Someone forgot to tell iWorks Jeremy Johnson that when you’re already in a hole, stop digging your way to China.
Johnson stands accused of Internet fraud at I Works Inc. by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Specifically, Johnson allegedly raked in hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent online credit card charges from consumers.
If there weren’t victims, the story would be amusing. However, when you think of how many people had hundreds of dollars of unauthorized charges put on their credit cards, it isn’t funny at all. Even where Visa or Mastercard waived the fraudulent charges and ate the losses, those losses get passed along to everyone else through higher credit card interest rates and merchant transaction fees.
To fight back, Jeremy Johnson set up a “watchdog” site to attack the FTC for unjustly going after him for Internet fraud. If even half of what the FTC has charged Johnson with is true, then that’s like Bernie Madoff setting up an anti-SEC site to attack the agency for going after him for bilking billions from investors in a Ponzi scheme.
What about the new Internet fraud charges? The federal government plans to file at least a 50-count new indictment against iWorks Jeremy Johnson because of the alleged Internet fraud. With “his” assets frozen, don’t expect him to put up much of a fight.
As for his victims, there’s little likelihood they will get justice. Perhaps one day the FTC will crack down on the Jeremy Johnson wannabes who currently fly under the radar because the dollar figures involved in their Internet fraud deals are less.
