Alert: We are seeing reports posted on the BBB – Better Business Bureau of Central Florida, Inc. regarding Alec Difrawi and his companies are continually being deleted.
BBB of Central Florida, Inc. – Better Business Bureau
1600 S Grant St, Longwood, FL 32750
Ayman A. El-Difrawi aka Alec Difrawi aka Ayman A. Difrawi aka Alec Difrawy aka Alec Defrawy aka Alex Simon is a criminal, a mobster, a con man, a fraudster, a crook, a self-promoter, a wannabe whose history of engaging in scams and fraud always evolving. Mr. Difrawi brags that he is the quarterback for his many businesses (scams) he has created over the years. He is his own star celebrity of his business empire. As he craved for some notoriety. A self-promoter that is seeking grandiosity.
Mr. Difrawi business practice dates back to his days as a business associate of the infamous Boy band Founder Lou Pearlman and the ’90′s when Mr. Difrawi pleaded guilty of being the brains behind Small Business Loan Association and Small Business Association two entities set up to defraud consumers of small business loans using the alias Michael Difrawi and Michael Chandler.
Mr. Difrawi has since embraced the internet (a venue fertile to his fraudulent business practices) as an entrepreneur and claim to be an Internet Marketer creating 500 jobs in the Orlando, Florida area.
Mr. Difrawi has ventured into internet marketing under the disguise of Softrock, Inc., Gigats, Internet Solutions Company, Three Stars media, OMG Talents, softrockcareers.com, jobnab.com, Media Logic, mlinc.com, Career Network, Employer Network, Power Applications, BuzzGrub, Monkeyjar, and thousand of website to name a few.
His Current employer or business partner is Halyard Capital, a New York-based private equity fund dba Education Dynamics a firm base in New Jersey and Florida – Education Connection Service of Florida for which he manages their Call Center in Orlando, Florida. Difrawi now self incarnated internet/telemarketer for education Dynamics. http://www.educationdynamics.com/
Talent Search Agency, Modeling Agency, Franchise Sales, Higher Education Sales, Internet Marketing, Lead Generation, Marketing Campaign For Financial Services Firms, Consulting Services and God Knows what other services he provides that are not questionable and does not include fraud, deceptive practices, misrepresentation, scam or just criminality.
Alec Difrawi and his business partners are a threat to The Global Internet Infrastructure based on his business practices
Difrawi now admits that his internet marketing campaign centers on generating LEADS for higher education – for profit schools. source Linkedin.com
The company now specializes in designing and implementing websites that assists job seekers connect with employers, and provides them with the opportunity to improve their lives by going back to school.
The question is, what took him so long? He should have admitted to this on May 30, 2008 when he contacted us under the aliases Alex Simon:
from: Alexandersimon5@aol.com
to: Archie@premier-financials.com,
scamfraudalert@gmail.com
date: Fri, May 30, 2008 at 7:40 AM
subject: Internet solutions lawsuit
mailed-by: aol.com
Hello,
I am contacting you regarding the negative postings about our company, affiliated companies, and individuals related to those companies.
As you are aware we have instructed legal counsel to file suit.
While this matter is extremely serious for us we have found that by discussing the issue several other message boards have taken the false and defamatory information down voluntarily. If possible I would like to schedule a phone call to discuss this issue.
Please let me know if you would be amenable to discussing this issue by phone.
Regards,
Alex Simon

__________________________________________
from: Alexandersimon5@aol.com
to: scamfraudalert@gmail.com
date: Fri, May 30, 2008 at 11:03 AM
subject: Re: Internet solutions lawsuit
mailed-by: aol.com
Archie,
I can provide you with whatever contact information you need to verify I am with Internet Solutions Corp. I am just stating that the AOL address is the only one I regularly check. Tell me what information you need for verification purposes and I will provide it to you.
I would also caution you against taking a cavalier attitude towards a legal dispute. Though you may not know it the following are facts:
Your website has published false and defamatory information
Your moderators and administrators have been directly involved in this activity
We have verifiable damages directly resulting from your site
The results of this will be
We will sue
It will be costly for both parties, but as we have already have attorneys on staff our additional cost will be negligible.
We will win the lawsuit
We will be diligent in collecting damages.
I don’t know you Archie and you don’t know me. Your website has caused me personal damage for a long time. I have decided enough is enough and simply will not tolerate the lies on your site continuing. I am assuming at this point you are unaware that you are publishing lies that cause damage.
If so, lets resolve this and each pursue our lives. If you are not willing to do so I have no choice but to assume you are intentionally trying to harm our business and will take whatever legal steps are available to us.
Regards
Alex Simon
- 1990 – 1995 Modeling Agency, Small Business Loan Association, Shearson Management Group, Rick Ross Investigation- Trans Continential Talent, Under Investigation – An Inside Look Into Defrawy/Difrawi World
- 1996 – 2003 emodel – Transcontinential Model Lou Pearlman, SEC Filings,
- 2004 – 2008 Internet Solutions Corporation, Impact Worldwide, Instant Human Resources, TooSpoiled
- 2009 – 2010 Three Stars Media threestarsinc.com, Career Network, Monkeyjar.com, Buzzgrub, TitanWebsite, Media Logic
- 2011 – 2012 The Internet Company – internet-company.com, JobNab.com OMG-Talent, Super Model Project, Career Choice Network ,
- 2012 – Present Expand, Inc., Softrock, Inc. www.softrock.org and softrockcareers.com, Gigats.com
Additional References for last post:
- Business Information from the BBB Serving Central Florida
- Orlando BBB info on Career Specialists, Inc.
- Orlando BBB info on American Employment Network, Inc.
- Orlando BBB info on Internet Solutions Corporation
- Orlando BBB info on Monkeyjar.com
- Orlando BBB info on JobNab.com
- Orlando BBB info on Softrock, Inc.
