I think I was scammed - Advice needed!

[kaito]

I'm from Southern California and I am 21 years old.

I recently became a business partner with someone wanting to start a video game store. Everything was already set up (place, equipment, etc) except for the merchandise. The partner was asking for $2000.00 to become to a investor/partner with 60 days to back out if I felt the business wasn't doing well.

After signing all the contract, I handed over the $2000, wrote down his DL # for security purposes and felt that everything was going to work out fine. After a month, he still hasn't stocked up on merchandise and the business did not seem to be getting anywhere. I only had 1 month left to decide whether to back out or keep going. He broke many promises of getting merchandise, did not answer many of my calls, etc. So after a long struggle and noticing that I wasn't able to fully trust this guy, I decided to back out. He was supposed to meet with me tonight at a local shop to give me my refund but did not show up. I called his phone, his wife's phone, his son's phone, and they were all giving me the same message. The message was that the person I am trying to reach is currently unavailable. Odd.

He also has a booth at the local mall and I have caught him there several times before after having a hard time getting a hold of him so I am going to try that tomorrow again. The only thing this time is that I can't get a hold of him via phone, text, or email so I am starting to worry.

I am asking for advice on what I should do about this. I have signed a contract and the 60 day full refund is part of it. It still has not yet reached the 60 day limit but I am thinking of contacting authorities before it is up so I know I have taken action before it was too late.

I have his family's phone number (although it's all cell phones) and his driver's license #. I was lucky to catch him a few days ago at the mall when he was coming out of the car so I was able to snap a picture of his license plate as well. I also know his website he uses for his business. I believe that's enough information but I was just wondering what steps I should take next and who I should contact. I'm not too sure if Police is the right person for a scam/fraud.

Last info: His DL#, his plates, and his phone number all seem to be from Georgia. He did mention he barely moved to California a few months ago.

Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

[DerekS]

Take him to small claims court

+1. This is a civil matter and will need to be settled in small claims court.

[Encrypted]

What kind of car does he drive? He's probably up to his eyes in debt and spent your money. Any professional business man would not sketch out like this.

[Marco Santori]

Hi kaito,

First, this is both a civil and a criminal matter. If he is engaging in criminal fraud - that is, if he intended to try to scam you from the beginning, then the police would be interested in the situation. But even if the police got involved, arrested him and he was convicted, it would not guarantee you getting your money back. This brings us to the second point. It is also a civil matter - civil fraud and breach of contract. To collect your money, you would need to take him to court. Practically speaking, these things are typically resolved by an attorney writing a short letter, informing the guy that he will be sued if he doesn't return the money plus additional damages. I've done many of these, and they are not expensive. Let me know if I can help.

[c9consulting]

Good luck with getting your money back! It was a really good heads up to get his license plate number. I have a feeling that criminal court may come into play if the license plate was stolen and the driver's license was counterfeited. Hopefully he didn't do this type of fraud for a living, otherwise getting your money back may be difficult.

[kaito]

Thanks for all the support guys. So I on the night that he ditched out on me, he sent me a email saying that he was in Arizona (I'm in California) and that he wasn't able to jump onto the plane due to some issues. He stated he will be coming home Monday night and that he would give me a call as soon as he landed but that obviously never happened.

Now I'm not too sure if he is doing this (scam) as a living since he does seem to have a autobody shop along with his airbrush business in the mall. I'm sure when he registered the site, the business, etc. he had submitted a lot of his personal information which can be traced. So right now, I'm really in the middle trying to decide whether I should call the police and get a police report or if I should wait a bit more (since I still have a month) until it's closer the the end-of-contract date.

Also, I noticed that one member said it's not too expensive to hire an attorney and sue the guy but I don't have that kind of money and feel that there is a risk of me losing more.

[Marco Santori]

Most attorneys that would take this case would do so on a contingency fee basis. That is, you don't pay the attorney. Instead, the attorney takes a percentage - usually one third - of whatever he collects on your behalf.

If you've already demanded your investment in the manner called for by the contract and he's refused to pay, now may be the time to go this route - before he disappears.

[DerekS]

I would first send him a letter via certified mail of your intentions to exercise your option to have your investment money returned. Since he's got a physical address (either in the form of the bodyshop or the mall location) you can use that. Return receipt is even better if you know that he spends most of his time at a certain location and can sign for it.

Give him a short time frame in which to respond (24-48 hours). If he doesn't respond (which he most likely won't), then file in small claims court. Make sure that he can be served before he disappears. Remember, even if it gets to court and you're awarded a judgement, collecting is a whole other issue.

[Marco Santori]

As I mentioned in my post, you must request the return of your investment in the manner called for by the investment agreement. Don't just send the letter certified mail if the contract says you must request it via Federal Express, or by some other means.

[DerekS]

As I mentioned in my post, you must request the return of your investment in the manner called for by the investment agreement. Don't just send the letter certified mail if the contract says you must request it via Federal Express, or by some other means.

This is a great point. The original agreement should lay out the terms by which you go about requesting and receiving the return of your investment. Hopefully these details are spelled out clearly and not just jotted down on a napkin. I've had judges throw out small claims suits over much less in the past.

[kaito]

Again, thanks for your support!

First off, in the contract it states that I must decide whether or not I would like to continue within 60 days of signing the contract. The payment is made upon signing the contract and there is no full details on how he would return the money.

So today, after difficulties trying to get a hold of him, I decided to go in person to see if he was back from Arizona or not to see if it was a lie or not. The total amount of time invested here was 3 hours today.

First off, I went to the mall where he has the airbrush shop, asked for the owner and the employee said that he wasn't here. The employee told me that he would be coming within the next hour. I waited in the parking lot of about 45 mins and decided to walk in. After talking to the employee again, I found out that his wife came to pick up some work orders and left quickly. I briefly explained my situation and asked how I can get a hold of him. The employee notified me that he just opened another store at a mall close-by doing the same thing with the same name. He also told me that he has a hard time with him because he never keeps his words.

So off I go to the next mall where I spotted the cart that matched the description. I spoke with the employee there and she notified me that I had just missed them and that they were "busy with errands". As I was walking out of the mall, I get a email from the owner. He stated that he was busy and he would like to pay me back today. After 3 mins or so, I got another email saying that he will pay me with Paypal since he is really busy.

So now, he said that he would send me a Paypal of $2100 to cover and Paypal fees by later tonight when he get's to a computer.

From my past experiences with him, I know I shouldn't trust him but I will have to give it another try to avoid any bigger problems. I will try to post back later tonight with the results.

[Encrypted]

Wow, this guy sounds like a total nut. I hope you get your money back, although I somewhat doubt it based upon what you've told us thus far.

[rpermana]

as long as you got the contract signed, you are safe.. maybe you can file police report first or ask for their opinion ?

[kaito]

as long as you got the contract signed, you are safe.. maybe you can file police report first or ask for their opinion ?

I am also thinking of filing a police report but that's only if the end of the contract date comes near. I still have a while before I am forced to do so. Also, since he just opened another business, it doesn't seem like he's going to be running... but that's just my thought.

So tonight, I either get a Paypal notice saying I received money or I'm gonna get some BS reason why it wasn't possible to do so today just like he did for the last few times so far. We'll see.

Update: I got a Paypal money transfer that was promised. The only thing is that it was an e-check and it will take anywhere from 3~7 days for the funds to clear. I will continue to update as things progress.

[DerekS]

Good. The police wouldn't have done anything- trust me. They would have referred you to civil court. Let's just hope that the check clears and you should be good to go.