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View Full Version : Bankrollbonanza owner is scum


09-24-2005, 02:52 AM
I'm officially pissed off.

www.bankrollbonanza.com (http://www.bankrollbonanza.com) is being run by a criminal. He is literally stealing from people, and I'm ready to take whatever action I can.

Just over a month ago I did three referrals through his site. I should be getting 3x$50 in PartyPoker gift certificates from him. I was patient at first. I figured it could take a couple of weeks to make it happen.

Well, after three weeks I started posting on the message board at that site. Also sent a few emails to his address. I was very polite, and just figured the dude was busy. However, his message boards started going crazy with people wondering why the guy wasn't getting back to questions and requests for why no one was getting paid.

Today the link to the message board was removed. This is not good. I'm pissed. If anyone has a suggestion on how to proceed I would love to hear it. I've already taken the time to contact all of the sites that he advertises on his site.



Edit: I looked it up. Its been six weeks (8-10-05) since I finished all three referrals through this guys site.

KKbluff
09-24-2005, 03:46 AM
Call the police?

(its not like they are "literally" stealing from people)

PygmyHero
09-24-2005, 10:09 AM
I can verify all of the details that the OP mentions as I am another one of the people who got ripped off by this affiliate (I did two referrals through him).

Numberous emails and phone calls have all been ignored. During this time his site has been updated a number of times, showing that he clearly still intends to run the site and steal from more people. Let's be clear: if you do a signup through this site, be aware that he has NO intention of paying you.

The most recent change to the website was removing the forum - this was obviously done so all the victimized users could no longer communicate with each other. There had been posts for a week or two about how the person running the site was incommunicado.

In any event, here was some important information that one user dug up and posted on the forum:
Benjamin A (bankrollbonanza@yahoo.com)
+1.3109084338
Fax: +1.3109084338
2438 Roscomare Rd.
Los Angeles, CA 90077

It is my intention to continue to try and contact him via email and phone. I will also be contacting every site he is an affiliate with and try to get them to revoke his status. I will be explaining the situation to them and directing them to this thread. I would urge anyone else who got ripped off to do the same.

09-24-2005, 10:46 AM
[ QUOTE ]
The most recent change to the website was removing the forum - this was obviously done so all the victimized users could no longer communicate with each other. There had been posts for a week or two about how the person running the site was incommunicado.

[/ QUOTE ]

This was the kicker for me. I've posted this on lots of forums. Also sent emails to every site that he is an affiliate for. He's pissed me off. Taking down the forum was a BIG mistake.

We were all being VERY civil on that board. Everyone was waiting patiently just waiting for some sort of communication back from him. Then he drops the board entirely? Big mistake.

PygmyHero
09-24-2005, 12:14 PM
I have composed an email and just sent it off a moment ago. The email was sent to the following sites (all the ones listed on the Bankroll Bonanza site:

Pacific Poker: marketing@PacificPoker.com
Poker Room: support@pokerroom.com
Royal Vegas: Support@RoyalVegasPoker.com
7 Sultans: Support@7SultansPoker.com
Bodog: service@bodog.com
Paradise Poker: support@paradisepoker.com
Aces.com: cashier@aces.com
Players Only: support@playersonly.com
Absolute Poker: Support@AbsolutePoker.com
Ultimate Bet: memberservices@ultimatebet.com

Or, if you're writing an email, just copy and paste this into the 'To' field:

marketing@PacificPoker.com, support@pokerroom.com, Support@RoyalVegasPoker.com, Support@7SultansPoker.com, service@bodog.com, support@paradisepoker.com, cashier@aces.com, support@playersonly.com, Support@AbsolutePoker.com, memberservices@ultimatebet.com

My email was titled, 'Reporting Rogue Affiliate - Bankroll Bonanza.' Here's a copy. Feel free to send this or a modified version.

To Whom It May Concern:

I am writing with regards to an affiliate who works with your site. Please forward this email to the relevant department. The affiliate in question operates the website www.bankrollbonanza.com. (http://www.bankrollbonanza.com.)

I signed up through two of the affiliate links on the Bankroll Bonanza page. My first account was verified quickly and I was given store credit. When my second account was not verified in a timely manner I attempted to contact the affiliate at BankrollBonanza@yahoo.com, the contact address listed on the site. From 9/13 to 9/20 I wrote four emails, none of which were returned or even acknowledged.

It was at this point that I began to explore the Bankroll Bonanza Forum (there used to be a link to this on the main page, it is not longer active). It turned out that a few other users were having the same problems – they had done sign ups through the Bankroll Bonanza links and were not receiving any credit, nor were they receiving any responses in their efforts to contact Bankroll Bonanza.

All of the conversation on the forum was civil, as most people were simply interested in receiving what they were promised, and many had had positive experiences in the past. Some people seemed to feel that the lack of contact from Bankroll Bonanza would be explained and everything would be resolved soon.