- Illinios BBB info on eModel, Inc.
- Orlando BBB info on eModel, Inc.
- Orlando BBB info on Toospoiled.com
- MyWot – Safe Browsing Listing
- MyWot – CareerNetwork.com
- Instant Human Resources Scam –
- Impact Worldwide – Impact210 Scam
- BBB of Metro Washington DC & Eastern Pennsylvania reliability report for USAVoice.org
- WFTV Florida Online Job Sites Raise Questions *****
- Career Network – Orlando, Florida
- TransContinential Talent Looking For Models ****
- scamFRAUDalert – Monkeyjar.com
- Alec Difrawi aka Alec Defrawy Ripoffreport.com
- Ripoffreport.com – Alec Difrawi
- Ripoffreport – Options Talent
- Ripoffreport -TransContinental Talent
- Ripoffreport – Lou Pearlman, Charlie Crist and Alec Defrawy
- Ripoffreport – USAVoice Alec Defrawy
- Ripoffreport – WorldVoice USA
- Ripoffreport – emodel.com
- Ripoffreport – VeriResume.com
- Talent Rock LLC
- Scam.com Report
- Franchise Safari – Franchise Monster.com
- The Defrawy Eldifrawi Defrawi phishing, employment & franchise scams 2005 – 2006 ***
- Ripoffreport – jobnab.com
- Ripoffreport – Three Stars Media
- Ripoffreport.com Instant Human Resources – instanthumanresources.com
- Ripoffreport.com – Toospoiled.com
- Washington DC BBB report on Instant Human resources
- Washington DC BBB report on USA Voice
- Taking the Bait on a Phish Scam
- Helen Huntley – St. Petersburg Times
- Consumer Fraud Reporting
- Complaintsboard.com – Three Stars Media
- Complaintsboard.com – JobNab.com
- Complaintsboard.com – careernetwork.com
- Looking for a Job? Phishers Are Looking for You
- Employment Websites Play Fraud With Job Hunters
- Money Talk Tampa Bay Helen Huntly’s coverage of one Defrawy web site
- Money Talk Tampa Bay on USAVoice.org Helen Huntley
- Money Talk Tampa Bay Reader Sue – Helen Huntley
- Crimes on Persuasion Employment Page
- World Voice Report Careers
- Difrawi for Senate
- PhishingBucket.com – veriresume.com
- JobNab.com – wahm.com
- OMG Talent
- TooSpoiled.com
- MyWot.com Reports – SuperModelProject.com
- Ripoffreport.com – Kids Talent Network aka Model Republic Kids
- Wilhelmina Model Agency – Ripoffreport Investigations
- Klaas de Vries Jr. Investigation of Alec Defrawy
- scamFRAUDalert – TooSpoiled.com Entertainment aka impactWorldWide
- scamFRAUDalert – Impact Worldwide aka www.impactww.com
- scam.com – Impact Worldwide (Impactww.com) rocks
- Ripoffreport – Gigats.com
- Florida Divisionn of Corporation Search – Difrawi
- Florida Department of Corporation – Attorney Thomas Sadaka
- Google Search of Rafiah Kashmiri MOTHER
- Rafiah Kashmiri Director of Softrock, Inc. – Sunbiz.org MOTHER
- Florida Division of Corporation Search of Attorney Keith Kress
- Florida Division of Corporation Search of Kelly Romero
- Franchise-IT-Now – Terri Bears (Formerly Terri Bears-Nix and Terri Gladwell)
- Franchise It Now, Inc. – Same Players, New Game: Orlando Weekly
See please read:
Category:Criminals Category:American businesspeople Category:1964 births Category:Living people Category:People from Florida Category:Confidence tricksters Category:American fraudsters Category:American criminals
1701 Park Center Dr #100
Orlando, FL 32835
Apr 6, 2008
Ayman Ahmed El-Difrawi creator of emodel, Toospoiled, Monkeyjar and now OMG TALENT or omgapplications.com
Personally I think the Congress candidate stuff is a prank.
Copy from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Spelunkster/Scammer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ayman Ahmed El-Difrawi(also known as Michael El-Difrawi, Alec Difrawi, Alec Defrawy, Alec Defrawi, Alex Defrawy, Michael Defrawy, David Mellon, Michael Jenson, Michael Chandler and allegedly Alex Simon) is a controversial
Orlando area businessperson and possible candidate for
United States Congress withassociatons with various modeling companies (some of which themselves have been controversial. He is a founder of Industry Magazine, a franchised consumer fashion magazine, as well as a consulting firm. Hecurrently operates undera wide variety of businessnames, many of which have been compared to
phishing operations.His criminal conviction for fraud is often noted, although the ongoing relevance of this conviction is disputed by El-Difrawi himself, and he denies any wrongdoing in his current business operations.
Background
El Difrawi was born February 22, 1964 to Ahmed El-Difrawi and Rafiah Kashmiri, two Egyptian immigrants who now live in Groveland, Florida).
Ayman El-Difrawi was convicted of fraud in conjuntion with his activities with Shearson, and partner Ralph Edward Bell received a permanent injunction from the FTC from his activities with the Erickson
Agency.
Criminal History
In 1990, El-Difrawi (under the name Michael Defrawy) was arrested with associates Patrick Read, Thomas Bradshaw, and David Elliot for a felony – unlawful interception of an oral communication. The charges
arose from illegally taped phone calls In 1991 El-Difrawi was arrested on charges of felony child abuse and aggravated child abuse. In 1993, he pled Nolo contendere to a lesser charge of first degree misdemeanor child abuse. He was placed on 365 days probation, ordered to pay cost of supervision, and placed under other unnamed court restrictions.
In 1995, El-Difrawi pleaded guilty to a criminal charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud arising from an offense committed in 1991.
