In the Scam of the day for September 12, 2024 I told you that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had settled lawsuits it had brought against Robert William Shafer and Samuel J. Smith who had operated a business opportunity scam called Blueprint To Wealth that targeted people seeking to start their own businesses. The two scammers charged their victims fees of between $3,000 and $21,000 in addition to administrative fees for membership in the scheme which promised its members turnkey online businesses that were represented to be operated on the members’ behalf, however, there was no business at all other than selling the same scam to other people. According to the terms of the settlement, both defendants are banned from operating business opportunity projects in the future and were required to turn over cash and bank accounts.
As part of the settlement, the defendants’ forfeited funds were used to send refunds from the FTC to victims of the scam beginning in September of 2025, however, because there are still funds remaining from the forfeitures the FTC is sending additional payments to victims of the scam. If you were a victim of this scam and need information about getting your payment from the FTC go to the FTC Refund tab in the middle of the first page of Scamicide.com
TIPS
The sale of business opportunities is regulated by the FTC’s Business Opportunity Rule which requires the sellers of business opportunities to provide a one-page disclosure document outlining important facts about the offering including informing you about any legal actions in which the sellers have been involved. The disclosure also has to provide you with details as to any refund policy and provide a list of references. Additionally, as is always the case with these types of scams, if they make claims about how much money you can earn through their scheme, they must provide you with an Earnings Claim Statement that indicates in detail the specifics of those claims and the opportunity to see written proof of the claims.
Before considering any kind of business opportunity, you should have a lawyer review these required disclosures and if the person offering you the business opportunity does not provide these documents, you should consider that a red flag that this is a scam. You also should investigate the people behind the offering as well as the particular type of business opportunity.
You also can do a Google or other search engine search of any company from which you are considering making a purchase in which you type in the company’s name along with the words “scam” or “complaints” and see what you come up with.
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