Yesterday, we alerted you to an online scammer who’d hacked the site of a trade association and used their legitimate-looking e-mails to dupe consumers into clicking on their fraudulent work-from-home site. At the end of the post, we mentioned that we’d found a phony seal of approval from an outfit called the “Web Trade Bureau,” which deemed the scam site a five-star, “trusted site.”

As we noted yesterday, apart from classic hallmarks of a work-at-home scam site, “Make Money From Home Guaranteed! $750 Every Day!” is in a class by itself, since it’s loaded with badware and tries to install a worm on your machine when you visit the site.

So what kind of organization calls that a “five-star trusted site?”

This kind. Although the seal of approval wasn’t linked, it wasn’t too hard to find http://webtradebureau.com via Google, and an underwhelming site it is, right down to the welcome from one Gary Sullivan, the WebTradeBureau’s “Senior Commissioner.”

From the WebTradeBureau.com Commissioner......

We investigate dozens and dozens of sites and instead of publishing all the substandard sites we give you the cream of the crop so you can be sure of receiving quality goods and services with the highest levels of customer service and each site must have a money back guarantee.

It all sounds very official and reassuring, so we decided to write to Commissioner Sullivan to ask his bureau to review Consumer Reports WebWatch. We'll let you know if we hear back from him.

In the meantime, we found a few other issues on the site. First, posted next to a picture of the "Commissioner," is this: "CONSUMER WARNING!! Fraud Alert! Don't Do Business Online Until You've Checked With Us First!" But when you click on the “Fraud Alert” link, you're taken to a site called JavaScriptKit “your comprehensive JavaScript, DHTML, CSS , and Ajax Stop.” Huh?

Second, when you right-click on Commission Sullivan's picture to view his image, the URL (http://click-space.com/electronics/gary.jpg) triggers a McAfee SiteAdviser alert: "In our tests, we found downloads on this site that some people consider adware, spyware or other potentially unwanted programs." How can this happen to the Senior Commissioner of the WebTradeBureau? Maybe it's the work of the Russian Business Network?

Apart from the usual list of red flags (lack of a privacy policy and full contact information), the site is full of links to the "bureau's reports" for dozens of types of sites, (half of which are dead links). A link above Commissioner Sullivan's message seems to indicate the Bureau's true mission: Convincing people they can own a house for free

This site, "Own a Free House," features (surprise surprise!) Commissioner Sullivan, who asks:

-Do you need to get out of debt?
-Are you sick and tired of paying for a mortgage month after month?
-Would you like to keep the money you pay for your house, instead of giving it to the bank?
-Would you like to own a FREE house (any house, even your dream house)?
-Would you like to save HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of Dollars on mortgage interest?
-Would you like to INCREASE your personal assets by $237,000.00 or more?

Who wouldn't? So what's the catch? "This Amazing Video Shows You Exactly How To Get a FREE HOUSE, and YES, that's ANY HOUSE you choose!" Ah ha. How does one obtain this video? First, scroll down the long page, past the photos of happy families in front of their (presumably) free houses, until you arrive at the bottom of the page: "For More Information About The Video, CLICK HERE."

Clicking on that link takes you to a similar site, except for the white background, (as opposed to black). Though the domain name changed from "webtradebureau.com" to "dreamjobsathome.com," we were relieved to see it's a WebTradeBureau five-star site. . . After scrolling past testimonials from several picture-perfect families, we arrived at this link: CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE VIDEO, and found ourselves on a secure checkout form:

Product Name: How To Get A Free House
Product Type: Downloadable
Seller: Ebiz Depot
Total Amount: $29.00

Finally, we found this notice on the bureau's homepage:

WebTradeBureau 'seal of approval' logos displayed on websites must be clickable, linking back to our site. If a website displaying our seal does not link back to our site, contact us immediately at: abuse@webtradebureau.com to verify our approval.

Accordingly, we felt it was our duty to send them the malware-laden site where we first encountered their logo. We'll let you know if we hear back.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 04:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Home Rescue LLC removed its membership seal from the National Loan Modification Association of America and replaced it with two different seals from an organization called the National Loss Mitigation Association. Their site is registered to an Aaron Cuha of Synergy Capital Management Corporation, Huntington Beach, Calif. Who are they? There's this post and not much else. More to come.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 04:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Arizona's Attorney General, Terry Goddard, is warning consumers to be cautious when signing up for “risk-free” trial offers of nutrition supplements online. The AG noted a rash of complaints from consumers who signed up online to receive "free" trials of popular nutritional products, such as Acai berry supplements that usually don't turn out to be free.

You can read the press release here. Goddard also filed a lawsuit against Central Coast Nutraceuticals, Inc. (CCN) in Phoenix last December, which you can read about here. We wrote about CCN this week and are continuing to investigate their connections to other supplements marketing.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 11:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Beau Brendler at 03:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The following e-mail showed up in our mailbox a few days ago:

----- Original Message -----
From: Ryan L. (asjlimited@gmail.com)
To: consumerwebwatch@cu.consumer.org
Sent: Friday, April 24, 2009 2:10 AM
Subject: Check Out theamericandreamteam.org

Hello, my name is Ryan L., and I am a member of Email Processing Team. I would personally like to invite you to become part of our team doing work-at-home data entry emailpro. We have guided thousands of team members to success using our new type of data-entry job called Email Processing. Some members are currently making $300 - $2000 and more per day, using our program and guidance. We have been dealing with online data entry for over 5 years. Do you have a few minutes? I will explain more. Click on the link below for more info: http://emong101.0fees.net/promail

Below this decidedly dubious offer was pasted a very professional-looking invitation to join "The American Dream Team" at: www.theamericandreamteam.org. We quickly learned the American Dream Team is in fact a completely legitimate organization, a public service site created by the Building Industry Association of Southern California, a regional trade association. And we immediately confirmed our suspicions that "Make Money From Home Guaranteed! $750 Every Day!" was a classic work-at-home scam.

But how to explain the nonsensical connection between a genuine trade association and a blatant online scam?

We contacted Julie Senter, Director of Public Affairs & Communications for the Building Industry Association of Southern California, and forwarded her the e-mail in question.

According to Julie, it turns out scammers managed to misappropriate an online form Dream Team members use to forward information about the program to friends. They then added a personal note at the top and used a computer to auto-generate it in 99-person batches during the middle of the night for two nights running. While the organization is still tallying how many e-mails were sent, they pulled the form down yesterday and will re-post it today with a security feature that forces users to prove they’re human.

Julie also had this to say about the incident:

This has been an eye-opener for us. The fact that someone could so easily take our good name and our legitimate e-mail and use that for their own illegal purposes is alarming. What’s more, we would never even have known we were victims of this illegal scheme if someone hadn’t been kind enough to forward the email to us.

Will it affect whether someone trusts material coming from the American Dream Team in the future? We hope not. But if someone received this scam and blacklisted our IP address, they won’t receive our legitimate e-mails. That could have a lasting impact and force housing advocates to miss out on opportunities to support our cause. We’re looking into how these scammers were able to get our email in the first place so that we can add some security features to our website and prevent it from happening again. We would encourage other nonprofits and trade associations to do the same.

We'd like to underscore Julie's point and remind readers not to automatically assume any e-mail from or about the American Dream Team (www.theamericandreamteam.org) is fraudulent. However, if you do get an American Dream Team-related e-mail preceded by an outlandish come-on identical to the one above, delete it immediately.

Why? Frankly, the red flags are so numerous it's hard to know where to begin. When we looked the site up on WHOIS, we learned the domain "0fees.net" is registered to someone in Kaunas, Lithuania. While we have nothing against Lithuania, it's long been a source of online fraud. And clicking on the "buy now" button on the site itself (just $16 for a "Once in a Lifetime Opportunity") takes you to a PayPal page that defaults to the Philippines. Hmmmm.

Also, when we tried to visit http://emong101.0fees.net/promail (which is unlinked for your own safety--DO NOT try to visit this site, since it will try to install a worm on your machine!), we were alerted by McAfee SiteAdvisor, which flagged the site with a big red X. According to McAfee, "In our tests, we found downloads on this site that some people consider adware, spyware or other potentially unwanted programs," programs which include a trojan.

