Recently my friend Paul Counts was duped by a scammer who is targeting Internet marketers.
In case you don’t know Paul, he’s proven himself to be one of the “good guys” in our industry, who upholds integrity and treats his customers right. It seems like it’s often the good people who fall prey to scammers, because they tend to trust people.
There are always plenty of scams happening online, and I’ve been scammed a few times myself. It’s NOT fun, and to be a victim is one of the worst feelings you can experience. Most people can probably relate to this at some point in their life.
What makes this story unique from the millions is that the scammer actually CONFESSED his scam and told Paul some of the details of his scamming methods.
In spite of confessing to one of his victims, I do not believe the scammer has been caught, and I DO believe he’s still perpetuating his scams. I’d like to share the details with you, so that you can be aware of this particular scam, as well as gain insight that may help you avoid other scams in the future.
DETAILS OF THE SCAM
The scammer posted an ad in a popular Internet marketing forum, advertising an “ad swap”. He claimed to have an opt-in list of 35k subscribers, whom he would email for his side of the swap. The other marketer participating in the swap would email his/her list on behalf of the scammer first.
Unfortunately, the scammer did not have a list. He was duping Internet marketers into sending out his promotions, in exchange for nothing.
VARIATION OF THE SCAM:
An ad was posted in the Warrior Forum advertising a “solo ad” to a 50k opt-in list, for $287. Several Internet marketers bought this offer, but received nothing in return.
One victim was Socrates Socratous, a well-known Internet marketer who paid $500 in a deal with the above scammer, and $450 to another (or maybe the same) scammer the same day.
Due to the nature of the scam, I think it is very possible that Paul’s scammer is the same guy.
PAUL’S PLEA TO THE SCAMMER:
After the scammer failed to fulfill his end of the deal, Paul sent him this email:
Hello Andy,I really wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt here, but the longer it is taking you to respond to me really tells me that you probably didn’t intend to hold up your end of the deal and promote for me. I hope I am wrong here, but your screen shot showed my offer qued up and it should have taken you just a few minutes to check on what happened. Instead it is terribly apparent that you deleted my ad after you sent me the screen shot. Again, correct me if I am wrong here about this situation.
My main point is that we setup a solo ad as something that is mutually beneficial for both of us. I ended up just promoting your squeeze page and building your list with my valued subscribers, and in return I got nothing from you. My goal with ad swaps is to also build up mutually beneficial JV relationships where I promoted your products in the future and such.
I like to work with people and recommend people and offer that I can trust myself. Please forgive me for the harsh tone here, but Andy I am sure you can understand my position here.
I really hope that I am wrong and that we can resolve this issue soon.
Thanks,
Paul
THE SCAMMER’S CONFESSION
Here is his reply to Paul’s email. I have highighted certain portions to draw attention to them…
From: Andrew Tudor
Date: Tue, Mar 15, 2011 at 10:06 AM
Subject: Re: Ad Swap – From Warrior Forum
To: Paul CountsHi Paul,
You are entirely correct! The reason I did this is because I don’t possess a list of 35,000 subscribers. I also understand exactly what you are saying about building a mutually beneficial JV relationship and I do apologize if I have caused you any inconvenience, I completely understand your position and you have every right to take a harsh tone, I should say that I am surprised that you consider your tone to be currently harsh because I know that many would be quite pissed off in this situation, I respect your reasonable attitude and yes initially I had no intention to hold my end of the deal, simply because it wasn’t possible for me and if I could have, then of course I would have, hey… at least I am being honest here and not continuing to provide you with BS as I am sure many others would.
You are obviously an intelligent man and everything you said was entirely correct. I have been scamming people on the Warrior Forum with solo ads, which they paid for, in your case I think you have lost less, or at least I really hope so because I understand what you say about trust and providing me with opt-ins, but I am still happy to send your ad out for you as it’s already evident to you that I am trying to build a list here. The guys who have been scammed were sent emails to confirm, however most were actually reasonable and as I made sense of the situation and explained that PayPal disputes would not work and that they could open them and I explained that I would just win and walk away, however I did request that those who wanted another option could avoid this by instead being reasonable with me about it and understanding my situation.
