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Skydiving Scammers Hit Valley

Attorney Says Company Swindled Thousands Of Consumers

POSTED: 4:32 pm MST November 4, 2009
UPDATED: 8:15 am MST November 5, 2009

A Phoenix attorney alleges a company has scammed more than $23 million out of consumers nationwide, and an Arizona company that's been a major target said, "Enough is enough."

About 75,000 people believe they were scammed when they forked over big bucks to what they thought was a reputable skydiving company.

It's a scam that targeted thousands of people searching the Web for a skydiving company, only to be conned out of hundreds of dollars, officials said.

"With very little investment, they were able to divert hundreds and hundreds of customers, specifically looking for my client, to their Web site, where they took the people's money before they ever revealed who they really were," said Skydive Arizona attorney Sid Leach.

Leach said he knows all about the scam. He just won more than $6 million in damages from the con artists for his client, Skydive Arizona.

It's the biggest skydiving company in the country, something the alleged scammers used to lure folks in, Leach said.

Leach said the scammers set up Web sites and 800 numbers boasting the same amenities Skydive Arizona has. Leach said when people would call to confirm they had the right company, they were told yes, they called Skydive Arizona.

In reality, they were talking to a group of people based in Atlanta, Leach said. Sometimes the consumers were sent to an airfield and taken on what Leach called an "unsafe dive," something Skydive Arizona would never do.

Other times, Leach said, they got nothing at all.

"The feeling of violation, where you trusted something, and obviously you have to be a lot more careful these days and not just trust what you see on the computer," said Susan Lipper, who was victimized.

But the scam isn't just about skydiving. Since it was a civil suit, the company is still out there. Leach said he's sure they're branching out into other phony Web sites, trying to rip off a new demographic of unsuspecting people.

Leach said he recently contacted Arizona Attorney General Terry Goddard, asking his office to do something to shut these people down altogether.

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