INTERNET PIRACY
Internet criminality, expecially in the USA, is the scourge of e-commerce. It is a cancer that ought to be attacked vigorously.
This post is a call to arms. This is also one victim's account of the fraud being practised by an unscrupulous bunch, sometimes referred to as the Raygoza Gang. Though I have made postings before, this one lays out the essential facts. I decided to post the facts of my case because the fraudster is resisting restitution of any kind.
Firstly, I am an Australian professional engineer of 61, with 3 university degrees. I am a member of the US Institute of Electrical And Electronics Engineers (of 28 years standing). My full identity is known to my lawyer who will be suing JP Raygoza.
I write this about events that occurred in 2009. My bitter experience is rather common. Indeed, I know there are hundreds of victims of Raygoza's racketeering out there. Some of us are heading to court.
My experience lies with one organ of the devil: Pushtraffic, Inc. (formerly) of Los Angeles. By 2010, Pushtraffic had already developed a bad smell, as you may see from other postings in the Ripoff Report. That was before it sank, as I predicted, in the stench of its own corruption. I truly hope its henchmen are also drowning.
Why I am furious is that I never wanted
anything to do with Raygoza's rackets. I never approached the racketeers. No, tragically, one of Raygoza's predators tracked me down and sold me a pack of lies. It was a bad day - May 7, 2009 - when I first got a phone call from one of JP Raygoza's henchmen calling from LA. I now wish I had missed that call; wish my phone had never worked. Because that call led to the acquaintance of JP Raygoza, the downfall of anyone with internet business ambitions.
PSYCHOPATH WITH A MONEY-LUST
For those lucky people who never had to deal with him, John Paul Raygoza is the sewer rat who currently lives at Malibu Beach in a house bought with ill-gotten gains.
JP Raygoza advertises himself as a guru. But Raygoza is no guru; he is a
liar, a
cheat, a
swindler and a
con-man.
As his victims know, JP Raygoza is a deluded gangster who practises all kinds of sleazy tricks to maximise his theft from anyone who makes the mistake of trusting him.
As a former employee of Raygoza's put it:
"I find their operation grotesque and cruel. John is involved in many scams and crimes and wish that he gets investigated for all of them." (investigation continuing.)
How did this miserable scambum, Raygoza, collect his fortune? Simple: no refunds. The con-man makes promises, duds his customers, and fails to deliver the promised goods. But Raygoza won't talk about refunds once he has your money in his clutches. John Raygoza is like a vicious, screeching monkey that will not take its greedy hands off a coconut it has just stolen. He'd rather let his fingers be cut off.
JP Raygoza employs a number of scammy henchmen in his own image, and also deceitfully claims connections with known internet marketing identities, the better to snare his new customers - i.e. his victims. By the way, Raygoza openly derides his own customers as 'losers.'
THE STING
So let's talk about Pushtraffic, one of Raygoza's scam-vehicles. No customer ever got anything but trouble out of the racket. From the outset, everything Raygoza's henchmen ever told me was deception.
My regrettable acquaintance with JP Raygoza began when one of his no-goodniks, an Angelean huckster identified as Alex Sainz, phoned me and spun a tale. Referring to another, earlier contact and online opportunity, this Sainz assured me that Pushtraffic could set me up in a business. And what is more, Pushtraffic would return me my money so quickly I would not need to pay interest on my credit card debt. All lies. Accomplices to Sainz in his criminal deception were two other henchmen: Harwood Hamilton and Rule Mitchell.
I told Them all that I was skeptical about their promises and anyway, their $15000 price was too high. Mitchell countered with the offer that he would put in $7000 and let me have the same Mastermind service for $8000. It still took some talking from them, but I hesitatingly agreed, after hours on the phone, by which time I was prepared to hang up on the bunch. Sainz got to speak to my credit card bank in a 3-way hook-up, something I found very odd. But I went along with it, because I was still testing the legitimacy of Raygoza's outfit. I also felt better for getting another witness to the transaction.
Before the call was over, Sainz faxed me a contract called a "Verification and confidentiality agreement". This deceitful document listed a whole lot of items I was supposed to get from them, but on closer inspection, all vaguely defined. I signed it in good faith. Sainz never drew my attention to one important statement buried in 4 pages of convoluted text;
Pushtraffic do not guarantee results. Despite all Sainz's promises, their pretend contract used the expression: "best efforts". A very different story!
