Complaint Review: Samantha L. Dalton - Cody Wyoming

Samantha Dalton 33, from Cody, Wyoming formed a group on Facebook to sell various goods from her own crochet, Thrity-One bags, to items that she found to sell. Her target sales population are moms and families nationwide. People from across the country were in this group and she was the group owner. Samantha, known as "Sammie" scammed just under $3,000 since December 2013. The group on Facebook she formed was known as The Thrifty Mom's. She was in a group previously that sold goods with many Cody and surrounding area residents, but was not the group owner. 

I first picked up on her scamming game late. I also joined her group after the first initial scam in December 2013, but I am unwilling to let up since families are without product and without refunds. She has admitted to "borrowing" the money and does not view it as stealing. She was caught in the act. A family member has been trying to be the communication between her and her victims. Unfortunately, it is stealing and along with that, come her lies. 

The last order she organized was for children's pop-up tents and balls. She was purchasing from a supplier in China. Items were to be delivered to her where she would deliver to local residents and use the USPS system to mail to people nationwide. It was across three groups on Facebook that she received a large order. The grand total is $1,513.67. PayPal took their fees of $53.67. Samantha never ordered. She admitted to not ordering and that has been recorded. She was working with two new people in her group who were unaware of a Disney DVD buy she formed in late 2013 to pick up on her not following through on the most recent tent purchase.

Samantha would update and say she was told they were mailed, they are coming, she had half the order, etc. She was asked to provide tracking and was stringing people along. She knows, as well as consumers (most of them) that you have 45 days to file with PayPal and receive money back if the seller has not refunded or mailed your goods. At day 41-42, another member of her group was made aware that she had stopped updating people who were asking for updates. As the time draws closer to the 45 days, customers want to know where their goods are. She withdrew from communication. She was asked to provide tracking and provided a tracking number that belonged to another person. 

She admitted in message chat on Facebook that she never ordered. People were told to file a dispute because of this. Previous purchases were looked at and it was found that there were six total buys that she had scammed money from individuals over the internet and never refunded or provided the goods. She was caught and is now unresponsive. Here is a list of purchases she organized, collected money through PayPal, and used the money from victims for her own use:

DVD #1 - approx. Nov-Dec 2013 - 223 DVDs with a total of 919.52

Samantha invoiced people who purchased, collected money, and the goods never showed up. She told customers the goods were seized in customs. She told victims she was disputing via her bank for a credit to refund. She produced a seizure letter from U.S. Customs & Border Patrol with a fake case #. It was not addressed to her. In May, U.S. customs & border patrol was called to find out more information on the case # and caller was told there is NO such case number. The call was recorded. It was presented to Sam and she admitted the letter was fake in May 2014. People have yet to see a dime. 

Vertical Gardens - March 2014 - Samantha collected orders, invoiced, took money & never ordered. $62.22

Outdoor Toys - March/April 2014 - Samantha collected orders on various items, invoiced, took money & never ordered. $97.91

Reflo Cups - April 2014 - Samantha collected orders on these cups, invoiced, took money & never ordered. $186.69 before collecting fees on organizing the purchase. 

Nerf Toys - March 2014 - Samantha collected orders, invoiced, took money, & never ordered. She updated to say the buy was in dispute and she was waiting on her bank to credit her. $228.37

Pop-up Castle tents & balls in 100 pc packs April/May 2014- $1,513.67

There are six purchases in total that she collected money through the internet via PayPal. It is only those who ordered the last purchase who are protected by PayPal's policy for a refund. It is not her willingness to repay. People have to file disputes and claims for resolve. 

The people who purchased on all buys were informed that items were not ordered. The individuals on DVD buy #1 organized by Samantha were made aware the seizure letter was fake and that it was not in dispute with her bank. She just never ordered them. There are many who are waiting on a refund and Samantha is another scammer on the internet who is trying to walk away. She previously organized purchases for a group out of Wyoming and the owner of that group said Samantha scammed her customers. 

I am trying to create awareness and this has to be out there. She has to know what she did was wrong on many levels. People deserve refunds. The fake government document needs to be addressed. If we don't stop people from scamming it just keeps occurring. She built a level of trust as an owner of two businesses for people to have a sense of reassurance that she was responsibe. And now that she admitted, she has walked away. Everyone is online and not around her, so it must be easy to walk away with their money, but it's WRONG.