How about the site itself? The introductory spiel says it all: "Dear Webpreneurs, Congratulations! You’re about to change your life for the better. Take a look and read some of the info's that I am presenting to you. If you are serious and motivated like I am, this is your Once in a lifetime Opportunity! Start Your Own Money Making Job Immediately! This is not a Pyramid or MLM Program." Yeah, right.

The banner ad above should also give you a pretty clear idea of what you're not missing. Otherwise, the familiar trappings of your standard work-at-home scam are all present and accounted for:

-Lack of any contact information beyond an e-mail address? Check.
-Failure to publish a privacy policy? Check.
-No indication whatsoever as to who own or runs the site? Check.
-Scads of ludicrous claims of easy money from the comfort of your home? Check.
-Amateurish, "site in a box" design? Check.
-No experience required? Check.
-Guaranteed income? Check.
-Once in a lifetime opportunity? Check.
-Phony testimonials? Check.
-Fake seal of approval? Check.

As for the fake seal of approval, it's a "five star trusted site" from something called the "Web Trade Bureau," but that's a story in itself, which we'll save for a follow-up post.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 02:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

They certainly seem to sell each other's products on these two bogus consumer watchdog sites, here and here, as we've shown you over the last several posts.

Consider the case of Colo Flush, sold on the Colon Cleanse Test site. Colo Flush is a product of Advanced Wellness Research, a company whose corporate site doesn't even name its own products. Advanced Wellness, which earned the lowest possible rating from the BBB, recently moved from Illinois to Miami Beach. Bromalite is sold on both colon sites, and is a product of Central Coast Neutraceuticals. Anyone know anything about connections between Advanced Wellness Research and Central Coast Nutraceuticals?

Posted by Beau Brendler at 02:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Here's a list of Central Coast Nutraceuticals Web sites to avoid, for a variety of reasons, among them, "Consumers have indicated difficulty contacting this company and experience hold times up to 75 minutes before a customer service representative can be reached," the BBB says.

http://www.centralcoastnutra.net
http://www.acai-pure.com
http://www.pomclear.com
http://www.greenteaextreme.com
http://www.hoodiacore.com
http://www.colopure.com
http://www.colotox.com
http://www.hoodiawater.com
http://www.myavela.com
http://www.celebrity-smile.com
http://www.slimlifediet.com
http://www.cholestapro.com
http://www.hoodiastarpm.com
http://getorderhelp.com
http://www.hoodiastar.com

The shipping and returns for the products are handled out of Largo, Florida.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 02:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's another multi-level marketing page for colon cleansers, which appears brought to us by the same folks who own (or at least designed) the Colon Review Board site.

"The Colon Cleanse Test" site sports an embedded six-minute CBS News video with celebrities, including Morgan Freeman, Diane Keaton and Jimmy Smits, talking about colon cancer. This site's blind-registered (of course) through some anonymous service in California. It sports a link to Bromalite, which we debunked in an earlier posting. There's also a link to Acai-Pure.com, a site boasting something that looks like an endorsement by Rachael Ray, but isn't. Acai-Pure's 14-day "free" trial pitch, which actually costs $4, will get you a $39.95-per-bottle monthly charge billed to your credit card.

The acai site is blind-registered in Arizona, where the parent company, Central Coast Neutraceuticals, is based. You'll find the usual chain of complaints here and here. Central Coast Neutraceuticals has what might be called a minimalist corporate Web site. It also has the lowest possible rating from the Better Business Bureau, and a particularly devastating complaint report. It also peddles hoodia, which we're going to look at in future installments.

Finally, Colon Cleanse Test links to ColoFlush, which is also blind-registered in Arizona. That's an Advanced Wellness Research product, which we'll talk about in a minute.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 01:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The third site recommended by the Colon Review Board is another "free trial" acai berry supplement site that, like most in the genre, is light on details about what's in the pills, proof that they work, and how much you're going to pay. The site's registered to a Canadian firm called Cyberplex, which has a client list including Blockbuster Video, ING and Microsoft, so we wonder if they're the actual registrant. We called and left messages at (416) 260-4411 and (416) 597-8889 and have yet to hear back. Check out consumer board complaint rants about Acai Berry Detox here, here and here. But wait! There's more.

Signing up for your "free" trial will still cost you $3.95 for shipping and after 14 days, $87.13 a month. We found that disclosure by clicking on tiny links the same color as the home page background, at the very bottom of the page. There's the usual display of major-media logos and a few pictures of skinny celebrities so small you can't tell who they are (they could sue the company for implying endorsement of their product if you could tell). You'll also see a number of pseudo-seals of approval and awards (one of them so blurred you can't make out the words).

Finally: The BBB has given its lowest possible rating to Acai Berry Detox's parent company, FWM Laboratories of North Miami Beach, Florida. We tried calling their phone number, but it's disconnected, and the local operator has no listing for FWM Laboratories in the area.

You really want to give these people access to your credit card number? You'd be better off going to your local supermarket and buying a month's supplies for making fruit smoothies. That should cost about $40 -- go heavy on the blueberries, bananas, yogurt and papayas (heck, you can even buy acai berry juice in the grocery store these days for a few bucks a bottle if you want to dump some in). Take the other $40 and give it to your local homeless shelter.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 12:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Death begins in the colon. Ask any coroner.
-- Bromalite home page

The second site endorsed by the obviously bogus Colon Review Board sells something called Bromalite (honestly, can't we just eat a big bowl of bran flakes?).

Apparently Bromalite can blast parasites out of human plumbing along with last month's leftover steak. The site amps up the colon crud fear factor with lines like, "the US alone contains widespread parasites across the nation." Bromalite's also earned a fair number of consumer complaint rants, here, here and here for starters. The site is of course blind-registered, to a proxy service in Arizona.

Not that you'd consider ordering this stuff, but at least we have to give Bromalite credit for disclosing the fine print on its free trial in a more transparent fashion than others we've seen -- click the link below and we'll show it to you.

"NOTE: Ordering this item enrolls you for a free 12 day trial of Bromalite. After the 12 day trial, You will begin a subscription for Bromalite at $69.95 a month, automatically billed to your credit card."

Can you figure out whether you've passed all your parasites in just 12 days? Tough to say. Given the list of contents Bromalite publishes on its home page, it looks like you could just load up on yogurt, papayas and blueberries and save $70. We love the Bromalite scare tactics at the bottom of the home page:

"Death begins in the colon. Don’t believe it? Ask any coroner. Autopsies often reveal colons that are plugged up to 80 percent with waste material. You could be plugging your colon with years of waste. Years of poison.
"Constipation is one of the most common gastrointestinal complaints in the United States. More than 4 million Americans have frequent constipation, accounting for 2.5 million physician visits a year.
"The colon is a sewerage (sic) system, but by neglect and abuse it becomes a cesspool. When it’s clean and normal we are well and happy.
Let it stagnate it will (sic):
* Distill the poisons of decay, fermentation and putrefaction, into the blood, poisoning the brain and nervous system so that we become mentally depressed and irritable.
* Poison the heart so that we are weak and listless.
* Poison the lungs so that the breath is foul.
* Poison the digestive organs so that we are distressed and bloated"

About the only good thing we can say about this Web site is that it does clearly display its terms, both underneath the trial sign-up form, and in somewhat dense detail at the bottom of the page.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 02:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Taking a look at the first site endorsed by the Colon Review Board, we see a site selling something called "Advanced Acai."

There's a physical address listed in Ontario, California, though the site itself is blind registered in lovely Funchal, Madeira, an island off the Portuguese coast.

A helpful, courteous sales rep answered the phone when we tried to bluff our way through getting something called an RMA number, which is some sort of authorization to return the product for a refund.

But the site uses the familiar hype about the acai berry's magical powers, with nothing substantial to back it up. And it uses the "free trial" marketing technique, which doesn't tell you what the cost of the product will be, but demands that you give up your personal information. (If you don't believe what we've said before about acai berry marketing and free trials, take a look at this March press release from Center for Science in the Public Interest.

