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The FundingUniverse.com scam may work like this...
Host a few social events with free food at hotel conference rooms. Hungry startups are invited to pitch their ideas to other startups in four minutes while Funding Universe scam artists pat you on the back and kiss your ###. Good practice, but not the reason they want you there.
Take some pictures and videos for the website, and then hire an army of SEO experts to remove your negative Wikipedia page, buy domains to confuse people like "fundinguniversefraud.com" and "fundinuniversescam.com, " and then boast yourselves as the "world leader ...in matching qualified entrepreneurs with lenders, investors and other funding sources."
They promise the following to businesses looking for business loans: business credit repair (WTF!?) from some tiny law firm in Utah (SBFC Law Group, PLLC), a "financial plan" (what
for?), and then a half-assed "business plan" that you basically fill out yourself. All this to do what you could do for yourself, for free: get a small business loan.
And they want you to RUSH all this in a matter of days so you can get a verbally promised loan or unsecured line of credit of $50K+ within 2 weeks, "promise." Sounds great! But too good to be true. All that for $2, 700.00, of course. But you don't realize that until after they've tried to charge your credit card due to the fact that you're being rushed through this confusing, online process of digitally signing things that are not clear to anyone under pressure.
They don't tell you the cost up-front until you've "electronically signed" a long agreement you should have a lawyer look at first. But first, it's $99 to get the "Underwriters" started with your account. That just gets your credit card on file. And these guys are just high-pressure salespeople who are just a little too responsive, but not too pushy at first.
Yes, I fell for the $99 portion because they seemed professional (at first), and they really were great at leading me on. They almost authorized my credit card $2, 700, and then tried again for $700. Why would a legitimate business try that? All because they got my low-limit business credit card on file with the first $99. Sneaky, but thanks to CapitalOne fraud prevention, I'm OK.
At first, the idea of an organization helping a new business find funding sounds great! But not for thousands of dollars. Perhaps they find investors/funders for a few people, just to maintain some legitimacy. Or not, there's no proof but fake testimonials. But 99.99% of the others are just getting scammed. Simple enough. If not, PROVE IT, Funding Universe. Simple.
The high-pressure salespeople give the whole scam away if you have time to breath a minute. Not only that, but they've been calling my business non-stop, trying to make me feel bad about saying NO. Definite harassment.
Their "COO" (Richard Ferguson) emailed me to beg forgiveness: "Having said this [that 'This is an honest mistake and not an attempt to take advantage of you.'], if you are not interested in moving forward, there is no problem, we can simply cancel the contract and refund the $99. We provide a 72 cancellation policy anyways."
The $99 charge back NEVER CAME, and I had to dispute CapitalOne. That worked fine. And apologies aren't enough to allow an organization like this to continue scamming good businesspeople.
The complaint has been investigated and resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
My concern is with FBSC. I was contacted by them today about getting a loan to start a new business. He sounded legit therefor I continued the conversation to find out that he want me to pay $99 dollars to send my credit score to an underwriter for review. I did not give him my credit card info but did give him mine and my wife's ssn and dates of birth. Should I be concerned? After reading into the scams I don't wish to do any business with them but I also do not want my identity stolen. Any advice and should I e concerned?
I tired to call the [protected] and all it is a recording. How appropriate. This company is a SCAM! I am contacting the BBB as we speak.
We take seriously any concern, both on and offline. As the 34th fastest growing private company in the nation, according to the Inc 500 list (http://www.inc.com/inc5000/list), we have had our challenges with growth, including occasional problems with customer dissatisfaction. If you have a complaint or concern, we invite you to contact us at 888.779.8390 ext. 167 where you'll get a prompt response and resolution. We do not take advantage of small business owners. As we have worked with an excess of 150, 000 business owners nationwide, we have had a very small percentage with concerns. One concern is too many for a company which has the goals we do, but the point is that when taken in context with the sheer number we have worked with, our record is strong.
Typically concerns fall into 1 of 3 main categories. First, our customer service has been lacking. Second, an unwillingness by the business owner to invest what is necessary to become lender-ready. Thirdly, an unwillingness to accept the types of funding the business actually qualifies for. We can and are working to improve #1. However, 2 and #3 are more difficult, and despite the education we attempt to provide business owners, a small subset are unwilling to either perform the necessary work or accept the types of financing they can get and become unsatisfied. In these challenging economic times, we feel we're very good at identifying options for the client and as necessary - advising them on items they need to complete to be lender ready. For our standard fee, we provide a business plan and proforma, website, business credit building, personal credit enhancement (if necessary), and legal incorporation services (if necessary) along with matching them to several appropriate funding sources they can apply for now or in the future.
Regarding the concern as it relates to the various events we hold, let me respond with a word or two. Our events are free for the business owner. We do screen them to ensure they will be viable presenters and not waste the investors' or banks' time. However, there is no effort to upsell the attendees. We may mention our services at the events and refer them to our website, but that is the extent of it. Clients are only called when they opt in at our website to be contacted. Our events are meant to be a community service to increase the interaction between worthy business owners and funding sources.
In response to the 11-15-2009 posting, this writer is commenting about Provell Inc, one of 7000 companies we provide company histories for. This complaint should not be misconstrued as applying to us.
In summary, we invite any with concerns to contact us at 888.779.8390 ext. 167 to receive a speedy resolution.