Independent profile — not affiliated with American Cash Awards

American Cash Awards

"American Cash Awards" is not a single, continuously-operating company -- research points to two materially different patterns that used this same or a very similar name, with no documented corporate or operational link identified between them (their timelines overlap rather than being a decade apart, so this is a gap in confirmed evidence, not proof they are unrelated). The first pattern is tied to an actual incorporated Colorado corporation, American Cash Awards, Inc. (formed 2004; principal address 26055 Columbine Trail, Kittredge, CO 80457, with an earlier address at 17301 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 401, Golden, CO; status "Delinquent" by 2012), which the Colorado Attorney General's complaint (Case No. 2012CV2479) describes as having acted as the processing center -- handling orders, complaints/refunds, bank deposits, and expenditures -- for a door-to-door magazine-subscription sales network run through named affiliated entities including Great Lakes Circulation, D2D Consulting, Reviste/Rivista, Monitoring Services Network, Youth Incentive Marketing, Direct Youth Marketing, Magazines Inc., and Fun Sales, along with individuals Jennifer Proffitt-Payne and Cody Payne; the AG complaint describes sales pitches involving false claims of points toward a trip or scholarship, false ties to charities/schools/the military (including St. Jude and magazines for troops/hospitals), and false tax-deductibility claims. More than 40 of this site's own archived complaint records document this pattern from around 2008-2009 (this site's records separately also name Face To Face Technologies, Dynasty Technologies, Family Subscriptions, and Gemini Subscriptions as part of the same door-to-door network, though these specific names were not found in the AG complaint itself), and the Colorado Attorney General won a default judgment in November 2012 (see the related case entry). A second, separately-documented pattern describes a phone-based advance-fee prize/sweepstakes-call scam using the "American Cash Awards" name -- documented as early as September 2011 in U.S. House of Representatives hearing materials (a consumer, Edna Schmeets, was told she'd won $19 million and asked to wire $3,500 in "fees and taxes") and in a November 24, 2011 complaint on this very site, continuing through more than 20 further complaint records on this site, two separate BBB files (Las Vegas, NV, opened July 2012; Augusta, GA, opened January 2012, both using overlapping Jamaica-based phone numbers and addresses BBB could not verify), roughly 190 ScamPulse reports, and an August 2022 public warning from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York that scammers were invoking its name alongside "American Cash Awards" and that the NY Fed has no affiliation with it. No confirmed legitimate corporate entity has been identified behind this phone-scam pattern, and no FTC or state AG enforcement action specifically targeting it was found. Given the different mechanism (in-person magazine sales vs. phone-based advance-fee prize claims), this page treats these as two materially different patterns sharing a generic, prize-themed name, while noting a ScamPulse report tied to the same small Colorado locality (Kittredge) as the incorporated entity -- a coincidence worth flagging rather than treating as proof of a link.

COMPLAINTS64
VERIFIED PHONE—
LAST CHECKED2026-08-25
Write a Review Jump to complaints ↓
CONSUMER ALLEGATION

Complaints & Reviews on USAComplaints

USAComplaints currently maintains 64 historical complaints about American Cash Awards, published between 2006 and 2013. No approved complaints have been published on this site during the last three years. For a current reputation snapshot, see the independent sources below.

EDITORIAL

Complaint Themes

Advance-fee prize/sweepstakes scam patternDoor-to-door magazine-subscription sales using false charity/school tiesFlagged by a federal regulator (NY Fed) as an impersonation scam

Each tag reflects a complaint's single primary theme (not every angle it raised), and complaints outside any problem theme — a positive report, or one later retracted by its author — aren't tagged. Counts may total less than the full complaint count above.

EXTERNAL SOURCE

Independent Sources

Shown for context — not merged with USAComplaints' own numbers.

BBB:
BBB:
EDITORIAL

What Is "American Cash Awards"? Two Different Schemes, Same Name

"American Cash Awards" is not a single, verifiable company with a continuous history -- it is a name that research found attached to two materially different patterns, with no documented corporate or operational link identified between them. Rather than presenting these as one company's history, this page deliberately separates them, because conflating them would misrepresent both -- though it's worth noting their timelines overlap rather than being cleanly separated by years, so the absence of a proven link is a gap in the evidence, not proof the patterns are unrelated.