We especially love the quote from Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal: "There are no magical berries from the Brazilian rainforest that cure obesity—only painfully real credit card charges and empty weight loss promises...Aggressive Acai berry pitches on the Internet entice countless consumers into free trials promising weight loss, energy and detoxification. These claims are based on folklore, traditional remedies and outright fabrications—unproven by real scientific evidence. In reality, consumers lose more money than weight after free trials transition into inescapable charges."

Posted by Beau Brendler at 01:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Consider now the august Colon Review Board, and try not to picture in your mind a bunch of guys in white coats sitting around a conference table under flourescent lights inspecting handfuls of greasy organs and giving some kind of letter grade -- "prime" for "pink," "R" for "rubbery," and so on.

You don't even need to be an expert to spot this sham.

Note the logos of famous mainstream media organizations, plastered on the site with the intent to fool you into thinking the Colon Review Board has been featured on Oprah and in the Wall Street Journal, when in reality it means, at best, that Oprah once mentioned colons on her show, or that the WSJ uses a lot of semi-colons (sorry, we couldn't resist).

Site links lead only to other product sites -- no listing of distiguished members of the colon board, or their medical qualifications, or anything else. The Web site cites a study about the products' effectiveness, but gives no details. The home page also dispenses about 1,000 words or so of dubious medical advice, including things we don't really want to think about: "While the cause of colon cancer isn’t known, it isn’t healthy for waste, which is meant to be eliminated from the body, to sit in your colon for weeks."

This site, by the way, is registered via a private proxy service in Canada, which would be unusual behavior for a group of health experts in New York. All the product sites the Colon Review Board links to are anonymously registered as well, in Canada, Arizona and Funchal, Madeira. More on those in a minute.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 11:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

A reader recently wrote us about a bad experience she had with Airfare.com.

I purchased airplane tickets from Airfare.com in Feb 09 for the trip in May 09 to Korea.

Sincerely,
Eunny

Although there's nothing we can do to help Eunny get a refund on her ticket, we decided to take a look at Airfare.com to see if others have had similar experiences and it turns out Eunny is far from alone.

Ripoff Report featured number of complaints, including these:

Airfare.com Complete Ripoff
Airfare.com had charged me for booking the flight and then for cancelling the tickets for a flight, that airlines had cancelled. It was an absolute nightmare which costed me $ 375 for NOTHING. I would ask anybody and everybody to stay away from airfare.com.

Indypacer
Indianapolis, Indiana
U.S.A.

Airfare.com - Wholesale Travel Center Leave you stranded and cost you additional money
The rep spoke in broken English, and was overall quite rude. He said they would email me with an update. I asked for a supervisor and he replied that there were none. I told him I would be contacting the Better Business Bureau, and the rep did not care. As of now, I have still not received any update from airfare.com. I have since filed a report with the Better Business Bureau.

Andre
Petersburg, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.

Wholesale Travel Center, Airfare.com Avoid using this company if you want a valid flight
DO NOT do business with Wholesale Travel Center. I understand how airline have recently changed where and when they are flying but to not contact a client is un called for and unprofessional. Let alone the way in which I was treated when calling.

Lynn
Casper, Wyoming
U.S.A.

When we checked with the Better Business Bureau, we learned Airfare.com is owned by Wholesale Travel Centre Inc. of Bethesda, Maryland, and also does business as "Airfare" and "WTC." We also learned that the BBB has logged 116 complaints against the company in the past 36 months, and gives Airfare.com an F rating, which means:

"We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices."

The reasons for the failing grade include:
-The number of complaints filed
-A failure to respond to the complaints
-The number of unresolved complaints
-The overall complaint history with BBB

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 02:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Against all expectations, we actually heard back from our Estonian pen pal Andreas Olev, humanitarian, banker, cancer victim and scam artist.

As we mentioned in our first post, we thought it would be interesting to follow up on an obvious fraud e-mail and see where it lead. In our second post, we learned that Andreas is a finance officer with the Hansa Bank in Tallinn, Estonia, and has come into possession of $30 million. In our third post we discovered Andreas has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and wants our help to set up a foundation for terminally ill children—for which we would receive $6 million. In our fourth post, Andreas sent us some pictures of himself, and informed us we'd have to travel (presumably to Estonia) in order to cash in on our share of the money. In our fifth post, Andreas finally divulged that our $6 million cut would cost us some upfront money, a classic 419 fraud tactic.

In our previous post—which we assumed would be our final installment in the Andreas Olev saga—we informed Andreas that we had called his bank and been told: "We have no Andreas Olev here."

But Andreas is persistent, and since we‘ve been playing along as naively as possible, he undoubtedly figured he had nothing to lose by giving it one last shot to see just how gullible we are. To his credit, he remains unflappable, and offered smooth and somewhat plausible answers to all our questions—barring his laughable English, of course.

You can read his latest email below, as well as our reply, in which we bid farewell to our Estonian friend.

----- Original Message -----
From: Andreas Olev (olevandreas@googlemail.com)
To: consumerwebwatch@cu.consumer.org
Sent: Thursday, April 23, 2009 3:34 PM
Subject: Re: How are you

Hello Alan,

Yes Hansa bank has been changed to Swedbank, but they still use the old name for now because thay can wipe out the name immediately untill the whole get awareness of the change of the name. i am give you 100% assurance and you will be going to our sister bank that will be handling the payment to sign for the funds release. I believe you will see for yourself.

I was you suprice after all i have to told you to keep this business confidential for my job safety and of the money. regarding your phone call to the bank, Swedbank have a lots brenches all over the country and i will appreciate if you stop calling to avoid red flag.

Well do let me know if you're ready and willing to follow my instruction to carry out the profitable business i good faith and trust or i should find another partner.

I will be waiting to hear from you soon.

Andreas

Here's our (final) reply:

Hello Andreas,

You mentioned in an earlier e-mail that you were based in Tallinn, so I asked the person I spoke with to check every branch in Tallinn and she assured me there was no one named Andreas Olev working at any of them.

So please spare me your clever explanations, because I've lost all faith in you. I am also no longer interested in pursuing what I'm now convinced was a scam all along, because I have discovered proof of your true intentions on the Internet.

I found the e-mail below here:
http://www.thefastlanetomillions.com/off-topic-discussion/13600-mods-stop-spamming-me.html

FROM ANDRES OLEV
From: "Mr. Andres Olev" andresolev@live.com
Hello,
I want to ask your attention to receive money on my behalf. The purpose of my contacting you is because I need someone who can receive it for our mutual benefits.
On your response, I will send you the full details and more information about myself and the funds.

Yours sincerely,
Andres Olev

And I found the one below here:
http://www.cn99.com/cgi-bin/getmsg/body?listname=wyyg33b&id=587

Hello,
I am sending you this email with reservations,basically because you may perceive
my intentions wrongly.

The issue I want to reveal to you is a classified and sensitive one. On your
response I will intimate you about this transaction and give you more
information about myself.

Yours sincerely,

Andreas Olev

Do either of these e-mails look familiar? In case you forgot, this last e-mail is identical to the first one you sent me. How many people have you tried to fool with these e-mails? And how many fell for your scam? I may feel foolish, but at least I didn’t lose anything except a little self-respect.

You should be ashamed of yourself.

Don't ever write to me again.

Alan

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 01:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's another reader e-mail requesting an investigation:

Please investigate this website. I don't think this website is reliable source. I returned the items back to them since March 1 and trying to get contact with them for the return money but could never get a hold of them except for empty promises. Is there any way I could get my money back. I still have all the emails between them and me for proof. info@tiffanyjewelry925.com

Thuong

We're afraid we didn't have to do much digging this time around, since Tiffany knock-offs are a major cottage industry on the Internet, from sellers on eBay to fake sites like this one. We published an investigation of online auction fraud earlier this year, which you can read here.

Unfortunately, as we wrote Thuong, we know Tiffanyjewelry925.com is a fraudulent site since there's only one authorized Tiffany site: www.tiffany.com. Tiffanyjewelry925.com is an obvious impostor that's been shut down, since all we got was "Address Not Found" when we tried to visit the site.