In 1996, El-Difrawi received s five years sentence in federal prison for which served four years and was ordered to pay more than $2.3 million in restitution to the victims of a scam he created through companies known as the Small Business Loan Association and Shearson Management Group. El-Difrawi was released from prison on August 27, 1999.
In 2006, El-Difrawi was arrested for misdemeanor assault in relation to a domestic violence incident, ordered out of his residence, and to have no contact with the victim.
Also in 2006, while testifying under oath for a lawsuit that Wilhelmina brought against Lou Pearlman, El-Difrawi stated that he was barred from doing business in the state of Illinois.
Modeling Business
El-Difrawi states that he started his modeling business as Studio 58 Models in 1999 with his mother and Dr. Saddek. The company went through various name changes, mergers, buyouts and acquisitions including eModel, Options Talent, Trans Continental Talent (TCT), Wilhelmina Scouting Network and Fashion Rock. He reports that, at one time, the modeling business had over 150,000 clients.According to the Orlando Better Business Bureau, eModel also traded as ModelsOnly, ModelsOnlyCosmetics, Options of Orlando, Scoutcareers.com, WHY Models, Why Scouts, and Whytalent.com.
As Early as 2001, media outlets began to call eModel and its other incarnations a scam.Well-known modeling agencies such as Ford Models and Elite Models
denied ever working with El-Difrawi’s modeling companies, and asked to have their names removed from the company web-site. A representative of Ford said that the modeling business was not reputable and lied about having a relationship with Ford.
El-Difrawi became associated with Lou Pearlman through the latter’s purchase of Option’s Talent Group.
Some details of El-Difrawi’s criminal record together with details of a business relationship between El-Difrawi, his mother and her husband were disclosed in an SEC filing relating to Trans Continental Entertainment Group Inc. Today he now operate OMG Talent on facebook.com
In 2003, the New York State Consumer Protection Board released a statement saying that the Wilhelmina Scouting Network was the largest example they had ever found of a “photo mill” scam.
Speaking about Wilhelmina and other modeling scams, New York State Senator Charles, Fuschillo Jr. said, “By targeting the young, hopeful and innocent of our state, these ’agencies’ try to make a quick, dishonest dollar and that is unacceptable.”
International news outlets Newsweek and Dateline NBC
both ran stories claiming that WSN (as the modeling business was then known) was using deceptive sales practices. Newsweek also noted that job outs until the company, “changes its business practices.” Newsweek also mention the criminal records of Dave Elliott, Alec DeFrawy (El-Difrawi) and Cortes Randall.
The Executive Director of the New York State Consumer Protection Board called the business a “modeling hoax.” Despite receiving approximately 2,000 consumer complaints, a 2-year investigation by the
Florida Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Unit into Wilhelmina Scouting Network, Options Talent Inc., eModels Inc. and Trans Continental Talent was discontinued in 2004 because the probe was unable to find “any substantial violations” and because the company had been bankrupted leaving no deep pockets to pursue. Before its bankruptcy, the company was under investigation in Florida, New York, and Massachusetts.
Some time in 2003, El-Difrawi and Ralph Edward Bell led a walk-out of the talent business with several other key players. El-Difrawi and Bell went on to found EYEMODEL. Soon after, several of the Wilhelmina’s customers noticed unauthorized charges on their credit cards which went to EYEMODEL. A consumer alert was issued that stated that someone at EYEMODEL who had walked out of Wilhelmina had stolen customer’s credit card information.
In 2004, Wilhelmina, who had licensed their name to Trans Continental Talent, sued Pearlman and the company for $24 million alleging nonpayment of fees and questionable business practices.
Wilhelmina claimed, as part of the suit, that Trans Continental recruiters used high-pressure tactics to get clients to pay huge sums of money to have their photos placed on the company’s web site. A Denver CBS affiliate conducted an investigation and found the agency scouts were trained to say anything to get average looking people to pay nearly $1000 to sign on. Despite comments to the contrary from the Orlando office, the Denver office promised would-be models they would get jobs. The investigation uncovered several talent scouts who had quit reportedly because they didn’t want to scam people.
While Pearlman and El-Difrawi originally downplayed El-Difrawi’s role in the company, Pearlman eventually characterized El-Difrawi as a principal saying, “He was the one that really developed the business.
He’s the one that put it together.” both critics and employees said that El-Difrawi was at the heart of the modeling agency from the very beginning. The former director of the company’s Atlanta office said,
“It’s Alec, He runs the whole thing.” Alec’s own web site states (without naming the company directly) that he, “founded the largest modeling company in the world,” and “partnered with Wilhelmina to Launch the Wilhelmina Scouting Network.”
El-Difrawi, under the name Defrawey, is currently being sued in Massachusetts
by former Options Talent / TCT / Wilhelmina franchisee Edriss Farazi.
The suit which also names Terri Bears-Nix, and franchise attorney Andrew
Caffey is for inter alia fraud and is current ongoing.
Industry Magazine
Franchised publication “Industry Magazine” was originally founded as Karma Magazine by El-Difrawy, Armand Kulpa (Trans Continental Talent’s VP of Sales and Marketing), and Ralph Edward Bell. In September of 2002, Lou Pearlman purchased a major share of the magazine (then Karma) which he then renamed ’Industry Magazine’ and turned into a franchised celebrity magazine while using it as an in-house promotional piece for Transcontinental Talent.
Past and Current Activities
El-Difrawi currently (2007) is a principal of Internet Solutions Corp. Internet Solutions Corp was registered as a company in Florida on 11 January 2007, by its CPVS Alex Finch, an Orlando lawyer who has represented El-Difrawi at least twice, and who has several businesses listed at the same addresses of Internet Solutions Corp.
