What can I do if I've been ripped off by a company that has seemed to disappear off the face of the planet?

Question

My parents paid a good amount of money to a "company" called College Money Matters and they stayed in contact with us for a few weeks. But after we stopped receiving phone calls and e-mails from them, we've tried to contact them. But their website is permanently under construction, their phone number is disconnected, and their e-mails are fake. They're supposedly located in Utah, but we think that address is a phony too. My mom has given up but I refused to let her settle for being cheated out of a large amount of money. If anyone knows anything I can do, please help. We've contacted Judge Judy, Shame on You, Better Business Bureau, but they all say they can't do anything unless they know the address of the company or if the company contacts them back, which they refuse to do. Please help!

Thank you guys so much! My mom called the owner of the website and got a busy signal. We'll try again later. She paid by credit card, but this was 2-3 years ago so we don't know how far we'll get with that. And I tried the Utah Commerce website but the name didn't come up because they must be an illegitimate company. I'll post an update in a few days if you guys want to know any new info. Thanks again for all the answers!

Answer 1

Where did you send the money to? That's where you should look. Also contact the attorney general's office of the state they were located or where you sent the money to. If it was paid by credit card, contact the credit car company. If it was paid by bank transfer, talk to the bank. If it was paid by check, track down the address, also look for the cancelled check and see where it was deposited (your bank should be able to help with this). If it was a money order, contact whoever you got the money order from. Finally, if it was cash, you were really, really stupid, and saving up for college is probably the least of your problems.

If you gave them any other information, like social security number, drivers license number, bank account number, crap like that, you might want to look at http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html

This information on the owner of the website (I presume it was collegemoneymatters.com) might be helpful too:

Cook, Mike [e-mail]
Comstar
P.O. Box 134
Layton, Utah 84041
United States
8016140275

Their website does appear to be coming from Utah. You could try talking to the company that gives them Internet access, XO.net.

If that email address doesn't work, go here: https://www.godaddy.com/gdshop/registrar/whois_report_invalid.asp?se=+&domain=COLLEGEMONEYMATTERS.COM&app_hdr=0&prog_id=godaddy&ci=4839
That might not result in anything, unless these people are really AWOL.

Oh yeah, and don't do that ever again.

Answer 2

This is an unfortunate example of how many bogus companies use the guise of the Internet to have anonymity in order to claim victims and pull stakes. The first place to go is to turn this affair over to the police and the county prosecutor, but the truth is that there is not much that anyone can do to recover your money.

The lesson to be learned here is to do your research on a company. If they offer a deal that is too good to be true, then more than likely, it is. Cross reference with reliable sites, speak with friends and family; do whatever it takes to research fully the people you are dealing with. Do they have a telephone contact and a physical address?

Although this is a painful loss, be advised, let the buyer be ware.

Answer 3

You might try running the name of the company on GOOGLE. You can also report them to the Utah Secretary of State where businesses are registered in case they are a legitimate business. If you are truly screwed then don't forget to look at the different ways the money can be taken as uninsured loss or something akin to that on your 2006 tax return to reduce taxable income. That may be the only silver lining to this cloud. Good luck.

Answer 4

How was the money paid to the company? if it was credit card you can definitely dispute the charges with your credit card company. Otherwise I think you've done all that you can. Sorry to hear that.

Answer 5

About the only other thing is hiring a private investigator but unfortunately I thing your parents are simply out of that money. It sucks, but there are a lot of scams out there and I think they got you.

Answer 6

About the only thing you can do is contact your state's Secretary of State who handles fraud cases.