When we used WHOIS to see who's behind this site, we learned it's registered to a "La Tondra Moultrie" in Turku, Finland. We also learned that Tiffany & Co. brought a successful complaint before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), who ordered the domain name tiffanyjewelry925.com transferred to the real Tiffany.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 02:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Our good friend Bob Sullivan just post an eye-opening video on his MSNBC.com blog, The Red Tape Chronicles. The YouTube video features an identity thief hawking his wares to anyone interested, including the names, sex, social security numbers and mothers names of an untold number of victims. Watch the video and read the story.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 01:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A reader recently asked us the following question:

Wondering about the credibility record of the website usabankruptcyassociates.com. i read a review that said their offer is a farce. is this true? please see what you can find.
mary

We pasted usabankruptcyassociates.com into our browser, and immediately noticed the site lacks two critical indicators of Web credibility—contact information and a privacy policy. The contact us page only offers an e-mail form, which is never a good sign, since you have no idea where it's going (or whether it's going anywhere at all).

And for a site that collects credit card information, the lack of a privacy policy is a non-starter. The disclaimer about secure credit card ordering isn't enough, especially considering how much sensitive financial information you'll be entering into the site for them to prepare your bankruptcy claim.

And the cost for filing a bankruptcy claim? "If you are ready to get started today, we [sic] offering a limited time price of only $185 instead of our regular price of $299. This offer expires at midnight Friday, April 24th." If "offer expires at midnight" doesn't set off alarm bells, you need to watch more TV. After all, we're not talking about a ShamWow—we're talking about filing for bankruptcy.

We couldn't find any record of USABankruptcy Associates with the Better Business Bureau, but after doing a domain name search on WHOIS, we discovered why. USA Bankruptcy Associates isn't an American company. Turns out they're based in—Sacrebleu!—Montreal.

Although we don't come from the "Buy American" school, we do think companies that use "USA" in their brands should at last have the decency to be located here. But we found far more serious complaints about "USA" Bankruptcy Associates on the Rip Off Report:

USABANKRUPCYASSOCIATES.COM Ripped me off. Did not stick to their so-called guarantee
My wife was grilled about her bankruptcy-- only to have her case tossed out because it was not accurate. The part she had questions about-- the part she asked USA Bankruptcy Associates for help on-- the part they said was 'FINE'-- and 'JUST SUBMIT IT' and 'IT ALL LOOKS GREAT'-- was the part it was tossed out of court for.
Randy
Redwood City, California
U.S.A.

USA Bankruptcy Services Cannot reach by phone, and email response spotty
Payed the $189 and response is nil. They've got my money and they're on to the next."
Thanks,
Sparky
Danville, California
U.S.A.

USA Bankruptcy Associates ripoff illegal acts against bankruptcy code beware charged too much for incorrect papers Internet
People in need, Beware! Your first clue (and mine) should be that they do not have a phone number OR and address to contact them if you have a problem. You can only send them an email, and it is limited in size and you cannot write another email until they respond to the first. . . .Just don't believe anything this company advertises, they are in the business of scamming people out of their money, and the crazy guarantee is just a bunch of hype! Don't believe it!
Crystal
Colfax, Indiana
U.S.A.

Finally, we'd be remiss if we didn't comment on the site's interesting choice of graphics, for when you visit the homepage, you're confronted by some sullen diva named "Monika K," whose endorsement is pasted next to her photo: "Trust USABankruptcy to do everything they say. I did and I couldn't be happier."

Funny, Monika (the ALT text refers to her as "Nancy") doesn't look too happy to us. Which is certainly fitting, since neither are Randy, Sparky or Crystal.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 02:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Check out this recent reader letter:

Dear consumer web watch,

In my recent search for a job I came across several job postings for rebate processing jobs that seem too good to be true.They claim a very good pay rate but require a thirty seven dollar fee for training materials. Do you have any reported scams about these jobs? One of the web sites: http://www.rebateprocessorjobs.com/index.htm

Alex

We decided to take a look at www.rebateprocessorjobs.com, and as usual, didn't like what we found. First off, like so many other work-at-home sites we've looked at, it exudes the classic "site in a box" vibe—unprofessional, low-budget and amateurish.

The site, apparently run by one "Cindy Dalton," offers consumers the compelling opportunity to process customer rebates from home for $15 a pop. And the price of entry? The normal registration fee is $79.99, but, according to Cindy, "due to the current demand for workers I've lowered the registration to only $39. Offer valid until April 21, 2009." Which is today.

Anyone smell anything rotten in the state of Denmark yet?

Typically, the site features the usual assortment of gleeful people gazing at their laptops, implausible claims (15 a day @ $15 each=$1575 per week or $6300 month or $75,600 a year), "proof" in the form of the inevitable clickbank statements, unsubstantiated testimonials, ("I finally found the perfect work for my lifestyle! Your site was easy to follow. Highly recommended!"- Wendy M Ouray, Colorado) and laughable promises (Get instant access right now! Yes, you get immediate access even at 2:00 A.M.).

Unlike a lot of sites we've looked at, this one actually provides full contact information, as well as a privacy policy, but that's where the good news ends. A quick troll of Ripoff Report turned up a number of complaints, with headlines such as:

Rebate Processor Jobs This company is making false claims and has several misleading ads
This company claims to pay the employees 15$ per rebate processed, and all you have to pay is 192.00 as a one time start-up fee, when in reality you have to advertise products for their company, and you only get paid if and only if customers decide to buy these products.
Sun2shine231
plymouth, Massachusetts
U.S.A.

Processor Jobs Pure Fraud, You don't get what you paid for BEWARE
Folks stay away from REBATES as they are all scams. They advertise one way and you end up doing affiliate work and then process your own rebate from your profit. Do Not Do it or you will be ripped off for certain.
Stuart
Delray Beach, Florida
U.S.A.

Rebate Processor Jobs, Cindy Dalton, virtualtrainingsolutions.com, Rebate Processing From Home, Yes, it's a SCAM
I found rebateprocessorjobs.com (AKA Cindy Dalton and virtualtrainingsolutions.com) through RatRaceRebellion, a site that was touted on the Today Show. Filed my info., $39.00 was immediately charged to my credit card account, reply due in 24-48 hrs. Nothing!
Jo B.
Bloomington, Indiana
U.S.A.

The Better Business Bureau also had a few things to say about Rebate Processor Jobs, to which it awarded a company rating of F. In other words: "We strongly question the company’s reliability for reasons such as that they have failed to respond to complaints, their advertising is grossly misleading, they are not in compliance with the law’s licensing or registration requirements, their complaints contain especially serious allegations, or the company’s industry is known for its fraudulent business practices.

The BBB also had this to say regarding the 35 complaints it's logged against the site:

"Complaints allege the company misrepresents their offer as an opportunity to work from home processing rebates. Specifically complainants allege, after paying fees of $39.99 to begin work as a rebate processor, respondents are directed to the company’s affiliates web addresses where they are required to pay additional fees to promote their products by writing and placing ads. If the products are purchased as a result of the respondent’s ad they are to receive some sort of compensation; however no rebate work exists. Complainants further express dissatisfaction with the company’s refusal to issue refunds."

Finally, such is the reputation of www.rebateprocessorjobs.com that even McAfee Site Adviser—an application best known for identifying harmful sites in search results—flagged it with a big yellow exclamation mark. When we clicked on the "more info" link, we learned the following:

"When we visited this site, we found one or more misleading claims about work-at-home opportunities. The Federal Trade Commission warns consumers to be skeptical when evaluating home-based business ventures, especially when an initial monetary investment is required. For more information, visit http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/invest/inv14.shtm."

Enough said.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 03:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looks like loan modification scams may be about as bad as we thought they were. This press release just arrived in our box from the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which administrates banks: http://www.occ.gov/ftp/ADVISORY/2009-1.html

Highlight: "Remember that your mortgage lender should be the starting point for finding options to avoid foreclosure. You also should consider contacting qualified and approved credit counselors."
Don't pay outrageous upfront fees! Talk to your lender first.

Also from the OCC press release: "Call (888) 995-HOPE, the Homeowner’s HOPE Hotline to reach a nonprofit, HUD-approved counselor through HOPE NOW, a cooperative effort of mortgage counselors and lenders to assist homeowners."