My name is not Andy Tudor, I have actually been in IM a very long time but have only just at this point started trying to aquire a list. Now, I really hate scamming or dishonest business, but recently hit a very hard financial time stuck deep in debt and having my family to provide for which is my 4 year old daughter Jasmine and partner Annie, I have gone down the dishonest route which has not been pleasant, but it provided me with what I required in the current circumstances.
So yeah, the solo ads would have done that alone but I wanted swaps because I wanted to get started with a list and then possibly start working my way up, the problem is with solo ads that many of my customers have complained that they can’t find good solo ads anywhere, so even though I considered this option for starting my list, this put me off.
Now I am not going to lie to you, as talking any more BS won’t get me any further so I might as well be honest here, I have never had to actually reply to any emails regarding swaps yet but I am sure I will have even more soon. The problem here is it’s indeed true that I have been unfair here, and I don’t know exactly what to say because on solo ads if I am to simply leave with a customers money then they have that to lose and by considering the fact they have nothing to lose by hearing me out and waiting for me to build my list so that I can eventually send out their ads is beneficial to them, and I do indeed intend to send out every one of them ads, for the customers that decided to not take what I said into consideration, they opened the disputes and soon after realized that I won them because it was a virtual good, I even explained this to them before but it’s their own fault for not listening on that.
I work through many different identities and own a VERY large amount of websites, this includes forums, membership sites, squeeze pages, product sales pages and quite a bit more. So the point I am trying to make is, that I could just return under a different identity anyway Paul, and I currently have another 58 swaps this week using many different identities. I have revealed my real name to many of the solo ad buyers and shown them my work.
So what exactly do I want? – Ideally, being beneficial to both of us here, I would like to at least offer to send out your ad when I have established an adequate sized list instead of running off with your subscribers, I don’t see the harm in you taking up this offer? – Also, I feel that contacts are far better to have with internet marketing and although I have been slightly influenced by other scammers and my situation, I really dislike working in this dishonest way.
So here you have the full truth, I can’t really explain much further and of course if you find it unacceptable, well that’s up to you really isn’t it? – However, consider my offer because I ask nothing in return, you have provided your side of the deal and when I can, I would feel better if I could return what you have offered rather than running away. Considering, either way will not really bother me too much, I think you are a good person and you certainly don’t deserve this, I am sorry.
I have many skills that lead to me becoming involved in internet marketing, I also am quite knowledgable on the subject and offer any advice. I understand my wrong-doing here, but theres no need to treat me like I don’t understand exactly what I am doing, this is all well planned and I know exactly what I am doing here, So now in regards to my last statement marked in “bold” font: What exactly do you want? – By all means let me know, as I wish to provide whatever I can on my end and remember Paul that this doesn’t mean you should go thinking you are better than myself for example, sure you carry out business in a more honest way but what I mean is, before you go refusing my offer and complaining, the solution here is to simply be reasonable with me because maybe I have something of benefit to you – I hope so anyway.
Best,
Andy
After Paul replied to the above email (the reply is not included here, as I don’t feel it’s necessary), “Andy” the scammer decided to add to his confession in another email to Paul, which is excerpted below…
Hi Paul,I do have a list, it’s just not 35,000 subscribers at all, I have done lot’s of work in photoshop, website design and sony vegas, basically for the AWeber screenshot I simply used firebug in Firefox to modify the code and took the screenshot, of course if I wanted to I could have managed with photoshop fine but it just pointlessly takes that little bit longer and of course when I modify code, I don’t usually have to worry about anything being out of place even by 1 pixel, unless I make a mistake but that’s never happend so far. It’s like the ClickBank login videos that you see, some may appear very realistic but it’s a simple job of matching the frames between 2 different clips, I do understand that theres a safe-swaps site if you want to find swaps more safely but I had even questioned that immediately to the fact I could program a bot to enter email addresses into a form and then verfiy that I have a large list, I have never done so because I see it as a waste of time and I would be paying increased AWeber charges for fake/bot generated email addresses…
(Andy)
(UPDATE: Added 03/18/11, 1:35PM)
After posting this to my blog, I received another of Andy’s confessionals, which was received by Internet marketer Socrates Socratous. Socrates was scammed by Andy Tudor, and by Dave Rivera (aka Monta on the Warrior Forum), who may or may not be the same person.
