Double whammy
Texas business, Gallup charity find common ground in Internet scam

The Path of Renewal, a nonprofit organization in Gallup that operates group homes for recovering substance abusers, appears to be a secondary victim in an Inernet scam that targeted a Texas business woman. — © 2009 Gallup Independent / Cable Hoover

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Elizabeth Hardin-Burrola
Staff writer

GALLUP — As unlikely as it seems, an upscale wedding facility in Texas apparently shares something in common with a program for recovering substance abusers in Gallup.

Make that someone.

Evidence gathered from the Internet indicates the Annabelle Mansion in Burleson, Texas, and Gallup’s nonprofit Path of Renewal program have been victimized by the same Internet scammer. In the case of Annabelle Mansion, the Internet con has allegedly swindled Patricia Brast, the CEO and owner of the wedding facility, of $1,100. In the case of Path of Renewal, the organization’s mailing address has apparently been hijacked to register Web sites involved in the scam.

Wild, wild West

The connection came to light recently in a television news investigation by award-winning reporter Byron Harris of WFAA/Channel 8 of Dallas/Fort Worth. In a news report aired earlier this month, “Woman becomes target of bribe on consumer site,” Harris interviewed Brast about two credit card payments she made in an effort to remove negative comments about her business that were posted on an Internet Web site.

The Web site promotes itself as a consumer advocacy site where consumers can freely air grievances without disclosing their identity. Any person, business, or organization that is the subject of one of these negative reports can post a free rebuttal, but the site has a policy of not removing complaints. Unlike print and broadcast media, the Internet is unique in that Web sites are not legally liable for any defamatory remarks posted on their sites by third parties. Search engines, particularly Google, feature the negative reports prominently.

“The complaints against Annabelle Mansion actually contain very little in the way of consumer information,”

Harris reported in his story. “However, a great many derogatory comments are aimed at Brast.”

Brast calls the reports “character assassination” and believes they were made not by real customers but by people with motives to ruin her business. In an e-mail to Harris that Brast forwarded to the Independent, Brast compared the situation on the Internet to the “wild, wild West.” She said her name and reputation are being ruined by people “who have nothing to lose and no fear of reprisal” because of the freedom and anonymity granted them on the Internet.

The Web site’s founder told Harris that complaints are never removed from the site. However, they are sometimes illegally removed by hackers, he explained, and he said a “rogue industry” has developed involving people who make false promises to remove the complaints in exchange for a fee.

Scam e-mails

This is appears to be what happened to Brast. On Aug. 11, 2008, Brast received an e-mail from a man who said he had noticed the damaging Internet report about Annabelle Mansion. He claimed he could “remove it fast,” and he included an Internet Web address and phone number as contacts.

Brast said she paid $499 with her credit card and the negative report did disappear — only to resurface a short time later.

On Dec. 13, 2008, Brast received a second e-mail. This e-mail had a woman’s name at the end of the message, but the e-mail address included the name of the same man from the first e-mail — but with a different e-mail address and Web site. This e-mail claimed the writer could get out the damaging report “suppressed deep into the search engines” of the Internet. The phone number listed was the same number listed in the Aug. 11 e-mail.

Again Brast used her credit card to pay the requested fee of $599, but the negative reports never vanished. Brast said she then received a couple of phone calls from someone asking her to pay again, but she told the caller she had already paid twice and the reports were still on the Internet.

Reporter Harris researched the Web sites listed in the two e-mails and discovered that one site was registered to a man with a post office box address in Gallup. After viewing Harris’ news report, the Independent tracked the post office box to the Path of Renewal, a local nonprofit that operates group homes for recovering substance abusers.

Hijacked address

Arnie Morales, director of The Path of Renewal, confirmed the post office box is rented to the Gallup organization. He also confirmed a former Path of Renewal employee has the same name as the individual listed with the address on the Web site registry. The man is no longer an employee, Morales said, and last year he moved out of state.

“It seems we’re a victim of address fraud,” Morales admitted. In two phone interviews and an e-mailed statement, Morales expressed hope that the Path of Renewal will not be a target for criticism because of alleged actions of a former employee.

“People make a choice everyday to choose to do good or evil,” Morales wrote in an e-mail. “We believe their (sic) are some that still want to choose to do good. It’s a privilege to be apart of keeping that dream alive in our community. We are here to help promote sobriety in our society.”

Morales said he’s the only employee who has a key to the Gallup post office box. A second key was lost a couple of years ago, he said, but no important mail has ever been missing from the box. He will, however, request the post office box lock be changed, he added.

Morales said he reviewed all of the organization’s bank statements since being contacted by the Independent. “All monies are accounted for and no sign of wrong doing on our part,” he added. He said he does not believe Path of Renewal’s actual post office box is being used by the former employee but believes the person might be using it as a “dummy address” on the Internet.

Should there be a criminal investigation, Morales promised cooperation by the Path of Renewal. “We’ll do anything we can to help the investigation,” he said.

The telephone number included in the e-mails sent to Brast is a landline in Los Angeles. An Internet search of the number indicates it is being used by many Internet-based businesses that appear to be bogus. In addition, the Independent found more Web sites that were registered to the Path of Renewal’s post office box address.

“I think they’ve got everything so confused, it’s hard to trace,” Brast said of the scammers. Both her business and her health have been devastated by the impact of the entire experience, she said, and she believes the laws governing the Internet need to be changed.

Information: Search “Brast” on www.wfaa.com
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