What can I do if I've been ripped off by a company that has seemed to disappear off the face of the planet?
Answer:
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/idth.
This information on the owner of the website (I presume it was collegemoneymatters.com) might be helpful too:
Cook, Mike iwan@mycomstar.com
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.
That might not result in anything, unless these people are really AWOL.
Oh yeah, and don't do that ever again.
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.
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.
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.
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.
About the only thing you can do is contact your state's Secretary of State who handles fraud cases.
The answers post by the user, for information only, BAnswer.com does not guarantee the right.
Other Questions and Answers: