ePerks competitor, PropertyMaps.com. There are multiple attacks on Go-Beyond-MLS.com and oddly these same attacks praise ePerks, CEO Ben Behrouzi, celebrate that ePerks has a board, and even give a short Behrouzi bio. In case you are not convinced, simply “just be running google searches” to learn more about Ben.

Disturbing. When Vlad confronted one of the persons leaving fake positive reviews in the comments section of a post Vlad wrote about ePerks on Go-Beyond-MLS.com, the following correspondence took place (we do not purport that this has any connection to Ben Behrouzi or ePerks in any way, shape or form, but this is relevant in the time line of events and as it relates to Vlad’s communications with ePerks regarding the matter):

From: Jaffar Sadighi sadighij@yahoo.com
To: Vlad Zablotskyy vladzablotskyy@gmail.com
Sent: Friday, January 25, 2008 2:48:08 PM
Hehe. Vlad, I want you to know I eat people like you for breakfast. You are simply pouring fuel. I will enjoy this one.
—– Original Message —-
From: Vlad Zablotskyy vladzablotskyy@gmail.com
To: Jaffar Sadighi sadighij@yahoo.com
Sent: Thursday, January 24, 2008 2:48:08 PM
Subject: One word for you: BANNED

You are banned from leaving further comments on my blogs. Enjoy your life.

Shortly thereafter, the following was entered on Yahoo Answers using the the same name that was used in the correspondence above, “Jaffar S“:

This curious blog has popped up (update: blog taken down, link removed) as well promising to enlighten the world with information about Vlad Zablotskyy.

In this thread (update: Dennis has password protected link, so we’ve removed it), Dennis Pease shares his encounter with ePerk’s Compliance Director, Ramesh Birla (no longer with ePerks according to California DRE records) and provides more details in this thread at RealEstateWebmasters as well (note that this post starts as a fake post seeded by ePerks, but turns into a platform for users sharing their negative experience with the company, this is common):

Just so it is public record eperk.com (sic) Compliance Director Mr Ramesh Birla has called me 3 times tonight starting at 7:15 PM, first making threats that I will be taken care of in his words.

Net Effect. A google search for “ePerks” shows 4 of the top 10 posts are negative. The blogosphere buzz and interest is growing day by day with Vlad Zablotskyy playing the role of martyr.

Exit Strategy

Since ePerk’s traffic death spiral indicates that ePerks has stopped marketing and thrown in the towel, this may signal that it is on its way or already in the deadpool. The widespread fake comment seeding and ad spend for marketing as shown by traffic data both seem to dramatically decrease at the beginning of February. In all likelihood this is because Ben has left ePerks to die a slow death yet it appears that ePerks is still continuing operations and taking in revenue from members and new signups. Enter Ihype.com, Ben’s latest and soon to launch startup.

Ihype, a PayPerPost.com clone, launches on June 2, 2008. That’s right, hot off the heels of the ePerks debacle, Ben Behrouzi is gravitating towards one of the sleaziest models on the internet, paid post advertising, following in the footsteps of the infamous PayPerPost.com.

You Can Earn Over $10,000 Per Month Writing About Anything! – Ihype.com / Craigslist Ads

In True Spammer Behrouzi Fashion: In these comments for an unrelated article (a full 4 months before Ihype has even launched) “Britney” spams that “new website coming out called ihype.com i’m hearing a lot of cool stuff about it” . You can find more seeded comments (update: bad links removed), a paid post here, and a hilarious paid post here, where the paid poster confuses the Ihype.com with hype.com (an energy drink) and praises the energy drink site on accident.

The Moral of this Amoral Story

It is no secret that leadership starts at the top and shapes the moral and ethical fiber and culture of a company. The behaviors exhibited be ePerks paint the picture of a company that operates outside the bounds of any ethical or moral code. The upshot of this story is that it was supposed to be about brand destruction, but the truth is that the evidence suggests that Ben never intended to build a brand with ePerks or that he simply gave up.

While I despise payperpost.com, they have built out their company and infrastructure to support and grow their user base. I can say without hesitation, that in my opinion, Ben Behrouzi is in no way capable of doing the same with Ihype.com. At the time of this writing, days before launch, the Ihype.com 800 number goes directly to a voicemail that isn’t even set up. Ihype is simultaneously advertising that they have thousands of users while their paid post jobs board shows nothing but test jobs.

Ben has demonstrated his lack of leadership abilities with ePerks and has clearly shown where he stands in regards to ethics in business. By all appearances, he does not seem capable of building a brand nor growing a business on his own. ePerk’s failure to perform further validates speculation that his early success was more due to co-founder and uncle Payman Zamani then his own business acumen. Further confirmation is found in the recent threats against Go-Beyond-MLS.com and others as such actions are clearly not the actions of an intelligent and dynamic CEO, but those of an immature and inexperienced business person content on using brute force in lieu of tact and sound business strategies.

(ePerks CEO, Ben Behrouzi did not respond to requests for inclusion in this story.)

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