- Report: #434303
Complaint Review: Acument Global Technologies Eric Smith Elizabeth Johnson Richard Johnson - Ames Iowa
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Acument Global Technologies Eric Smith Elizabeth Johnson Richard Johnson
1311 Coolidge Drive Ames, 50010 Iowa, U.S.A.
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Acument Global Technologies, Eric Smith, Elizabeth Johnson, Richard Johnson posing as Shopper's Guide, claiming they need a Mystery Shopper for Western Union and restaurant Ames Iowa
*Consumer Suggestion: Elizabeth Johnson, Shay Robinson, and Susan Lugard are names used in a vacation rental scam on craigs' list!!
*Consumer Suggestion: Elizabeth Johnson, Shay Robinson, and Susan Lugard are names used in a vacation rental scam on craigs' list!!
*Consumer Suggestion: Elizabeth Johnson, Shay Robinson, and Susan Lugard are names used in a vacation rental scam on craigs' list!!
*Consumer Suggestion: Elizabeth Johnson, Shay Robinson, and Susan Lugard are names used in a vacation rental scam on craigs' list!!
Be on the lookout for a listing on job sites, this one was on craigslist particularly posting a request for "mystery shoppers". They claim they are a company called "Shopper's Guide" and they are trying to conduct a survey report on Western Union and a restaurant where there have supposedly been claims of terrible customer service, missing/inacurate funds, etc;
They will send you a check for a certain amount, which they want you to deposit immediately and they want you to deduct a small amount, which is to be your fee for conducting this service and then to wire the remaining amount to another specified "mystery shopper". The myster shopper they provided to me was an Elizabeth Johnson at 1311 Coolidge Drive in Ames, Iowa. BEWARE, if any of this information looks familiar as this is a confirmed scam!!! The check is issued from some bogus company in California and although banks inform you that it will take a certain amount of days for the funds to become fully available, this is by far the whole story. As I was just informed personally, it takes well over a week for your bank to actually be able to physically present a check to another financial institution and for that institution to solidly confirm that funds are actually available. Therefore, what will happen here is the check will appear to have "cleared" in your account within days based on good faith from your bank....THEN another week or so will pass and this check will come back to your bank bounced for insufficient funds and that is only the beginning. You will be contacted for suspicion on being actually involved in a fraudulent money scheme having presented a fraudulent check for clearance. There will be raised suspicion because you withdrew the funds having cleared from this check within days of depositing it...but you were only trying to follow instructions to complete this assignment, right? There is a FELONY CHARGE for presenting fraudulent checks and even tough you might not have had a clue...the burden of proof will be on you, including covering the cost to hire a defense attorney, should it come to that.
PLEASE BEWARE of this sort of situation...if you are reading this and are already well into the process of having been scammed then my heart goes out to you and I wish you all the best in clearing this up (hopefully you can somehow recover any lost personal money), but if there is anyone reading this before having actually deposited that bogus check then PLEASE STOP and think before you proceed:
1. Who would just send you a good amount of money and "trust" that you will return it to them when they don't know you from a hole in the wall?
2. If you pay attention, there are several discrepancies in the whole process of the "assignments" they ask you to carry out...pay close attention.
3. The names/addresses/phone numbers they list on anything they send you are unverifiable...when I called the phone number they listed, a 16-year old girl answered telling me this was her cell phone number and she's had numerous calls (including the authorities) from various states calling her regarding the same thing.
I thought at my age, I was smart enough to have known a scam when I saw one but it goes to show you that no one is safe. I was able to stop this in its tracks right before anything was a done deal and money was exchanged so I'm hoping this report could help someone, even if only one person the horror of getting caught up in this mess. I revert back to the golden rule...IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE...IT ALWAYS IS!
Scammed
Brooklyn, New York
U.S.A.
They will send you a check for a certain amount, which they want you to deposit immediately and they want you to deduct a small amount, which is to be your fee for conducting this service and then to wire the remaining amount to another specified "mystery shopper". The myster shopper they provided to me was an Elizabeth Johnson at 1311 Coolidge Drive in Ames, Iowa. BEWARE, if any of this information looks familiar as this is a confirmed scam!!! The check is issued from some bogus company in California and although banks inform you that it will take a certain amount of days for the funds to become fully available, this is by far the whole story. As I was just informed personally, it takes well over a week for your bank to actually be able to physically present a check to another financial institution and for that institution to solidly confirm that funds are actually available. Therefore, what will happen here is the check will appear to have "cleared" in your account within days based on good faith from your bank....THEN another week or so will pass and this check will come back to your bank bounced for insufficient funds and that is only the beginning. You will be contacted for suspicion on being actually involved in a fraudulent money scheme having presented a fraudulent check for clearance. There will be raised suspicion because you withdrew the funds having cleared from this check within days of depositing it...but you were only trying to follow instructions to complete this assignment, right? There is a FELONY CHARGE for presenting fraudulent checks and even tough you might not have had a clue...the burden of proof will be on you, including covering the cost to hire a defense attorney, should it come to that.