Then on 9/23 the link to the forum on the main page was removed. This prevented users from talking to one another and receiving updates on the situation. It had been noted that while Bankroll Bonanza was not responding to any customers, they had updated their web page on several occasions, removing the forum link was just the most recent modification. Many users were frustrated by this fact as it showed that Bankroll Bonanza was still operating and was blatantly ignoring everyone’s requests for information and for Bankroll Bonanza to make good on it’s sign up offers.

Please review this thread on the 2+2 forums as it contains the latest information on the Bankroll Bonanza situation, and a few people who had been posting on the Bankroll Bonanza forum (including myself) are now posting there: http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Number=3484849&page=0&view=colla psed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

Although Bankroll Bonanza owes me money, that is not my primary concern. I know that the respective poker sites I am writing to cannot force Bankroll Bonanza to pay me, nor are they responsible for fulfilling the terms of Bankroll Bonanza’s sign up offers. However, what they can do, and what I am requesting them to do, is revoke Bankroll Bonanza’s affiliate status. Allowing Bankroll Bonanza to continue to exist and sign people up through their affiliate links and then not pay them is fraud, and tarnishes the images of the poker sites involved.

I am appending below the contact information for the Bankroll Bonanza site. One user found this information (I am not sure how), and posted it on Bankroll Bonanza before the forum was removed. I am not sure whether or not it will be the same information that this affiliate registered with each poker site.

Benjamin A (bankrollbonanza@yahoo.com)
+1.3109084338
Fax: +1.3109084338
2438 Roscomare Rd.
Los Angeles, CA 90077

Thank you very much for your attention to this matter. Again, my request is that Bankroll Bonanza’s affiliate status be revoked.

Sincerely,
[name removed]

I will be posting any replies I receive from the sites in this thread.

KingMedicine
09-24-2005, 01:07 PM
wow, remind me never to scam you.

09-24-2005, 01:57 PM
Wow, this comes as a suprise to me. I did 3 or 4 affiliate signups thru BB.com, and received all of my gift cards. I even had a leftover balance of like $30 there after I did all of the signups I was eligible for, and asked him if he could send me that $30 in an Amazon GC, which he did. I'm not saying things aren't shady now, but this was all in the last 3 months. He was slow, and I had to be persistent with my e-mails, but everything worked out. E-mail him and direct him to this thread, maybe that will get his attention.

Schwatt

09-24-2005, 04:18 PM
I'm with you guys. He owes me as well. If the poker rooms will give up his info., we can find him. They must have it;I'm sure they've paid him. He hasn't returned the favor to us though.

I also sent emails to several sites.

The phone number is a cell, which can't be traced. The address is a residence but no one named Benjamin lives there. If we get the full last name though, everything changes.

09-24-2005, 04:51 PM
His name is Jeff, AFAIK.

I got partial credit for one bonus, and then nothing afterwards.

PygmyHero
09-25-2005, 01:01 AM
When I checked my email today I had an unusually large amount of junk mail. This email account happens to be the one I have been using to attempt to contact the Bankroll Bonanza site management. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I DO NOT think this is a coincidence. It would appear that Bankroll Bonanza has decided to sign up for all sorts of wonderful promotional offers using my email address.

I wanted to post this so that people could see how entirely classless this affiliate is behaving. If people have had positive experiences in the past, that is fine. But it does nothing to change the fact that the affiliate has now gone rogue and cannot be trusted.

timprov
09-25-2005, 04:45 AM
[ QUOTE ]
I am appending below the contact information for the Bankroll Bonanza site. One user found this information (I am not sure how)

[/ QUOTE ]

It's the registration data for the domain. You might want to contact avahost.net, who host it, as I'm sure they won't be too happy to be hosting a fraudulent site.

PygmyHero
09-25-2005, 09:22 AM
[ QUOTE ]
It's the registration data for the domain. You might want to contact avahost.net, who host it, as I'm sure they won't be too happy to be hosting a fraudulent site.

[/ QUOTE ]
Thank you. I will be contacting avahost after breakfast then. I'm not very technologically inclined, so I had no clue how anyone dug up his contact info.

On another note, I received a ton more junk email today. Again, it does not seem to be a coincidence that I am receiving all of it AFTER I emailed Bankroll Bonanza and alerted them to this thread.

PygmyHero
09-25-2005, 10:00 AM
I just sent an email to avahost explaining the situation and directing them to this thread. I would encourage the other people who replied to this thread (who were scammed), to do the same).

Thank you.

09-25-2005, 12:26 PM
[ QUOTE ]
I just sent an email to avahost explaining the situation and directing them to this thread. I would encourage the other people who replied to this thread (who were scammed), to do the same).

Thank you.

[/ QUOTE ]

Got an email address you can share?

PygmyHero
09-25-2005, 01:52 PM
[ QUOTE ]
Got an email address you can share?

[/ QUOTE ]
support@avahost.net

09-26-2005, 01:10 AM
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Got an email address you can share?

[/ QUOTE ]
support@avahost.net

[/ QUOTE ]
Thanks. I sent them an email as well.