The BBB lists the following businesses at the Exact Orlando Address and Suite number as Internet Solutions Corporation: International E Beauty Inc, Power Applications Inc., Career Specialists Inc., Rhino Exteriors LLC, Timeshare Brokerage of Florida Inc, McKinley Financial Services Inc, American Employment Network Inc., Key Mortgage Lending Services Corporation, Hirebug Inc, DBL Financial Service Corp, Desks and More LLC.
In an interview with the Los Angeles Times a spokesman of World Voice News
stated that his company is part of the same company as Instant Human Resources. One of Instant Human Resources’ satelite websites, “Facts About Instant Human Resources” was registered by Alex Simon on the address of Mrs Rafiah Kashmiri, the mother of El-Difrawi.
Some other sites, Abouttransconscams.org and Cardservicecareers.com were registered using the same address, by respectively Alec Difrawi aka Ayman A. Defrawy aka Alex Simon aka Ayman A. El-Difrawi aka Defrawy Consulting Group with a contact listed as Alex Defrawy is listed at the same address.
The following similar promotional sites state that they are owned by Internet Solutions Corp., Three Stars Media, The Internet Company, Softrock, Inc., Expand Incorporated, softrockcareers.com
- facts about Instant Human Resources, factsaboutinstanthumanresources@instanthumanresources.com
- facts about TooSpoiled, factsabouttoospoiled@toospoiled.com
- facts about Administrative Solutions, factsaboutsadminsolutions@adminsolutionsgroup.net
- facts about Good Grades Now, factsaboutGoodGradesNow@goodgradesnow.com
- facts about USAVoice, FactsAboutUSAVoice@USAVoice.org
- facts about Ask America, FactsAboutAskAmerica@askamerica.org
- facts about Veriresume, facts@veriresume.com
- facts about EBandSearch factsaboutebandsearch@ebandsearch.com
- Eband Search – ebandsearch.com
- JobNab.com – www.jobnab.com
- Career Network – career-network.com
- Monkeyjar – www.monkeyjar.com
- Court Careers – Courtcareers.com
- Titan Lead Generation
- All Criminal Justice – allcriminaljustice.com
- The Internet Company – internet-company.com
- Skilled Labor Careers – skilledlaborcareers.com
- Workforce Careers – workforcecareers.com
- Employers Network – employer-network.com
- Three Stars Media – threestarsmedia.com
- BuzzGrub.com
- Power Applications – powerapplications.com
- Applicant Tree – applicantree.com
- Softrock, Inc – softrockcareers.com
- Career Choice Network – careerchoicenetwork.com
- OMG Talent – omgapplication.com
- Media Logic – mlinc.com
- Federal Proffer – Bank Fraud [Small Business Loan Association]
- Lawsuits – scamFRAUDalert FRAUD LAWSUITS
- Lawsuit – Dominion Enterprises – Case # 1:2008-cv-00107-LO (Trademark Infringement)
- Breakdown Services, Inc. – Copyright Infringement 2:2008-cv-00615
- Lawsuit – VERCAI, INC – Highlight Difrawi’s Business Practices 6:2009-cv-02150-MSS-GJK
- Lawsuit – MyWot, Inc.
- Lawsuit – Challenger Gray & Christmas – FRAUD LAWSUIT # 2010-CA-26366
Other sites, “facts about” registered but currently not active:
The BBB of Central Florida lists Alec Difrawi and Alex Finch as the contacts for Internet Solutions Corporation, also operating under the names Consumer Business Bureau, Instant Human Resources, Internet
Solutions Corporation, Titan Website, Toospoiled.com, USA Voice, and VeriResume. Also according to the BBB, El-Difrawi’s offices suite at Kirkman Road in Orlando host the following businesses: Career
Specialists, Inc. American Employment Network, Inc. aka American Employment Network Inc. Arizona Placements, Atlanta Work Force, Carolina Job Specialists, Denver Employment Solutions, Employment Specialists, Massachussetts Job Source, Richmond Temps, San Diego HR Solutions, Seattle’s Best Placement, Windy City Careers. The BBB lists the name Alex Siman as contact for USAVoice.org, World Voice, and World Voice report which all have the same PO Box as Internet Solutions Corp and have an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau.
Reported Phishing Activity
After a 6 month investigation, WFTV (Florida) reporter Todd Ulrich reported that El-Difrawi and Ralph Edward Bell were running fake job sites (Instant Human Resources, and Internet Solutions Corp being two)
allegedly misleading people to apply for jobs that didn’t exist. Three Workers told WFTV that they solicited very private information in fake interviews which was then sold to companies for spamming purposes.
El-Difrawi, though attorneys, claimed that these were merely disgruntled ex-employees out to hurt the company. A spokesperson from the BBB said that people across the country had been scammed. Intenet Solutions Corp has been tagged by McAfee Site Advisor reviewer as a site that engages in phishing.
BBB DC notes about Instant Human Resources: This Business Operates under the Names, Instant Human Resources Internet Solutions Corp. National Human Resources World Careers (Worldcareersite). In a different report about USAVoice it also notes:
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the Bureau due to unanswered complaint(s).
The Bureau has received multiple inquiries from the public and is contacting the firm about complaint correspondence as well. Consumers report being asked for personal information, including Social Security
numbers, in order to set up an employment link with the firm. Further contact was not provided, however, and consumers report concerns that their information may be sold and mis-used.
According to the Washington Post, privacy experts have said that USAVoice (Instant Human Resources) is an extremely successful phishing scam. The Washington Metro BBB has logged over 8000 inquiries into the
company and the chief executive of the BBB said that the company appeared to be, “a scheme to amass and sell personal contact information.” Monster, and Careerbuilder reported removing all ads from
USAVoice and Internet Solutions by February of 2007.Reportedly in 2006 Yahoo Hotjobs removed all job ads for USAVoice after an investigation.