Pattern 1 (American Cash Awards, Inc., a real Colorado corporation formed 2004; site complaint records mostly 2008-2009): a door-to-door magazine-subscription sales network. The Colorado Attorney General's complaint (Case No. 2012CV2479) describes American Cash Awards, Inc. as having acted as the processing center for the sales crews -- handling orders, complaints/refunds, bank deposits, and expenditures -- rather than running the door-to-door crews directly itself; the crews were run through named affiliated entities including Great Lakes Circulation, D2D Consulting, Reviste/Rivista, Monitoring Services Network, Youth Incentive Marketing, Direct Youth Marketing, Magazines Inc., and Fun Sales, plus individuals Jennifer Proffitt-Payne and Cody Payne. The AG complaint describes sales pitches involving false claims of points toward a trip or scholarship, false ties to charities/schools/the military (including St. Jude and magazines for troops/hospitals), and false tax-deductibility claims -- rather than the "cash award" prize hook this page's older text implied; some of this site's own archived complaints do describe a cash-award pitch, so both patterns may have been used. This site's own archived complaint history contains more than 40 confirmed complaint posts describing this pattern, and separately also names Face To Face Technologies, Dynasty Technologies, Family Subscriptions, and Gemini Subscriptions as part of the same door-to-door network -- these specific names were not found in the AG complaint itself, so they are reported here as names this site's own historical complaints associate with the pattern, not as AG-confirmed entities. In November 2012, the Colorado Attorney General obtained a default judgment against American Cash Awards, Inc., Great Lakes Circulation, and Proffitt-Payne/Payne over this scheme (see the related case entry).

Pattern 2 (documented in more than 20 further complaint posts on this site; two separate BBB files opened in early-to-mid 2012; roughly 190 reports on the principal ScamPulse profile through 2025-2026): a phone-based advance-fee prize/sweepstakes scam using the "American Cash Awards" name, in which targets are told they've won a cash prize (frequently paired with a Mercedes-Benz) but must first pay a fee -- often via a Green Dot/MoneyPak prepaid card or wire transfer -- to receive it, a classic advance-fee fraud structure. This pattern is documented earlier than previously stated: U.S. House of Representatives hearing materials describe a September 2011 case (Edna Schmeets was told she'd won $19 million and asked to wire $3,500 in "fees and taxes"), and this site's own archive contains a complaint dated November 24, 2011. It is associated with invalid or rotating mailing addresses and phone numbers in Las Vegas, NV and Augusta, GA (BBB says the listed addresses could not be verified via USPS, and both profiles share overlapping Jamaica-based phone numbers), and no legitimate, verifiable corporate entity could be identified behind it. In August 2022, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York publicly warned that scammers were invoking its name alongside "American Cash Awards" and stated it has no affiliation with it -- a strong, independent regulator source. No FTC or state AG enforcement action specifically targeting this phone-scam pattern was found. Separately, a ScamPulse report tied to a P.O. Box in Kittredge, CO -- the same small Colorado locality as American Cash Awards, Inc.'s principal address -- may simply reflect scammers copying an old name/location, but it means "unrelated" should not be stated as a settled fact.

EDITORIAL

Is American Cash Awards Legitimate?

Neither pattern documented here represents a transparent, verifiable legitimate business -- but the two patterns differ in one important respect. Pattern 1 was tied to a confirmed, registered Colorado corporation (American Cash Awards, Inc., formed 2004) that used deceptive sales tactics and was ultimately found liable by the Colorado Attorney General -- being delinquent and deceptive does not mean the underlying corporate registration didn't exist. Pattern 2 is different: no verified legal entity has been identified as the operator behind the phone-scam reports, only invalid/rotating addresses and phone numbers. The 2008-era magazine-sales pattern pressured in-person subscription sales using false charity/school/military ties and false tax-deductibility claims -- a tactic that, even where technically legal, is widely considered predatory and deceptive. The 2011+ phone-based pattern is a textbook advance-fee prize scam: legitimate sweepstakes never require you to pay any fee to receive a prize you've genuinely won.

EDITORIAL

What Complainants Allege

2008-era magazine-sales complaints (from this site's own archive) describe: door-to-door salespeople claiming false ties to charities, schools, or the military, or points toward a trip or scholarship, or (per some complaints) a cash-award incentive tied to signing up for magazine subscriptions; high-pressure sales tactics; subscriptions that were more expensive or numerous than represented; and difficulty cancelling or getting refunds afterward.

