Jake C/O Acebutterworth & Teddy Ford Jake@acebutterworth.com Jake@teddyford.com Roger W. Adam Take a pass in doing business here, it's not worth it. Blackmail, fraud, deceptive. Internet

I hired Mike for some work and he pulled a quick scam on me. He was so smooth that I didn't even know I had been scammed until the next day. He turned around and is now badmouthing me online. Apparently, his definition of an ethical businessman is one who bullies and intimidates customers who are scammed and then leave an honest review to help protect others. I realized I was risking my reputation in the hopes of protecting others, however, so be it if I do protect others from his shady practices.

Mike is a scam artist, plain and simple. He operates under multiple business names and shuts down each name once the reviews pile up. I researched him after I hired him and realized I had been scammed after the other reviewers commented on the same tactics I had succumbed to. 

Oh....and you know the ironic part? I did try calling and texting Mike several times to resolve the issues. And you know what happened? He dodged each and every call. I escalated my responses and then he texted me from a different phone number and claimed he 'was having phone problems'. 

Sign #239 You are Dealing with a Scammer: Scammer texts or calls from a different phone number (likely a throwaway pre-paid WalMart phone) and gives you a lame excuse that only your 12-year-old son would give you. 

I considered chasing him down and confronting him regarding his tactics, however, I realized the wise words of my grandfather who told me 'You can't argue with an idiot or a thief'. I chose not to continue attempting to contact him regarding his shady tactics after calling and texting 7-8 times. Again, you can't argue with a thief so why bother? I simply went online and left him a bad review in hopes that he would not take advantage of anyone else. I left the review using a different name knowing that he would use intimidation tactics and bully me into taking the review down. That is exactly what he did.

It's unlikely he will ever change. His parents own a successful business in South Dakota, however, he doesn't work for them; likely because he was blacklisted from the family business. 

Instead, he poaches innocent consumers online using a multitude of different business names, phone numbers, and identities. If a customer calls him out, then he bullies and intimidates them. I am sure his tactics will continue, however, I feel sorry for him. I hope one day he will change, however, I sincerely doubt he will.

Me a snowflake? Far chance. I dropped out of college, drove a taxi for 3 years and worked hard my entire life to protect my hard-earned money from fly by night scamsters like Mike Nanto. I was born into a hard-working town in the Mid-West and work extremely hard for my money. It's sad that snake oil salesmen like Mike exist, however, they always will in our world. The least we can do is stand up to them and warn others, even if that means risking our own reputations.

That is exactly what I did and Mike, who claims to run a legitimate business, is now intimidating, bullying and harassing me.