FTC Takes Down GrantConnectOffer.com

This has been a pretty good month so far. Earlier in August the FTC filed action against the 'Grant Writers Institute', and yesterday announced a suit against grantconnectoffer.com and the company behind it, Vantex Group LLC:

At FTC’s Request, Court Halts Deceptive Claims for Free Government Grants

Web Sites Pitched “Easy to Use Program” and “$15 Billion of Free Money”

A U.S. district court has shut down several Web sites that scammers have been using to falsely claim that they can help consumers get free government grant money, the Federal Trade Commission announced today.

At the request of the FTC, the court issued an order closing the Web sites of several related companies that falsely promised consumers that their “Easy to Use Program,” Grant Connect, could help people “instantly find the grant that’s right for [them],” while using pictures of President Obama, Vice President Biden, and the American flag to give the false impression that they were connected to the government. The FTC also charged the companies with using bogus testimonials, failing to disclose the actual cost of their product, bundling multiple other products together for sale without adequate disclosures, and debiting consumers’ bank accounts on a recurring basis without permission.

On July 28, 2009, the court entered an order that temporarily halts these companies’ illegal activities. Subsequently, five of the 12 defendants in the case agreed to a preliminary injunction halting these practices until the matter is decided at trial. The court has set a preliminary injunction hearing for the remaining defendants for September 11, 2009. The FTC is seeking to permanently stop these practices and force the companies to return their ill-gotten gains so the funds can be used to reimburse consumers who were defrauded.

According to the FTC, the operators sell many products online, including Grant Connect, which they describe as “a unique, consumer-friendly US government grant program that delivers all of the tools for the consumer to search multiple databases, write grant proposals, and deliver polished plans...” While the companies claim that consumers will be charged only a few dollars at most, they instead bundle other products and services, such as identity theft protection services, credit offers, and purported health benefits plans with their offer, ultimately charging consumers as much as $70 per month.

Using an affiliated network of Web sites, including www.grantconnectoffer.com and others, they make claims such as: “Grant Connect - $15 Billion of Free Money Available;” “Over $10 Billion Issued in 2009 Already;” and “EASY TO USE PROGRAM: Instantly find the Grant that’s right for you!” They also claim that Grant Connect “makes the process FAST and EASY, so all you have to worry about is where to spend your money!” In addition, the Grant Connect site features “testimonials,” including photos of people who supposedly got grants from the company, including one that states, “It’s so easy! I got my first grant for $300,000. All I have to do is search and click.”

To further persuade consumers into purchasing their product, the Grant Connect site has used images of the President and Vice President in an effort to suggest an affiliation with the U.S. government. For a time, the site featured a photo of President Obama and Vice President Biden standing in front of an American flag, next to the Grant Connect logo and a caption that read, “CHANGE Is Here! $15 BILLION in FREE Government MONEY for you!”

Unfortunately for consumers, according to the FTC, Grant Connect provides little more than outdated, useless information and worthless grant writing “tools.” Few, if any, grants are available to consumers who sign up for the program, and those that are require applicants to meet strict eligibility requirements before they are even considered for the grant.

In addition, while the Web sites tell consumers they can get the Grant Connect service for a one-time fee of as little as 99 cents to $2.78, they do not adequately disclose that buyers will be automatically signed up for other products and services costing up to $70 a month. While the Web site contains some disclosure language in small, densely packed type, few consumers realize they will be charged monthly for services such as “SmartHealth Gold medical and lifestyle benefits” and “VComm International and Long Distance Calling Service” unless they cancel these memberships.

The FTC charged the Grant Connect defendants with violating federal law by: 1) making deceptive representations regarding Grant Connect, 2) failing to adequately disclose the material terms and conditions of their offers, and 3) violating the Electronic Funds Transfer Act by debiting consumers’ bank accounts on a recurring basis without their authorization.

The Commission vote authorizing the complaint was 4-0. It was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada on July 27, 2009. The complaint names Grant Connect, LLC; Global Gold, Inc.; Horizon Holdings, LLC; O’Connell Gray, LLC; Pink LP, Vantex Group, LLC; Vertek Group, LLC; Rachel A. Cook, manager of Vantex, and Vertek; James J. Gray, managing member of Grant Connect, Horizon Holdings, and O’Connell Gray; Steven R. Henriksen, president and owner of Global Gold; Juliette M. Kimoto, owner of Vertek and General Partner of Pink; and Randy D. O’Connell, managing member of Horizon Holdings and O’Connell Gray.