Socrates submitted PayPal disputes, which were ruled in favor of the scammers by PayPal (due to the digital goods loophole). After Andy won the dispute, he sent this email to Socrates:
Well, it appears I have won that dispute… so I have changed my mind. The NO REFUNDZ policy now applies.I look forward working with you again in the future, I will spend the more wisely, don’t worry!
I am going to enjoy a nice cigar, which might seem a waste of money but it’s just to celebrate your failure, the sweet and smokey taste of success..
It’s only $450 man, it’s not much at all, but I guess with all the others out there that I clearly SCAMMED, it all adds up at the end of each and every day!
You are indeed the idiot that fell into the scamtrap. How’s that for disrespect? – You think your money was enough? No, please… it’s the pure enjoyment of scamming you that makes it worthwhile.
I suggest you get onto your credit card company Socrates, it’s obviously a bad sign if you had to use a CREDIT card to purchase a solo ad, what’s wrong? Out of money? I hope you starve.
Best Regards,
Andy
Subsequently, Socrates did file a complaint with his credit card company, and DID receive his money back through a chargeback.
(End of updated section)
CONCLUSION
I could give a lot of my own commentary here about…
…how the scammer justifies his actions by his circumstances, and his “good conscience”…
…how he arrogantly talks of winning Paypal disputes, and has the guts to blame his victims for not listening to him…
…how he is STILL trying to scam Paul and CONTROL the situation in his emails, and even goes so far as to compare himself to Paul…
…the fact that he “feels bad” about it, yet has another 58 VICTIMS lined up already in the next week under his various scammer aliases…
But I’ll leave the bulk of the commentary to you. Please post your comments below.
And most importantly, beware of scammers like “Andy”. As the scammer himself confessed: Anything on your computer screen could be fake. Just because something looks real, that doesn’t mean it’s real.
At the same time, not everything is fake. There are plenty of legitimate opportunities, and there’s plenty of money to be made online. So take this knowledge and apply it to your personal “filter”, as you determine what’s real and what’s not.
Have a great day!
(UPDATE: Added 03/21/11, 2:40PM)
Just a quick update to let everyone know that Mike Filsaime has contacted his rep at PayPal to notify them about the scammer, and PayPal has confirmed that their risk department is taking care of the scammer’s accounts. Thanks Mike. The guys at AWeber have also been notified, and I was told that their security department is handling it as well.
Aww, poor “Andy,” life’s been hard so he’s willing to make things a little more miserable for others. I really hate it when people justify themselves like that. If things are that bad in your own life or business, you need to find honest ways to make it better. It’ll be much harder for him to find people willing to do business with him later with this squandering of his reputation now, assuming someone figures out who he really is.
I like these ideas.
I am saddened to hear about the scam that your friend and others encountered.
There was someone who exposed a few years ago (perhaps) that screen shots in a lot of the sales messages are probably faked. I do not do paid ad swaps, and never have. I believed (and still do) that what appears to be too good in terms of a deal usually is. There is always a risk involved, and that some serious “cause and effect” thinking needs to be done.
I actually am empathetic to the “I have fallen on hard times” mentality however, I cannot be empathetic to someone who steals. I figure that this behavior was there all along and that a ‘ bad economy’ is a sorry excuse for showing a negative trait of this magnitude.
Someone mentioned (in an earlier post) to email the lists and make the customers aware of the scamer….I believe that is a good idea.
