Flooz.com was a dot-com venture, now defunct, based in

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that went online in February 1999. It was promoted by comic actress

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in a series of television advertisements. Started by

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co-founder Robert Levitan, the company attempted to establish a

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unique to

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merchants, somewhat similar in concept to airline

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s or grocery store stamp books. The name "flooz" was based upon the Arabic word for money, فلوس, ''fuloos''. Users accumulated flooz credits either as a promotional bonus given away by some internet businesses or purchased directly from flooz.com which then could be redeemed for merchandise at a variety of participating online stores. Adoption of flooz by both merchants and customers proved limited, and it never established itself as a widely recognized

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, which hindered both its usefulness and appeal.

Use by crime syndicate

In 2001, Flooz.com was notified by the

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that a Russian-Filippino organized crime syndicate used $300,000 worth of Flooz and stolen credit card numbers as part of a

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scheme, in which stolen credit cards were used to purchase currency and then redeemed. Levitan has stated that fraudulent purchases accounted for 19% of consumer credit card transactions by mid-2001.

Closure

The company announced its closure on August 26, 2001, perceived as an early indicator of the growing dot-com bubble burst. Upon the company's closing, all unused flooz credits became worthless and nonrefundable. Over its short history, flooz.com reportedly exhausted from $35 million to $50 million in venture capital. The company's bankruptcy was cited as having approximately 325,000 creditors.

References

{{Dot-com Bubble Internet properties established in 1999 Defunct online companies of the United States Defunct websites online payments Digital currencies Dot-com bubble 1999 establishments in New York City

Use by crime syndicate

Closure

See also

References