Merchants of Barter Exchange Scam Petition FTC for ACtion Released by: Mark Johnson, Victim Web Site: http://www.notapplicable.com 112 small business owners lose $4.8 million to fraudsters Email: MarkQJohnson@hotmail.com Keywords: Merchants, Barter, Exchange, Fraud, Scam, Victims, Complaints, Claims, litigation, lawsuits, report, Update Date: 10/6/2006 5:13:51 PM Hits: 189 Descrption:  After sending out 25,000 copies of a "Mercahnt Fraud Alert Chain Letter" to small business owners in 29 states, Mark Johnson announced today that he has recruited the help of 111 other victims who fell prey to what they call "The MBE Gang" which operates a facade barter exchange to collect financial and credit card information about companies they later defraud 2 or 3 months later when mewrchants forget about the barter transaction they make. Like Mark, other merchants surrendered valuable merchandise in exchange for "trade credits" they couldn't spend. The scam which was exposed by the North American Barter Association involved a band of con artists operating out of Morristown, NJ, and Mt. Pocono, PA in executive suites as well as a new one found in Manhattan. "These guys hit and run to new locations using 1-800 numbers that they just call forward" explained Johnson. And because they don't use their real names they are hard for lawyers and police to find. We don't have much money left for lawyers so we are asking the Federal Trade Commission to open a criminal investigation on our behalf." The average loss per merchant is $138,750. One merchant followed the self-proclaimed presdient of the MBE Gang to 55 Madison Avenue in Morristown. "He told one merchant his nname is "Steve Bowles" but told another he was "Chris Mitchell", Roberto Diaz, another victim explained. But we got his tag number "BIGBUCKS" and gave it to the FTC and police. The group hopes their nightmare will soon end and recover some of their money and merchandise. ANyone who knows the real identity of the fraudsters are asked to call 778-235-4343 Contact infomation: Tel: 778-235-4343