09-26-2005, 03:23 PM
The message board on that site is still there, but the link from the page is gone. Here is the link to the message board.

http://www.bankrollbonanza.com/forum/

PygmyHero
09-26-2005, 07:44 PM
FBG - good find on the forum. I didn't think of that. The link worked for me but I can't login or post anything.

If you still can post please put up a link to this thread. Also, encourage people to come on this forum and post in this thread.

If Bankroll Bonanza management is able to shut down that forum we can still air our grievances and communicate with each other here.

09-26-2005, 10:42 PM
[ QUOTE ]
FBG - good find on the forum. I didn't think of that. The link worked for me but I can't login or post anything.

If you still can post please put up a link to this thread. Also, encourage people to come on this forum and post in this thread.

If Bankroll Bonanza management is able to shut down that forum we can still air our grievances and communicate with each other here.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't believe the guy would leave the board there. Not the brightest bulb on the tree I guess. Also, I was able to login and post after changing my password.

Some good news. Another poker affiliate saw this thread and contacted me. I'm hoping this new connection can lead to us getting a name.

Keith Fellmy
09-27-2005, 10:26 AM
First off I am not a bankroll bonanza member, but the board says only 16 registered members. How much money can this guy be stealing? I think FBG said he was owed 150 bucks. This guy can't be getting much. Seems to me that his internet reputation would be worth saving for a few thousand bucks. Millions of dollars might be another story, but not a few thousand bucks. Some people?

Good luck with getting your money fellas.

PygmyHero
09-27-2005, 10:35 AM
Yes, it appears that there are not many forum memebers and as such I come to the same conclusion - this guy is not making too much off of his scam. For the record, he owes me $110.

There are probably people who are owed money who never registered with the forum (I did not register until it started to look like I was getting ripped off).

Anyway, I think FGB and I have both made it clear that we're not out to get our money. I'm trying to have this guys affiliate status revoked, and get his site shut down. This isn't even about the principle. I just don't want him to be able to rip off more people in the future.

09-27-2005, 01:45 PM
To be clear. My $150 is as good as gone. However, it would bother me to no end if I just sat back and allowed others to get ripped off. When that site disappears I'll feel better about it.

Update: Got an email back from Pacific or Paradise (can't remember which off the top off my head) letting me know this clown is not and has never been an affiliate for their poker site. Go figure.

PygmyHero
09-27-2005, 04:40 PM
Pacific informed me that they are reviewing his affiliate status. I guess that's to be expected - they won't tell me what they end up doing (if anything.

UB also is reviewing his status.

Most of the other sites sent me a confirmation email but have not yet replied to my complaint specifically.

His host also said it would review whether or not it will continue to host him.

Not exactly as concrete as I'd like. I'm going to wait a day or two more and then send the email out again to all the sites that didn't reply to me yet.

09-27-2005, 09:07 PM
Looks like he completely removed the forum now. Won't come up when I try the URL. He's on the run now.

Keith Fellmy
09-28-2005, 01:17 AM
It worked for me. I used the URL listed here and it came up fine.

PygmyHero
09-28-2005, 08:26 AM
FBG - I can still get to the forum by following the link.

Also, I was able to post today, something I was NOT able to do yesterday.

I wrote a brief message asking people who are having troubles to come and post here. This will allow us to communicate even if he is able to shut the forum down, and also adds support to our case. I am going to send out another round of emails today to all the sites he is an affiliate for.

PygmyHero
09-28-2005, 02:36 PM
Update - I sent out the same email that I posted earlier in this thread. I also attached a brief addition to the effect that they are receiving this email a second time because they never responded to my first email. All the sites listed on the Bankroll Bonanza main site received this email, EXCEPT Pacific and UB (both have already said they will review his affiliate status).

09-30-2005, 11:09 PM
I wrote and received replys from PlayersOnly and Aces as well as CD Poker. The Players/Aces rep. said she was going to try to contact Bankrollbonanza on my behalf. That was mid-week but I haven't heard anything. The CD Poker rep. said that Bankrollbonanza had 'disappeared' on them also but she was still trying to contact them. If I don't get anywhere I'm going to ask them if they will give me the contact info. they have. They've got to have a full name. 7Sultans and Royak Vegas have not responded.

For the record, he owes me a few hundred.

I just don't understand this guy. He paid people in the past and then just stopped. It makes no sense. People ususally don't change from honest to dishonest. They're either one or the other. The sites have records of him being a registered affiliate. Maybe he just decided to get out of the business and take all unpaid debts with him.

Alos, someone mentioned thay got spammed hard core. I just did today also. I'm not into conpiracies but if the poker sites contacted him with my name and email I suppose he could have done it. It's the first time I ever received about 6 obvious dangerous spams in one day.

jman220
10-01-2005, 12:17 AM
[ QUOTE ]
I just don't understand this guy. He paid people in the past and then just stopped. It makes no sense. People ususally don't change from honest to dishonest.

[/ QUOTE ]

Happens all the time when people are running shady businesses that involve defrauding people and juggling multiple debts and sometimes get jammed up. He probably got jammed up.

10-03-2005, 01:40 AM
bumperoo