Sainz evaded my questions about warranties, diverting me to other things. Sainz, witnessed by Harwood Hamilton, gave me these very clear and unequivocal promises:
1. Pushtraffic Inc. would set me up in an internet business;
2. From this new business, I would recoup my investment in a month;
3. I would not need a traffic spend;
4. Results would not depend at all on my skills and knowledge;
5. I did not need a working business to begin with;
6. Time demand upon me was to be only 3-4 hours per week.
7. that Pushtraffic is able to supply me with sales pages with impressive conversion rates of 4% or better. (so Sainz assured me )
8. Sainz also later claimed their mentors could "show me how to build a list of 200000 customers".
9. One final, very specific assurance given me by Sainz: “we have a 100% success rate with our students.”
From hustler Mitchell standing by, I was given the assurance that no advertising spend was necessary. This was a very important guarantee, which was, nonetheless, another calculated deceit. Mitchell put me into the Mastermind category, because he said this was necessary to achieve the 1-month recovery of costs. Mitchell never returned my phone calls during May. Last I heard from that humbug.
THE AWFUL TRUTH UNFOLDS
A weekend passed and my official right to rescind lapsed. Sainz suddenly went to ground.
On my 4th day, I sent an email to Pushtraffic mentioning that I planned to keep records of phone calls for legal reasons. This message provoked a rare email response from Raygoza. Issuing an arrogant rejoinder, Raygoza only told me "we do not guarantee results". "You are accountable for your results." and other blather.This extraordinary message raised a big red flag, so I sent Raygoza back an email asking Mr CEO "what are YOU accountable for?" Result: nothing. Silence. No response. My doubts worsened. I became intensely worried.
Day 7: With my skepticism rising and confidence plummeting, I await my first mentoring session with one Ron Grajeda. When it came, that first phone call was both disillusioning and alarming. Grajeda scoffed at the promises given to me by Alex Sainz. Grajeda told me he knew of no way to recoup my expenses in a month, and if someone sold such a service, he said "I would buy it myself". He spent the rest of the first mentoring hour telling me what he could not do. I requested he guarantee a 1-day turnaround on my emails, but he declined. (What? I pay $8000 and get this treatment!)
My doubts confirmed, I complained to Hamilton but only got allocated a new mentor, who knew nothing about my first call. This second mentor was named Mikel Cook, but all Cook could do was carry on about blogging. Last I heard from him.
On May 16, I sent an email to Hamilton containing this line: "It is my ninth day since I joined. Despite promises made to me at the outset, I have received nothing in return except a discussion from the consultant, which was very far from reassuring." I also wrote: "I am asking for assurances from you because my allocated consultant, Ron Grajeda, does not believe the promises made to me on sign-up are achievable. I am deeply troubled by this contradiction."
I got one more call from Ron Grajeda, who told me if I wanted to build a business I would first have to spend big money on PPC traffic. Yet another red flag. This advice contravened the very clear assurances given to me by Mitchell. I complained again to Hamilton and put in for withdrawal.I then got a reply from Raygoza denying my right of withdrawal and telling me his Attorney, one Michael Fitzpatrick, would phone me.
Day 25 (June 1) I posted them a certified air-letter requesting refund. I never got a reply. Fitzpatrick phoned me on June 3, (day 26) and gave me a very specific assurance: that I was entitled to attend, at their expense, an exclusive seminar for Mastermind clients in LA, due in middle June 2009. That was the last I ever heard about the promised seminar. Fitzpatrick would not discuss refund, but connected me instead to a third mentor named Patrick Tuminaro. Tuminaro described himself as
the best, but avoided specific promises. He knew nothing about the prior mentors, or where I was heading or what to do. No idea. For the next 2 weeks, Tuminaro wasted my time with amateurish advice, leaving me with a useless website. By that time, I'd had enough.
June 7 (day 31) I sent an email reminding them I had requested refund, and suggesting there could be a compromise if they paid me back $5600. In the message, I wrote: "I can accept a transfer from the Mastermind program to the standard program upon refund of the difference in price. The standard program was priced at $2400. As you could not deliver on the goals of the Mastermind program, this seems a reasonable way out." That message was a test of their honesty. I repeated my request to Hamilton (front man and customer service pretender) I never got a reply to my email. Not a word.