Privacy expert Pam Dixon looked into USAVoice and said that she was surprised the site appeared to be up for over a year, when most phishing sites only lasted a week. The site uses a unique two-pronged approach by actually contacting people who give up their personal info (and are then flooded by spam).
In 2007, El-Difrawi started a business and website using his real name. The name Crimes-on-Persuasion appears to be a takeoff of the Crimes of Persuasion site and book which are critical of El-Difrawi. The
site implements an employment scheme and copy to other El-Difrawi sites noted for phishing activity.
Run For Congress
Several web sites have been developed ostensibly to gather support for a run by El-DIfrawi for either Senate or the US House of Representatives. El-Difrawi is apparently running on a platform of
Internet Reform
References
- Orange County Clerk of Courts Case Number 04-CA-003146-O
- Barker, T. (October 5, 2003). SCOUTINGNETWORK’S HISTORY TROUBLESPEARLMAN ; TWO ASSOCIATES HAD FRAUDCONVICTIONS; A THIRD SETTLED A SUIT ALLEGING DECEPTION. Orlando Sentinel
- Orlando Sentinal ArchivesOctober 5, 2003, “SCOUTING NETWORK’S HISTORY TROUBLESPEARLMAN ; TWOASSOCIATES HAD FRAUD CONVICTIONS; A THIRD SETTLED A SUIT ALLEGINGDECEPTION.” (paid access)
- FTC v. Model 1, Inc. et al. United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Model 1, Inc. – Final Consent Order United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Florida department of State Small Business Loan Association
- ”4 Business Officers Taped Calls Illegally, Police Say”, November 22, 1990, Orlando Sentinel
- Clerk of the Circuit Court, Hillsborough County, Florida Docket for case nr 91-CF-014205
- Clerk of the Circuit Court, Hillsborough County, Florida Sentencing Information for case UCN:291991CF014205D001TA
- a b SEC Info – Trans Continental Entertainment Group Inc
- Washington Post March 12, 1996 Man Gets Four Years in Fraud Case
- Federal Bureau of Prisons Inmate Ayman El-Difrawi Register Number: 25268-016
- a b Orange County Clerk of Courts El-Difrawi misdemeanor assault case, September 2006
- Leusner, J (July 26,2006). “Contract-breach claim against Pearlman tossed; Today, the juryis expected to get the case that still involves fraud and trademarkinfringement”. Orlando Sentinel
- Modeling Story – Defrawi Consulting Group
- Orlando BBB Report on eModel.com Inc.
- Click on Detroit Hidden Cameras Expose Talent Agency Scam
- I Am Not A Model, Jane Magazine, March 2003
- Fox 61 NEWS Hartford, CT The Model Scam
- Komo 4 News Seattle buyer Beware: Ever Thought About Being A Model?
- KSAT, San Antonio Is eModel Golden Opportunity Or Big Business?
- WFTV Channel 9 Orlando, Florida Reports
- New York Post Jan 26, 2002 – MANNEQUIN MESS TOP AGENCIES DENY CONNECTION TO EMODEL
- New Times Broward-Palm Beach September 6, 2001 – Hustling for Models
- Options Talent Group: An I-Team Investigation at the Internet Archive
- Trans Continental Talent at the Internet Archive
- Office of Consumer Affairs – Nassau County, New York – Wilhelmina Scouting Network, Modeling Agency
- Brian Braiker (June 18, 2003). Model Misbehavior A Nationwide Talent-Scouting Agency Is Under Fire For Its Dealings With Would-Be Models–And Its Own Employees . Newsweek
- local10.com: State Ends Probe Into Pearlman’s Former Model-Scouting Company
- Berker, T. (September 10, 2003)“ASPIRING MODELS TOLD TO MONITOR CREDIT CARDS; THE DATABASE OF A COMPANYOWNED BY LOU PEARLMAN MAY HAVE BEEN COMPROMISED.” Orlando Sentinel
- Model contract turns ugly, boy band king sued – Orlando Business Journal
- cbs4denver.com – Talent Scouting Agency Investigation
- Barker, T. (October 30,2003) “LOU PEARLMAN FILES $100 MILLION LAWSUIT ; SUIT NAMES FORMERASSOCIATES OF MODEL SCOUTING COMPANY”. Orlando Sentinel
- – About COPonline.org
- Commonwwealth of Massachusetts, Worcester Superior Court, Department of the Trial Court, Case 03-843C
- Orland Weekly Lou’s Next Move
- BBB report on Industry Magazine
- Orlando Weekly More Bad Karma
- b National Arbitration Forum Decision – Industry Publications LLC v. Industry magazine
- Better Business Bureau of Central Florida Reliability Report of Internet Solutions Corp
- Internet Solutions Corporation – www.internetsolutionscorp.com
- Titan Website – www.titanwebsite.com
- Florida Department of State Internet Solutions Corporation
- Florida Department of State American Employment Network, Inc.
- Florida Department of State American Management Solutions, Inc.
- Florida Department of State Power Applications, Inc.
- Florida Department of State Franchise Monster Corp.
- BBB: Search Results 5401 S. Kirkman Rd., Suite 310, Orlando, FL 32819
- BBB: Search Result 5401 South Kirkman Rd
- LA Times “Sleeping on the job? Security at work-applicant sites faulted” by Joseph Menn, September 11 2007
- eModel.com
- TooSpoiled.com
- Impact210 – www.impact210.com
- www.worldvoicereport.com
- www.instanthumanresources.com
- Whois factsaboutinstanthumanresources.com Alex Simon, 16650 Royal Palm Drive, Groveland, Florida 34736, (321) 293-0698, david.k.katz@gmail.com Data original registration in Whois History, membership required
- SEC Info – Paramount Trust, et al
- Whois abouttransconscams.org Registrant Name:A Defrawy, Registrant Street1:16650 Royal Palm Drive Data original registration in Whois History, membership required
- Whois cardservicecareers.comSimon, Alex alexandersimon5@aol.com Coastal Management, Inc. 16650Royal Palm Dr. Groveland, Florida 34736 United States (321) 689-7654 Data original registration in Whois History, membership required
- OrlandoWeekly.com Same Players New Name….. Names Keep Changing
- Avoid Going To Work For Three Stars Media ******
- CardServicecareers.com
- Employment Guide – Employmentsguide.org
- Assistant US Attorney Kevin Burke Email ***
- David Bruce Elliott – Disposition
- Federal Government Proffer – Ayman A. El-Difrawi (Kevin Burke US Attorney)
- Better Business Bureau of Central Florida listing for Defrawy Consulting Group
- Business Information from the BBB Serving Central Florida
- Better Business Bureau -USA Voice.org aka Alex Siman
- Better Business Bureau – Three Stars Media, Inc.
