I received a phone call from "Advantage America" @ approximately 8pm last nite, September 29th, 2005. A man that sounded like he was in his late teens to late 20's who claimed to be "Brian" at first. He began to tell me about how i was chosen out of a handful of people who get chosen every year to receive Government Grants in the amount of $12,500.
Ge GUARANTEED me that i would receive this grant within 5-14 days. All i had to do was fill out the form he was sending me in the mail. After asking him numerous questions regarding where he found my name, how he knew that i applied for student loans and grants for school (that is what i thought it was at first, for my applications for student loans/grants, which told me it was related to, "government grant" you can use for school), where they were from, what was their address/phone number, etc.
After becoming extremely annoyed with me, he finally answered my last question of what was HIS NAME. He once again said, "Brian", and i said NO, YOUR FULL NAME...after a pause of a couple seconds he says "Brian Rodriquez". And i said, "Hey, you're hispanic, so am I!", in attempts to make him not annoyed.
He responded in a studdered, muffled voice, "Yea, I'm part spanish somewhere in my family"...well he didnt know a word of spanish nor could he tell me who was spanish in his family, PLUS, HE COULDNT EVEN SPELL RODRIGUEZ!!!!! for he COMPLETELY MADE THE NAME BRIAN RODRIGUEZ UP!
Well, after confirming, and re-confirming the source of his info, the address/number, etc., he transferred me to "Nikki Miller", another women whom spoke broken english and and just so happened to have an American name! Then all of a sudden it goes into a automated verification system to confirm your bank info so when the grant goes thru, they can do a direct deposit.
THEN AFTER YOU CONFIRM YOUR BANK INFO, THEN THEY TELL YOU A ONE TIME FEE OF $49.95 WILL BE CHARGED FOR PROCESSING AND SHIPPING/HANDLING! THEN IF YOU DONT CANCEL YOUR MEMBERSHIP, YOU WILL BE CHARGED $299 FOR YOUR MEMBERSHIP FEES WHICH ALLOWS YOU TO GET THESE SO CALLED GOVERNMENT GRANTS EACH YEAR!
Plus, they also say on this recorded automated message that you are signed up for a risk free long distance program that only cost $49.95/mnth for unlimited calling!!!! All of which they are going to charge to your account, then it hangs up on you!!!! Then conviently when you call back the number they give for customer service, it says that the office is closed! It doesnt say welcome to Advantage America, or even whom you have reached, just they are closed....I DONT EVEN THINK THEY ARE IN AMERICA...THEY GAVE A BOGUS FLORIDA ADDRESS AND I JUST SAW SOMEONE ELSE REPORTED THEY ARE GIVING ATLANTA, GEORGIA ADDRESS AND PHONE NUMBERS NOW! They are obviously bouncing around to avoid the authorities!
HOW WILL THESE PEOPLE BE STOPPED FROM RIPPING OFF HUNDRES OR THOUSANDS MORE OF INNOCENT AMERICANS! The funny thing is they knew i applied for college grants/loans and this is what i thought it was for and thats what "Brian Rodriguez" led me to believe as well! If i wasnt a desperate woman who just got divorced and lost all of her money, I probably woud NOT have done this, but i think they research to find the most desperate people who have had recent financial hardships to do this scams on.
Not to mention, I've noticed along with myself, 95% of the people they are ripping off are WOMEN! This is a Fraudulent "Company" who has a target audience and is doing a good job of ripping people off.....HOW WILL WE STOP THE, OBVIOUSLY THE AUTHORITIES, POLICE, GOVERNMENT HAS NOT YET!!! WHEN WILL THEY!
***UPDATE***
After waiting on hold with the THRID telephone number i was given (the first two numbers i called said they were "First Beneficial" and had nothing to do w/ Advantage America, BUT, THIS IS THE FUNNY PART, THEY GAVE ME ADVANTAGE AMERICA'S TELEPHONE NUMBER WITHIN 2 SECONDS OF ME ASKING, HOW DID THEY KNOW IT IF THEY AREN'T INVOLVED?!?!?!??!? All BULLSH*T!!!
So after waiting on hold for over an hour, i finally got someone who also had a heavy accent, barely spoke understandable english and said his name was DAVID WALES!!! ANOTHER AMERICAN NAME! Most Wales I've seen spell it "WHALES" NOT "WALES" and pronounce it like the sea animal, the whale!!! Most likely another lie!
Well, this David Wales said he COULD NOT HELP ME! He cant cancel the order and cant stop the charges that are being put thru for my "GRANT". Conviently, his head of department supervisor is in a "meeting" and wont be available and there is NO WAY to stop this charge.
I told him that I saw all the fraudulent reports online about them and he played stupid and then proceeded to get an attitude w/ me after he basically told me that they are taking my money and there's nothing i can do about it!!! This is internet, phone AND mail fraud because they are telling us we are paying them for the "GRANT" package they are sending us in the mail. All serious Felonies!!!
Something must be done! We must come together and call Attorney Generals of Florida, Georgia, and the USA if need be, along w/ the FBI!!! Something needs to be done before someones life is ruined by these CROOKS, THAT WHAT ADVANTAGE AMERICA IS--->>>>CROOKS!!!!!!!!!!! FEEL FREE TO CONTACT ME TO DISCUSS THIS SERIOUS PROBLEM!
Holly
Sellersville, Pennsylvania
U.S.A.