William Franklin Fraud Alert
aka WFranklin.Com, Franklin Design Group, Seattle Outsource, 2 Xtreme Designs & Cincinnati Web Works / CincyWebWorks > Web Design, ISP, Freelance, Outsourcing, and Bank Fraud Conman, Craigslist Scammer, Identity Theft, Computer Theft, and more - Cincinnati, OH / Covington, KY / Warsaw, NY

Most recent known business aliases (Spring/Summer 2008):
"Kentucky Web Development" & "Covington Design Group"

For the latest scams, aliases, and contact information, check out our Fraud Blog. Updated approx. monthly.

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Please note that this site is a side project and we may not always have it ideally organized.  Please bear with us ... playing our part in consumer protection is important to us, but we have our primary business to run and our own lives to live.  :^}

If you plan to do work for him ...

Getting everything in writing may not be enough.  He will tell you stories about never finding anyone who will finish the job and insist you start the project without payment.  One alleged victim shared with us that he bragged about getting away with keeping deposits for unfinished projects by using mock-ups of site designs in court if necessary (made by freelancers) as proof work was started.  Insist on payment at each step of completion and do not surrender any materials beforehand.

If you plan to hire him ...

First, do not pay by wire transfer (Western Union) as there is no recourse.  If you pay by PayPal, do a chargeback if work is not completed under 30 days or you will potentially lose any chance of getting money back.  If possible, do not pay for any services in advance, and pay monthly instead of yearly for hosting in case "the lights get turned off" at any moment.

Secondly, we believe William Franklin does not know web design or coding of any kind.  Anything you hire him for will be outsourced to someone else, and he will probably not tell you even if you ask.  That means any sensitive data related to your project will be in at least two people's hands.

If you have been scammed by him ...

  1. First, collect all correspondence with him, such as IM chats, emails, bills, etc. for easy reference. 
     
  2. Let him know you intend to take action against him, by lawsuit or reporting to the authorities.
     
  3. If a chargeback is not possible, demand payment by a method of your choosing, with a concrete deadline, such as 5 business days.  No excuses.
     
  4. Getting your money back or not, we would like you to contact us  so we may archive your incident here.

If you have had
ANY contact with him ...

Pleasecontact us  with his latest business name, web address, contact and payment information (PayPal address, etc.), IM screen name(s), and any other details that we may post here.

Information is the best weapon to inform the public of his reputation before ending up in a bad business deal.

To file a complaint / report against William Franklin, use the following link
after reading the additional instructions below
.


Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)

IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS:
It is our understanding after speaking with the FBI that the reason the investigation of William Franklin has not been actively perused is because of the low monetary amounts involved.

HOWEVER, if there are enough complaints totaling a dollar value that goes over the threshold for pursuit, the investigation will go forward, leading to his possible arrest and conviction of multiple counts of fraud.

THEREFORE, the complaints need to all have information similar enough for the system to associate them as all being related to the same company or person.  Since he changes company names like socks and has a common name, we ask that you use what we believe is his full name, William Thomas Franklin, in the complaint.  Under the "Other Identifiers" section, in the "Other" box, copy and paste WilliamFranklinFraud.Com to be sure they are referencing the right person with latest contact information.  We also recommend you use his current home address, Gmail, and phone number (in red) as on our site.

For the dollar amount, we suggest you use the the highest reasonable estimated damages total, including any business expenses or losses resulting from his actions, even if you had a successful (forced) chargeback.

Lastly, we ask you let us know you filed a complaint, and are welcome to send us a copy of the report once filed.

Additional Note: You may reach other victims through us, as a number of them have an interest in a class action lawsuit as well.

LEGAL NOTICE: William Franklin has been telling people he is working to shut this site down, or wanting to tell his side of the story, which we would post if we had anything factual from him. But this is news to us, as there have been no communications, complaints, lawyers, anything, except a harassing phone call and retaliatory site. Please William, sue us. We'd love to meet you in court. In fact, when we find your real address, we may save you the trouble.