Connected Investors Largest REI Scam on the Internet

Connected Investors Largest REI Scam on the Internet

Investor / Contractor · Sierra Vista, AZ · Member since 2015 · 13 posts · 76 votes

We signed up for Connected Investors 9-4-16. At the same time we where gullible enough to likewise put out information through the CiX site looking for lenders. Allegedly all the lenders on the CiX site have been vetted and are legitimate. Having said that, let me share with you what we've learned and experienced in the time (nearly 6 mos) we have been on this site.

!. Since 9-4-16 we have been contacted by 63 so-called private money lenders not affiliated with CI or their supposed list of vetted lenders. Not 1 lender has proven to be legitimate. Never mind the qualification that may have been requested. When these lenders were investigated; addresses turned out to be phony, licenses when claimed false and virtualy 61 of them wanted up front fees in order to process the loan. The smallest upfront fee was $1200 and the largest $10,000. 58 of the lenders required copies of our passport.

14 lenders were in the criminal data base of Interpol; 28 were in the in the financial crimes data base of Nigeria and 4 were listed in the Interpol data base connecting them to Russian mobs!

2. Of the dozens of REI's we shared deals with; not one was able to complete a deal. Ultimately it always boiled down to their inability to close due to funding problems. (Lack of money period in 85% of the transactions).

3. It is true that Ross Hamilton as assembled the largest social network for real estate investors. And like all the gurus, (Childress, Dave Galegor, Cantwell and the list goes on)...they pitch their seminars and courses; charge ridiculous amounts of money for outdated or information one can obtain for free with just a little bit of effort. The stats for 29,000+ investors on CI, who have successfully built or substantially expanded their business through CI is less than 5%. Just ask some of those who are begging for business hookup...how many deals have they closed directly with another CI investor. You will be shocked!

4. Rip-Off Report has plenty of people that have finally awakened to the fact that CI is nothing but a very cheap and ineffective gathering spot for REI's wishing against hope that somehow they will connect with a successful transaction.

5. During our miserable experience we presented 14 deals; not one of them closed as a result of CI contacts. We did however close successfully all 14 by simply using reputable resources such as Oncarrot, AWeber, Sales Genie and several other sites. If you pay attention to these gurus you begin to realize they are similar to a "tag team" wrestlers on WWF (fake too by the way)...one so-called "expert" REI will ply his crap for a while and then all the sudden another guru pops up touting the advantage of using this other gurus slop...but in the end its all the same swill.

6. Ross Hamilton knows full well the kind of people that promote their garbage on his site. In fact we know that two separate state law enforcement agencies are currently investigating several so-called lenders who were advertising on the site.

7. One of the most glaring signs of the scam oriented site that is CI...should be the fact that CI and CiX support Josh Cantwell. Cantwell is even more odious than CI.

In short we have determined to work with several agencies to see that CI is held accountable for the rip offs and scams that are perpetrated daily on the site.

If you are truly in search of legitimate funding; private or otherwise, you will find that real, honest lenders have nothing to do with these kinds of sites. They realize that licenses and possibility of severe criminal prosecution isn't worth the risk. Do your due diligence and search out legitimate lenders.

It's worth noting that COGO Capital is on the CiX "hit parade" but I can tell you with certainty that our experience has been nothing but 100% positive. They have funded many of our deals. Another agent of integrity can be found at funding by mary at g mail.

8. Lastly in taking the CI training we soon discovered that it is a gigantic sales pitch for more money and products that are never delivered. Again as we have reaffirmed in our business; there are far more effective products and tools available for ultimately far less money. The deals referenced above all came to a successful close as a result of those tools. Oh...and by the way we made a total of $143,582 total off those 14 deals. CI had virtually nothing to do with any one deal...period. 

I will give credit however to CI, in that we learned a multitude of things NOT TO DO and how to better refine our associations with those who are real REI's.

Conclusion: Connected Investors is a rip-off, scam and nothing short of a criminal enterprise!

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Most Popular Reply

Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
9y

interesting ...  I looked at CI and did not like it.

however be aware that those same nigerian scammers troll BP.... anyone looking for up front money is until proved otherwise a scammer. end of that discussion.

CI wanted me to advertise on their site for my funding operations I refused to do so.. Just like I don't advertise on BP... too many rookies drive you nuts.

