After purchasing a program called the Internet Marketing Protg Program, I received a phone call from Jason, with ESM, Inc. (Educational Sales and Marketing) out of St. George, Utah. Jason is basically a screener who evaluates whether someone is a good fit to join their Success program.in my case, I was selected to be mentored and receive customized software that would allow me to be successful in marketing a program called CB Mall. A gentleman by the name of Eric McCormick then followed up with me and felt I was a good candidate for their success program, if I would agree to promotions, etc., for becoming a successful Internet marketer with CB Mall.
Eric further questioned me about what kind of income I would need to replace my current income (from my full time job) and went on to explain that it typically takes an investment of 10% of what you would like your annual income to be, the first year of using their proprietary software and methods. I invested a total of $10,100 with the assurance that I would make this initial investment back within 90 days 6 months, or I would receive my investment back, in full. I would receive 12 training or mentoring calls of 30 minutes in duration.
Eric further explained that the $10,100 was for software only and that all weekly mentoring/training was at no cost. Since I am familiar with the costs associated with customizing software, the price tag of $10,100 did not sound unreasonable, figuring in programming time and project management. I was lead to believe I would be receiving a package of software then begin working with a mentor (free of course), to help me use the software and spend at least 10 hours per week in marketing efforts.
I received a FedEx package containing a certificate and a General User / Confidentiality and Verification Agreement. The package description was as follows:
Advanced Training Lessons
Link Software
Website & Keyword Analysis
Link Request Form
Link Directory Template
Web Ring Traffic Swarm
Entity Structuring CD
Since the first item, Advanced Training Sessions were to be without charge, I assumed all of the other items to be part of a customized software package. I explicitly asked ESM to send me an itemized list of the exact cost of each software component, and was promised to receive this, but never did. Within the same week I was contacted by Jacob Sowers to schedule our first mentoring session. Jacob is with a company called Advanced Business Development. During our first session, which lasted only 15-20 minutes, Jacob informed me that CB Mall was not a good product to promote because it is not an actual web site that can be optimized using SEO (Search Engine Optimization). He then suggested I go to a third party web builder / hosting company and create a fresh web site, promoting another business, of any type. The cost would be an additional $29.95 per month. This call immediately sent up a red flag that something wasn't right. I am not in the web site building business and if SEO was required then the customized software I was to receive would do this. I intended to spend my time marketing and advertising, not web site SEO. I called Eric McCormick with ESM and stated my concerns. He asked why Jeremy Cobb was not working with me. Jeremy I later learned is the certified SEO expert. Eric also mentioned he had been on vacation for several weeks. I thought to myself, it hadn't even been several weeks since speaking with him and signing up.
I began to research the Internet for any type of scam that was similar with what I was going through. I came across the following web site: sssuscam.com/.
As it turns out, my credit cards were charged by the same merchant account as the gentleman who created the web site listed above, the Shanklin Group.
I'm embarrassed to say that I too have fallen prey to a similar scam. I sent an e-mail and called and spoke with both Niki and Eric with ESM. I asked for a refund from ESM and received an e-mail back that ESM had done nothing wrong, although I still had not received any software or at least an itemized list of what I was to receive. Now when I call ESM at 1-800-292-5812, I only get voice mail and my e-mails get bounced back too.
There is nothing else I can do at this point but begin legal actions, including reporting to the Better Business Bureau and the Utah Attorney Generals Office.
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