This man has a ten-year history of running a host of corporate shells with names like US Magazine Services, Periodicals, Big Sky Periodicals, JWE enterprises and so on. He locates them in small towns in the Missoula, Montana area--Lolo and Hamilton, in particular. He hires locals, desperate for scarce jobs and exploits them by turning them into scammers. When the FTC and the BBB catch up with him, he opens a new company.

His scams apparently target young people and seniors. He got me on a day when I was on some pretty heavy meds--and partly because I am a former Montana resident with a soft spot in my heart for Montanans. I did some extensive Google searches and worked a bit of social media and SEO and outed him, including posts on his hometown forums. Since I work on social media and have for many years, I was pretty effective and I guess I upset him. The truth hurts.

I got an attempt at apology from one of his shills, my money back and the whole thing cancelled, but I cannot help thinking that there are many others out there who have been scammed by this guy and do not have the social media skills to put the heat on him or the pure Hillbilly spirit of fighting back.

I got my information on this guy starting with the name of his company and doing some web searches. What really angers me is that publications like Esquire, Car and Driver and Outside Magazine continue to do business with this scumbag. I find it hard to believe that they do not know what and who he is. I believe that morality is as much about what you don't do as it is about what you do. These companies all need to be held accountable for participation in this kind of scam. That is my view. What's yours?