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Atm Machine Business Opportunity:
Recipe for Disappointment?
If you are thinking about doing business with a company that provides machines & locations together (a total package deal), they are selling Business Opportunities. We recommend being very cautious when doing business with companies doing this, because most companies that are providing "package deals" that include locations aren't legally setup to sell Business Opportunities, or "bizops". The Federal Trade Commission claims that there is more fraud in the vending machine industry (which investing in "Biz Op" atm machine packages falls under) than in any other industry.
To sell locations along with the equipment is selling "Business Opportunities", which requires that companies follow FTC Franchise Rules and get registered with 23 of the 50 states that require registration to sell biz ops. Many companies in the atm industry are not legally compliant with these Federal regulations, which makes it very risky doing business with them since they could be put out of business by the FTC (or their own state Attorney General) at any moment. This doesn't even count that these companies charge large amounts of money for their package deals that include mediocre locations that very rarely produce the monthly transactions that their high pressure sales people claim. These folks are after one thing...large commissions! Very few of them care if you make money on your investment with them, or not.
The fact of the matter is, these companies can't get locations that are any better than what you can get yourself (or by using a locating service, which is also risky). If the bizop companies really had such high producing locations, why would they be so willing to sell them off to investors? If it's such a good deal to have these locations, why don't they just sit on them and make all that money for themselves? These are the types of questions that you should ask your bizop representative before considering doing business with them (and don't forget to ask them to prove that they are registered with all the states that require bizop registration...and then contact those states for yourself!).
Many companies like this try very hard to make it sound like this business is a get rich quick proposition, where all you have to do is give them your money, and they will take care of everything else for you! Only problem is, the majority of companies operating like this are "fly-by-night" outfits just doing the best they can to take in as much money as possible in a short amount of time, because they know they aren't going to be in business very long.
Some bizop companies that go under due to their fraudulent business practices, end up starting another company and get right back into doing the same thing...telling investors whatever is necessary to get them to send in large amounts of cash.
It's much smarter to obtain your own locations so you can develop your own business relationship with your merchants where they know who you are. With most "package deals" companies, you'll never know exactly where your locations are, and you won't have access to online reporting which enables you to make sure you're being paid according to what your machine is actually producing. (we provide online reporting at no additional charge for all investors.) With most of these "package deals" companies, you'll never know!
Read the Fine Print!...( if there even is any ) When the bizop company goes out and gets locations for you, they have the merchant sign a placement agreement with them . . . NOT with you! (their placement agreement with the merchant isn't going to have your name on it anywhere, and if it did it will only designate you as the owner of the machine, not the location!)
Since the location agreement is between the merchant & the bizop company, then you have no legal claim to that location. (in other words . . . it doesn't really belong to you. It belongs to the bizop company) Most companies selling overpriced bizops retain the ownership of the locations that they are "selling" you as part of the package deal. Basically, you're just paying several thousand dollars for a machine package that you can buy from us for $695! Don't pay more for the same equipment than you have to.
Don't you think it would be a much smarter business decision to have your own placement agreement with each of your merchants, so you can have control over your locations? . . . after all, it is your hard earned money we're talking about here!
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If you have the time to spend getting your own locations, you would be much better off in the long run, and you would have complete control over your investment by eliminating opportunity for fraud. When it comes to watching over your own investment, nobody can do this as good as you can! We don't want to hear anymore news stories about investors getting ripped off because it's very bad for the Atm industry as a whole. Hopefully, this webpage has served to inspire you to be very careful when investing with bizop companies.
If you do decide to do business with a bizop company, we wish you the very best in your new business endeavor! If you should decide that you want to become a distributor who places machines in which you are in control of your own deals and the locations you obtain....give us a call. We'll be here for you . . .
Have You Been Burned by a Bizop???
If so, you might consider posting your story on...
Think the Better Business Bureau is
a good way to see if a Bizop is worth Investing in??? Better think Again!
Click the link below for SHOCKING details about how the
BBB has become a money making scam that now does
very little to protect consumers from bad businesses.
History of the Scrip ATM Machine "Bizop"
It's inevitable that there will be more companies listed here in the future. It's just a matter of time before new cases are published. If you have a case to report, CLICK HERE
Some links below are to documents that are in PDF format, which can be viewed with Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you don't have this program on your computer, you can download it for free at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
Here are links to information about companies that have gotten into trouble selling
cashless atm bizops. In each case, Investors ended up loosing their investments:
NOTE: Each link below opens a new window. Close new window to come back to this page.
OneSource Financial Group, LLC
Mark Lebowitz and Alex Roderick of Costa Mesa, CA
Investors almost scammed out of $41,000 from One Source Solutions LLC
Read Story on Self Service World.com <<< click on link
OneSource Financial Group, LLC in Costa Mesa, CA <<< click on link
May 5, 2006 (Colorado Securities Commissioner Fred Joseph has issued a cease-and-desist order for violating the securities registration and anti-fraud provisions of the Colorado Securities Act. At least 23 Colorado investors have invested more than $600,000 with the company, state officials said.)
