Possible Scam?

Hello all,

I am new to the Forum and need some assistance. I am located in Tacoma, Washington, USA and I am working on a project to create a new extreme sport with several possible income streams. I have been approached by a potential investor out of the UK and I am attempting to verify the company's legitimacy before I proceed further can anyone tell me if this company is legitimate:

Management and Solutions Limited
12 Waddon Way
South Croydon, Surrey
CRO 4HU UK. RC.# 06188782
phone #44-702-406-0760
(I have clues that this may be a Nigeria scam number)

Their website (managementandsolutionltd.com) is current down and I see this as another possible "Red Flag"

I have been contacted by a potential investor ("keith micheal" [email protected])and I answered basic questions and provided him with a business plan, subsequently I was contacted by the above listed company ("management solutions" [email protected] POC on e-mail was listed as Craig Johnson (Deal Manager) and on attached Letter of Intent Robert Phillips CEO) Before I proceed further I want to ascertain that this is a legitimate company.

I have done several searches on my own and found this name tied to the company "RIZWAN AHMED MANIAR"

On a "WHOIS" domain search for managementandsolutionsltd.com I came up with another name:
Name: Poyet Laussen
Company: Managment Solutions
Address:
5456 McConnell Ave
City: Los Angeles
State: California
Country: US
Zip: 90066
Tel No: 310 8272732

I can post more details if needed.

With Regards,

Mod edit: removed personal data - Michael

I did search a uk.gov site and can see the company was incorporated at that address since 2007:
http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/31691 ... ompdetails

Hi,
you are correct: phone numbers starting with +44-70 .... are redirect numbers which follow your actual phone anywhere in the world. A genuine UK company would never use it.
I am not an expert in fake web sites, I suppose a member of the support team will give you information.
Could you quote emails you received, please? - Be sure to edit out any details referring to your real name and email address.
Congratulations on recognizing this scam!

Edit: Google Street View shows a nice suburban home!

Hi there ABN173, welcome to scamwarners.

Unfortunately as the site is offline for quite a while now I can't check what was stated on it. I have no much doubt though that it was a site owned by the scammer, used to back up his story. There are a few signs that things don't check out in the WHOIS.

I am sure though that you weren't dealing with the real company, which you found in Companieshouse. It was merely copying the name, the real company has nothing to do with it.

So in short - the company is real. The people who you are dealing with however, are not. They are not involved with the real company in any way. Katharina was correct about the phone number: a +4470 telephone number is a dead giveaway you are dealing with scammers.

I can confirm that the real company has one director and a secretary, who is the same person, and he has an Asian name nothing like the one quoted to you.

I have my own source I can use to check details like that which I won't post in the open, otherwise scammers may find a way to access it and improve their scams.

I won't post his details as he's nothing to do with the scam.

Tell the scammer to have another guess.

Hi,
Could you quote emails you received, please? - Be sure to edit out any details referring to your real name and email address.
Congratulations on recognizing this scam!

initial e-mail from Keith Michael was sent on 12/15/10:

"I'd like to inquire about the funding of your venture.

If the capital requirement is within my range.

I think it would make a worthwhile investment.

Please advise.

Sincerely yours,
Keith Michael"

I replied with my phone numbers so he could contact me, he then sent 2nd e-mail 12/16/10:
"Hello xxxxx,

Thanks for your response. For me,an equity position, with a 3 to 6 yr exit period would be ideal.

In order to facilitate the evaluation, please provide me with your business proposal,to include (but not limited to) the following:

1. a summary of the company's products/services;
2.proposed transaction structure, including the amount sought, uses of funds, and capital structure.

As such,we'd have a basis for discussing the terms of investment.

Keith"

I then responded back answering his questions and also attaching our business plan, his 3rd reply was sent on 12/20/10:

xxxxx,

I will forward your information to my investment managers for review,evaluation, they will contact you.

Merry Christmas

Keith"

On 12/29/10 I received an e-mail from the supposed financial management company ([email protected]):
"Sir,

Thank you for presenting your Business Opportunity and Funding Request
to our Investment Committee. We found your presentation to be
inspiring and a basis for which to further explore a potential funding
relationship.

Congratulations! After several discussions with Members our Investment
Committee about your funding request and based on the information you
have provided us which includes your Executive Summary and Business plan.

I have been mandated to inform you that our management (on behalf of
Mr. Keith Michael) is in favour of investing in Ice Ramps LLC .

Please refer to the attached file for our terms/conditions for this investment.

I'd be glad to address your questions with regard to the proposed investment.

