eMutualTrust.us SCAM

[ritchieedwin]

I have just been scammed by a so-called escrow company with a web site at emutualtrust.us.

I bought a $40K truck on eBay from a person in Janesville, WI. A Google search revealed the seller is a small-time sports bar owner in the village and had apparent long-term residency in the area. He lives in a run-down part of town whose residents would be unlikely to own a $40K vehicle that cost $100K new.

Upon completion of the auction, the seller indicated that he needed immediate payment, otherwise I risked his selling to someone else. The seller conveniently suggested he would hold the vehicle for me if I used an escrow company to hold the money until I could inspect my purchase.

I immediately received an email from eMutualTrust saying the transaction had been approved and the seller would pay the escrow fees.

I wire transferred the money to the escrow bank account in the Chase Bank in Brooklyn, NY. According to the escrow company, the money took a week to arrive in their account. Finally, they emailed a confirmation that the money had arrived and said I could arrange to inspect the vehicle.

Before I could arrange a viewing time, the escrow company emailed that the money had been frozen and I had to wait until the beneficiary could be confirmed. They suggested I contact my bank to have them confirm with Chase the beneficiary's name.

An IP search at this point showed that both the seller and the escrow company were using the same computer. Not only that, they had been criss-crossing North America in unison, apparently using hotel and airport networks to send emails.

A Whois search showed that the site is registered to a Jerry Nygaard of 1697 Wentworth Ave, South St Paul, MN. The house appears to be in a neat, well-kept blue-collar area with a mean income of around $30K.

A Google search of Jerry shows he is a real person and his telephone number is (651) 552-9907. He may also have a Facebook account, although I cannot confirm this is the same Jerry Nygaard. I have written to one of his Facebook friends for confirmation or otherwise, but have not had a reply. There is another address listed for a Jerry Nygaard in Richfield, MN. This Jerry may or may not be the same person.

I wrote to APlus.net to inform them they are hosting a website engaged in criminal activity, but they told to take a hike as follows:
Under United States law (Section 230(c)(1) of the Communications Decency Act of 1996), "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider."

As applied by numerous court cases, Aplus.net is simply a "provider" of an "interactive computer service" and cannot, therefore, be treated (and held liable) as "the publisher or speaker" of any information "provided by another information content provider," i.e., http://www.emutualtrust.us.

I have reported this to the South St Paul police, but have not had a reply.

The escrow company finally said that they have refunded me my money, saying it never reached their account. Nevertheless, my bank has confirmed that the money arrived in the beneficiary's account. Emutualtrust is now suggesting my bank has stolen the money.

[ritchieedwin]

Here are the contact numbers and alias' of the fraudsters:

William Corcoran.
escrow@emutualtrust.us
Customer Care Service
eMutual Trust
Chase Metrotech Center 7th Floor,
Brooklyn, NY 11245, USA
http://www.emutualtrust.us
Phone/Fax: 1-888-826-5732


"Seller":
James Flewelling
icu81200@hotmail.com
Janesville, WI

[georg]

so sorry....but i can say only: we have insert this fake-company long time before in the database...
http://escrow-fraud.com/fraud_data.php?id=7978