Posted by Beau Brendler at 02:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Looks like the National Loan Modification Association of America's Web site may only be tied to Homestar Direct, Prospect Mortgage and Opteum by coincidence. We talked to the NLMAA's owner and Web master, James Troia, whose day job is working for Homestar. Apparently, registrations he made for the Greystack Management sites NLMAA and Affordable Hope wound up including his affiliation to Homestar by mistake. So where does that leave Home Rescue LLC, which so prominently displays an NLMAA seal on its site? Troia said he would investigate their membership and possibly refund them their money, as he wants the NLMAA to be a guidepost for the industry and for consumers.

At the moment, he says, the loan modification industry is like a Wild West frontier. In his day job, he was running into a lot of consumers who wanted to refinance their mortgages, but in the current climate, didn't qualify. That can create something of a gray area, he said, for consumers who need options. Enter a loan modifier, who might assist in helping a consumer with preparing an argument with a lender for a different mortgage payment plan or interest rate. There are some reputable loan modifiers, he said. But there are also a lot of cowboys who come from the once fertile pasture of subprime lending who are now trying to make a buck off consumers with troubled mortgages.

Troia said he would let us know in the near future of any good recommendations for honest loan modifiers.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Welcome to the sixth—and possibly final—installment in the entertaining saga of Andreas Olev, humanitarian, banker, cancer victim and scam artist.

As we mentioned in our first post, we thought it would be interesting to follow up on an obvious fraud e-mail and see where it lead. In our second post, we learned that Andreas is a finance officer with the Hansa Bank in Tallinn, Estonia, and has come into possession of $30 million. In our third post we discovered Andreas has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and wants our help to set up a foundation for terminally ill children—for which we would receive $6 million. In our fourth post, Andreas sent us some pictures of himself, and informed us we'd have to travel (presumably to Estonia) in order to cash in on our share of the money. In our fifth post, Andreas finally divulged that our $6 million cut would cost us some upfront money, a classic 419 fraud tactic.

Andreas has since written us back with a ballpark figure (several thousand dollars) for our "Authorizition fee" and more or less demanded that we send him our cellphone number, since he's apparently called WebWatch's general line more than once to his increasing frustration.

In the meantime, we decided to do a little due diligence on the Hansa Bank (Hansapank in Estonian), and learned that it ceased operating under that name on March 17. The bank is now officially known as Swedbank, a (you guessed it) Swedish banking group that acquired Hansapank's pan-Baltic operations in 2005.

We then we decided to write Swedbank to inquire about our generous new friend. We quickly received an auto-response (in English and Estonian) assuring us they would contact us as soon as possible. After almost a week and no reply (they could learn from Andreas), we go tired of waiting and called Swedbank in Tallinn this morning.

You can read what we learned below in our reply. But first, here's Andreas' reply to our last e-mail, as well as the follow-up e-mail:

----- Original Message -----
From: Andreas Olev (olevandreas@googlemail.com)
To: consumerwebwatch@cu.consumer.org
Sent: Thursday, April 16, 2009 5:26 PM
Subject: Re: How are you

Hello Alan,

A week will be enough for you travel and endours the funds. but you will have to wait till all legal document has been put in place. As for the Authorizition fee, i am not too certain about it but i assume i would be more than ($3,000.00 TO $5,000.00) and every payment has to be done internationally (US DOLLARS).

I want you to send me your personal cell phone number, not your office, as i have tried several time to get you on phone and it always customer care line its on voice mail.

I will be wait to hear from soon and receive your cell phone number.

Andreas

Here's a somewhat exasperated follow-up Andreas sent us on Sunday:

----- Original Message -----
From: Andreas Olev (olevandreas@googlemail.com)
To: consumerwebwatch@cu.consumer.org
Sent: Sunday, April 19, 2009 9:23 AM
Subject: Re: How are you

Hello Alan,

How are you? what is going on? why have you not replied to my mail? please do let me know you are willing to partner with me and send me you cell phone number.

I wait to hear from you soon.

Andreas

Here's our reply:

Hello Andreas,

Alan

To be continued?

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

The BadwareBusters.org community has discovered that FoxNews.com is distributing badware—albeit it unintentionally. The problem seems to stem from some of FoxNews.com's advertising partners, whose ads have apparently been infected by a third party, which are in turn attempting to infect visitors to the site. BadwareBusters has been in contact with FoxNews.com about the problem. Learn more here.

BadwareBusters.org, a project of StopBadware.org and Consumer Reports WebWatch, is a new online community for people looking for help preventing and countering viruses, spyware, and other badware on their computers and websites.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Unfortunately there are more Web sites out there like this one than we can count. We debated about actually linking to this, because there may be those among you out there who are tempted by this idea.

We should add this site's job announcement page is pretty hilarious (click on the site's internal link). Looks like some good opportunities, especially if you can speak Russian. Thanks to Derek at Artists Against 419 for this tip. Join their discussion here.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 09:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Looking deeper into the NLMAA's background reveals ties back to a subprime lender that went broke two years ago. Yes, a company that once went bankrupt selling subprime loans is now trying to make money selling "loan remodification" services to desperate consumers who are stuck with problem mortgages. And they've started a pseudo-industry trade association selling expensive memberships to try to confer legitimacy on the trade.

Consider: Scroll to the bottom of the NLMAA site's pages (all the way down, past the line that looks like the bottom of the page but isn't). Click on the link below and we'll show you the text you find there.

All Information Copyright NLMAA 2008. The NLMAA is an LLC based professional association serving those in the loan modification industry. We provide information and resources to loan modification and foreclosure prevention specialists. The National Loan Modification Association and the NLMAA are programs of Greystack Management, LLC. Although we are trying to develop a solid professional community, we are not a "non-for-profit" organization.

Unlike most professional associations and lobby groups, then, this one is for-profit. That means it can pretty much take money and memberships from anyone it wants and doesn't have to identify them, unlike a 501(c)(3) non-profit. Greystack Management also owns and operates the Affordable Hope Web site, which sells do-it-yourself loan modification prep services for $100, in some sort of cooperative special with the NLMAA, the site says.

So the company that owns the for-profit trade association for the loan modification industry also owns a Web site that sells loan modification information direct to consumers? Isn't that a conflict-of-interest? Affordable Hope displays the seal of the NLMAA, but it doesn't disclose that it also owns the NLMAA.

Whatever Greystack Management is, The Affordable Hope and NLMAA Web sites are both registered to Homestar Direct, another name for Prospect Mortgage, which until recently went by the name of Opteum. That company churned out $44 million in subprime mortgages in 2007, then melted down the same year. California regulators threatened to revoke Opteum's license to do business in that state last year for failiing to file proper paperwork. In September, shareholders sued Opteum, alleging securities fraud.

We called James Troia, the registrant for Homestar and the NLMAA on Friday, April 17 at about 2:20 p.m. to ask him about the connections between Opteum, Homestar, Greystack Management, Affordable Hope and the NLMAA.

We'll let you know what we hear back.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 01:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Please indulge us in another tale from the loan modification trade. We really don't want any of you desperate folks out there falling for their lines. Now, you might say the appearance on the scene of something called the National Loan Modification Association of America is a good thing, given all we've come to learn over the past couple of weeks about scammers in this territory. It's a little pricy to join, which is probably a good thing -- keeps out the riff-raff, right?

They've published a code of ethics on their site. That generates a warm feeling. Though we should add that Home Rescue LLC displays a NLMAA seal, and tried to sell us services in New York with a steep advance fee. That would be against the law, according to these guys, who claim to be the Better Business Bureau of the industry, and presumably the NLMAA code.

Unfortunately, all is not as altruistic as it might appear at the NLMAA. See our next post.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 01:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last month, we wrote about about Brioude-Internet Inc. in response to a reader who wrote us to complain about a fraudulent e-mail purportedly sent by the French search engine optimization firm.

But it now turns out Brioude-Internet is a victim as well, as explained by the comment we just received from Yves Weber, the company's customer director.

Weber, in a direct response to our reader, says the e-mail she received is a scam, and that Brioude-Internet intends to sue the scammers, who are apparently based in Hungary. Read his entire response.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 12:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's another would-be mortgage middleman trying to look like it's affiliated with the U.S. government and pretending it's a consumer watchdog.

