Michael Mann Scammed me out of $1000

[kev]

This is an absolute nightmare. Seems Ive been scammed again.

Details of Scammer

Michael Mann




Web Media Projects, Inc.,
440 E Pass Rd. Suite B
Gulfport, MS. 39507 USA

Website: www.webmediaprojects.com

Email: [email protected]

Tel: 601-213-0881
Toll-free: 866-496-2278
Fax: 601-326-2379

MSN: [email protected]
PayPal: [email protected]
His contact number: 228-216-6707

DigitalPoint Username : c0l0rad0
GetaFreelancer Username : c0l0rad0

I agreed a price of $3,000 for the development of a clone of King.com. He said that i could pay it in 3 stages at $1k each. This was back in October 2007 and he said it would take 2-3 months to complete. So i set deadline after deadline after deadline and he missed 11 in total and I started to get concerned. He maintained it was due to the complexity of the site and limited staff so i believed him. But when he missed the latest deadline, I sent an email asking where it was and he replied with:




then i searched on the web about him and came across this

http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/complaints/2007/NOV/complaint19828.cfm
http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/complaints/2008/FEB/complaint22448.cfm

so i questioned him on it and asked for a complete refund and he replied with


Can people on NP help me get my money back as this is a lot of money to a student.

Are the contact details listed above seem correct to you?

Thanks guys :tu:

 

[spydera]

Hello Kev
No there is no chance of you getting your money back. As of Friday Aug 22, 2008, I have been told that Michael Mann has been sent to prison.

I too have supplied him with software about 2 years ago and waiting to be paid $10000 to date. He has subsequently sold a hacked version of this to a third party from whom he received $15000 and the damn thing does not work at all. This customer of his recently contacted me and we are helping him out.

The language in the emails is exactly same as what we have from him in the past. The moment you ask to be paid up, he is on to you with the above language. He has even made postings on Rip Off report about be because I chased him and his family for about 6 months. Unfortunately we have not received our money.

He has been on several bidding sites representing 2 different companies. So that should tell you about his intentions.

If you were to pursue a lawsuit, I can assure you that you will win, but you wont get any money since this guy is bankrupt.

REFERENCES FYI:

http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/complaints/2008/FEB/complaint22448.cfm
http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/complaints/2008/JUN/complaint39787.cfm
http://www.thesqueakywheel.com/complaints/2007/NOV/complaint19830.cfm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/320/RipOff0320267.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/293/RipOff0293382.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/283/RipOff0283710.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/308/RipOff0308121.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/283/RipOff0283710.htm
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/282/RipOff0282554.htm

 

[spydera]

Oh and I did read a lot of stuff in this post about it being hard to find a good developer. I don't think thats true. When people like Michael Mann become customers, the developer has no hope of getting his money. So it works both ways really.

P.S. The poker software that Michael Mann was trying to peddle is a hack of what we had supplied, and were never paid for. We were interacting with Jeff when Mike screwed his earlier partners, threatened them with stuff and took their money (after they caught him stealing computer parts, naturally), screwed Jeff by not paying him, hired developers from Pakistan to build cookie cutter sites, took an estimated $80,000 in deposits on various projects which I dont think were delivered. Hell if you are a person who does NO CODING and hopes to get work done from novices in Pakistan (or anywhere for that matter), you dont take on 60 projects at ridiculous prices.

Michael Mann will be VERY NICE to you as long as you dont call his bluff. Thats all one needs to know. IF you want to weed out this guy, you can help by finding out all his IDs on various bidding / freelancer sites and posting them here. I have had him banned from iFreelance and GAF personally. Dont know about other aliases. Keep your eyes open for this FRAUDSTER.

 

[kev]

One of my partners has offered his services by contacting his lawyer to come down on Michael Mann like a tonne of bricks.

Just something for him to look forward too :tu:

 

[Burano]

Never live in fear. Expose the truth, never lie, live a good life and whatever befalls you accept graciously but NEVER, I repeat NEVER run in fear or hide from the actions of evil men for my friend this is the hope of all evil doers, that weak men will hide and run.
Paul

Paul, you misread my advice - I didn't say he should keep quiet. I said he already did what he could prior to conversing back and forth with this guy and others related to him. Posting his experience here and elsewhere to let others know is fine. But posting his home info and engaging him AND ganging up & threatening him (others saying Kev should pay him a visit) is not, IMO. By persuing the matter legally, via lawsuit or whatever - he is not running in fear at all.