- Internet Company aka Internet-Company, Inc. vs Challenger Gray
- Internet Solutions Corporation vs. Tabatha Marshall
- Internet Solutions Corporation vs. Les Henderson [Federal]
- INTERNETCOMPANY, INC vs. Challenger, Gray and Christmas
- Dominion Enterprises vs. Alec Defrawi, Denver Employment, USAVoice, Internet Solutions Corporation, et. al.
- Breakdown Services, LTD vs Internet Solutions Corporation
- Farazi Modeling Management vs Terri Bears, Alec Difrawi, eModel, et. al. 4:2003-cv-40124 NMG
- Three Stars Inc. vs VERCAI, INC.
- CareerNetwork, Three Stars Media, Internet-Company, Inc., Media Logic, Inc., Power Applications, Inc., et. al. vs. WOT Services, LTD, AgainstIntuition, et. al
- Internet Solutions Corporation, Three Stars Media, et. al. vs scamFRAUDalert
- Carlos Bello and The Super Model Project
- Monster.com vs. Alec Difrawi dba Franchise Monster Corp.
- Expand Incorporated dba Softrock, Inc. vs Adam Dolgoff
- FTC Charges Education Lead Generator with Tricking Job Seekers/Alec Difrawi
Nov 24, 2006
TooSpoiled a SCAM?
Yes, to my opinion it is. Just read Surroca,and this description of TooSpoiled used to be on scam.com When you apply to become an employee you are asked if you would like additional education. By agreeing to get additional education you earn money for the site. You also get on a call list for online universities who will hound you.
Here is one funny thing. There are many positions advertised on the site, but there are only 3 actual positions. No matter what position you are offered initially you will eventually be offered a Scout, Scout Manager, or Casting Manager position. If you want to test this create a fake email and apply for any other position.
Sure enough that email will be sent an offer to be one of the 3 aforementioned positions while the one you wanted is being considered. So now you have gone from a Site Admin to a Scout. You do the training call (sales pitch) and are sent out to find Models, Actors, and Musicians. In addition to many other things you are also told to BUY BUSINESS CARDS scouting without business cards is impossible after all.
This is yet another way the site earns revenue. Each person you send to the site is also asked if they wish tohaveadditional education thereby earning more money for the site. You would think this site makes money on bookings, but it really doesn’t. It makes the most on Education Leads followed by Business Cards.One thing that is important to noteisTooSpoiled produces no product and has no inventory. The business cards are through a 3rd party distributer.So here we have positions in this company:
- Casting Managers: Basically they steal from Craigslist and more reputable online modeling companies to find bookings. They have no insider contacts that any idiot couldn’t find.These are highly untrained people who sat in on one conference call and were told “ok go.”
- Education & Verification Representative: Telemarketer Ideal candidates for this position must have a high school diploma with some college or a college degree preferred. However, entry-level candidates are also welcome to submit your resumes, as training will beprovided upon being offered and accepting the position. To qualify for consideration, you must have proven verbal and written communication skills, be very organized and showcase a sincere interest in helping others.
- Scouts: The frontline employees who go out and drive traffic to the site.
- Scout Managers: Identical to Scouts, butwithacarrot in front of them. For a Scout Manager they are given a goal andapromise. “Scout 50-100 people to the site and we will assign you ateamof scouts with an easily obtainable salary of 100K/yr plus.” Sotheseare basically people who burn themselves out driving people to the sitefor a reward which comes in every way (minus the money).
Since we are on the subject of money these positions are setup to burn people out and make it so mathematically there is this carrot that is theoretically obtainable however practically unobtainable (ie Hundred of Thousands of people have been exposed to Impact and TooSpoiled with none having succeeded in obtaining a salaried position after their trial period).
TooSpoiled now OMG Talent will NOT steal your identity or ruin you credit. They will NOT directly harm you. They also will NOT make good on any promise related to how much money you can make working for them. I hope this puts some issues to light for some people.
Summary:
The scams practices of Mr. Difrawi over years can be seen through his business practices which are listed below:
- He and his companies profess to have legitimate work for young talents or job seekers when that is not the case (it is all second hand not directed towards toospoiled talent or emodel, or themilliondollarproject now OMG TALENT aka omgapplications.com)
- They profess to have industry professionals who regularly view the site to “discover” talent (also not true)
- They advertise salaries which are not obtainable realistically.
- They advertises thousands of jobs in majors US cities for career education recruitment purposes
- They highjack the urls of job postings for legitimate companies such as Volt Workforce Solutions, Appleone Employment, andurls of job postings for Warehouse worker, Medical Assistants, Skilled Labor Worker, and many other re-directing the prospective job seeker to their sites.
- They filed bogus lawsuits intimidating bloggers who published information regarding his business practices.
