Wednesday, April 11, 2007

No Free Lunch

Today I got a letter inviting me to an Internet Income Training (aka Internet Marketing Training, aka Internet Marketing Conference) seminar to be held on three dates in Oklahoma City. You can see a virtually identical copy of the letter here. There was a little insert in the envelope signed by a "C. R. Sanderson." I did a Google search for "C. R. Sanderson Internet Income Training" and this page came up first. This "C. R. Sanderson" (aka Clint Sanderson, aka C. Rex Sanderson) apparently has quite a history.

The other letter is signed by a "C. Kevin Oliver."

RipOffReport.com has a link that leads you to believe they have checked him out and found him to be legit. But really now, why all the name changes? Why so many bad reports?

The Better Business Bureau has an alert about the company here.

An article in the Billings Gazette says this:

Scams du jour

Despite being on the national Do Not Call list, a retired couple living in Shepherd is receiving a rash of telephone calls recently that sound like scams.

The caller claims to represent a law office and says he has an "important message" and they should call immediately. The couple isn't biting.

Also, one reader who received a flier for seminars in Billings thinks the offer of making big money by working part time on your home computer sounded too good to be true.

The flier promises two free meals and business organizer if she and a guest would sit through a 1 1/2 hour presentation Monday and Tuesday in Billings by Internet Marketing Conference. Internet Marketing's Vice President Clint Sanderson apparently uses other company names such as iMergent Inc, StoresOnline Inc., and iNetSeminars.

The sales literature contains testimonies from purported clients claiming they make more than $50,000 a month using this method.

So, the reader hopped on the Internet and found media articles saying that Sanderson has been involved in at least two lawsuits. The state of Utah alleged violations of federal securities laws and the Texas attorney general filed an injunction to stop SOL from misrepresenting the amount of income that can be made using SOL Web sites.


Here is what the Texas Attorney General Website says:

iMergent / Storesonline.com (August 2005)

Utah-based business opportunity marketer iMergent, doing business as Storesonline.com (SOL) sold website packages that included storefront websites, store building software, credit card processing licenses and coaching assistance. Formerly known as Galaxy Mall Inc., SOL claimed its software and services would enable consumers to create successful websites and sell their own products or services online at a large profit. SOL’s products were marketed through hotel seminars and training sessions held in cities across Texas. The total price could top $4,000.

On February 22, 2005, the OAG filed suit in Bexar County District Court against iMergent Inc. and its officers, Brandon Lewis and Donald Danks. The lawsuit came in response to consumer complaints that the software did not work and that the company charged for technical support it had advertised as being free.

Lawsuit Press Release

On August 11, 2005, the Attorney General obtained an Agreed Temporary Injunction that bars SOL from engaging in these illegal acts. Negotiations are continuing on attorney fees, notice to consumers and restitution for consumers who file complaints.


Based on the letter I received, it looks like they have changed the name to StoresOnlinePro.com.

Besides the lawsuit from the Texas AG's office, there is another private law firm that apparently has filed a class action lawsuit against the company.

This enterprise has expanded to almost every other English-speaking country: Canada, England, Australia and New Zealand.

Based on the information gleaned from the internet, consumers and small-business owners who wish to have a web presence should be extremely careful about doing business with any of these entities. The vast majority of the information obtained (especially from the government entities) have resulted in negative feedback or reports about the company or companies.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Okie Lawyer, I would love to see an exact copy of the invite if you have one. Thank You So Much

OkieLawyer said...

My very first link is to a letter that looks identical to the one I received. That ought to be good enough.

Anonymous said...

I got the same letter. My 'Ticket' looked a little different but it was the same thing. I was tempted to go just to get the organizer but now I won't even go near the place. Thanks for posting this.

Anonymous said...

Hi all
Clints cronies are working southeast Queensland Australia at the moment. Thanks for your comments. I'm going to seminar to bleed some info but wont be parting with any money!

Anonymous said...

THANKYOU so much for the information regarding C.R.SANDERSON. We recieved an invite & felt compelled to GOOGLE the names and of course here we are "informed". Grandly appreciated. Kind regards 'Anonymous' SE QLD AUSTRALIA

GloryFried said...

I'm in Memphis, Tn and my co-worker got this invite too. I called the number (1-800-255-3576) to register and it is not in service. So I started research that led me here. The offer was for a free MP3 player and lunch or dinner with a 90 minute seminar Jan. 13th-17th, 2009. It also lists StoresOnline.com all over the mailing. If its all fake what is he getting out of it?

OkieLawyer said...

Ali:

I find it interesting that the phone number is no longer good. As you can see, I wrote this almost two years ago.