Complaint Site by Scammed Investors <<< click on link
(In depth details about this company from investors who have been scammed)
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American Data Solutions - North American Location Co
aka, Monetary Resources and/or American Data Sales
Un-satisfactory BBB Report (Denver area) <<< click on link
Complaint about Anthony Desantos, salesman for American Data Solutions
<<< click on link above - May 16, 2006 (Listing at BadBusinessBureau.com)
North American Location Company in Lakewood, CO. <<< click on link
September 8, 2005 (Listing at Complaints.com)
Complaint posted about American Data Sales
(aka: American Data Solutions / North American Locating <<< click on link
June 2, 2005 (Listing at BadBusinessBureau.com)
Complaint about American Data Solutions from Kris in Negley, Ohio
<<< click on link above - January 10, 2005 (Listing at BadBusinessBureau.com)
American Data Solutions from Wheat Ridge, CO. (Denver area) <<< click on link
April 29, 2003 (Cease & Desist Order from Kansas Securities Commissioner)
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ATM Alliance Corp, ATM Management
Services Corp, and Mike Gilot
Action filed in U.S. District Court by SEC against ATM Alliance <<< click on link
March 17, 2005 Cease & Desist Order from the US Securities & Exchange Commission against Michael (Mike) Gilot, of ATM Alliance Corp and ATM Management Services Corp
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MAC Investments
New York Man gets 20-Year Sentence
for ‘Cashless ATM’ Ponzi Scheme - April 27, 2011
FBI Website documents Federal Indictments against owners
of MAC Investments for $8 million fraud - March 4, 2009
90 Count Federal Indictment handed down
against owners of MAC Investments - March 5, 2009
MAC Investments from Tempe, Arizona <<< click on link (PDF document)
Feburary 15, 2005 (Cease & Desist Order from Arizona Securities Commission) |
American Merchant Technologies - Pantheon Holdings, Inc
American Merchant Technologies from Miami, Florida
<<< click on link (PDF document)
Feburary 14, 2005 (Permanent Injunction by Federal Trade Commission due to violations of the FTC Franchise Rule and unfair or deceptive acts or practices)
$11,000 Civil Penalty Levied Against American Merchant Technologies
<<< click on link
September 19, 2005 (Bans company’s principal, Lawrence B. Albano, from selling franchises or business opportunities to ensure they do not violate the Franchise Rule)
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ATM Marketing, Inc / ATM Management, Inc
ATM Marketing (Montgomery, Tx), and ATM Management (McKinney, Tx)
<<< click on link above (PDF document)
September 22nd, 2004 (These companies were ordered by the Texas Securities Board to stop selling their Atm business opportunity because the state considers their offering to be un-registered securities)
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Cash Link Systems
Alan Levine and Leland Balber received $15 million from at least 900 investors for ATMs that were either never placed or never placed in their advertised locations. Both men were sentenced to federal prison and ordered to pay a combined $10.7 million in restitution.
Read Story on Self Service World.com <<< click on link
www.CashlinkSystemsRipoff.com <<< Consumer Information Site
Cash Link officer Sentenced to 8+ Years in Prison <<< click on link
August 28, 2006 - News Story on Cash Link Systems
Cash Link Systems Focus Of Fraud Investigation <<< click on link
August 10, 2004 - News Story on Cash Link Systems
SEC Litigation Release against Cash Link Systems <<< click on link
July 23, 2004 - Federal Government moves to Stop Cash Link Systems
SEC Legal Case against Cash Link Systems <<< click on link (PDF document)
July 23, 2004 (Case filed in United States District Court in Dallas, Tx)
Texas Legal Case against Cash Link Systems <<< click on link (PDF document)
February 9th, 2004 (Cease & Desist Order from Texas Securities Board) |
Global Vending
Global Vending from Sunrise, Florida <<< click on link (PDF document)
May 4th, 2004 (Owners of this company received grand jury indictments for for mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. They operated a classic "Ponzi" scheme.)
Department of Justice Press Release on Global Vending case <<< click on link
May 10th, 2004 |
Paymentworks
Paymentworks from Austin, Texas <<< click on link (PDF document)
August 4th, 2003 (Owners of this company received grand jury indictments for securities fraud, and face possible long prison sentences. They operated a classic "Ponzi" scheme.)
Long prison terms for Paymentworks CEO and Sales Manager <<< click on link
September 8, 2004 Dan Digman (CEO-Owner) gets 12 years in prison - pleaded guilty to securities fraud, selling unregistered securities and selling securities while not registered as a dealer or agent.
Larry Don Johnson (Sales Manager) gets several years in prison - convicted of one count of Theft, four counts of selling unregistered securities and four counts of selling securities while not registered as a dealer or agent
Sales Agent gets Deferred Adjudication 2 Yrs Probation <<< click on link
February 18, 2005 Lori Lea Burrow plead guilty to the sale of securities without being registered as a dealer or agent.
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MPS
MPS from Atlanta, Georgia <<< click on link
July 3rd, 2003 (Settlement with Federal Trade Commision) |
Paystar
Paystar from Lodi, California <<< click on link
August 18th, 2002 |
( NOTE: Each link above opens a new window. To come back here, close new window )
Reading these news stories will help give you an idea of what to watch out for if you do decide to do business with a company that provides a package deals.
For more information about companies that scam investors
in ways that are similar to the Cashless Atm "Bizop", go to:
www.CrimesOfPersuasion.com
www.KioskScams.com
www.RipOffReport.com
Always remember...any deal where they tell you that you don't have to do any work (or, do very little work), and you just give them your money and they handle everything for you where all you have to do is sit back and rake in the profits... ...DESIGNED TO GET YOUR MONEY FROM THEIR ACCOUNT TO YOUR ACCOUNT...once you give them money, they spend it and you will not get it back!
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