PLEASE BEWARE of this sort of situation...if you are reading this and are already well into the process of having been scammed then my heart goes out to you and I wish you all the best in clearing this up (hopefully you can somehow recover any lost personal money), but if there is anyone reading this before having actually deposited that bogus check then PLEASE STOP and think before you proceed:
1. Who would just send you a good amount of money and "trust" that you will return it to them when they don't know you from a hole in the wall?
2. If you pay attention, there are several discrepancies in the whole process of the "assignments" they ask you to carry out...pay close attention.
3. The names/addresses/phone numbers they list on anything they send you are unverifiable...when I called the phone number they listed, a 16-year old girl answered telling me this was her cell phone number and she's had numerous calls (including the authorities) from various states calling her regarding the same thing.
I thought at my age, I was smart enough to have known a scam when I saw one but it goes to show you that no one is safe. I was able to stop this in its tracks right before anything was a done deal and money was exchanged so I'm hoping this report could help someone, even if only one person the horror of getting caught up in this mess. I revert back to the golden rule...IF IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE...IT ALWAYS IS!
Scammed
Brooklyn, New York
U.S.A.
4 Updates & Rebuttals
Wary Of Scams
Naples,Maine,
U.S.A.
Elizabeth Johnson, Shay Robinson, and Susan Lugard are names used in a vacation rental scam on craigs' list!!
#2Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 06, 2009
We listed a vacation rental property on Craig's List, and got an email from a "Susan Lugard", expressing interest in the property. In subsequent emails, the name was suddenly changed to "Shay Robinson". His story was that he and his wife would like to come honeymoon at our vacation home, and his company is paying for everything as a wedding present. He then wrote that there was "a mistake", and the company made out one large check for everything, including the vacation rental costs, and their travel costs. So, he's going to mail me the check, and I should go ahead and deposit it, keep the rental amount, and send the remaining $ to his travel agent (Elizabeth Johnson, 1311 Coolidge Drive, Ames IA), who will take care of their travel arrangements. Here is the email text from "Shay Robinson": "Please, go ahead to make the check cashed and deduct the rental cost from it and you are going to send the remaining fund to our travelling agent via western union money transfer so she can take care of all neccessary flight arrangement for us. I will be happy if you can treat asap. Get back to me as soon as possible you receive this email. Here is the agent information for the transfer....... Receiver"s Name.................................ELIZABETH JOHNSON Address..............................................1311 Coolidge Dr City :..................................................AMES State:.................................................IOWA Zip code :...........................................50010 As soon as the money was send, i will like you to get back to me with following information to ascertain transfer details....... ......Sender Name and Address ......Receiver Name and Address ......MTCN ( 10 Digit Control Number For The Transfer) .....Total Amount Send To The Shipper .....Scan Copy Receipt Of The Transfer (if any) Note that you are going to deduct all the western union charges from the money you are sending to ELIZABETH JOHNSON. Looking forward to hear from you now........thanks and have great day." BEWARE!!!!!!
Wary Of Scams
Naples,Maine,
U.S.A.
Elizabeth Johnson, Shay Robinson, and Susan Lugard are names used in a vacation rental scam on craigs' list!!