Raygoza failed the test.
June 18 (day 42); sent Pushtraffic a fax message before COB demanding refund and threatening action.
June 18, sent a second fax to the CEO, demanding refund and informing them I am seeking credit card charge-back. No response to either message.
In my second message to the Chief General Manager, I stated: "Your negligence and inefficiency completely justify all my initial skepticism about your firm. I can have no confidence in Pushtraffic. The performance of Pushtraffic does not come close to matching your promises. I have been misled and deceived. Therefore, I can no longer hesitate to demand refund of $8000, and I inform you I am now notifying my credit card authorities to dispute the Pushtraffic transaction and to exact repayment."
June 19: Tuminaro confirmed he had seen one message, when I called him.
June 20 forward. Tuminaro breaks off further contact. I complain again to Hamilton.
following June 25, Hamilton phones to tell me I am to get another mentor, one Ben Mayberry. I send Hamilton an email stating my conditions of engagement, and end it by reminding him of my demand for refund.
July 4 (day 58) I send another fax demanding refund, to Pushtraffic Chief General Manager. I concluded with: "
Moreover, Pushtraffic have demonstrated continuing managerial incompetence and inefficiency of a level I have never met before in any corporation. You have the world’s worst attitude to customer service." No response.
July 5 (day 59) Mayberry phones and tells me what he thinks he can do. Not much. I tell Mayberry I applied for refund, though he seems uninterested.
July 5: I send Mayberry a proposal, reminding him of the initial Pushtraffic promises, the consequential goals and the passage of 2 months.
July 7 (day 61) Mayberry replies, telling me that those aims are "unrealistic" and that a traffic spend of $3000 a month would be necessary to achieve them anyway, clearly dishonoring the promises made by scumbag Mitchell at the outset.
July 7; Hamilton calls and asks me how I'm doing. I told him I wanted a refund. he replied 'OK' and hung up. Last I heard from this scam-bum or anyone else there.
I sent Fitzpatrick an email on July 11, 2009, pointing out that the seminar he promised me personally never happened. result: No response ever received.
So even after 2 months, I got nothing out of the Pushtraffic thing. A common story.
My initial misgivings about Pushtraffic proved 100% valid. Of course, Raygoza's so-called Customer Service was only ever a cover for fraud. Customer service veered between non-existent and atrocious. David Sipes, their so-called customer service Manager, never bothered to reply to my emails to him. For all I know, David Sipes may not even exist. Pushtraffic's support ticket system was always broken. Not that it made any difference. Just another part of their criminal deceit. I posted them a final letter of demand in July, 2009, and predictably, got no reply. I told them to pay up or be sued. I also made this point: a business that refuses to discuss refunds reveals its unethical foundations.
RESULTS
These Contract specifics were promised but not delivered:
a) Their phone calls were not “training sessions”, but arguments and excuses for incompetence.
b) Blogging training was not received. Instead, incompetent, amateurish comments, chaotically delivered.
c) PPC mentorship. Not received. They walked away from their obligations.
d) Web 2.0 mentorship. Not received. undefined.Hopelessly incompetent
e) 15 online videos interactive training sessions. Not defined or mentioned by any mentor or Fitzpatrick.
f) Auction research tools. Not received.
g) Customer ad copy. Not received.
h) Course completion contract and member site. Not received. Nothing in writing at all.
i) Front administration site builder. Not received.
j) I never received more than 8 coaching calls (worthless though they were). Their deceptive ‘contract’ mentions support for 6 months and beyond. But they stopped talking to me in less than 2 months. No explanations.
Pushtraffic Inc:·
never acted responsibly or diligently or in good faith;·
failed to discuss my complaints about incompetence. dishonored its published warranty ·
never replied to my demands for refund in writing, or even replied at all..
has no real products. They only sold their junk by false promises and fake testimonials.