Yours truly,
Craig Johnson (Deal Manager)


NB,

Our website is currently undergoing updating/reconstruction, it will
be back very soon. Please bear with us"

On the same day I received another e-mail from the "interested investor":

"Dear xxxxx,

I got an email from my investment managers that you have been contacted. Please could you update me.

Happy New Year in advance.


Keith"

I replied that he would hear back from from us once we reviewed the "Letter of Intent" Which was a PDF file so I can't attach it. The short of it was they proposed funding our venture for 150K at 25% interest shares in our company with a 6 year exit plan. At this point I was smelling a fish due to the website and that the signature on intent letter did not match the CEO name under it.

Today I received another e-mail from the "interested investor" asking for an update which prompted me to research this more before sending a reply.

Not sure if this helps any but at this point I am convinced this is a scam. Hopefully if they are pulling this on others they will see this thread. Thanks you guys are great!

Our website is currently undergoing updating/reconstruction, it will
be back very soon. Please bear with us"

If they would contact you again in the future and link you to their website please report it to us. We'll make sure that it gets taken offline. (This does not mean that you should keep contacting them to get the site - don't send them anything at all anymore.)

Thanks for posting the mails and the email adresses. By doing so you can prevent many people falling for the same scam

I am both Disgusted,Disappointed, and Relieved all the same time. What a weird combination of emotions to start the New Year off with.. oh well.

One of the prime components of a good scam is to offer someone something they're seeking badly. That way it's likely that the victim will overlook making a thorough check.

You didn't make that error, so you've proved you're a competent entrepreneur even if you didn't get the deal you're looking for. Getting scammed is worse than not making the deal.

It's likely that a real investor will give you a hard time and not roll over so easily, so watch out for anyone behaving so reasonably. Life is never that easy, as most of us know.

Yes ABN173, the phone number is highly suspect. Please see my post here viewtopic.php?f=26&t=13567 for a better explanation.
And thankyou for posting your story because others will be alerted.

The telephone number given has been used in a lotto scam that has since had it's site killed.
Taking out the hyphens gives a Google result along with another two numbers used by the scammers.

Tel:+447024060760
Tel:+447024060764
Tel:+447011129333

All UK redirect numbers!

Hi again,
thank you for posting the emails.
Though the English is a little better than the average scam letter it still shows definite signs of an African writer. I don't want to go into details - scammers keep visiting the forum and we don't want to educate them - but if you are interested send me a PM.
Good luck with your business!

OMG! I am sooooooo glad I saw your post. I too am working on an independent film and raising funds. Out of no where I got an email from Karol Carpenter.

[email protected]
I'd like to inquire about the funding of your venture.
If the capital requirement is within my range.
I think it would make a worthwhile investment.
Please advise.
Sincerely yours,
Karol Carpenter

I thought it was too good to be true so I emailed back:

Thanks for your inquiry. How did you hear about December Dilemma?
XXXX XXXXXX
Producer/Director

Then I got back:

Hello XXXX,
Thanks for your response. For me,an equity position, with a 3 to 6 yr exit period would be ideal. I got your info from a friend that attended venture seminar in US.
In order to facilitate the evaluation, please provide me with your business proposal,to include (but not limited to) the following:
1. a summary of the company's products/services;
2.proposed transaction structure, including the amount sought, uses of funds, and capital structure.
As such,we'd have a basis for discussing the terms of investment.
Karol

I sent a pre-packaged investors kit to "her".

She confirmed she got it.

Then later she said I would be hearing from her fund managers soon.

Dear XXXX,
Have they (my fund managers) contacted you?
Karol

I emailed back:

No, not yet.
I will be in my office at 8:30am (it is now 7:03am my time).
Are they contacting me via email, phone, mail, or ...?
I look forward to conversing with them. Thank you.
I hope you decided to be involved in this wonderful project and reap the rewards of investing.

She wrote:
I will inquire from them by tomorrow to know how far they have gone on due diligence.
Karol

I asked her is she was located in the U.K. and she assured me she was.

Today I got an email that is EXACTLY like the one listed here from Financial Cloud Services Limited. Bad english. Many misspelled words. Sent from Robert Philips at gmail.com and signed by Craig Johnson. Talked about contacting a law advice firm called lawadvicelimited but with an AOL acccount attn. Peter Finn. All and all too suspicious for me. I wanted it to be legit so badly but after an initial rush of joy, I am just mad and disappointed.

Thank you so much for having this website so I can stop hoping and move on to "legit" investors.
Is there anything more I can do to stop these scammers?

