Website Attorney: Guru Investment Shell Games

Website attorney internet stockRight now, as a Website attorney, I’m seeing three common types of Internet securities fraud con games promising you success as an Internet business owner through investment. They’ve become popular because even newbie marketers are not buying the hype surrounding $2,000 info products and live seminars for 500 to a thousand bucks (plus flight and hotel).

Scam #1 is “Be My Partner.”

The guru spends the money for a private placement memorandum to sell securities in an Internet marketing venture. In plain English, the guru uses legal documents to cover his butt while selling you overpriced stock in a venture. Those who invest do so upon the mistaken belief that they’ll be real ‘partners’ with the guru. The company either has no chance of success or the guru keeps control so the investors have no say in how their money is spent.

Scam #2 is the “Pump and Dump.”

The guru hypes stock in his Internet company, gets a bunch of people excited, goes public with the company and sells shares at a peak. The guru cashes in through the sale and the new investors are stuck with owning stock that has little or no value.

Scam #3 is “Flying by the Seat of Your Pants.”

This guru is too cheap to even pretend to do things legally. He sells ownership in his company to investors like you without providing a private placement memorandum or meeting the securities law requirements for going public. The prices vary depending upon what he wants or thinks the investor will pay. In some instances, the guru will even sell more than 100% of the company to different investors and pocket the money for personal use.

If it sounds too good to be true, run away. If you have any doubts, talk over the investment opportunity with your Website attorney and your financial advisor before putting any money into the venture.

To your online success!

-Mike the Website attorney

P.S. A good warning sign that a guru plays fast and loose with the rules is his failure to have proper website legal documents. To get legal documents for your website, check out Website Legal Forms Generator software.

Filed Under: Scams, Website Attorney Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Internet Attorney Imposter

Internet attorney imposterAs an Internet attorney, I usually find imitation to a be a sincere form of flattery…but not in this case. We’ve gone from imitation to a bad impersonation.

Let me explain.

One of my newsletter subscribers received the following email and forwarded it to me (thanks Eric!)

To: XXXXXXXXXXXX
Subject: Attention: This is an important Message , Get Back To Me Please
From: xxxxx@michaelyoungassociates.org
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010

Attorney Michael M. Young
And Associates.
Bristol Old Vic,
King St, Bristol, Avon.,
Bristol BS1 4ED,
United Kingdom.

Email: xxxxxxx@live.com,

Greetings,

We wish to notify you again that you were listed as a beneficiary to the total sum of $27,400,000.00USD (Twenty Seven Million, four hundred thousand U.S. Dollars) in the intent of the deceased (name now withheld since this is our second letter to you).

We contacted you because you bear the surname identity as the deceased and therefore can present you as the beneficiary to the inheritance since there is no written will. Our legal services aim is to provide our private clients with a complete service. We are happy to prepare wills, set-up and administer Trusts, carry out the administration of estates, prepare and administer powers of attorney. All the papers will be processed after your acceptance. Please, do not take this vital mail as the numerous scam mails you received or maybe an attempt to defraud you. Give it your utmost attention and you would come to appreciate the inherent opportunity before us.

In your acceptance of this deal, we request that you kindly forward to us your letter of acceptance; your current telephone and fax numbers, age, occupational status and a forwarding address to enable us file necessary documents at our high court probate division for the release of this sum of money to you.

Please respond to this email using my personal confidential mail at xxxx@inMail24.com.

Yours faithfully,
Michael M. Young (LLM)

If you get an email like this, delete it immediately because it is an Internet scam artist trying to steal money from you.

To your online success!

-Mike the Internet attorney

P.S. Although I do have clients based in the United Kingdom, my office is located in the United States.

Filed Under: CyberCrime, Internet Attorney, Scams Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Internet Attorney: Do You Know These Dot Cons?

internet attorney scamsHave you ever seen something online that sounded too good to be true?

Chances are what you saw was an Internet scam. It’s the type of thing that sends consumers running to an Internet attorney after the fact trying to recover their money.

Fortunately, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has put together an easy-to-understand list of these online scams so that you can identify and avoid them.

As an Internet attorney, one of the most common frauds that I see online is fake business opportunities. The FTC describes these as:

Business Opportunities

The Bait: Be your own boss and earn big bucks.

The Catch: Taken in by promises about potential earnings, many consumers have invested in a “biz op” that turned out to be a “biz flop.” There was no evidence to back up the earnings claims.

The Safety Net: Talk to other people who started businesses through the same company, get all the promises in writing, and study the proposed contract carefully before signing. Get an attorney or an accountant to take a look at it, too.

You can find the rest of the FTC’s Dot Con list here.

Best wishes,

Mike the Internet Attorney

P.S. Con artists rarely take the time to use proper website legal documents. To help your visitors have more trust in what you sell online, you will want to have a website privacy policy, terms of use, and other important website legal documents. To learn more, go to http://legalformsgenerator.com/mikeyounglaw

Filed Under: Federal Trade Commission, Internet Attorney, Scams Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,
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Free! Get Internet legal and marketing updates plus 3 chapters of the #1 Internet legal protection book for business website owners. Over 40 pages packed with strategies you can use to protect yourself without a lawyer.