Coast to Coast Sales, Inc. Marquis Fulfillment Agency LLC Shady Door-to-Door Salesman Misrepresenting Himself as College Student Trying to Earn Trip Buford, Georgia

As the resident cynic among my friends, I never thought I would get scammed like this but I must humbly share my story to perhaps prevent others from being victims (GRRR... even hate to write the word, I'm so steamed!)

Appears that the infamous "Craig Trautman" of the national door-to-door sales scam hall of fame has made his way to California. The pudgy, awkward looking kid showed up on my door step claiming to be a student on a school project to meet 50 of his neighbors as a way of getting over his fear of public speaking. He was "asked to learn a few things" about each of us, and seemed to back that up by sharing a few details about the neighbors. As I'm relatively new to the neighborhood, it all sounded reasonable to me.

The guy not only seemed very sweet and sincere, but also incredibly bright. He spoke multiple languages to me and even recited Shakespeare in an Elizabethan English accent. He asked questions about choosing a career after college, appearing genuinely interested in sharing my love for writing. He basically developed a scheme designed to warm people up to him just before hitting them with...

The Sales Pitch

Suddenly, he pulled out a laminated two-sided sales sheet as he indicated that he's SO CLOSE to earning a trip with his classmates to Bath, England. What English Literature grad wouldn't want to help a young hopeful following in her footsteps? Against any iota of reason, I found myself buying into his spiel.

"I know you probably don't need another magazine," he pleaded. "But you could make a tax-deductible donation to one of these charities... do you like any of these organizations?"

I saw the logo for Boys and Girls Club of America and found myself thinking "one subscription couldn't hurt." Of course, "Craig" had to push for more, but I wasn't budging. I should have recoiled when he began spouting out the dollar amounts of other neighbor's supposed orders, but I was already invested.

While I never let him past the entrance, I did leave the door wide open as I ran upstairs to get my checkbook, a thought that makes me cringe now. It wasn't until I inquired about the order total that I started to feel a little uneasy. What began as a $28 annual subscription somehow tallied out at $43. I asked why there was such a large difference, and he indicated that part of it was going directly to his trip, promptly reminding me that this was tax deductible.

Like other accounts on this website, my "Craig Trautman" also indicated that his dad insisted he make up for his neighbors' support by washing their cars. He talked about coming back to wash the motorcycle across the way and the SUV next door, but I decided to let him off the hook and pass on the offer. More than anything, I think I was just ready to get back to my family and the evening at hand.

I had also gotten my fill of the sales guy, who had somehow abandoned his fear of public speaking for Blabbersville. As we wrapped it up, "Craig" provided me with two receipts, which seemed fine enough until he was long gone and I read the fine print...

"Company not in any way related to a non-profit or charitable organization, donation, sponsorship or scholastic program of any kind. In fact it is a for profit enterprise."

(major alarm bells ringing)

I began researching online and promptly called the bank to cancel my check, absolutely peeved that I had allowed this criminal to scam me. "Craig Trautman" has visited several states using this (or a variation) of this story to pad his pockets while misleading people who only want to help him.

Yet, worse than potentially losing $43 (though I know others have spent far more), my research revealed that many door-to-door scams go well beyond the face value of the check you write. Once they have your information, they might do a number of illegal things with it.

In the end, I can only hope that karma catches up with these lying, exploitative scammers, and that a few potential victims may read my post BEFORE they write their own checks on "Craig's" behalf.