First Cut Marketing Mulligan's Magazine Fraud, Scam, Ripoff. No product or publication delivered for payment Coral Springs, Florida

Not surprising they're now officially out of business. Mulligan's Magazine was never a business. It was a scam.

I worked as a phone salesman for them for about three-four days in 2011. I was let go for not making the numbers they wanted. I kept in touch with a co-worker from there and about two weeks after I was let go she told me she'd left. Then she told me the reason:

A week after I was let go, she made a sale to a business owner. A few days after the sale she got a call back from the same business owner. He'd contacted the country vlubs where she'd told him Mulligan's was distributed to. They'd never heard of it. So she started doing some research on the internet and discovered a news article in the Sun-Sentinel which contained the following information:

"November 11, 2010|By Wayne K. Roustan, Sun Sentinel

Fourteen people were arrested and charged on Wednesday with unlicensed telemarketing, according to Boca Raton police.

They worked for Boca Raton-based Nationwide Publishing Group Inc. and were selling advertisements in Golf'n Style magazine, police said, but owner and publisher Joshua Cooper could not tell detectives where the magazines were distributed. Cooper was among those charged.

Florida laws state no commercial seller or salesperson shall solicit without a license and no commercial telephone seller shall employ a salesperson who is soliciting without a license. All charges are third-degree felonies.

The state's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs confirmed in a certified letter to investigators that Nationwide Publishing Group Inc. had not filed for a telemarketing license or an exemption in Florida.

The Better Business Bureau, covering Southeast Florida and the Caribbean, gave Nationwide Publishing Group Inc. an 'F' rating, for five unresolved or ignored complaints from clients and customers.

Detectives arrested: Bennett Charles Kulback, 28; Matthew Dunn, 36; Kelly Scott Hettema, 21; David Madrid, 22; William Emil Lepido, 43; Kristin Lynn Napolitano, 24; Kirstin Perri Bryan, 21; Daniel Rattelade, 27; Matthew Carlisle Sigman, 32; Emily Victoria Combe, 21; Philip Barone, 51; Edwin Martoral, 42; Joshua David Cooper, 31; and Joseph Anthony Pietragallo, 26.
These 14 arrests also stem from an unresolved complaint after a telephone sales pitch, police said. The unidentified client agreed to pay $400 using his credit card to place an advertisement in Golf'n Style magazine, but then had an additional $49 charged to his card without his permission, according to investigators.

He made several unsuccessful attempts to contact Nationwide Publishing Group before calling police on Oct. 27. Two days later, detectives visited Nationwide Publishing Group, on the 7300 block of North Federal Highway, and interviewed employees who showed them the magazine with the client's advertisement inside, but they were unable to name locations where the magazine was distributed, despite telling the client the magazine would be available at different country clubs and resorts near the victim's home.

According to its website, Golf'n Style magazine is written for and distributed to private country clubs, yachting & sportfishing clubs, equestrian clubs, and elite social and fitness clubs throughout the United States.

On Oct. 29, Cooper went to the Boca Raton police station and told detectives he had credited the client and requested the copy of the magazine back.
Cooper could not be reached for comment despite calls to Nationwide Publishing Group Inc. or through a personal phone number.

The investigation is ongoing and more charges could be forthcoming, according to police.

The Better Business Bureau cautions consumers against falling for pitches from 'vanity publications' that charge for advertising and editorial content without proof of distribution."

Does all of that sound familiar? I thoght so. The Joshua Cooper mentioned in the article we both remembered from working there.

So Mulligan's was more ro less Nationwide under a different name. Sadly from looking on here, you and quite a few other people got burned. With any luck, they'll get caught up with for good before they try anything like this again.