This happened to me after I signed up for the Elizabeth Jackson auction listing program, which I believe is the start of the scam. I got a phone call offering training to start an ebay business, asking for my debt and available credit. They disguised their intent by claiming that I would be getting business credit accounts after I got started and I would be transferring my personal credit card balances to my business credit accounts in order to "protect me from liability."
Unfortunately I fell for their scam, paid $915 for their initial training program offered by "Fortune Learning Systems, "
and was sold again a week or two later by a different guy saying I needed to get access to "wholesalematch.com" since they were the best dropship service around. Conveniently that service costed $1,200. I got another call saying I needed to get my business set up properly and establish corporate credit that would supposedly give me access to $150,000 in 6 months. I foolishly bought into that scam for another $2,939.
Then, a week or so later, I got YET ANOTHER CALL by another guy saying I should get access to Dropship University, which would give me access to millions of dropship products complete with full descriptions, pictures and supplier info.
At this point I was getting frustrated with all the selling before I really had a chance to do anything with the "business, " and
I was becoming skeptical. Fortunately by then I didn't have much money left and I only let them rip me off for another $470 which was a "partial payment" for their service in addition to monthly payments of $57.
Even months later when I had no success with all the training I didn't realize it was a scam, I thought I just didn't try hard enough to make the money. Then today when I looked up the company on BBB.org I found out the FTC is putting a stop to them:
FTC Case No. 2:11-cv-00283-JCM-GWF
File No.
1023218
Everything I bought was offered by the same people! (Except Dropship U which seems to be a separate legit business). It
was all part of a big network of shady websites (Fortune Learning Systems, Business Development Division, (WholesaleMatch etc.) and shell companies promoted by a single office full of scammers in Las Vegas. Looking back I should have been put off by all the background noise of other sales people when I was on the phone, and by the way they bounced me to more "official" guys whenever I showed skepticism. It was a very high-pressure environment.
The FTC reported that the scammers ripped people off to the tune of $40 million over the course of several years! Unfortunately, the FTC doesn't resolve individual cases or do class action lawsuits as far as I know.
Hopefully someone will take action against these fraudsters and get us back some of the money we lost!!
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