2011+ prize-call complaints (this site, BBB, ScamPulse, and a Federal Reserve Bank of New York public warning) describe: unsolicited phone calls claiming the recipient won a cash prize (often paired with a Mercedes-Benz), a requirement to pay an upfront "fee" (taxes, processing, legal fee, or shipping) before the prize would be released, prize money that never arrived after the fee was paid, and callback numbers or mailing addresses that were disconnected or invalid when checked.

EDITORIAL

If You're Contacted by "American Cash Awards"

  • Never pay any fee, tax, or shipping charge to receive a prize you're told you've won -- legitimate sweepstakes and lotteries do not require this.
  • Don't sign anything or provide payment information to a door-to-door salesperson offering a subscription tied to a cash-prize claim, no matter how time-pressured the pitch seems.
  • If you already paid money in response to a prize-claim call, contact your bank or card issuer immediately to attempt a chargeback or dispute.
  • Report advance-fee prize scams to the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov and to ScamPulse.
  • If contacted by mail or phone claiming to represent "American Cash Awards," independently verify any company name and address before sending money -- do not rely solely on contact information the caller/mailer provides.
PUBLIC RECORD

Court & Public Records

CaseAuthorityDatesTypeOutcomeSource
Colorado Attorney General v. American Cash Awards, Inc., Great Lakes Circulation, Inc., Jennifer Proffitt-Payne, Cody Payne, et al.Colorado state court (Colorado Attorney General consumer protection action)—
JudgmentJudgment entered
Colorado Attorney General complaint, Case No. 2012CV2479. A default judgment was obtained against American Cash Awards, Inc. (a Colorado corporation formed 2004; principal address 26055 Columbine Trail, Kittredge, CO 80457, with an earlier address at 17301 W. Colfax Ave., Suite 401, Golden, CO; status "Delinquent" by 2012, owned by Jennifer Proffitt-Payne), Great Lakes Circulation, and related entities and individuals (including Cody Payne), addressing this site's Pattern 1: a nationwide door-to-door magazine-sales scheme. The complaint describes American Cash Awards, Inc. as having acted as the processing center for the sales crews (handling orders, complaints/refunds, bank deposits, and expenditures) rather than directly running the door-to-door crews itself. Allegations included false claims of points toward a trip or scholarship, false ties to charities/schools/the military (including St. Jude and magazines for troops/hospitals), false tax-deductibility claims, failure to deliver magazines, and systematic refusal to issue refunds, including by changing company names or falsely claiming the business had closed. Colorado's 2012 Attorney General Annual Report states the judgment included a permanent injunction and nearly $1 million in combined restitution, civil penalties, costs, and attorney fees; a Denver Post report specifically attributes $500,000 in civil penalties to Proffitt-Payne and $385,000 to Payne (plus additional restitution), with both banned from door-to-door magazine sales in Colorado -- this specific breakdown was not independently re-confirmed against the primary judgment document in this research pass.		Source
Federal Reserve Bank of New York public scam warning ("American Cash Awards" name misuse)Federal Reserve Bank of New York (public consumer warning, not litigation)—
AllegationAllegation only — no filing confirmed
In August 2022, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York publicly warned that scammers were invoking the New York Fed's name together with "American Cash Awards," promising victims millions of dollars and a Mercedes-Benz while demanding an upfront "legal fee," "release fee," or taxes, often via gift cards. The New York Fed explicitly stated it has no affiliation with American Cash Awards. This is a regulator's public warning about name misuse, not a court judgment or enforcement action, but it is a strong, authoritative, independent source corroborating this site's Pattern 2 (phone-based advance-fee prize scam).		Source
EDITORIAL

Frequently Asked Questions

Is American Cash Awards a legitimate company?

Research found two materially different patterns documented under this name. Pattern 1 was tied to a confirmed Colorado corporation (American Cash Awards, Inc., formed 2004) that ran a door-to-door magazine-sales operation and lost a 2012 default judgment to the Colorado Attorney General. Pattern 2 is a phone-based advance-fee prize scam (documented since at least 2011) for which no verified legal entity has been identified as the operator.

Are the 2008 magazine-sales scheme and the 2011+ prize-call scam the same company?

Not confirmed either way. Their timelines actually overlap rather than being separated by a decade, and they use different mechanisms (in-person magazine sales vs. phone-based advance-fee prize claims). No corporate record links them, but a ScamPulse report tied to the same small Colorado locality (Kittredge) as the incorporated entity means "unrelated" is not a settled fact -- this page treats them as two materially different patterns sharing a generic, prize-themed name.