Internet Marketers and Internet Marketing has a murky reputation probably due to this guy’s belief system and practices and all of the others who do the same thing. They may not have been exposed as of yet, but they are out there. I like the fact that you remind the readers that everyone is not bad. I think that little spark of positive thinking will go a long way. I would like to remind people that the belief that there are good people in the world should not blind them from using common sense in their business dealings.
The more people who speak out if they can pin point the root of these people will make it easier for everyone. I appreciate the fact that you made it public, I know it can be a challenge for marketers and their families sometimes to publicize these things.
All the best!
Malka Maxwell
Hi Ken, sorry to hear you had an unfortunate experience with Matt LaClear. I paid him nearly $40 to put up a Blog for me with one unique article and then add backlinks till it reached Page One for its main keyword.
It reached Page One after about 4 months, so as far as I’m concerned he met his end of the deal and there was no sign of a scam throughout our email correspondence since September last.
Yours
John O’York
Eric,
Great post! Thanks for the information. Too bad everyone out there doesn’t subscribe to integrity above all.
Karen
Thanks Eric! Maybe a Warrior Forum or any Internet Marketer forum should have an outstanding BLACKLIST segment, where this low life criminals and all of his aliases maybe put in a constant spotlight!
Hi Eric:
Thanke for the information regarding scammers. Last night, for the first time, i signed up with a company to do online business, I’m hoping it was not with one of those scammers. I’ll just have wait and see what happens
Sure I can do that. What’s with your gravatar, LOL?
Hello Eric,
What most people should realize is that a felony crime has been committed here by “Andy.”
This is one of the exact situations that the Feds want to thwart through “good marketing practices” law.
The guy broke the law, especially when it comes to interstate commerce. So, I certainly hope that justice will prevail on this matter.
What is really insulting is that he openly confesses that he has no intention on making the victums “whole” by returning each and everyone he scammed, their money. So that perpetuates the crime he committed.
It’s sad, but we have to take this as a lesson learned and be so very cautious with overzealous “sales pitches” online, whether it is from the Warrior Forum or anywhere else online for that matter.
Thank you so much for bringing this up. I am a member of the Warrior Forum and will keep my “BS” antennae up from now on!
I find this information very valuable, and I am sure many will benefit.
Its buyers beware .
Thanks!
Bob
Hi Eric;
Thanks for the post! I’m a long way from considering list swaps since loading an opt-in is the next thing I will be doing to build out my new site. Thus I have nothing to swap and am hoping to build my list from “native” traffic and quality content.
But who knows? At some point in time that might be a viable option for me and you’ve given a new tool to use to do it safely.
And as far as screen shots go, I don’t believe them. About a year ago I watched a video where a guy took a Google adsense report and used a tool to magically change all the numbers. It was tedious but it worked and the results were convincing.
And about this guy andy (caps purposely omitted) – do funeral homes provide asbestos suits? He’s going to need one where he’s likely to end up.
Thanks again for the post Eric.
Gary.
Scammer? You can’t call this guy a scammer. You should call it like it is. He is a CRIMINAL. He is committing fraud and the authorities should be notified. He has skills in IM and chooses to use them in this manner rather than work legitimately. I say do everything you can to track him down and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law!
You have his own written confession as evidence.
I’ve been scammed out of money from a scammer similar to this. PayPal will not do anything as it is digital goods. I’ve lost out on over $500 because of that scammer, but really I think the biggest person or in this case company to blame is PayPal. PayPal constantly allows people like this to get away with it.
Something should be done against PayPal as they only care about one thing and one thing only “MAKING MONEY” if they cared at all about the customers they wouldn’t let scammers constantly get away with this.
In my opinion PayPal should be forced to pay back all the people that have been scammed. AS soon as they know it is digital good they close the case in the sellers favor. Some buyer protection they have or claim to have.
Anyways this whole thing doesn’t surprise me at all as I’ve had it happen to me, but it still makes me feel sick that this is still happening as my situation was over 3 years ago.
Hope your post with the proof will help a lot of others online to be wiser and not make the same mistakes.
Sincerely,
Matthew Roberts
Great article. If Andrew spend some amount of time figure out how to scam people. He could use the time create a honest business.