Why stoop down to this crazy guy's level? Why engage him? He ripped Kev off - it's obvious. It's not like he's going to apologize and send Kev his money back. So what's the point of engaging him? There is none! "not running your from your fear" mumbo-jumbo does nothing but further from distract from the task at hand - getting his money back - legally. And yes, however small a chance, there is always the chance this guy is truly nuts and dangerous.

 

[kdbaumann]

Interesting thread

I think folks like this need to be tracked down and dealt with.

I have been ripped off a few times on the internet, and NEVER ripped off in real life.

The reason is, that it's easy. You don't have to look the person in the eye, talk to them on the phone, or fear any actions being taken on your fraud.

It's especially hard if there are international borders involved, or miles and miles of terrain to get to the person.

My advice. Put ads on every site you can find looking for folks who can give you hard data that they were ripped off by the same person, and file a lawsuit.

But do not sit still for this sort of thing.

 

[copper]

There is one thing I don't understand.
Why do you pay anything until you got what you want?

 

[PatrickH]

the Man got the Mann

So it seems Mike Mann is in jail. He sure had that coming! With any luck, every time he is close to getting out another of his scams will come to call and keep him in his cozy new home.

As for being afraid of him doing anything in the real (as opposed to cyber) world, the guy is a coward. He talks big, makes threats, tells lies, then runs and hides.

And about finding good contractors, it can be done. Going through services is very risky. You never know. The best thing is to get recommendations from people who have had good experiences. They know who does a great job and who screwed them. Word of mouth is the way to go.

One more thing is deposits. I've been screwed a few times by doing a bunch of work before receiving any payment. I now require a deposit up front, even on new projects for existing clients. Contractors gotta eat too, ya know, and spending 2 months working for free is a chump's game. Too much can go wrong. Like new management comes in and decides they don't need what you've been working on.

So clients, talk to other clients and find out who they trust to do the work. Contractors, get a deposit and then earn the hell out of it. Everyone, get a contract which spells out exactly what is to be done including payment schedule and a check list to prove it is complete.

BTW, the other day was my birthday. I consider the news about Mike Mann to be a gift from the universe.

 

[kev]

Im sure this has been a good lesson for the 6,500 viewers of this thread :tu:

Let us know when he's out of jail as I want to put him back :kickass:

 

[kev]

any updates with regards to Michael Mann?

 

[CrackFeed.Com]

Mike ripped me off to, that is how I found this board. I am a developer that Mike owes just under $4,800 to for coding services. I got a message not long ago saying he is still in jail and that his wife was deported back to Pakistan along with his step son.

 

[kev]

Mike ripped me off to, that is how I found this board. I am a developer that Mike owes just under $4,800 to for coding services. I got a message not long ago saying he is still in jail and that his wife was deported back to Pakistan along with his step son.

im really sorry to hear of your case :td: Ill contact you later to bring this guy down (again...) so we can get our money back :tu:

Thanks for the update!

 

[mullord]

Hi,
I also have been taken by mr mann.

Would be very interested in any action taken against him.

Regards
Mullord

 

[kev]

Sorry to hear your another victim of this guy

Did this happen recently?
does anyone know if he is out of jail?

PM me with details of what happened

 

[daj]

Sorry to hear about this man, guess I shouldn't feel so bad for losing $50 when you lost 20 times that.. Ouch!

I'm so tired of dealing with online related stuff. You can't trust anyone online, unless they're a good friend of yours. I will never do a upfront payment anymore for design services, it's too easy to be scammed.

 

[Ben42]

Does anyone even know what state he was sent to jail in? If it was Alabama he isn't there now.

http://www.doc.state.al.us/inmsearch.asp

Unless Michael Mann is the wrong name.

 

[CrackFeed.Com]

Mike left Alabama years ago to Mississippi and then most recently to Texas. His original jail time was Tennessee though. I lost a damn good client thanks to him and I am close to losing my house because I lost that contract. But, I am over the money loss and just trying to recover financially. But, I am happy that Mike the Scammer got his just desserts!