You asked: "If its all fake what is he getting out of it?"

Try $3999.00 to $5999.00 from some number of people at the seminar.

Here is a more recent news report:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yX3GBrl2IRk

Connecticut lawsuit settlement

StoresOnline Exposed

That ought to give you a good start.

Anonymous said...

Dawn here in Vancouver Wa. My husband & I are attending this tonight. I would NEVER invest in this...but I plan on confronting him about his scamming ways! He will get what's coming to him in the end...bad people always do.

Anonymous said...

well they are out here march 12-14 in wacky waikiki. anyone had the meals? we are hungry so figured the food was worth the song and dance show.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous
Guess what?
I just obtained a pair of tickets to attend his "scaminar", his circus act will be performing at the Antelope Valley Inn in Lancaster, CA on Tuesday June 16 and Wednesday June 17 2009.
I hope NOT to see anyone there!
:=)

Unknown said...

I got the invite to the AV Inn scam session in Lancaster, CA also and after talking about it, we are going to go--but trust me--we have NO MONEY to invest and even if we did, we have more brains than to give it to this S.O.B.. We figure it is a free meal and maybe we will actually get the two free MP3 players. I am not stupid enough to invest in these kinds of things, but I get a certain amount of satisfaction in taking them for a meal and the freebie.

Anonymous said...

New Milford, CT - 08/18/09
I received an invite today to a '2009 Internet Marketing Conference' presented by storesonline.com. Same pitch as presented in previous posts. Can't believe they are back so soon after the AG's office won a case against them in 04/08!
Thanks for the heads up!!!

Anonymous said...

Just received an invite to this conference for Sept. Oddly, it was addressed to a person who does not live at this address (and never has, nor do we know anyone by the name they used). Places of the presentation are in Stockton, Modesto and 2 in Merced, 3 cities hard hit by housing loss and unemployment. I know. I live in Modesto and used to in Merced!

Unknown said...

Just for the record, my husband and I decided we would rather spend our evening having a nice dinner at home, than drive to Lancaster to listen to a scam artist!

Anonymous said...

Amazing...almost THREE YEARS after this and they're still at it...same names, same gimmicks. Today's mail arrived for seminars in the Seattle/Bellevue area on March 5th & 6th. Thank you for your original blog post!

Joe Connector said...

They are still at it. I sat through a 90 minute presentation that during lunchtime that was advertised to include a free lunch and a free mp3 player - I received neither (unless you consider 3 pieces of hard candy and a glass of water a meal).

Anonymous said...

Received an invitation here is Columbia, MO. This sounded "too good to be true", so I checked it out, and found this blog. They must spend a lot of money on these mass mailings hoping for a sucker or two in each area. Makes me wonder from what list they obtained my info. Hmmm? Thanks for the background info. Will not be attending this scamposium.

Talking from Experience said...

I received the letter today. Not even going to try calling the number. its different though from the number of previous comments. my storesonline.com number is 1-800-441-8820.

Just so people know. I worked for a company that sold auto loan applications. A lot of times the place we bought these applications from would sell them to different industries too. so someone filling out an auto loan might get a call from a home mortgage offer, or a letter from storesonline or whatever. these scumbags are profiting on peoples info by selling their info to these marketers. thats why you really have to be careful online. if your filling out a survey to receive a free ipod or free tickets or whatever, DONT! These people are gonna sell your information to someone thats looking to market to you. Your never gonna get that free item.

As far as storesonline goes. I'm glad I found your fellow comments. I wasn't planning on attending, i just wanted to see what the word was out there.

Some good internet money making business's out there that you can check out. Amway / Quixtar (I was in amway (quixtar by another name). I never made anything in it, but I know people who made some decent money). Market America I heard was good. MonaVie seems good, a friend of mine is looking into it now.

Just be careful when filling out stuff. Those sureys that says want to know what your interested in is asking for a reason. They plan on making money on that info. Tell your kids too. I signed up for so much free stuff when I was a naive kid. Never saw anything.

Hope This Help
~Talking from Experience

keywords: c r sanderson c. r. c.r. cr storesonine.com storesonine c.kevin c.k. c. k. netbookrules.com

Anonymous said...

They're still at it! I just got a mailer today for conferences in Northern Virginia in March 2011. Free meal and MP3 player. Good old C.R. Sanderson, C. Kevin Oliver, and storesonline.com. No sir, no way, no how will I be attending. This packet doesn't advertise a dollar amount that can be made but suggests they can help you earn way beyond what the average seller does. Thanks for posting all the history on these scammers!