See this reply in the discussion

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  • Mentor, OH · Member since 2015 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    5y

    Man, I really wish I had found this a few weeks ago!  

    So the EXACT scenario just happened to me, except I was taken for $2,500.  

    I began dealing dealing with the scammer because I thought he was one of their "verified lenders".  I signed up to get this lenders list and was immediately inundated by emails from "private money lenders" willing to do a deal with me.  After receiving the first few "private money lenders" emails, CI sent an email asking if I had been contacted by a lender yet.  I let them know that I had by quite a few and expressed my concerns that some seemed less professional than others and I had chosen the one that seemed the most professional.  

    Needless to say, this was a very bad decision.  During the whole transaction, everything seemed above board until after being "approved", the "lender" hit us with a fee of $4,510 for loan orientation, documentation, and insurance fees to be paid before receiving the loan.  Keep in mind I am new to all of this and believed this is just how it worked, and thought I was dealing with someone "vetted" by CI.  I then told the dude that all I could come up with was $2,500 which he said was fine.  After receiving the funds, the guy came back to us stating that he tried everything to convince his "client" of our situation but the insisted that to do the deal they would need $10,000.  Wait, you said the YOU were the lender!!!!  

    Anyway, of course by this time, I knew what the score was.  The craziest thing about all of this, is that I had looked into this guy, his company, his Indeed profile, everything.  It all checked out.  Come to find out this guy was a legit guy, but his company identity had been stolen and the "person" I was dealing with was using all of his personal and business info.  So in me research before the deal everything had seemed totally legit.  

    I contacted a Matt Robertson (Sales & Operations Manager CiX) and he acted as if this was the first time ever hearing of this and that he was all in, in helping me get to the bottom of this.  He claims that he knew nothing of this and asked for me to send him all of the emails I was receiving from these "private money lenders" and that he was going to give them to his IT security guy that he described as a "ninja" who could trace them back to the originators.  Then I found this thread......

  • Castle Rock, CO · Member since 2017 · 10 posts · 2 votes
    5y

    guess i should have done my due diligence BEFORE i joined. only did the sign up stuff and did not get ripped off. Thanks again BP community for being the voice of reason in a sea of scams.
    My only regret is that BIGGER POCKETS lets these ******** advertise on their site!!!!
    WHY?! why is such a great site letting scams advertise on their site? who is in control here? and who does the vetting on advertisers?
    Come on BP dont become like all the rest of the fish in the sea of scams.

  • Specialist · fremont, NE · Member since 2014 · 161 posts · 42 votes
    5y

    They lie, scam, and f people over. They originally used "deal dog," which apparently has morphed into "pin."

    They source listing from Craigslist, but they can't distinguish from other wholesalers listing, or even "multifamily" that is +55 only. Some of their listings for properties were listings for Hard Money Lenders!

    Their lenders are flat out scams. All of them want money up front, to "process you." Even their forums and groups complain about it, but they don't address it.

    And if you work with actual lenders, for a chance to earn a referral fee, as soon as they get even a hint of it, they remove your account, and anything you did, with no refunds. You HAVE TO PAY THEIR "LENDER FEE," but if you're only getting referral fees, you probably don't have enough for their extortion fees.

    The "community" isn't even helpful, because every single forum is spammed with people trying to sell their deal, beg for funding, or complain about how much of a scam CI is.

    Oh, and when they remove your account, they still spam the hell out of your inbox. Sometimes, they'll stop for a time, but start up again. Then, they want you to "fill out a form" to cancel, which endlessly loops in Mozilla and Chrome. Supposedly, they want to put some cookies to prevent that, but with all the other junk, I wouldn't trust it. Countless sites allow you to simply click "unsubscibe," and it's done. Not these spammer-scammers.

  • Rodrigo CejaPro Member
    New to Real Estate · Katy, TX · Member since 2019 · 3 posts · 0 votes
    4y

    Thank you for sharing the experience with CI and saving me the headaches. 