Andrew failure to realize that by scamming people only provide temporary solution to his problem.
I am floored at the blatent, unabashed pride this con man exhibits. I really hope he will get caught and exposed for what he is…a low life jerk who takes advantage of people.
It’s another example why honest people are skeptical about purchasing anything online.
Thank you for sharing this eye-opening story with us, Eric.
seems there are bad apples every where, sad that
a few can take the pleasure out ot life.
I have to remember it’s only a few among the
many. So for the most part I’ll just keep a wary eye.
thanks eric
Eric, it is a sad story, I am surprised by Andy’s arrogance, and I have zero trust about anything he says. So if I’ll be Paul I simply stop and “business” relation with this guy and I start to recuperate the money.
Unfortunately there are a lot of scams, Dan T. shows other example with a lot of humor, and it is a lesson to learn from that one as well, please read until the end:
So no wander that IM and/or AM has a bad name nowadays and makes harder for beginners to get in this market…
Thanks for the post is eyes opening. Personally I hate very long sale-pages, with repetitions, mansions, Corvette or Lamborghini… I don’t need this type of info to buy a prod, and when I am bombarded with this them, I am suspicious and don’t buy… hoping that the marketers will understand that hype and fakes turn potential customers away and must stop.
Regards
Michaela
G’ Day, I have been in business for over 50 years, I spent many years in the Swimming Pool industry which was full of scammers, in fact I made a lot of money repairing the damage left by the scumbags, I find that the IM is fast overtaking the Pool industry, not only by obvious and out-n-out scams like this, but with underhanded scams which appear innocurous until you investigate thoroughly.
I just encountered a scam where you purchase a system and then informed you must use an in-house Payment Processor to have your money processed into PayPal. Of-course this processor costs a lot of money to maintain. When does the greed stop?
I work hard to maintain a good reputation, I intend to keep it.
Incidentally, I like the idea of taking that bloke into the woods.
Bazpas.
Eric it’s a sad day when these con-men start confessing to their crimes,and boasting how they can win with pay processor (Pay Pal) and walk away clean & free…. Sad indeed.
Thank you Eric for sharing this article with us about these “con artist” what even sicker is he and his wife are rising a child to live this life style.
And please forgive my tones, but I don’t give a DAM what he has to offer, because if he can do all of that with codes & understand IM then he should have built a list from the beginning.
I’ve be scam before it’s makes me feel sick to my stomach when these guys walk away clean & free, I would like to share this URL with my list Eric if that ok with you please advise if this is possible before I sent a message to my list.
Darryl H.
He needs Jesus
He is our only Hope
Hi Eric,
This is my first time to your blog. A friend of mine Ken Harthun (posted above) gave me this link. (Hi to Kleinsy and Sue Mc above too.)
Decent IM people need to squash turds like this guy. They are just stinking everything up for everybody. No wonder CTR’s are at an all time low, unsubs are through the roof and nobody believes anything any more.
Yesterday I wrote a blog post entitled: “2010 – The Year of Internet Marketing Deception.” And it has been hammered with comments – all railing against the scammers and deceivers who have invaded IM en masse.
Unfortunately, 2011 seems to be going the same way (re: the launch of woeful scammy, misleading and deceitful “products” like Stripped Down Profits) so, collectively, we all need to band together and FORCE these gutter rats back into their sewers – where they belong.
I wish I’d seen this material before I wrote my PDF expose (How NOT to Be an Internet Marketing Vampire). In fact, I may have to go and add this galling information as an addendum (with attribution to you and your site here). Decent people need to be warned and remain on guard.
This is a downright disgrace. It has to STOP!
Thanks for posting this material Eric.
Gary Simpson
TEMPLE
Yep… that’s really frank, but frankly, that needs to be done a little bit more by the justice system.
Wow – that bites, Mary!
Sorry for the unfortunate turn of events.
Don’t give up – keep your head up. This will turn out for the best in the end, as long as you stick with it.
Bolaji.
