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We need all our readers to work with us if we are going to stop this blight of energy scams. The link above goes to a page that explains our costs and how we cover them. We do need a few moments of your time to overcome the well funded strategy these criminals have at their disposal.

Scam Alert Every now and again I encounter a different scam that really winds me up. It is not the scam that gets to me. It is seeing the Internet, which I believe is our opportunity for good, being used with impunity to fleece good caring people.

I was pleased to receive an email on my Operation Savannah account, from a person called Micheal Rick, representing a brokerage called Bretton & Wan Group, a few days ago. The email said that he had been recommended to me by a company (Bio-Pure) I have worked with. I was about to get scammed!

He included that his father was a Vietnam Veteran and that he was proud of my service. This did get my attention. The email said that they represented MX Mining (soon to go public) and had an investment opportunity to help us with.

I was suspicious, for I grew up in South Africa; and remembered my late father being duped out of a considerable portion of his savings, by investing in a penny mining stock called Silver Corp. The spelling of my last name was incorrect, the spelling of my business clients name was incorrect, Micheal is usually spelt Michael, while the senders email address was [email protected] - a common clue to Internet impropriety. But I always follow up with the family members of veterans.

The call went well. Micheal sounded plausible, and spoke of his father's service in Vietnam. I asked him to send me a copy of the prospectus and said I would get back to him. The next day I had a call, saying that his father had agreed to donate 10,000 shares to Operation Savannah; and could I give him a call to arrange transfer.

We spoke the next morning. Michael asked if I could send him a copy of my passport. I asked why; to which he said, "we need this to effect the share transfer." Sometime scammers just have bad luck. How could he have known that I did my articles as an auditor in South Africa, and published a web site that exposes consumer scams? No one needs the copy of a passport to do share transfers. I asked if I could have me speak with someone to help me understand the requirement. Enter Paul, who said; he also knew South Africans, and attempted to gain my trust. This is the style; create a personal connection in the conversation; and try to get inside your guard.

I decided to do a little detailed research. It did not take me long to reach Kim Rudge; listed as corporate council on the MX Mining web site. Kim, thank you for your prompt response, I was confident that I would find your name being abused.

I called Mark, partner at Sadler, Gibb & Associates, listed as MX Mining's auditors. He had not heard of MX Mining as a client. He offered to investigate the matter further. Mark: Many thanks for taking my call.

Finally I reached Tracie; from TKM Accounting, the accounting firm listed on the MK Mining web site. Tracie; thank you also for your prompt reply. Readers, no prizes for guessing that she knows nothing of MX Mining either.

It is a well crafted scam. The web site for MX Mining looks genuine enough. It has the right sort of information to pass a superficial review. The web site of Bretton & Wan is also credible. If you google "mx mining scam" there is a wordpress page from a so called investment banker, claiming that MX Mining is a legitimate opportunity. This is typical of a good scam; the people will include pages that come up for superficial search results; that refute any allegation of a scam.

There is not much that anyone can do. I will send a link to this page to the companies wrongly listed on the MX Mining web site. I will inform the authorities. Unfortunately no actual crime has been committed. The authorities can not act on an intention to deceive. The problem is that someone will be deceived; and they will probably be someone vulnerable and less able to protect themselves. Thank you all for your help to me in promptly exposing the false data on this web site.

Open4Energy's main purpose is to educate the public on the need for improved energy awareness, and to promote education on PTSD. We do this by writing accurate articles about energy efficiency, gathering real people's experiences, and exposing some of the more nasty product scams floating about.

Please be on your guard readers; if you are being offered something that seems to good to be true; it probably is! 

Get Smart about Energy™