The five defendants who agreed to the preliminary injunction entered by the court on August 18, 2009, are: Grant Connect, LLC; Horizon Holdings, LLC; O’Connell Gray, LLC; James J. Gray; and Randy D. O’Connell.

The FTC appreciates the assistance of United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada, the Better Business Bureau of Northern Nevada, the Better Business Bureau of Southern Nevada, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, and Reno Police Department (Financial Crimes/Computer Crimes Department) in this matter.

Once again, the FTC showed its teeth! Kudos to all of those involved in bringing this one down.

Official FTC documents here.

Grant Scam Affiliate Marketers Showing Their True Face

In my previous post (A Clarification) I mentioned that some people may not like some of the things I write here, since it interferes with their shady 'business' and potentially affects how much money they make off of scamming honest, decent, hard-working Americans with their 'clever' grant offer ploys.

Well that became pretty clear after my post about grant scam facilitating affiliate network Convert2Media.com, after which some of its less intelligent errand boys came out of the woodwork, twittering @scamhunter in no uncertain terms.

Here is the first tweet I received, from user AdHustler, also known as Brandon Hoffman (here is his blog, and see him babble here):

That's right, this thug wannabe, who actually looks quite cuddly-friendly in the video linked above, is threatening me with acts of violence with the intent to inflict bodily harm if I 'don't mind my own business'. Charming.

The next message I received from a certain Nick Mattern does not threaten me with the more primitive forms of violence, but is just pure despicable filth that makes your blood boil:

This guy is a piece of work. Now the 'gaysex' theme, I can live with that, but apparently this poor soul (or should I say ignorant hick?) thinks that that's something so very awful that it's an insult.

The other things he mentions though, are sickening. Nicholas, who apparently has some kids of his own, is trying to associate me with filth like that as a retaliation for the piece I wrote about an affiliate network that runs deceptive grant offers, a 'business' he seemingly has a vested interest in.

As a parent and as someone that works for the state government Nick should know better than posting crap like that.

The last guy is probably the least intelligent one of the pack, since in his cute little tweet he essentially admits these grant programs are scams:

'[...] It's your own damn fault you purchased a grant program [...]'

Now he does not quite literally say 'grant programs are scams' but you be the judge of what he says.

And for the record, John Nigro, I did not purchase shit, but that's probably too hard for you to grasp. Well hey, now at least we got word straight from the source about these grant programs.

A Clarification

I realize that there is a certain group of people out there that do not appreciate my blog posts here, because they expose a side of affiliate marketing they would rather see kept in the dark.

In light of some of the comments I recently received I want to make it absolutely clear that I am not waging war against the affiliate marketing business in general. It can be a good, honest way to make a very decent living, if you choose it to be so.

One of the ugly sides of affiliate marketing is the grant (kit) offer business, and that is what this blog is about, period.

The only purpose of the marketers operating in the grant offer niche is to get people to sign up for steep recurring monthly fees for useless 'grant information', 99% of the time accompanied by 'bonus programs' that add another $20-40 to the insult. They don't care how it's done and whether this 'service' they promote is genuine or not, for these folks the end ($$$) always justifies the means.

If you operate in this niche you know exactly what you're doing, and you know very well that the very thing you so cleverly try to convince people to sign up for is useless. For me there are no excuses, it's black and white.

It is pretty clear-cut that the overall theme within this affiliate marketing niche has been one of deception. The goal of all of the campaigns I have seen so far has been to target abuse the desperation, hope and financial insecurity of our brothers and sisters in economic distress, making false and / or suggestive promises about financial relief and availability of government funds for personal use.

It is this particular subsection of affiliate marketing that is the target of my wrath. I don't care if you're a marketer or network - if you promote these deceptive grant offers you willfully disrupt the lives of innocent Americans (and more recently, Canadians), and I'm not having it.

In the mean time, thousands of people have fallen victim to these scams and millions of affiliate marketing dollars have changed hands as a result.

I fail to see how it can be wrong to question and address that, and I fail to see how anyone can just shrug it off as 'part of the business'.