There’s many other types of scams running right now on the internet. I’ve just been scammed by a very well known hosting company and/or its developer. Probably the developer is not aware of it. But many marketers are aware of the situation because they promote products very cheap (some times the products are good as well as the developer). But the main purpose of the deal is to hook the buyer with a hosting company and there my friends they take good care of you or…should I say of your money and ideas?
Any way, I’m not going to mention names here because this is not my blog. But I’m not afraid of those sh*ts, if I don’t disclose their names here is because of my respect of this space, which is not mine. All I can say to fellow Eric’s Tips followers is to be aware this scam is hot these days. So be aware if initials of this hosting co. is B.H. What is the scam? They force you to buy from them a domain name and a hosting package, paid upfront for at least 4 years. They build a very
nice adsense site on your domain. All good, right? WRONG! They don’t deliver the site to you, the site is running with monetization that is not yours. If you ask for status or updates they ignore you. They don’t hand this site to you. I guess they’re waiting for you to start advertizing “your site”, which of course only the adsense code owner will benefit from (sorry, that’s not you). Nice, isn’t it?
Now, you request cancel…they continue to ignore you.
You persist on submitting tickets and…they ignore you. Finally when they feel like it, they answer saying “your cancellation has been accepted but you have to go to another page to submit your request again”. As you can see, what they are doing is dodging you so that their established 30-days refund policy expires. But…you persist, you want your site delivered or your money back. They realize you can claim your money via your Credit Card provider, so they go ahead and issue you refund partial refund of your purchase saying they’re keeping the remaining portion and the domain name because you have “insulted their staff”. Now be the judge, who is the one that has been insulted and injured? The one that has been robbed time and money? The one that has got his/her trust damaged?, The one who has been ignored to sickness? Ok, hope you find this information helpful and can use it to protect yourself. Peace.
\
Hey got caught with a real scam in 2009 the website was called internetbillionairesystem and
lost 500usd this guy had also given me a list of 40 million ,I never used it because I do not know if it would be spam,also I HAD HEARD AT RIPPOFF.COM others got hit to….
Thanks for sharing this unbelievable cautionary tale, Eric.
On a positive note, I found this post through alexa’s toolbar… it was marked as one of the hot pieces of content on the web today.
I’m glad I found you – I read your story and testimony. It’s great to find other Christian Internet Marketers in the game.
I’ll continue to follow and support.
Bolaji.
for me very difficult to know whether this is a scam or not. Moreover, published in forums such as the famous warrior forum. We know it then. How do we know this would happen?
Extraordinary email. Never seen anything like it. The comments here sum up perfectly the integrity of this idiot. Last year I paid $995 for a years worth of Solo Ads – one per month from a certain KR. For the start I got a dribble of optins on pages that were converting at 60%. The promise was for 60,000 emails – I think it’s more like 6,000 tops! Now he is not replying to emails despite months left on the deal. It’s a constant battle to get in touch – took 6 weeks initially and only happened when I got in touch with his so-called ‘mates’.
Lesson learnt. Regarding Adswaps – it seems inevitable that you get ripped off eventually – due diligence at building relationships first work OK. Now I have a list of around 12 marketers that I trust and occasionally do swaps with. Everything sweet.
Kitty,
I wish you were right about Paypal but unfortunately the virtual goods is a loophole in their system that these scammers exploit.
I had a run in with a scammer selling ad coupons and despite showing Paypal a mountain of evidence that the guy was outright stealing people’s money(he had scammed at least 6 others from the same forum)…I still lost the dispute and he kept my money.
So beware buying any digital goods with Paypal as you are NOT protected as you may think.
Reading his confession to the end I got the feeling this guy is not mentally in balance anymore, or what do you think?
Hey Eric,
I’m with Steve as far as sowing and reaping goes and there will come a day it’ll vacuum to be in his shoes. He may get away cheating people for now but, his day is coming. And it won’t be pretty! Whether he believes it or not won’t change the outcome. Pity the fool!