Anyone hiring btw? hahaha

 

[yollyp]

wasted talent

What a problem to deal with. The huge amount of money was enough to make me shiver. I can't even ask a person to pay me in advance if I know I can't make it to the deadline. And here was a man who scammed you with thousands? How did he do it? Was he a good talker or what? He got the talent in sales talk. He should have use that with good intentions. What a wasted talent...sulked in jail.

 

[CrackFeed.Com]

Mike Mann located in federal prison:

http://no_url_shorteners/mikemannprison

If you are taking legal action please let me know.

 

[CrackFeed.Com]

Oh and as far as the comments some say like "why pay before anything is done?"

Simply put, nobody will start a large project that takes a month on a handshake. What if the developer does the work and the client goes bankrupt or worse, dies? Then, the coder just lost a month's worth of money and believe it or not, most coders are not living the rich lifestyle. Coders never know if they will have work the next week. Our jobs are not as secure and some off-line jobs.

For example, when you have a custom house built. You will not pay after you see the house. You get a mortgage and you pay for the house or at least a good portion. Why? Because the workers have families to feed and business expenses. Why should they be stuck with the building materials and the house if you happen to go bankrupt before the project is done?

It used to be, before there were tons of scammers, that people felt comfortable with paying 50% down, because they knew that they were safe. Times have changed, but I for one am not freelancing, except for choice clients, anymore because of this "work for free" attitude everyone has these days.

Hell, how does the developer know that you even have ANY money? Some customers make us put a lot of faith in them that has not been proven or earned. Hell, if you tell me that your $1000 project should be free until the end, I will tell you to go find a naive teenager (no offense kids) to work for you, cause I have a family to feed and I cannot feed them on promises that may or may not be kept.

The key is simple:

1. Use developers IN YOUR AREA within driving distance.

2. Get a contract, not a spit-n-handshake

3. Get a copy of the developer's ID card (drivers license) and the developer should get the client's ID Card. This protects them both. But, dont share social security numbers!!

4. Have the coder show a small proof of concept and check the source code to make sure it is not stolen. Make is a small project and time him. If he is not done in a short time, say one hour, DON'T HIRE HIM. Chances are the guy is googling for a script to show you, as Mike Mann did.

5. If you hire from Russia, Pakistan, Mexico, Kenya, or especially Romania then know that you might just get ripped. Test the coder and have a local GURU check the code. Even post here and we can advise you on the code quality.

 

[kev]

Thanks for the posts

Looks like Michael Mann is being released on the 5th May 2009 :td:

Ive had a few people contacting me including a lawyer where Michael Mann was a witness for a case. The lawyer wanted me to give him a character profile to show he was a liar. I simply pointed him to this thread with over 10,500 views Looks like Im still a thorn in his side :lol:

 

[nascar59]

thanks for sharing I too saw he is out in may,beware

 

[CrackFeed.Com]

thanks for sharing I too saw he is out in may,beware

Seems he was released early.... and turned his sorry butt intoa victim.

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/282/RipOff0282554.htm

Federal labor camp for weed? Never seen that one before. Funny that I ready his original jail term was for robbing a bank using that stupid "take a fraction of a penny" scam.

 

[Rob]

I've just had a good read through.

I've no doubt this guy is a crook, but to be a drug smoking crook makes him almost the lowest of the low!

What a vile person!

 

[Jaco]

Federal labor camp for weed? Never seen that one before.

He was in a Federal Prison Camp, which is pretty much the lowest security designation in the Bureau of Prisons system. Weed, online scams, white collar first time offenders, non-violent probation violators etc is precisely what you are most likely to find in FPC's.

This guy is clearly a dirtbag thief. To prison once for stealing, now, to prison yet again claiming it's because he smoked pot (but likely as a result of massive attention drawn to himself because of fraud reports made to his parole/probation officer)- well, OK, I disagree with Rob that smoking pot makes someone "the lowest of the low" - some of the most creative people I've ever known regularly partook- but doing it while on supervised release is pretty friggin' dumb, given that drug testing is usually a precondition of supervision. This guy is a living, breathing lapse in judgment. I swear to god, though, that I could tell that from just looking at his picture. What an inbred looking f**ker.

I HATE HATE HATE HATE people like him. They give the good guys a bad name and force buyers to waste tons of time (= money) and energy on vetting.

 

[bastian]

You probably can get a clone of that site for $250 by Indian kids at GetaFreelancer.com. There also plenty of kids in SF who could do it for much less :kickass:

What site is SF?