Scam or NOT – Don’t let them Scam You

Today I will be addressing the iJango scam that has recently popped up on the internet. You probably found this by searching the internet to see if indeed iJango is a scam. I can tell you that, Yes iJango is a scam! To start let’s investigate iJango CEO, Cameron Sharpe.

Cameron Sharpe - iJango- Scam

Cameron Sharpe – Head of the iJango scam

I first came across the iJango scam when a client emailed me about it, asking if it was a legit opportunity.  By the way he described it in the email, I knew it was a scam before I even looked at the website. For fun, I decided to check it out.

I started watching the video of Cameron Sharpe describing this new pyramid scheme, and about fell out of my chair laughing when he said, “What if you could multi-level Google?” I knew it was a really bad scam when he said, “How would you like to get paid everytime YOU or people you know use the internet?”  Anyone in the internet marketing industry with half a brain knows this type of scheme NEVER WORKS!  It failed with AllAdvantage and Agloco, and it WILL FAIL WITH IJANGO!  BET!  So now that I had this basic information established, the next question was who is this Cameron Sharpe guy?  In the video, he looked like he came straight from the pages of  Hot Chicks with Douchebags.  Stepping out of the Maserati in the no parking zone definitely added some extra doucheiness.  I began doing some research and was literally floored by all the dirt I was able to dig up on this guy douchebag.

Cameron Barrett Sharpe aka Barrett Stone started up a dating scam called Ultimate Singles in 2000 with another criminal named Jason Breakey.  This company was responsible for all the street sign spam you may have seen in your city at one time or another.  If you Google the company, or either of their names with the word scam; you’ll see lots of results on various complaint sites.  Here is just one example I found of Cameron Sharpe on Complaints.com, that details exactly how the scam worked.  They would advertise websites in each city they were in that tricked the residents into believing it was a local company.  These people would unknowingly enter into a contract totaling up from $5,000 to $15,000.  The complaints on the web all tell the same story, which was the actual service wasn’t anything close to what was advertised.  When a victim would try to cancel, they found out there was no way to do so.  When they refused to continue making payments, Cameron Sharpe was able to turn them into a collection agency.  After a couple of years, the Texas Attorney General’s office had received a plethora of complaints on Cameron Sharpe and his company, Ultimate Singles.  I actually found a judgement against him on the Dallas TX County Clerk’s website dated 10-02-03.  In case you have trouble using their document viewer, I have inserted a screenshot below:

Judgement against Cameron Sharpe for $5127.00

It describes in detail how he SWINDLED one Susan Baker out of $150,000, and then filed bankruptcy to avoid paying her back!  This lengthy, 39 page PDF file shows you who the real Cameron Sharpe is.  Some of my favorite parts are:

Ms. Baker testified that Mr. Sharpe’s manner of dress led her to believe that he was a wealthy man.  She also testified that based upon his demeanor and appearance she thought he had money.  Ms Wokowitz also testified that Mr. Sharpe led a lifestyle that led her to believe he was a successful, wealthy person and that she believed Mr. Sharpe intended to lead people to believe that he was a wealthy person.

… what is remarkable about Mr Sharpe’s testimony throughout the trial, though convoluted and often confused, is the sense of a desperate, “pie-in-the-sky” optimism on his part that maybe, someday things will work out his way and he will be as rich as he aspires to be.  The parties also agree that, in addition to dressing extravagantly, Mr Sharpe lived extravagantly, flying on a business associate’s Lear jet, dining in expensive restaurants, drinking expensive wines, and shoping in designer boutiques and expensive stores, such as Cartier.   Ms. Baker also presented photographs to the court, one showing Mr. Sharpe beside a Lear jet and one of a mansion, as evidence that Mr. Sharpe wished to portray himself as a man of significant means.

Cameron Sharpe is Deadbeat Dad that owes $19,423.44 in Child Support

If you become a victim of car insurance fraud, you pay. Not only will you pay higher premiums because you may acquire a costly claim, but, as with any car accident, you and your family could pay with your lives. It is important to learn more about fraud protection so you can protect yourself from others who may choose you to be a part of their next car insurance accident fraud scam.
Insurance fraud began when insurance first began. Incidents have been recorded as far back as ancient Greece. Ship scuttling was an insurance scam in ancient Greece where ships were purposely sunk. Later insurance fraud traveled to England then to America. When automobiles were introduced it opened a whole new arena for fraudulent insurance claims. Today, with modern technology, many fraudulent car accident claims do arise from sophisticated organized crime rings that can be hard to detect. Don’t let this make you a victim of an insurance scam. Whether the insurance scam is from an organized crime ring or an individual, there are fraud protection steps you can take to help you be more aware and avoid being a scammer’s next victim.

First, it is important to know what types of insurance scams are used. There are many types of car insurance scams. Set-up car accidents can range from vehicles deliberately stopping in front of a driver to cause a rear-end car accident to drivers who pretend they are being helpful but intend to cause a car accident that will look like the innocent drivers fault. Scams can also involve people one would generally trust such as doctors and lawyers.

Educating yourself more about fraud protection against car insurance accident scams is the best way to avoid being someone’s next victim. Here is a list of common scams to be aware of:

Staged Rear-End Car Accidents: A scam driver will quickly get in front of an innocent car and then slam on their brakes. This causes the innocent driver to rear-end the scam driver. Along with collecting money for vehicle damages, the scam driver will often fake medical injuries to collect even more.

Adding Damage: After an accident, either staged or not, the scam driver will go to another location and cause extensive damage to their vehicle and claim that the damage happened during the original accident.