In reality the site really walks the line of legality and on a strictly moral ground it is completely abhorent. Huge promises to get you in the door and moving through their site with no follow through and
premade excuses to feed you. When you leave it doesn’t matter they mail to anyone who puts resumes on Craigslist, Careerbuilder, HotJobs, or Monster.
deVries (site gone)
This deceptive Defrawy “business model” comes down to:
1 – cheating hopefull job-hunters into acting as very cheap or even free labour2 – making them ignorantly spam and scam masses of hopefull consumers,to sell “opportunities” with less chances than entering a lottery.4 – having them recruit new marketeers and recruiters 5 – have the system running fully automated and self-supporting.
Lead generation for the Impact 210 / TooSpoiled SPAM databases started early 2005, using an ever changing line of fictious company sites. Currently running:
Instant Human Resources,
USA Voice,
Ask America,
Good Grade Zone,
Kasamba
Careers
associateprograms.com
Comment 5 (Posted by deb parks) |
In one way I find it odd that MySpace would have a problem with you promoting your book on “their site”” HOWEVER, many other services, web sites and SCAMS are saturating the pages. One in particular…
Impactww now known as Too Spoiled…claim to recruit talent in the fields of modeling, acting and musicians. I naively scouted for them from April 2006 until August 2006 and Still Have Not Received my pay. I’ve found over 30 of their scouts (so far) that also have not received their pay.
Something hoaky in MySpace World ?
paloozatalent.com (is down)
The Impact Worldwide/Toospoiled event Impact Worldwide Talent Showcase renamed to Talent Palooza ’06 first was rescheduled three times and then finally was canceled completely. They have this message
on paloozatalent.com (November 25)
The Impact Worldwide / Talent Palooza 06 event has been canceled.
To find out information on how to obtain a refund please contact customerservice@paloozatalent.com
Update april 6, 2008
impact210.com , impactww.com , talentpalooza.com, paloozatalent.com and most other connected sites are down, gone after a short life.
Toospoiled seems to slowly goin down too, they stopped spamming for it half a year ago. Their spam database will be huge after the four years they been working on it. Meaning, they can send a lot of better targeted spam for a wide variety of “opportunities” now, while staying under the radar. Hundreds of very simple new sites are waiting for your personal data. See my next post for more.
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Three Stars Media represents themselves, both on their website and via job boards Careerbuilder, etc) as a Marketing and Media company. They post jobs that do not exist such as “personal shopper, ” “advertising coordinator, ” “copywriter” only to lure people into an interview.After sitting through an hour long interview you learn that you will be contacting people via phone all day to sell them into furthering their education at an online school AND collecting information to sell off to other companies. This company is a huge scam and yet it has postings popping up all over national job boards, deceiving people into thinking they can be hired as an administrative assistant or an editor.Three Stars Media must be stopped from endangering the public and misleadingjob seekers. Local Orlando news channels have done stories on the pyramid scheme of this company.I am telling you honestly, from sitting through an “interview” at this “company” that things are not as they seem or as they are posted. These posted positions do not exist. |
TooSpoiled.com gives people an opportunity to make money by maintaining a homepage with them. Members earn cash from ads that are posted on your homepage. Most of us have a
MySpace or FaceBook page that you update regularly, why not make some money. You can choose ads from companies they partner with to put on your page.
They have a long list so you are sure to find some company that you will want to advertise for. This is not a new concept, banner ads, sponsored results, pop-ups, etc…that earn per click have been makingwebmasters and website owners money for a while. TooSpoiled.com is cutting you in on the action, letting you become an affiliate marketer by placing ads on you homepage. Of course, your potential earnings depends on two things, the traffic to your homepage and ad revenue.
Getting people to revisit your homepage will increase your earning potential. If you are an online social butterfly with many contacts already, you could earn a good income with
toospoiled.com.With the way you can pick your own ads, advertisers indicate upfront how much they are willing to pay per-click. High-ticket items and very competitive industries tend to pay more, so you can decide to only have high paying ads on your home page.
However, remember to choose ones that your page’s visitors will want to click on.In the beginning,you should not expect to make more than a few dollars a day off your home page, the success of your page is dependent on your developing an extensive network of friends and updating the content on your page often.TooSpoiled member are eligible for auto insurance discounts (from AIG), discounts from stores such as Better Homes and Garden, Books-A-Million, and TiVo along with some other offers.At toospoiled.com, you can do more than just keep up homepage. They are mainly a network of models, actors, talent scouts, and industry professionals. A place to get global exposure for those seeking work as a model or actor. There is a charge for this service, however you only get charged for booking request you accept, and it is only $3.95 per booking (unlimited bookings 19.99 per month), everything else is free. The concept is you make you homepage with your headshots and resume.
Than casting directors, agencies, producers, etc. have access to your portfolio. Now don’t be expecting Steven Speiglburgh to call you from this but it could help get you some work or let you find out if even want to do this kind of work. They have testimonials and success stories from others that have usedtoospoiled to get work, but I never believe testimonials.If modeling or acting is not your thing than you might want to try begin a Scout Manager.
As a scout manger you will oversee a team of twenty to thirty Talent Scouts ( you can also be a Talent Scout), you will be responsible for running meeting, training, and support your team of Scouts. TooSpoiled offers full training for thisposition, good pay, and benefits.Another opportunity for you is Casting Manager, in thisposition you will be in contact with producers, talent scouts, etc. that are seeking talent to full slots. Youshould be able to work with little supervision and be a self-starterto besuccessful in this position.
Again, for those that qualify, you will be an employee of TooSpoiled; this job comes with medical benefits, bonuses, tuition reimbursement, and possible advancements within the company. You can even ask about open positions in accounting and technical services and stuff like that; from time to time they are available.Note: ads on toospoiled page are from
commission junction.com;
if you want to use your own ads you must go to commissionjunction’s website and sign up for an account with them, than apply to the
TooSpoiled.com affiliate program and affiliate programs affiliated with TooSpoiled.com. Get link codes from CJ.com and enter in appropriate boxes on toospoiled.com.