  • Member since 2022 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    4y


    Alan, I appreciate the time and effort you put into your review. I am considering purchasing the software and normally wouldn’t bother with these sites because the responders are by and large get rich quick mentality. You clearly are not that individual! 
    before I get into the meat of my questions I will say that I’ve been flipping, building, lending since the 90s, the possibility of incorporating technology has always fascinated me.
    Prior to my retirement I was a licensed lender not a broker and can size up a broker/wholesaler in5 minutes. I came out of retirement when I ran across COGO capital and became a correspondent with them and only them. So as far as the lending portion of the equation I wouldn’t use it and quite frankly the ones who see 100 or so lender list as helpful are the get rich quick bunch whinnying on these sites.
    Can you speak to the portion of the software that identifies a property price vs ARV. Is this information remotely accurate? To me that’s the value if it is. As an example if I can identify a property, have a rough idea of rehab( so I can speak intelligently on it) put under contract for $100,000 an ARV of 230 , I can sell this all day long. I have no cost transactual funding of 1 m and cogo capital so my bases are covered. 
    If you could speak directly to this part of the software I would appreciate it 
  • Member since 2022 · 1 post · 0 votes
    4y

    I was the victim of CI/Harrison Tulloss/KSADE/CBHPW(Raleigh) & Keith Saieed/KSADE Realty & KSADE Investment Ventures(Wilmington,Raleigh). I terminated sale of my Raleigh home via Dotloop online with my signature as seller & Harrison Tulloss/Listing Individual Agent 3-24-17. CI emailed a termination doc to me 4-24-17 to sign from Harrison Tulloss. I couldn't sign online because I never authorized my sign with CI. I lost $25,000 because CI Harrison Tulloss didn't come forward to verify I had already terminated my house sale 3 weeks prior to be sued by Buyer. I had to settle out of court because an injunction was placed against my house preventing the sale through another legitimate Agent. I needed to sell because I already committed to buying a property home at the beach. Funny thing, the buyer's attorney (Robert L Morton/North Raleigh Law Firm) was initially ESCROW MGR, when my sale was active before termination. The 2nd Escrow Agent, Carole Notch/Coldwell Banker Howard Perry & Walston changed the Escrow Amount on the sales doc she provided to the Court for me to be sued! This was their scam: Buyer was going to purchase my house, (buyer agent KSADE Realty LLC) covey title to Harrison Tulloss VP KSADE Ventures for his own investment LLC & Buyer Agent Was ALSO listed on doc as Seller Agent(KSADE Investment Ventures)Interestingly, I found my house at the beach listed as sold on Connected Investor website!
    This happened in 2017 & I’ve never recovered from losing $25K that was just a little nest egg I saved for 17 years through UPS employment. I recently chose the payout & 5% was w/h Fed & 2% State. I decided to call UPS Buyout telephone number & IT WAS NO LONGER IN SERVICE! I believe with all my logical sense CI/ Harrison Tulloss, Keith Saieed, Aaron Hill, Robert L Morton Attorney set up this fictitious number & committed hwy robbery again against me! Never SIGN ANY LEGAL DOCUMENT ONLINE!

  • Investor · Central Pennsylvania · Member since 2021 · 12 posts · 7 votes
    3y

    Thanks for the tip!! 

  • Member since 2019 · 1 post · 0 votes
    3y

    Thank you for your detailed reply. Very helpful. 

  • Rick BassettBusiness Member
    Property Manager · Greater New Haven, CT · Member since 2010 · 377 posts · 434 votes
    3y

    We have had the free membership on CI for a few years with the hope of networking on deals with nearby RE investors; nothing measurable has come from it yet that we can tell. 

    I wouldn't get involved with their site or any others for deal money; I only work with people I have a 1st or 2nd level relationship with (my circle of trust) for that.

    Bassett Property Management5108 Reviews
  • Member since 2022 · 1 post · 0 votes
    3y

    WOW....thx for the heads up

  • Columbus, OH · Member since 2017 · 6 posts · 0 votes
    3y

    I was an early follower of then YouTuber Ross Hamilton as he was starting up CiX with a REI partner. I believe he had good intentions and big aspirations but it became too massively difficult to control. As many mentioned here crooks are everywhere - especially online. As a licensed agent I posted one off-market listing on Ci to test the waters and did get a few sniffers but no bites. I connected with a couple of sincere newbies and low-baller investors but unfortunately could not close the deal on the platform. From my experience, there are some real folks on there trying to make good connections everyone must remember to do their due diligence. Some ways to vet lenders is to avoid upfront nonsense fees, check for licensure or word of mouth.

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