A man who identified himself as Scott Cannon from Venture Capital Financial contacted me via phone on 2/22/08. He indicated that my company, 3E Consulting Services, was pre-approved for a government grant and that for a fee of $439, Venture Capital would file the appropriate applications and guide us through the process. The $439 would cover the cost involved in filing the official paperwork as well as the time spent, according to Mr. Cannon, and would be more than justified since he had information indicating that 3E was already approved for grants in the range of $25,000 to $150,000.
In order to begin the processing, which had to take place within a 3-day limit, I was to send the check via certified mail, to Venture Capital Financial along with a contract that indicated that should I not receive the funding as promised, Venture Capital would refund the entire $439.
After sending the check on February 26 via certified mail as instructed, I tried to contact Mr. Cannon at the number he had given as his direct line (908-364-2443) as well as the company phone number printed on my "contract" (866-875-5366) and found that neither phone number was in service. I also looked up the website listed on my contract, http://www.venturecapitalfinancial.com and discovered that the website was no longer active. I checked with the WHOIS domain registration and found that the site registrant was a company called Domains by Proxy, Inc.
As of this writing, I have received no communication from Venture Capital Financial nor have they provided any of the services promised. I would like to have my $439 refunded and would also like to alert other small businesses to Venture Capital Financial's fraudulent practices.
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