As all ways, do your own research before apply to any ‘job’ online.
This email was sent to me regarding my resume on I’m guessing Careerbuilder. It looks exactly like all the normal spam emails and when you go to the link it asks you for your cell number along with your
carrier which is the useless information I have seen way too many people get jipped by with these marketing companies. They try to be smart however and use the prominent William Morris Agency’s name to try and look legit I suppose. I did not fill their form out and tried to get an email address for the William Morris Agency to try and warn them so they could tend to it however it is nowhere on their site. I’m copying and pasting the email so you can see this for yourself.
______________________________________________________
Dear Elizabeth,
I recently reviewed your resume online and I think you are a great candidate for one of our clients, the William Morris Agency, who is looking to hire an assistant to a talent agent. I would like to invite you to apply.
William Morris has endless opportunities for assistants with an interest in talent. Previous talent agency experience is a plus and a bachelors degree is preferred. Experience in administrative responsibilities is necessary to handle the heavy phone traffic and high volume of workflow in the office including email, and a heavy meeting schedule.
The right candidate will be offered a generous compensation, which includes overtime and full benefits.
Joining the team at William Morris Agency (WMA), you will have the opportunity to be part of the largest and most diversified talent and literary agency in the world, with over 20 locations worldwide.
If youd like to pursue this position, please click on the link below, which will lead you to an online application to fill out. If the link doesn’t work, you can copy and paste the link into your browser. Once I receive you application, I will contact you within 24 to 48 hours to discuss this opportunity further.
http://emplymentopportunitieswithveriresume.com/cmanager.aspx?email=elizabethfjohnson@msn.com&id=shrdtf7_lil_administrative_10282007_tu&rd=587
Regards,
Greg McMahon
Bchynadoll
somewhere, New Jersey
U.S.A.
If you want to get to the bottom of this, the contact info you need to know about Career Network (which is actually Three Stars Inc. out of Orlando, FL) Here you go:
Kelly Weems now Kelly Weems Romero(Operations/Job Boards Manager)
Phone: (407)803-4777 and that’s a direct line to her.
Keith Kress (the lawyer for Three Stars Inc) (407)803-4621 and that’s also a direct line to him.
I spoke with both, and they are an AFFILIATE TELEMARKETING SCAM! Wikipedia that word.
They dont consider them a scam but a “national staffing company”. They admit they produce “generic” job postings. But they also said that if they are posted in your area, that these jobs exist.
So I challenged that, and thats where the scam has a huge red flag. They wont tell me cause they are a “staffing company” and cannot give out their “clients”.
I googled a bunch of stuff but Orlando News stations have been uncovering this for a long time. One video on YouTube was of one of them. They were given 9 “clients” and one (the only they stated in the video) was the United States Army! Are you serious, a government needing a national staffing company to do the work, whatever!
I have also filed with the FTC, the Better Business of Orlando, and the Internet Crimes complaint of the FBI.
Anyone (like myself) that put in your personal information but yet was not given any local jobs that are REAL, should be worried. They told me that they are not a Phishing scam…but if they cannot produce REAL PROOF of the jobs, thats exactly what it is!
AS yourself something…How many REAL jobs are you seeing people getting thru them? I see a high percentage (if not all) of people going thru their “steps of a staffing company” but NOT GETTING A REAL JOB.
At least tell us something real, since we gave all our personal information to them and could be used against us! They wont, and thats where something needs to be done.
Thats fine if they want to be some national staffing company, but post something REAL like a local phone number in the area or a business name.
They cannot, but “assure” you they are real. Is that the same as the saying “the check is in the mail?”
Good luck, and those numbers are real. Here is a link to the Better Business Buearu in Orlando on these punks! You have to type in other names if you want to know the whole understanding of these scums…
http://centralflorida.app.bbb.org/newsearch2.asp?ComID=073300123509898#Accred
Also, those sites that make you “apply” for those jobs…try all these websites and tell me what they have in common.
Apple Staffing, Career Network, Skilled Job Seekers, Extend Your
Careers, The Job Push, Medialogic, Your Jobs Today, Great Career Search,
Great Jobs Plus, Light Speed Careers
You will notice they are ALL Three Stars Inc. if you go to the contacts page and so on. They all look the same, being generic like their jobs postings!
Good luck, and the way to take them down is in numbers! I would be all power to them being a business if they A told me something real and specific about the job posting in my area about what company or location its at B} was accredited by the Better Business Bureau (which they are
not, cause they are too chicken to do so C
PUT IN THE JOB POSTINGS AND WEBSITES OF BEING AN AFFILIATE MARKETING SCEME AND THEY ARE A NATIONAL STAFFING COMPANY OUT OF ORLANDO FLORIDA!
It took BBB and tons of research online to get the information and phone
numbers I have now! All the websites most of you have seen doesnt give
out numbers, just the whole “email us and we will get back to you” crap!
If they would have put that in there, then I would have NEVER given out
my information and moved onto a job posting that is real and local!
Besides, Im not a person that does the whole “staffing” type of jobs.
Power to you if you use them.
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I just got a text message from a 32075 number sayingcareernetwork.com– Hi ( Name ) Call me about the computers, software Job you have applied for 1-888-955-5579. (text STOP to cancel)At first I thought it was weird on how they contacted me, but I was a bit edgy on the company never heard of it.I proceeded with calling them. Here is what I got when I called.Hello, and welcome to career track. if you recently applied for a job online please hold. someone will be with you shortly. The estimated time for waiting isless then 1 minute. Thank you.Here is where I hung up because most jobs I have applied for have a line for everything this one said “Career track” NOT Career Network. Myteachers in High school used to always say get your life on track so you can have a good career. I thought this was weird ( For me Atleast)I looked up information on the site and came across this site saying the whole thing is a SCAM.I knew my Hunch was right it was too real to be true. |