When you’ve been trying to learn this marketing business for awhile you’re bound to be scammed at least once. So, the bottom line is he is not worthless he’s just a good example of what not to be like. The money may be good but the price is way too high in the end for me.
So, who’s really the sucker there?
Hey Guys, We certainly don`t need to start yet another Conspiracy Non-Theory debate here … but can we IM types not just disregard the relatively-harmless Andy`s in our always-friendly online IM activities.
Let`s not forget that all around us the Rockefellers (NOT you Eric) and the Rothschilds (you KNOW who YOU are!) are not just scamming the rest of US, their Monsanto corporates and GoldSack banksters blatantly scam the entire world community (with occult backsters embedded in the UN that they themselves control?
Paul`s positive marketing action neatly trumps Andy`s congenital myopia.
So, Paul, here’s a guy from Downunder, wants to know more about your ebiz, dude 😉
Hi Eric,
In Plain English Andrew Tudor is a low life scumbag and pulling stunts like this will eventually catch up to him. B.T.W you can beat Andy at his own game, Just Dispute the charge as a scam and your Credit Card company will investigate. I have found American Express to be the best to stop scammers like Andrew Tudor.
Fascinating post. I am sure Paul is aware of this, but conducting fraudulent business over state lines is a felony offense.
Whatever state the “transaction” took place in, it would be prudent to contact the state attorney generals office and file a complaint. These day, almost every state has an office that deals with Internet crimes. I have recently filed a complaint with the Internet crime division in the State of IL against someone that stole over $400 from me.
It would also be a good idea to file a complaint with the federal Dept. of Commerce.
SOMEBODY who has conducted business with Andy knows at least one of his websites. After contacting the hosting service/ISP of his website and informing them that fraudulent and criminal activities are being perpetrated through their hosting service (which makes them partially liable for such crimes), I have little doubt that swift action would be taken.
Wishing you the best in resolving this matter,
David Thorn
In Plain English Andrew Tudor is a low life scumbag. I have had problems with Paypal in the past when people like Andrew Tudor do not honor their end of the bargain. When Paypal refuses to refund my money I contact American Express who have always honored any dispute I had. When doing business thru paypal I highly recommend using a credit card company that you have a good relationship with.
Bloglistspot Admin
What an ARROGANT SOB! Surely he can be tracked and TAKEN OUT!
I have never been ripped off in Internet Marketing.
Not like this.
My only observation is that this person must be terribly lonely – why else write these long crazy emails – baiting someone you’ve just baked?
Unfortunately there are drug addicts and sometimes truly mentally ill folks with delusions of grandiosity with Internet access – I’m speechless.
disturbing info… unless he only works from public IP locations – there should be no trouble stopping “andy.”
This also brings up the fact about doing your “due diligence.” Did Paul check out what he was promoting in the first place? when you do an ad swap do you just blindly promote things? maybe the whole concept of ad swaps has some major flaws. is there sustainability?
Although I realize anyone can get scammed – I also believe due diligence can be done to limit the possibility.
good post Eric.
cheers,
marc
Wow,I agree with MM; this guy is a sociopath (and a criminal). He gets off on explaining his scam techniques and there’s no emotion or weight behind his apologies. I hope he will be caught soon and we can find out his identity. Thank you for sharing this with your readers.
Imagine that, Eric, I actually scold myself for not hanging out enough on Warrior forum. I guess, it’s not that bad after all, taking into consideration that I, probably, avoided some problems. It’s very, very sad that people behave that way. These people, like Andy, give all of us, IM people, very bad image. I wish, I could do something. I sincerely hope, that this guy stops what he is doing. The guts this miserable person has! Unbelievable!!!
Thanks For The Warning!
ok everyone, what is the best way to fix this?
Does paul send a mass email to his list warning of this thief, and tells them if they get any emails from anyone else that they do not know, to unsubscribe right away? Or is there a better way?
Any Ideas?
What a low-life scumbag! He’s just right out there with it, too. Really a shame that this is happening to good people. I have enjoyed Paul’s products and also sold him one of my domains — super nice guy, he really doesn’t deserve this. No one does.
