Scam or NOT – Don’t let them Scam You

I am yet to find a pyramid scheme that is not a scam. As an ACN representative you are encouraged to recruit your family and friends into this scheme, no cold calling or selling is advised, so you are not permitted to market this scheme like you would any other business.

You will be required to pay a $149 renewal fee per year, and $10+ per month in other fees, you will not find out about these fees until you have signed up as a representative, you will also be required to pay a fee for your marketing kit, although this information is not made public, if you are wondering if you can make money at this?

You might want to consider that you are responsible for the payment of bills that aren’t paid by your customers that you sign up!

The company’s structure is the same as any pyramid scheme, the people at the top of the ladder make all of the money, and the person at the bottom does all the work and gains very little compensation.

The ACN scam claims that profits are rising fast, although their profit information for the company is not made available to its agents or the general public.

But the real proof that ACN is a scam is in March 23rd of this year the Australian Federal Court, found ACN to be in violation of the trade practices act of 1974. If you’re considering joining ACN either as a customer or representative, I would suggest that you reconsider.

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

As posted on MSN.COM

The cash incentives to trade in gas guzzlers won’t be available until late July, but fraudulent sites are popping up now.

“Cash for clunkers” was signed into law only this week, but scammers are already out in force.

The program offers owners of older vehicles up to $4,500 to trade them for brand-new vehicles.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is warning car shoppers that official-looking sites have sprung up, offering information on the program and asking for personal data or preregistration.

In fact, if the site uses the term “cash for clunkers,” it’s not official at all. The program’s name is the Car Allowance Rebate System.

“There’s only one official site for the government, and that’s NHTSA’s CARS.gov Web site,” said NHTSA press officer Eric Bolton. “Folks should go there and not rely on ‘cash for clunkers’ sites on the Internet as they are not official.”

Regulators have 30 days to set up the details and a system for distributing and collecting vouchers, making late July or early August the soonest the incentives could be available.

The bill provides $1 billion for the program through November. An estimated 250,000 vouchers will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis.

The likely scenario for their use: Dealers let you know that your trade qualifies, credit the amount to your down payment, then apply for the voucher. Only new vehicles — domestic or imported, purchased or leased — qualify, and they must have sticker prices under $45,000.

Buyers do not have to register or apply for any part of the program. Dealers do.

Trade-ins must be 1984 models or newer, get no better than 18 miles per gallon, and have been registered and insured for the past year.

There’s a catch
The vouchers aren’t a panacea for buyers.

Car buyers must remember that their trades will be scrapped and have no value to the dealership above the amount of the voucher. A 10-year-old Lexus might qualify for the biggest ($4,500) voucher, but it’s almost certainly worth more than that on the open market.

Got Screwed Trying to Buy chriscoyier.com

Against all better judgment, when I got a shady-looking email offering to sell me chriscoyier.com for $200 bucks, I went through with it.

 

Now I know that email looks like total spam, but you know some of these domain registrars have no design taste whatsoever. I figured, sure, they have no taste and I am morally opposed to their whole business model, but hey at least I can get my own damn domain name back.

So I fill out their form (even coughing up my credit card number) and submit it. I get a confirmation, which made me feel a bit better.

There was text after I filled out the form that told me that my credit card would not be charged until the domain transfer has gone through. OK, sounds fine. Then a week or so goes by and I hear nothing. I check my bank records and no charge has been made to my account. Hmmm…

Then over a month goes by and still nothing, so I sort of forget about it.

Then I get a call from my mother a few weeks ago. They get some package in the mail for me, a bunch of weird coffee and a coffee maker. I completely don’t put two and two together. I figure I probably accidently checked some stupid box when sending in a credit card bill that signed me up for some protection plan and free coffee. (I get bills sent to my parents permanent address, if you are wondering how my mother factors into this). I tell her to return the package to the sender.

So I’m checking my bank records today, and I see I recently have a credit on there. It was actually that coffee company refunding my account for the coffee. Bizarre, since I never authorized any actual payment for that coffee, especially directly out of my bank account. So I’m poking around my statement in more detail, and I start to see all these weird transactions:

Fourty bucks to “EASY GRANT SUCCES00 OF 00800-4790979″… Uhm… I don’t think so.

There were several charges from this company, and a bunch of other one-offs from very bizarre companies from around the U.S.

SCH*SCHOLASTIC AT HOME 800-955-9877 ($9.95)
DRI*SMART CD CATALOG P ($45.99)

OK, at this point I realize that my credit card has been compromised. But how? I feel like I’m usually pretty safe about these things and it’s not like I lost the card, its right here in my wallet. Then I see it:

WEBNAME SOLUTION MONTREAL ($199.95)

Ahhh. There it is. Before this charge, nothing out of the ordinary. After this charge, the shitstorm begins. The bastards waited a few months, long enough for me to forget about it, and THEN charged me and likely sold my credit card information to some other bad guys.

I am not going to hyperlink directly to the company and help their search rankings in any way, but the name of the company is Webname Solution (webnamesolution.com)

So I call my bank who issued the card. A woman helped me who was extremely helpful and nice. She emailed me a dispute form, which I filled out and had notorized, which details all of the fraudulent transactions. I also canceled the card and she’s sending me out a new one. This will probably be a huge pain in the ass updating the many many online services I use that use that card, but oh well.

So what did I learn from this? Well it’s certainly the last time I ever fill out an online form that looks in the least bit shady. I am smarter than that. I also learned that I still have a fiery sense of revenge. Today, I truly feel like the person who is behind this “company” should be killed. If I knew who is was and was guaranteed to not go to jail for doing it, I’d do it myself.

 

I hate to be the one to inform you, but you will not receive the cash prize promised in the letter. This is a scam. FreeLotto.com is a legitimate lottery site run out of the UK and they have samples of the fraudulent letters being sent out under their name. A legitimate lottery will NEVER ask you to pay money or give out credit card information in order to receive your winnings.

Anyway they took 3000.00 up front stating if their lawyers could not negotiate what we had put, they would refund they money of 2500.00.

I called several times to speak to [snip] who gave me the run a round by saying they lawyers are still at the negotiating table.

What they did was lower the interest rate only. Then they said they never said they would lower the principle amount. It became a yes you did and [snip] says no I didn’t. [snip] spoke with my wife and I was the one trying to follow up on where our 3000.00 went. She never gave a strait answer. Deny Everything is what they do. They sent us their new payment documents. They were unacceptable to us. Their lawyer calls my wife and intimidated her for she felt what could she say against some crook lawyer. I have been looking for others who were taken by Home Relief Services. I did notice their website no longer exist. These are crooked people who took advantage of our situation and caused us to ultimately lose our home and now looking at bankruptcy. If I could get my money back it would help.