SUMMARY
Raygoza's operations are set up to deceive. Raygoza's deception begins at customer sign-up and continues right through the process of correspondence with credit card agencies. In short, nothing John Raygoza says or writes can be trusted. Pushtraffic could not even pretend to deliver any items in their misleading contract. We will see what excuses are put forward in court. It is only recently I learned that the Grub is trying to bluster his way out of trouble by arguing that the swill he threw at his bewildered customers amounted to delivering on contract. So the world's worst customer service and a load of nonsense are worth 15k! Instead of settling with his hoards of unhappy clients, King Rat wants to argue in court that anything he did was sufficient! A joke. But his customers aren't laughing. We'll see if the Judge takes it seriously.
DEVELOPMENTS
Be aware of certain other facts about the Pushtraffic scam:-
1. Visa has finally closed Pushtraffic's Merchant account for reasons of customer complaint, according to my bank.
2. Pushtraffic and its CEO, John Paul Raygoza, are being investigated by the L.A. Police Department for a number of criminal offences, including fraud and racketeering. The Police investigation has gone on for some time.
3. The Better Business Bureau (L.A.) has condemned Pushtraffic, and issued a fraud rating on the firm. I am sure the BBB danger rating extends to other tentacles of the Raygoza Gang, including Successrate and Dotintel.
4. The Internet Crimes Complaint Center has similarly issued a public warning against Pushtraffic.
5. Pushtraffic has been named and shamed by the Mediation Arbitration Resolution Services (MARS) group, linked to ICPEN.
6. Pushtraffic has changed address and phone number without notifying me; it has probably gone belly-up. The key parties do not reply to my emails. They never replied to my letters and phone calls.
7. Over 50 angry customers, to my knowledge, are pursuing a class action against Pushtraffic and its henchmen.
8. Both M. Fitzpatrick and A. Weitz, hired attorneys for Raygoza, write to the credit card banks making excuses, issuing deceptive statements and fabricating evidence. These shameless lawyer henchmen will say anything to help their paymaster keep his ill-gotten gains. They have neither honor nor credibility, though.
Credit cards as instruments of fraud
Before this report is concluded, dishonorable mention of another Raygoza accomplice must be made: the credit card institutions. Visa is the Card of my recent acquaintance. Owing to their contemptible acquiescence in fraud, I closed my Visa accounts and remain forever a critic of Visa. Indeed, I, for one, would rejoice to get Visa kicked out of Australia, for its mercantile practices. Raygoza treats his customers with total contempt, but spares no effort to write unctuous letters to the credit card banks resisting charge-back.
Obviously, Visa does not like processing a charge-back claim even at the best of times, but if Visa can find any excuse at all for refusing it, a decision to deny chargeback can easily be made behind closed doors. Who knows if corruption enters the meeting room? The irresponsibility of the credit card banks reveals an appalling weakness in the US consumer finance system. I have waited for months, without reply, after writing directly to Visa's chargeback processing center. Will I get a reply at all? According to one former employee, Pushtraffic was ripping $4 million a month off its victims before it collapsed. Visa should be hauled into the Federal Trade Commission, for its willingness to be a money launderer.
conclusions
John P Raygoza is a merchant without honor. In the field of internet commerce, they don't get much worse than John Raygoza.Not one reputable person anywhere has a good word to say about JP Raygoza. Every testimonial can be traced back to Raygoza's den. ALL Raygoza's supporters are criminal affiliates and paid liars. No exceptions.The Malibu Beach Monster even has the effrontery to deride his multitude of angry customers as losers.
I have a better name for Raygoza's customers: ENEMIES.
If you want to see losers, just look at Raygoza's henchmen. They will have no tradable reputation in North America for the rest of their lives. Remember those names: Sainz, Hamilton, Mitchell, Molina, Sipes, Sevarino, Fitzpatrick, Weitz, and the rest of the Dirty Dozen. To have worked for Raygoza remains a lasting badge of dishonor. They are all despicables, all unemployable. Losers, all right. The price of crime.
The impending class action will be a test for the US justice system, as will be a full criminal prosecution. This is a test the US justice system MUST win. John P. Raygoza and his ilk must be smashed.
So to all the victims of Raygoza who read this, I say, now is
not the time to rest.
JP Raygoza tried to bankrupt us. Let's return the favor.
Pushtraffic has drowned in its own filth, but the job of restitution has hardly begun. Now is the time to nail the lying swindler of Malibu Beach !
If 2010 was a downfall year for JP Raygoza, we - his victims - will need to work hard to make life h*ll for the gangster in 2011.
More information:
(((links redacted)))
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.