The Warrior Forum probably has server logs of IP addresses, at least of usernames. This is at least a federal crime since it crosses state lines; just by the way the internet works with server relays, the guy could live next door to his victims and it would still be federal statute. I suggest calling the FBI and prosecute this before he defrauds even more people.
Hi Eric,
Thank you for sharing this post. It is really disgusting to see all these scammers cheating other people’s money and waste other people’s precious time.
I would think it is better to constantly educate ourselves of the different scams online so that we can prevent the same thing from happening to us.
Having a hard financial time does not give anyone the rights and excuses to con other people’s money.
Zack
David speaks the truth. What this “Andy” did/is doing is a CRIME. He CAN be tracked down and prosecuted. I believe the if transaction is over a certain amount, even if not over state lines, it is a felony.
Thanks Eric,
Quite an eye opener. What nerve! Are you sure this is not Bernie Madoff.
How about some quick viral action here…everyone who posted here or has read Erics’ post can now copy and past his post and the email to their blog and email list or send people to this link…Facebook, Twitter, Myspace…ect.
Whenever I see something I want to get involved with but don’t know about, I google it and see what comes up. When it comes to being scammed, people talk and it’s spreads like wild fire. That is your best defense against scammers. Just like Eric has done. Now thousands are informed and will spread that to thousands more and on and on.
I’d also like to say that in these times the word ‘Integrity’ is relative. It all depends on ones moral character. I know several marketing guru’s who are millionaires who became millionaires OFF of people not WITH them.
Marketing is about what I call Subliminal Persuasion. How to con the other guy into buying something without making him think you have. How’s that for Integrity? SO many people are doing it and are still regarded as reputable marketers.
I’ve been on a list of a well know Marketer for some time and she sent me a high recommendation to another known marketer who I wasn’t paying attention to but decided to google this guy. Turns out he has a very impressive site that’s so convincing but there are lots of complaints that he is a big scam artist. So much for the recommendation, right? What does that say for her?
So what is YOUR level of integrity?
Do you think the end justifies the means?
or Do you believe in absolute truth?
What is wrong is always wrong, in every circumstance for all time, for everyone?
Hi Eric,
Thanks so much for sharing this with all of us and letting us know about this scum of the Earth. I am a professional or else I would have called this person what they really are! I can not believe this person that the gall to try and make excuses for what he is doing, and to act like he feels bad on top of that is disgusting!
This guy wouldn’t know how to feel bad about anything if his life depended on it. It is a shame there are people like this around because it makes others mistrust the good people. It is hard enough online to get people to trust you without someone like him coming along to cause people to doubt every new offer they are presented with.
I would feel sorry for this person if they didn’t write everything he did in his email. He clearly shows he doesn’t care about anything or anyone, and laughs because he knows he can get away with what he is doing. How can anyone brag and be proud that he has another 50+ people lined up to scam?
I hope the jerk gets caught and gets what he has coming to him! I won’t say what I think he should get as a punishment because that would be unlady like. Just use your imagination! LOL
Thanks again for sharing,
Marilyn
Hey Eric
Thanks for the heads up. You’re right about Paul – he’s one of the guys who really over-delivers and I’ve bought nearly every one of his products as a result. I’m sorry to hear that this happened to such a nice guy and I am sure there are many others who are good guys and gals too.
It’s starting to dredge up awful memories for me about a certain guy called PHP Andy that ripped off a LOT of people (including myself to the tune of nearly $1500) on the Warrior Forum when he offered custom programming and then did a runner… if anyone ever finds him back online, let me know cos I am still fuming about that!
Thanks for the heads up on this guy. Just shows, you can never be too careful when dealing with people online. Check out their reputation first, as well as how long they’ve been in business. It’s at least a “good guide” as to eliminate some of the risk.
Aaron
Hi Eric
I have been scammed too before. But never got any replies back. This was on Flippa. So I ask all friends to be extremely careful and check the seller out. Cheers.