We called the phone numbers several times, and found it difficult to get an answer despite all the options. However, when we dialed the number to report a potentially suspicious company, we did get a live person named Michael on the phone, at about 12:45 p.m. Friday, April 17. Michael re-iterated his company was like the Better Business Bureau, but said its database of companies wasn't available over the Web. We also told him about Home Rescue LLC trying to charge us $2K up front for a "loan mod," as he called it.

In Florida, California, New York and a couple of other states, he said, it's illegal to ask for money up front unless you are a law firm. Bingo! We said. Home Rescue LLC is not a law firm, and we're in New York. Are you affiliated with the federal government? we asked. No, Michael replied, "we're like the Better Business Bureau," with some emphasis. In other words, the Better Business Bureau isn't affiliated with the government, either. Too bad the Federal Loan Modification Bureau doesn't say that on its site, which is festooned with more patriotic stars 'n' stripes regalia than Oliver "The Crying Marine" North's Web site.

After a while, we saw where our brief chat with Michael was really going: He took our name and phone number, said he would "check out" Home Rescue LLC, and by the way, he knew of at least two or three legitimate loan modification services in my area. We expect them to be getting in touch shortly.

This site ranked high in a Google search for loan modification, and, like Michael told us, says on its about us page that it's like the Better Business Bureau. The site's registered to a Scott Parker of 1383 N. Killian Drive, Lake Park, Florida, which is behind a K Mart off Old Dixie Drive and, unfortunately, doesn't look like one of West Palm Beach's toniest properties. Scott also registered the Web site for mortgage broker Lincoln Funding, which is housed somewhere in this Longwood office park.

But we can guess from our chat with Michael, and from what's on this page, that FLMB is really just a lead generator. In other words, you leave your name, address, and the name of some company you want to report, and you get a call back from FLMB or one of its affiliates trying to sell you -- you guessed it -- expensive loan modification services.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of Andreas Olev, humanitarian, banker, cancer victim and scam artist.

As we mentioned in our first post, we thought it might be interesting to follow up on an obvious fraud e-mail and see where it lead. In our second post, we learned that Andreas is a finance officer with the Hansa Bank in Tallinn, Estonia, and has come into possession of $30 million. In our third post we discovered Andreas has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and wants our help to set up a foundation for terminally ill children—for which we would receive $6 million. In our fourth post, Andreas sent us some pictures of himself, and informed us we'd have to travel (presumably to Estonia) in order to cash in on our share of the money.

But after five increasingly outrageous and maudlin e-mails, we've finally arrived at the moment of truth: the catch.

For it turns out that we'll have fork over "some amount" to the "paying bank" in order to complete the transaction and claim our 20% of the $30 million. Although he claims he's already shelled out $37,000 to make us the beneficiary of the funds, he assures us it's "more higher" than the amount we're expected to cough up. Regardless of the amount, we're now firmly in advance-fee fraud territory.

Finally, although we haven't called attention to it before (partly because it's so obvious), Andreas' laughable command of English is a big, fat, red flag in and of itself. Even if he really is Estonian (which we doubt), a high-ranking bank officer with access to $30 million would posses an excellent education with a far firmer grasp of English than our hapless friend.

But he's clearly no fool, and realizes we've tried to fob him off with a work address and general phone number, which he called last weekend, according to a brief e-mail he sent us before we had a chance to reply to his previous one: "Happy easter celebration, How are you enjoying the holiday? i tried the number you gave me and it was a customer care line, please i will want you to send me your personer cell phone number and email address. I need your urgent response." As you'll see below, he's persistent.

Finally, each of his e-mails contains classic nuggets of 419-speak, and the latest is no exception, with gems like "I will not be able to cove your travelling expensece, as i have spend a lots of money getting the lawyer to act legally and pay for all legal documents to beck you as the beneficiary to the funds, amounting to $37,000.00 " and "Sequels to question, i would also care for the children suffering from sickle cell anemia and leukemia."

Here's his latest e-mail, followed by our reply:

----- Original Message -----
From: Andreas Olev (olevandreas@googlemail.com)
To: consumerwebwatch@cu.consumer.org
Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 7:00 PM
Subject: Re: How are you

Hello Alan,

I will not be able to cove your travelling expensece, as i have spend a lots of money getting the lawyer to act legally and pay for all legal documents to beck you as the beneficiary to the funds, amounting to $37,000.00. So i will want you to encure your travelling feee, and note. the paying bank will be demanding some amount of fee to regularise your inheritance funds to enable them get the authority to transfer the funds to you.

I have not started the process properly, due to your lack of communication i told the lawyer to hold on. I want you to assure me that you will foot your travelling fee and the authorization fee, while i will handle the legal fee which is more higher. And send me your personal cell phone number and home address not your office.

Sequels to question, i would also care for the children suffering from sickle cell anemia and leukemia. Pleace let me know your mind as i need a partner who will join me in footing the bill.

I wait to hearing from you soon.

Andreas

Here's our reply:

Hello Andreas,

Alan

To be continued. . .

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 03:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We decided to test the Online Business Bureau by making an actual complaint about one of its participating "merchants," the knee-bendingly expensive loan modifier Home Rescue LLC. One caveat: the way the OBB's online form is written, you actually have to have made a purchase from the merchant. Unfortunately, a $2,000 upfront fee for someone to renegotiate a mortgage is beyond our budget at the moment. So we had to be a little creative with the form.

Click the link below to see the full text of the OBB's auto-generated response letter:

Dear Beau Brendler,

Your complaint has been successfully filed with the Online Business Bureau.

We will review your complaint and submit it to Home Rescue LLC for their response. Depending on our workload, most complaints are reviewed by our staff and forwarded to the business in question within ten days. We then allow ten days for the business to respond.

We will keep in touch with you via email to advise you of the status of your complaint as it moves through our process. We also invite you to track your complaint progress on line by logging in at http://www.onlinebusinessbureau.com/complaint_center

The password you created is: xxxxxx

While we strive to have all complaints resolved in the consumer's favor, we are not a government agency or lawyers. Therefore, we cannot force a company to do the right thing. However, we do give all companies that fail to respond to complaints a negative rating.

We hope you will find our complaint process easy and helpful.

Thank you for supporting the Online Business Bureau.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 02:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We reported briefly in previous posts on a letter we received from Home Rescue LLC, which displayed a "trusted site" seal from something called the "Online Business Bureau." Though it states upfront on its home page it's not the Better Business Bureau, you'll notice some graphic similiarities, including the soothing cerulean blue color scheme. WebWatch did some research years ago that showed people trust blue Web sites, so there you go.

Who's behind this consumer protection service? A D.C.-area entrepreneur named Rick Rahim, whose personal Web site is one of our all-time favorites.

Rick has had something of a colorful history in customer service. By our count, no less than three of the companies he's most recently been associated with scored the Better Business Bureau's lowest possible rating. Worse, the BBB referred to his Online Business Bureau's headquarters as a mail drop. His consulting firm's page lists almost 30 sites he's involved with, on topics from pet sitting to laser tag to free helicopter rides. We'll get to the helicopter later.

You can read about Rick's poker prowess here -- note one of the participants caught in the bust was a local cop. Some early insights into Rick's career may have come when his credit repair business caught the attention of the FTC back in the mid-90s. From credit repair, he went stratospheric, into cell phones and satellites. His former company, VMC Satellite, was acquired in April 2005 by InPhonic, which itself had something of a troubled history in customer service. (Oddly enough, this Washington Post article is linked to from Rick's Online Business Bureau site). The domain for Search Engine Ranking Service, another site that's drawn consumer complaints, was registered by Simplexity, the new name for InPhonic.

This whole poker-Web site-seal program thing must pay pretty well: Check out Rick's sweet $3.6 million digs (scroll to the bottom).

However, in 2005, Rick apparently tried to sell his private police helicopter (used only on volunteer missions; apparently you can remove the official decals). We have to admit, it's cherry. Thinking that Rick will no longer be flying his half-million-dollar Sheriff's chopper high above D.C.'s crowded Beltway makes us feel a little less safe somehow.

