Kudos to both Ikeda and aldeureaux for their suggestions. Ikeda.... good leg work! I was going to offer to inquire if Minnesota has its own "Bureau of Investigation" like Colorado, Alabama and some other states. But their attorney general's office would probably be the best place to start. And I was also thinking about the FBI due to this being a case of fraudulent interstate/international commerce. My suggestion is we band together here and bring this to the authorities' attention.
I live in the Washington D.C. area. If there is anything I can do to help, such as communicating with the FBI headquarters, I will. However, my thoughts are this.
One person/outfitter going to the authorities might not get much attention. Going in piece meal to them might waste time in getting their attention. Instead, here is my proposal.
I can make some phone calls to the FBI HQ and see whom we should be speaking with to start. They may suggest their field office in Minneapolis or perhaps with the state authorities. At any rate, I can identify where to start.
In the meantime, what I suggest is everyone here who has been ripped off, document EVERYTHING about your involvement with these guys. Just jot down on a piece of paper what you remember; aka, how you were contacted, when, by whom, how much you paid, etc., then list out the series of events that led to your paying them money and what this was supposed to be in exchange for. Just write a paragraph or so if that's all you have. Obviously, the more detail the better, but whatever you can, put it down. Have this ready.
Once I have identified to whom we should go with this, I'll get instructions from them on what they want and how they want it. I figure this will probably be the attorney general's office in Minnesota, but like I said, we can figure that out on this end while you guys are preparing your documentation.
Once we have identified the appropriate venue, we can then go to the authorities, en mass, with all this information which will have a lot better chance of getting attention in the near term. Some of you have done a great job of digging into the situation and getting their adddress, this list of other many other hunting-related websites they're operating -- which might actually lead to even more cases of fraud -- etc.
Does this sound like a plan?
Jerome, if you'd like to take the lead on this, that would be great. Let me know what you plan to do. If you'd like, I can do what I can to help. Whomever wants to take the lead on this, it's fine with me. If it's me, then I'll see what I can do. Just let me know what you'd like to do.
I just cannot tolerate hucksters like this. Pisses me off that they're giving the USA a bad name and hurting our dear friends there in Africa.
All those herein who have been defrauded. Please feel free to contact me directly if you want via private message. Again, I'm willing to do what I can to help. We need to put a halt to this. Please don't just "write it off" and let them get away with it. I know you're very busy, but if you can at least document what happened and be ready to demonstrate how much you lost, it would go a long ways to helping take these jerks down. They belong in prison.
Cheers,
Tom T.
Fort Belvoir, VA
:m16:
