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Fundraising scam has wide reach

4 min read

WAYNESBURG – Local businesses and individuals are being warned by Central Greene School District and the Waynesburg Area Chamber of Commerce to be aware of a company or companies seeking advertising support for promotional items. The callers claim they are working in conjunction with the chamber or school district in a fundraising effort.

According to recent news reports, other school districts, groups and organizations also should be on the alert. Warnings such as these are being issued across the United States by other chambers of commerce, school districts and local law enforcement agencies.

In the case of Central Greene School District, a company representative from Fanfare Sports placed calls to local businesses claiming to be selling items with the Raider logo. The sale of the items would support district sports teams, the caller said.

Calls with a similar theme were made on behalf of the chamber of commerce by Scoreboard Marketing indicating they were working with the chamber on a fundraising project to produce a Greene County map.

Melody Longstreth, executive director of the chamber of commerce, first issued a warning about the scam in March.

Fanfare Sports and Scoreboard Marketing are the same company. Both are part of the umbrella company of Universal Adcom of Arlington, Texas.

In fact, there are more than a dozen company names the company uses, according to nationwide complaints with the Better Business Bureau, law enforcement agencies and the offices of attorney generals in several states.

The BBB and law enforcement have identified other names used by the owners and representatives of Universal Adcom as Academic Assets, All American Sports, All States Media, American Medical Directories, Custom Sports, D&L Map Service, Gildenblatt Enterprises, Graphic Impressions, Historical Map, Hometown Productions, Mirror Map Co., Multi Marketing Corp., MultiMedia, Premier Map Co., Prime Time Advertising, Scoreboard Productions, Texas High School Publications, Totes to Go and The Weekend Fisherman.

Universal Adcom and its affiliated businesses received an ‘F’ rating for its business practices from the BBB.

In 2010, then-Oregon Attorney General John Kroger announced a settlement of more than $35,000 with Universal Adcom for falsely claiming to be working with an Oregon Chamber of Commerce and the county there to sell advertising for a map. In Chino, Calif., the local police department issued a warning about Universal Adcom claiming to be producing emergency preparedness magnets in conjunction with the city of Chino. The BBB has had more than 330 complaints during its current 3-year reporting period.

Many of those who have elected to do business with the company reported billing for orders not placed, misrepresenting its affiliation with civic organizations, deceptive sales calls, non-receipt of products, and poor quality products, according to the BBB and law enforcement. Other tactics have been harassing and repetitive phone calls and refusal to remove businesses and individuals from calling lists.

It was also noted by the BBB that the caller may attempt to verify a birthdate in an attempt to later validate that the call took place. Birthdates are easily obtainable from internet search engines, especially with many people using social media. Later calls from the company discussing bills for items not received and/or not ordered have resulted in the company stating the caller’s birthday, according to the BBB.

Although the complaints registered with the BBB currently stands at just 330 plus, the BBB said the number is much higher when one considers that the majority of those complaints were multiple complaints.

The BBB gave the following example, which contains three complaints within one submission: a customer complained they received a bill for an order not placed, the product received was poor quality and the business refuses to remove it from the solicitation call list

Central Greene School District Business Manager Debbie Crouse said the district does not have a contract with these companies for so called “promotional items”.

“The District does appreciate the support of the community for legitimate fundraisers; however, if there is any doubt, please call our head of fund raising, Russ Moore, Athletic Director, at 724-852-1050, ext 226,” Crouse said.

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