So is the Online Business Bureau an exercise in sour grapes on Rick's part, since the BBB spanked some of his businesses so hard? If so, it's kind of funny. But we wonder if the 1,838,557 companies the OBB claims to have in its database are aware of that, and if they had to pay anything to be listed.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We reported earlier on Home Rescue LLC's loan modification mail offer and its Web site. We finally reached a real human being at this company on April 15 at about 2:15 p.m. EST. The bottom line: They want $4,000 for a "loan modification," $2K up front and $2K 30 days later. See what the Nevada State Consumer Affairs Division has to say about paying advance fees to loan modification companies. The state of California, too. And read about the FTC's crackdown a couple of weeks ago on two bogus "loan modification consultants."

Basically, you can do loan modifications yourself if you have patience and willingness to do paperwork. You could also work through a non-profit loan modification service in your area, but you don't need to fork out $4K in attorney's fees to some company you haven't heard of, just because they send you an official looking letter with lots of bogus seals. More on those in a minute.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 02:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

We got a letter (an actual one, on paper) in the mailbox from a company called Home Rescue LLC. The letter, headlined "First Notice," sports a grid box to the right of the headline saying "STATUS: PENDING, CODE: 1114-061622, ASSIGNED: Negotiations," in imitation, we guess, of a notice a bank might send a homeowner in foreclosure. Then comes a sales pitch that we've been "PRE-SELECTED for a LOAN MODIFICATION," due to a variety of possible symptoms of financial distress, including late payments, adjusting payments, hardship issues, second mortgages, the list goes on. We were also interested by a seal on the letter from the Online Business Bureau -- see our previous post, with more to come on them later.

We tried calling the phone number at on the letter, 1 (866) 235-1312, at 10:15 a.m. today and a machine answered, telling us after a few key punches that we were the first person in the queue and that an agent would be with us shortly. When no-one answered after a short time, we tried again -- this time, we were told we were the second person in the queue. When that didn't work, we tried keying in a different option, for callers who already had an account going with Home Rescue. Guess what? Another voice message saying all agents were busy, and please leave a name and phone number.

We'll post this now and continue digging, looking into Home Rescue LLC's corporate parentage and the Online Business Bureau.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 11:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here's the latest installment in the continuing story of Andreas Olev, humanitarian, banker, cancer victim and scam artist.

As we mentioned in our first post, we thought it might prove instructive and amusing to follow up on an obvious fraud e-mail offer and see where it lead. In our second post, we learned that Andreas is a finance officer with the Hansa Bank in Tallinn, Estonia, and has come into possession of $30 million. In our third post we discovered Andreas has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and wants our help to set up a foundation for terminally ill children—for which we would receive $6 million.

Andreas gets personal in his latest correspondence, and includes a sepia-toned photo of himself ("me at home"), along with a color photo ("Nephew Brian and I") of someone who may or may not be the same person in the first photo, holding a child he says is his late nephew Brian (not a terribly Estonian name), who died of leukemia, and whom he says is the reason he wants to help others "before my time runs out."

In his previous e-mail, Andreas asked us to help him establish an $18 million foundation for children suffering from sickle cell anemia. Now, however, he appears to have abandoned the idea of a sickle cell anemia foundation in favor of funding leukemia research by providing funds directly to UNICEF, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute and Action Medical Research in the U.K. If nothing else, the man has done his homework.

More ominously, he also seems to be asking if we'll be willing to travel to the "paying bank" in order to complete the transaction. More than a few victims of these scams have been lured to other countries, where they've been kidnapped or murdered.

Below is his latest e-mail, along with our reply:

----- Original Message -----
From: Andreas Olev (olevandreas@googlemail.com)
To: consumerwebwatch@cu.consumer.org
Sent: Tuesday, April 07, 2009 3:02 PM
Subject: Re: How are you

Andreas

Here's our reply:

Hello Andreas,

Alan

To be continued. . .

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 11:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have you been getting phone calls or solicitation letters from companies saying they can help you renegotiate your mortgage or modify your existing loans? You're not alone. The Federal Trade Commission announced a crackdown on several of these predators last week.

We got one we're looking at now which claims to be a member of the "Online Business Bureau," not to be confused with the Better Business Bureau, which gives the Online Business Bureau an F rating.

Does anyone have any experience with the Online Business Bureau? Let us know.

Posted by Beau Brendler at 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A reader recently sent us the following e-mail:

I received the attached phishing attempt in my Yahoo box today, twice. I'm passing it along in the hope you can help to combat it and alert others.

Thank you.
Sally

From: Bank Of America (services@ibankofamerica.com)
Subject: [Alert] : Update Your Account Information
To: XXXXXX@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, February 11, 2009, 2:03 PM

Dear Customer,

Bank Of America has been receiving complaints from our customers for unauthorised use of the Bank Of America Online accounts. As a result we are making an extra security check on all of our Customers account in order to protect their information from theft and fraud.

Due to this, you are requested to follow the provided steps and confirm your Online Banking details for the safety of your Accounts. Please Click Here To Start.

However, Failure to do so may result in temporary account suspension. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thanks for your co-operation.
Fraud Prevention Unit
Legal Advisor
Bank Of America.

Sally's right. It's a classic phishing scheme, much like the one we wrote about last week.

The warning signs are both subtle and glaringly obvious. First off, note the use of the word "unauthorised." Would a bank as American as the Bank of America use the British variant of the word "unauthorized?" We think not.

Secondly, note the bad grammar in that sentence, which reads: "Bank Of America has been receiving complaints from our customers for unauthorised use of the Bank Of America Online accounts. The "for" should be "about," and the "the" should be "their." Other examples of bad English include the phrase "we are making an extra security check on all of our Customers account" and random acts of capitalization from start to finish.

Thirdly, the bank's official name is Bank of America, not Bank Of America, as it appears throughout this fraudulent e-mail.

Fourthly, a careful look at the e-mail address reveals that it's from something called "ibank" of America: services@ibankofamerica.com.

Fifthly, the "Please Click Here To Start" link redirects you to a site in Poland where members of "ibankofamerica" are waiting to serve themselves by stealing your personal information.

As Bank of America points out on its site, never click on any link in a suspicious e-mail.

If you get one of these e-mails, forward it to: abuse@bankofamerica.com
You should also forward it to the FTC: spam@uce.gov

Then you should delete it—with extreme prejudice.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 11:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We recently received the following e-mail:

Dear Consumer WebWatch,

Judy

We've been getting more than a reader few e-mails about Reservation Rewards, and while we normally just write them back without blogging about it, we though it was time to remind readers about the class-action lawsuit brought against Reservation Rewards' parent company, Webloyalty, with which WebWatch also has some history.

So the short answer to Judy's question is, "yes there is--and it's been done."

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 02:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Although the worldwide fears of a massive attack by the Conficker Worm on April 1 proved to be wildly overblown, that doesn't mean it was a harmless April Fool's joke.

On the contrary, April 1 was the activation date, and the part of the worm that was programmed to generate a list of websites in an attempt to download updates to itself worked as planned.

Although most of the infected PCs appear to be are in China, Brazil, Vietnam, Russia, Indonesia, India, Philippines, Thailand, South Korea and Ukraine, that doesn't mean your PC might be Conficker-free.

Here's an easy visual test to determine if your PC has been infected.

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of Andreas Olev, an Estonian scam artist with a heart of gold.

As mentioned in our first post, we thought it might prove instructive and amusing to actually follow up on a 419 fraud offer and see where it lead. As such, we've been publishing his e-mails and our replies. We published Andreas' first reply in our second post, and now, with his second reply, things are really getting interesting.

We've now learned that Andreas, purportedly a finance officer with the Hansa Bank in Tallinn, Estonia, has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and sees this as an opportunity "to make the most of my last days." Which is why he's let us know that he intends to use 60% of the $30 million he says he controls to set up a charity foundation to help children suffering from sickle cell anemia. Seriously. We're to split the remaining 40% between ourselves, leaving us a cool $6 million for our troubles.