#3Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 06, 2009
We listed a vacation rental property on Craig's List, and got an email from a "Susan Lugard", expressing interest in the property. In subsequent emails, the name was suddenly changed to "Shay Robinson". His story was that he and his wife would like to come honeymoon at our vacation home, and his company is paying for everything as a wedding present. He then wrote that there was "a mistake", and the company made out one large check for everything, including the vacation rental costs, and their travel costs. So, he's going to mail me the check, and I should go ahead and deposit it, keep the rental amount, and send the remaining $ to his travel agent (Elizabeth Johnson, 1311 Coolidge Drive, Ames IA), who will take care of their travel arrangements. Here is the email text from "Shay Robinson": "Please, go ahead to make the check cashed and deduct the rental cost from it and you are going to send the remaining fund to our travelling agent via western union money transfer so she can take care of all neccessary flight arrangement for us. I will be happy if you can treat asap. Get back to me as soon as possible you receive this email. Here is the agent information for the transfer....... Receiver"s Name.................................ELIZABETH JOHNSON Address..............................................1311 Coolidge Dr City :..................................................AMES State:.................................................IOWA Zip code :...........................................50010 As soon as the money was send, i will like you to get back to me with following information to ascertain transfer details....... ......Sender Name and Address ......Receiver Name and Address ......MTCN ( 10 Digit Control Number For The Transfer) .....Total Amount Send To The Shipper .....Scan Copy Receipt Of The Transfer (if any) Note that you are going to deduct all the western union charges from the money you are sending to ELIZABETH JOHNSON. Looking forward to hear from you now........thanks and have great day." BEWARE!!!!!!
Wary Of Scams
Naples,Maine,
U.S.A.
Elizabeth Johnson, Shay Robinson, and Susan Lugard are names used in a vacation rental scam on craigs' list!!
#4Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 06, 2009
We listed a vacation rental property on Craig's List, and got an email from a "Susan Lugard", expressing interest in the property. In subsequent emails, the name was suddenly changed to "Shay Robinson". His story was that he and his wife would like to come honeymoon at our vacation home, and his company is paying for everything as a wedding present. He then wrote that there was "a mistake", and the company made out one large check for everything, including the vacation rental costs, and their travel costs. So, he's going to mail me the check, and I should go ahead and deposit it, keep the rental amount, and send the remaining $ to his travel agent (Elizabeth Johnson, 1311 Coolidge Drive, Ames IA), who will take care of their travel arrangements. Here is the email text from "Shay Robinson": "Please, go ahead to make the check cashed and deduct the rental cost from it and you are going to send the remaining fund to our travelling agent via western union money transfer so she can take care of all neccessary flight arrangement for us. I will be happy if you can treat asap. Get back to me as soon as possible you receive this email. Here is the agent information for the transfer....... Receiver"s Name.................................ELIZABETH JOHNSON Address..............................................1311 Coolidge Dr City :..................................................AMES State:.................................................IOWA Zip code :...........................................50010 As soon as the money was send, i will like you to get back to me with following information to ascertain transfer details....... ......Sender Name and Address ......Receiver Name and Address ......MTCN ( 10 Digit Control Number For The Transfer) .....Total Amount Send To The Shipper .....Scan Copy Receipt Of The Transfer (if any) Note that you are going to deduct all the western union charges from the money you are sending to ELIZABETH JOHNSON. Looking forward to hear from you now........thanks and have great day." BEWARE!!!!!!
Wary Of Scams
Naples,Maine,
U.S.A.
Elizabeth Johnson, Shay Robinson, and Susan Lugard are names used in a vacation rental scam on craigs' list!!
#5Consumer Suggestion
Wed, May 06, 2009
We listed a vacation rental property on Craig's List, and got an email from a "Susan Lugard", expressing interest in the property. In subsequent emails, the name was suddenly changed to "Shay Robinson". His story was that he and his wife would like to come honeymoon at our vacation home, and his company is paying for everything as a wedding present. He then wrote that there was "a mistake", and the company made out one large check for everything, including the vacation rental costs, and their travel costs. So, he's going to mail me the check, and I should go ahead and deposit it, keep the rental amount, and send the remaining $ to his travel agent (Elizabeth Johnson, 1311 Coolidge Drive, Ames IA), who will take care of their travel arrangements. Here is the email text from "Shay Robinson": "Please, go ahead to make the check cashed and deduct the rental cost from it and you are going to send the remaining fund to our travelling agent via western union money transfer so she can take care of all neccessary flight arrangement for us. I will be happy if you can treat asap. Get back to me as soon as possible you receive this email. Here is the agent information for the transfer....... Receiver"s Name.................................ELIZABETH JOHNSON Address..............................................1311 Coolidge Dr City :..................................................AMES State:.................................................IOWA Zip code :...........................................50010 As soon as the money was send, i will like you to get back to me with following information to ascertain transfer details....... ......Sender Name and Address ......Receiver Name and Address ......MTCN ( 10 Digit Control Number For The Transfer) .....Total Amount Send To The Shipper .....Scan Copy Receipt Of The Transfer (if any) Note that you are going to deduct all the western union charges from the money you are sending to ELIZABETH JOHNSON. Looking forward to hear from you now........thanks and have great day." BEWARE!!!!!!
