The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it shut down a $600 million online Ponzi scheme on the verge of collapse and won a court ordered emergency asset freeze to protect some of the more than 1 million investors it had attracted.

ZeekRewards.com, created in January 2011 by Paul Burks and touted as a “private, invitation only, affiliate advertising division” of penny auction website Zeekler.com, promised investors up to 50 percent of “daily net profits” through a system based on rewards points, the SEC said.

SOURCE: Reuters