If You've Been Screwed
There were a couple threads, just deleted, griping about a certain service that has taken their money, not paid affiliates, not responding to messages, and may be out of business.
Apparently, this has affected a number of Warriors and the time has expired for a PayPal complaint.
This is the process of what I do in this type of situation to track down someone owing money that cannot be reached:
- I do a whois check to see if there is any additional contact information for the website.
In this situation the whois is private so that is not helpful. Not a good sign either.
- Then I do a cache search on Google. Essentially, this is a search:
site:domainurl.com
Google will pull up the web pages. Since the website is down you need to click on 'cached' versions.
In this scenario you are not looking for the home page. Instead, you want the terms and conditions page, privacy page, about us page, etc - looking for company information and where they are located.
Bingo. In this situation there is a terms and conditions page that lists the name of an LLC and says the site is governed by Pennsylvania law. Might as well assume the company is in Pennsylvania.
If a cached version has valuable information, immediately print it out before the cache is replaced or deleted.
- Do a search for pennsylvania secretary or state or pennsylvania corporation search.
In this situation nothing came back for the LLC. Does that mean the company is illegally doing business in Pennsylvania? Possibly. Not good.
- Do a search on the corporate name.
Here only a few hits came back. The now dead website and interestingly a corporate reference in Florida.
So now you do the company search in Florida that was just done for Pennylvania on the llc name.
Bingo again.
The Florida Secretary of State's office is reporting that the registered agent resigned this week. What does that mean? This person did not want to be served with lawsuits on behalf of the llc. Definitely not good if you're thinking the website is only temporarily down.
The Florida online records show the name and personal address of the person responsible for the company.
To confirm whether the address is still current you can do an online property records search, or people finder search. Free information from people finder searches is often sufficient to indicate a current city. Or just Google their name. Amazing info can be found this way.
- Now what? You know the name and address of the person who ripped you off, but they're probably in Florida.
You have various options.
Chalk up your loss.
Send them a demand letter. It never hurts to at least try. If you have the right current personal address this could give them enough concern to pay you. If you have bad current address you will find out when the letter is returned.
Hire a collection agency.
If it is a lot of money, contact a Florida attorney and see if they will work for a contingency.
Contact the local District Attorney in Florida. One letter or call from the D.A. can suddenly inspire a lot of people to find money to repay you.
Apparently, this has affected a number of Warriors and the time has expired for a PayPal complaint.
This is the process of what I do in this type of situation to track down someone owing money that cannot be reached:
- I do a whois check to see if there is any additional contact information for the website.
In this situation the whois is private so that is not helpful. Not a good sign either.
- Then I do a cache search on Google. Essentially, this is a search:
site:domainurl.com
Google will pull up the web pages. Since the website is down you need to click on 'cached' versions.
In this scenario you are not looking for the home page. Instead, you want the terms and conditions page, privacy page, about us page, etc - looking for company information and where they are located.
Bingo. In this situation there is a terms and conditions page that lists the name of an LLC and says the site is governed by Pennsylvania law. Might as well assume the company is in Pennsylvania.
If a cached version has valuable information, immediately print it out before the cache is replaced or deleted.
- Do a search for pennsylvania secretary or state or pennsylvania corporation search.
In this situation nothing came back for the LLC. Does that mean the company is illegally doing business in Pennsylvania? Possibly. Not good.
- Do a search on the corporate name.
Here only a few hits came back. The now dead website and interestingly a corporate reference in Florida.
So now you do the company search in Florida that was just done for Pennylvania on the llc name.
Bingo again.
The Florida Secretary of State's office is reporting that the registered agent resigned this week. What does that mean? This person did not want to be served with lawsuits on behalf of the llc. Definitely not good if you're thinking the website is only temporarily down.
The Florida online records show the name and personal address of the person responsible for the company.
To confirm whether the address is still current you can do an online property records search, or people finder search. Free information from people finder searches is often sufficient to indicate a current city. Or just Google their name. Amazing info can be found this way.
- Now what? You know the name and address of the person who ripped you off, but they're probably in Florida.
You have various options.
Chalk up your loss.
Send them a demand letter. It never hurts to at least try. If you have the right current personal address this could give them enough concern to pay you. If you have bad current address you will find out when the letter is returned.
Hire a collection agency.
If it is a lot of money, contact a Florida attorney and see if they will work for a contingency.
Contact the local District Attorney in Florida. One letter or call from the D.A. can suddenly inspire a lot of people to find money to repay you.