Dang Joe that's a crazy one. I've read about similar fake escrow service scams through eBay but never that thorough. Can I ask why you didn't go to your local police?
Well, first there's the embarrassment factor, then the fact that Amazon had records of where my cash went, and didn't seem to really give a rats @zz, so I figured what the he77 are the local police going to do?
Guys this good probably have their tracks so covered, that they couldn't even find themselves if they had to.
I've got one more, and this funder was excellent.
I was contacted by an outfit that specializes in franchising small businesses. He puts the package together, then travels to shows and expos selling his restaurant franchises.
He said he liked my food and business model, and was certain he could make a nice package, and sell it.
For a small guy like me, this would be like the golden goose schitting golden eggs all over the the funding front yard.
There was a website and everything. I googled the whole mess, and it appeared legit.
I even found clientele that he had set up franchising with. I called them and discussed the prospect, and how it worked for them.
They were all happy, but also added that it did take some work on their part as well.
I agreed to the terms. $2000 payment, and x percent of franchises sold at X dollars.
I sent him the money.
He first asked me for a bunch of info, and also pics of the place, menu, and a copy of my logo.
We discussed pricing of the franchises, his commission etc over the phone.
A week or so went by, and he sent me a pkg with about 40 pages of perspective contracts for buyers, including my requirements for procedures that franchisees had to follow in order to use my model.
It outlined how payments to myself were to be received, as well as a whole slew of other stuff. It required my ok.
Some changes were needed. I made notes, talked to him on the phone, and received a new pkg with all the changes made.
A few weeks later, I received more stuff to ok. Then I finally was sent a final prospectus all nicely bound with my logo on the front, and a clear cover.
I never heard from him again, nor could I find him.
A few years later, I came across a blog or something. The guy used to be legit, then found it was easier to just put the pkgs together, take the money, but never actually try to sell them.
By the time I found all this out, the guy was already in jail, and for some reason I was never contacted about the class action lawsuit, and it was too late to file.