Here is the PDF attached:

FINANCIAL CLOUD SERVICES LIMITED
105 OXFORD GARDENS, LONDON
W10 6NF .UK. RC#. 07393446
Tel: 44-702-406-0760
Fax, 44- 7005-931-084
www.financialcloudservicesltd.com
E-mail: deal@ financialcloudservicesltd.com
Our Ref: FINCLSERLTD/PROJECT/01
Your Ref: Date: 17- 06-11
FROM: Robert Philips (CEO)
ATTN: XXXX XXXXXXX,
Sir,
RE: EQUITY INVESTMENT
IN LINE WITH OUR ONGOING DELIBERATIONS REGARDING THE FUNDING OF YOUR
COMPANY BY OUR CLIENT Karol Carpenter, LISTED BELOW ARE THE TERMS AND
CONDITION FOR THIS INVESTMENT.
1. AMOUNT: THE AMOUNT TO BE ADVANCED IS $400,000.00 (FOUR HUNDRED
THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS). THIS AMOUNT WILL BE ADVANCED AS
EQUITY INVESTMENT.
2. EQUITY: FOR THIS AMOUNT $266,000.00 FINANCIAL CLOUD SERVICES LIMITED WILL
HOLD A 25% EQUITY STAKE WITH DECEMBER DILEMMA EQUITY CERTIFICATE WILL BE
HANDED TO FINANCIAL CLOUD SERVICES LIMITED UPON TRANSFER OF INVESTMENT
AMOUNT.
3. REPAYMENT: FINANCIAL CLOUD SERVICES LIMITED WILL BE RECEIVING 25% OF
THE NET PROFIT DECEMBER DILEMMA AT THE END OF EVERY FISCAL YEAR. THIS WILL
BE PAID INTO AN ACCOUNT THAT SHALL BE PROVIDED BY FINANCIAL CLOUD SERVICES
LIMITED
4. EXIT: FINANCIAL CLOUD SERVICES LIMITED RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SELL ITS EQUITY
STAKES AT THE CURRENT VALUATION TO ANY PARTY OF ITS CHOICE AT EXIT PERIOD
WHICH IS SET AT FIVE YEARS, BUT DECEMBER DILEMMA RESERVES THE RIGHT TO A
FIRST BUY OR REJECT.
5. COLLATERAL: COLLATERAL SHALL CONSIST OF A SHARE CERTIFICATE WORTH
FOUR HUNDRED THOUSAND UNITED STATES DOLLARS FROM DECEMBER DILEMMA ALSO
A BINDING AGREEMENT WILL BE WRITTEN, VETTED AND APPROVED BY YOU AND
FINANCIAL CLOUD SERVICES LIMITED.THIS AGREEMENT WHEN APPROVED WILL BE
SIGNED, SEALED AND NOTARIZED AT THE ROYAL COURT OF JUSTICE ENGLAND AND
WILL BE BINDING ON BOTH PARTIES.
WE WOULD REQUIRE A FORMAL ACCEPTANCE LETTER TO THE ABOVE ON YOUR
COMPANY LETTER HEADED PAPER SENT TO US THROUGH FAX OR E-MAIL ATTACHMENT
ATTACHMENT.YOU ARE REQUIRED TO CONTACT LAW ADVICE LIMITED CHAMBERS AT
(EMAIL:[email protected],[email protected] Attn, Peter Finn TO
COMMENCE THE DRAFTING OF THE BINDING AGREEMENT THAT MUST BE EXCUTED
(NOTARISATION AND STAMP-DUTY IN THE UK) BEFORE THE FUNDS CAN BE
TRANSFERRED INTO YOUR NOMINATED BANK ACCOUNT.
PLEASE NOTE THAT LAW ADVICE LIMITED IS NOT RETAINED BY FINANCIAL CLOUD
SERVICES LIMITED.WE LOOK FORWARD TO A MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL BUSINESS
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DECEMBER DILEMMA AND FINANCIAL CLOUD SERVICES
LIMITED
Best regards
Robert Philips (CEO)

I am very happy you did not lose money to this scam jes4fun. From what I can see, the domain financialcloudservicesltd.com does not exist. It either hasn't been registered or the webpage has been removed. The phone number 44-702-406-0760 has been used in another financial type scam about 6 months ago.
re: Is there anything more I can do to stop these scammers? Very sadly, no there is not. If they are operating from overseas it's highly unlikely a prosecution will take place.
I'm afraid to say Karol is just a big scammer trying to steal your money and you are wise to move on.

Thanks Jolly Roger (love your icon) and some others who Privately emailed me. Part of me wants to string them along like they did me. I would like to tell them that my lawyer has a branch in London and would like to come by with the paperwork and any fees necessary to make all of this happen. I am sure I would never get another response back. I might as well get some pleasure out of this scam. Thoughts?