BBB Continues To Monitor Woodbury Company

A Woodbury company has come under a watchdog group's scrutiny for what it says are suspicious online dealings.

The Better Business Bureau of Minnesota and North Dakota (BBB) reported that Force One Events, which offers people work-at-home employment opportunities via the Internet, has received its “F” rating “due to unanswered complaints and concerns about the company’s—and their related entities—business practices,” according to a release from the BBB.

Contact information for One Force Events could not be located. The BBB began monitoring the company in 2009.

“This company has a pattern of making clear promises of easy wealth, but offering scant details on how potential subscribers actually make money,” said Dana Badgerow, president and CEO of the BBB. “They also change company names regularly and juggle websites, but their offer always remains the same. We dispute their claims and feel the only way anyone could make any money by signing up with them is by recruiting more people to buy these training programs. Ultimately, there is no end product or service for consumers.”

After a recent review, the BBB determined that the company is still making deceptive claims regarding money-making opportunities it offers through training programs on various websites, according to the release.

The BBB says it believes that Force One Events, Inc. and company owner, Dan Miller, are doing business under a variety of names, which have included or may include: Powerline100, IPC Progam, Click Marketing Inc., Extreme Wealth Formula, Lead Net Pro, Productive Pathways.com, Elite Sales Incentives, Elevations Group VIP and Mimzing.com.

Tips

The Better Business Bureau advised customers to be leery of any offers that sound too good to be true, and provided the following tips to identify work-at- home offers. Work-at-home offers will:

• Never offer regular salaried employment.
• Promise huge profits and big part-time earnings.
• Use personal testimonials but never identify the person so that you can check with them.
• Require money for instructions or merchandise before telling you how the plan operates.
• Assure guaranteed markets and a huge demand for your work.
• Tell you that no experience is necessary.
• Often have misspelled words on their websites.
• Take your money and give you little or nothing in return.

Anytime you’re asked to pay in advance to obtain a job, the offer of employment is not legitimate, according to the BBB.

The BBB advises victims of work-at-home schemes to ask the company for a refund; if that request is refused, customers should tell the company they plan to notify law enforcement.

Customers should also keep careful records of everything they do to recover their money. Document phone calls, keep copies of all paperwork such as letters and receipts, and record all costs involved, including the time spent trying to receive a refund. If the company refuses to provide a refund, customers should contact:

• The Better Business Bureau (www.bbb.org).
• The Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov).
• The U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
• State Attorney General's office or the office in the state where the company is located.
• The advertising manager of the publication that ran the ad the customer answered.
• Or, if the offer was found online, contact www.ic3.gov.