Fake Helpers: Scam Helpers will wave an innocent driver into traffic, but then crash into the innocent driver. When it comes time to file the claim, the scam driver will deny waving anyone in. Other ways fake helpers try to scam people is by offering to help an innocent driver find a auto repair shop, doctor, or lawyer. In this case, everyone is in on the scam. The body shop charges you enormous rates, the doctor and lawyer also lie to collect more from your insurance.
Since these scams can happen at any time and place, it is important to be prepared. Awareness is the most important. Watch for drivers who may be following you or examining your driving habits. Also, make sure you leave plenty of room in front of you in order to stop. If an accident does happen, take notes on everything about the other car, the accident, and everybody that was in the other car. Keep a disposable camera in your car to record damage to both vehicles. Furthermore, use your judgment in driving, not others. Make sure you have enough room to get out and just let other cars pass instead of letting others “waive you in.” And, when you talk to your insurance company, let them know if you felt something was suspicious.

WASHINGTON — Top federal and state officials on Monday announced a broad crackdown on mortgage modification scams, accusing “criminal actors” of preying on desperate borrowers caught up in the nation’s housing crisis.

Government officials say scammers are seeking to take advantage of borrowers in danger of default by charging them upfront fees of $1,000 to $3,000 for help with loan modifications that rarely, if ever, pay off.

The frauds often involve companies with official-sounding names designed to make borrowers think they are using the Obama administration’s efforts to help modify or refinance 7 million to 9 million mortgages.

Officials say such operations almost always are fraudulent, and that help is available for free from government-approved housing counselors.

“These predatory scams callously rob Americans of their savings and potentially their homes,” Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said. “We will shut down fraudulent companies more quickly than before. We will target companies that otherwise would have gone unnoticed under the radar.”

The Federal Trade Commission has sent warning letters to 71 companies it says were running suspicious advertisements. The agency also said it filed three new complaints against Northridge, Calif.-based Federal Loan Modification Law Center LLP, Newport Beach, Calif.-based Bailout.hud-gov.us, and Clearwater, Fla.-based Home Assure LLC, and the operators of those companies.

The FTC last month filed cases against two other companies: Hope Now Modifications LLC and New Hope Modifications LLC.

Attorney General Eric Holder says the FBI is investigating about 2,100 mortgage fraud cases, a 400 percent increase from five years ago.

“If you discriminate against borrowers or prey on vulnerable homeowners with fraudulent mortgage schemes, we will find you, and we will punish you,” Holder said.

Over the past year homeowners have been flooding state attorneys general with complaints about for-profit loan modification consultants. While some are legitimate, authorities say many are con artists.

“Stay away from anyone who says they will save your home in return for money up front,” Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan told reporters in Washington. Such claims, she said, “are almost always scams.”

Homeowners do not have to pay anything to participate in the administration’s Making Home Affordable program, which seeks to prevent foreclosures by making mortgages affordable through refinancing or modified terms.

Other signs of a mortgage scam, according to the FTC are: promises to stop foreclosure or modify a loan; guarantees that your home will be saved and claims of a “97 percent success rate;” and use of official-sounding names.

Roadside billboards in places like Las Vegas scream, “Save my property!” and radio ads promise “expert help.” Some companies comb property records and send mail designed to look like it is from the homeowner’s lender.

Some of those making the offers to help are former brokers, agents and appraisers who’ve seen their previous business evaporate. But it’s difficult to gauge if even the legitimate consultants are more effective than nonprofit credit counselors who also work with lenders at no charge.

Some states recently have toughened penalties for perpetrating foreclosure scams, and some prosecutors have used existing fraud statutes to bring criminal charges. But many state prosecutors have not filed criminal cases, instead proceeding with civil lawsuits.

Homeowners can locate free housing counselors at www.makinghomeaffordable.gov or by calling (888) 995-HOPE.

Yep, it had to happen. Twitter is fast becoming a hotbed for scammers and online villains.

The super-hot online communication tool that limits its users to short messages is the new home for people offering phony employment offers. If you see a message saying that you can earn hundreds of dollars a day just by tweeting from your computer, it’s probably best to ignore it.

The Better Business Bureau says it’s seeing an increase in the number of companies turning Twitter “into a virtual ATM with little effort and no risk,” the Los Angeles Times reports.

Here’s how it works: A scammer will advertise that people can build a large following on Twitter with paying customers, the Times reports. All you have to do is try out an instructional “Twitter home business kit” for a week.

The scammers will request your credit card information for the shipping costs for the kit. But the trial week starts immediately — before the kit is even shipped — and customers are charged $47 a month if they don’t cancel in that seven-day trial period.

The scammers are taking advantage of a down job market and people desperate for work. And vulnerable people can easily be duped — even in 140 characters or less.

Reported by MSN.

We feel this article has relevance to scams as much as anything else. While MJ was a great artist we can’t simply over look the facts surrounding his life.

A New York congressman who is considering a Senate run posted a YouTube video calling Michael Jackson a “pervert” and questioning the exhaustive media coverage of the pop star’s death.

Rep. Peter King, a Long Island Republican, said in the video posted Sunday that society is glorifying a “low-life” while hardworking teachers, police officers, firefighters and veterans don’t get the credit they deserve.

“This guy was a pervert,” King said in the video, shot Sunday by a staff member outside an American Legion hall. “He was a child molester. He was a pedophile. And to be giving this much coverage to him, day in and day out, what does it say about us as a country?”

As reported by MSN.COM