Here's his latest e-mail (along with our reply), which, for the third time in row, was sent from a different e-mail address:

----- Original Message -----
From: Andreas Olev (olevandreas@googlemail.com)
To: consumerwebwatch@cu.consumer.org
Sent: Friday, April 03, 2009 9:06 AM
Subject: Re: How are you

Thanks for your understanding and willness to partner with me. What would be needed is your full name and physical address together with your phone number for me to use in making you, through an attorney, the administrator of the estate of the deceased which includes the funds that is lodged with us. The legal ownership change will be presented to Hansa Bank which will give its approval for the funds to be paid to you. After this has been done the body that handles remittances in Europe to beneficiaries will be notified and told to release the money to you. You would be contacted by them and they will process it in your name after which the money would be remitted to any account of your choice.

When the money is in your bank account, I intend to set up a charity foundation with Sixty Percent of the money to help Children suffering from sickle cell anemia (You will spearhead this project and my name will not be mentioned). You will receive Twenty Percent as your commission and I will take the remaining Twenty Percent as my share.This transaction is not all about the money, but a dear desire to assist those many children suffering.

I had been diagnosed with terminal cancer and see this as an opportune time to use this to make the most of my last days, and I needed someone outside my sphere of contact so that there would be no link between the beneficiary and I. I will be expecting to hear from you.

Yours sincerely,
Andreas Olev

Here's our reply:

Hello Andreas,

Alan Smithee

To be continued. . .

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 09:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of our readers recently forwarded us the e-mail below along with this note:

Received this email. Don't have and never have had any account with CitBank. Didn't know if it was actually from CitiBank trying to get customers or a scam to get account information.

From: CitiBank
To: XXXXXX@aol.com
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 3:01 PM
Subject: [Alert] : Update Your Account Information

Dear Customer

We urgently need you to update your online banking security details by following the link below. This is due to a security patch that will stop fraudsters logging into your account.

CitiBank Update Page

Thanks for your co-operation.

Fraud Prevention Unit
Legal Advisor
© 2009 Citibank & Co.

Our reader's second guess was correct. This is a phishing scam masquerading as an official e-mail from Citibank.

Despite the realistic looking logo, the hyperlink is a dead giveaway, and as Citi itself warns, never click on a link in a suspicious e-mail. For that matter, you should never click on an embedded link in any e-mail, since they can easily lead elsewhere.

Case in point. While the link says it will take you the "CitiBank Update Page," we discovered the link redirects you to a site in Krakow, Poland--one flagged by Firefox as a known source of identity theft malware.

"This web site at www.slogan.krakow.pl has been reported as a web forgery and has been blocked based on your security preferences. Web forgeries are designed to trick you into revealing personal or financial information by imitating sources you may trust. Entering any information on this web page may result in identity theft or other fraud."

Also, there is no "Fraud Prevention Unit" at Citibank, whose official name is Citigroup Inc., not "Citibank & Co."

If you get one of these e-mails, forward it to Citibank: emailspoof@citigroup.com
You should also forward it to the FTC: spam@uce.gov

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As promised, here's the second installment in our exchange with an Estonian scam artist, Andreas Olev. As we mentioned in our first post, we thought it might prove instructive and amusing to actually follow up on an obvious 419 fraud offer and see where it lead.

Now that we've taken his bait, Andreas (or whatever his real name is) lays out a typical 419 fraud scenario—a huge amount of unclaimed money along with a "once in a lifetime" offer to share it with us, provided we're willing to "partner" with him. Because of his position as a finance officer with the Hansa Bank in Tallinn, Estonia, Andreas says he's managed to secure the control of $30 million in unclaimed funds. Sounds too good to be true, doesn't it?

Here's his latest e-mail (along with our reply), which he sent from a new e-mail address (Note the discrepancy between his e-mail name and signed name):

--- Original Message -----
From: ANDRES OLEV (olevandres@hotmail.com)
To: consumerwebwatch@cu.consumer.org
Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 4:36 AM
Subject: Re: How are you

Thank you for your reply to my first email. I really appreciate your kind attention and interest. I needed to be very sure of you before I disclose my identity for confidentiality purpose.

I could not give you full details in my first email because I wanted to be sure before disclosing further information to you. I am a finance officer in a finance and brokerage house in Tallinn Estonia,Hansa Bank. we handle hedge funds among other services for our clients which include the South African government. We also have their mandate to carry out certain funds disbursement processing to contractors that they direct us to make such payment to.
For some time now we were instructed to make payment of US$30mn to a Mr K.P Abarca who is based in England. After trying to make contact with him,I have been reliably informed that he is dead. I hired a private investigator who found out that there is no next of kin that we can make the payment to. This is where I want to use this rare opportunity to benefit both myself and a partner in collecting the funds. I can easily without and legal complication facilitate that you are made the new beneficiary for the money and see to it that it is processed and released to you.

The question is can you receive this huge sum of money for both our benefits? This is a once in a lifetime chance,with no risk whatsoever involved,with my position everything can be worked out within the shortest possible time to make you the bona fide owner of the funds.I could not use anyone with the remotest relationship to me as this would jeopardize the transaction.

I will be waiting to hear from you if you are willing and capable of partnering with me for us to mutually benefit from this deal.The highest level of confidentiality will be appreciated.

Yours sincerely,

Andreas Olev

Here's how we replied:

Hello Andreas,

Thank you for your prompt response.

Alan Smithee

To be continued. . .

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 09:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Check out this post (scroll down to comments) on our continuing investigations of acai berry scams. You'll love the video. And check out the conversation here: they're laughing at us! We should be outraged!

Posted by Beau Brendler at 05:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We recently received some spam from Estonia (the ".ee" in his e-mail address is the Internet country code top-level domain of Estonia).

But instead of just deleting it, we decided to reply to our new friend and see where it lead, especially since it's obviously an attempt to suck us into a classic 419 fraud.

We'll update you whenever we hear back from our new Estonia pen pal. Below is his e-mail (Note the discrepancy between his e-mail name and e-mail address):

----- Original Message -----
From: "andreas olev" (andresolev@mail.ee)
Sent: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 6:52 AM
Subject: How are you

Andreas Olev

Here's our response. If you're wondering how we came up with our pseudonym, click here.

Hello Andreas,

Alan Smithee

To be continued. . .

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We received an e-mail the other day from FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, or rather an e-mail purporting to be from Director Mueller. It was, of course, a scam, one of the most outrageous and hilarious we've ever seen, and we've seen plenty.

Unlike your typical 419 scam, this e-mail assumes the recipient has already agreed to a wire transfer, and demands that we (under threat of arrest) obtain something called an "F.B.I Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer," from the Economic and Financial Crime Commission--in Nigeria.

The premise is ludicrous, the grammar is atrocious and the e-mail is priceless, which we've reproduced here in full:

ANTI-TERRORIST AND MONITORY CRIMES DIVISION
FBI HEADQUARTERS IN WASHINGTON, D.C.
FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
J. EDGAR HOOVER BUILDING
935 PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE, NW WASHINGTON, D.C. 20535-0001
DATE:23/2/2009

ATTENTION:FUND BENEFICIARY,

You will be hereby placed under arrest in the next 48 hours for violating code 23245 decree 3, section 7 under section 12 of the FBI/U.S.A constitution, act of terrorism and money laundering, you are thereby advice to provide us with the F.B.I Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer to certify that your funds that is about to be wired to you is free from terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering activities.

Note: That failure for you to provide us with the requested document in the next 48 hours, would result to us taking legal actions by arresting and detaining you, justificated and if found guilty, you will be jailed. As terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering is a serious problem in our community today.

The F.B.I will not stop at any length in tracking down and persecuting criminals like you who indulge in this criminal act.

Do not say we did not warn you; we will take on you by surprise you are to contact the ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL CRIME COMMISSION (EFCC) Nigeria to obtain the above required document, find below their contact information's:

Contact Person:Mr Onyema Frank
Email: frankefcc33@live.com
Office Address: 72 western avenue victoria Island Lagos Nigeria..

WARNING: THE F.B.I WILL NOT STOP AT ANY LENGTH IN TRACKING DOWN AND PERSECUTING ANY CRIMINAL WHO INDULIGE IN THIS CRIMINAL ACT LIKE YOU.

Faithfully Your's

FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller, III

Posted by Jorgen Wouters at 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)