This page last modified on 20 October 2007
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Been Scammed? What Do I Do Now? You purchase something on a auction site. The product never shows. Emails, letters, phone calls go unanswered. You try contacting the auction site for help but you're stuck waiting. What do you do? First of all, save all your to and from emails. Print those emails. Make sure you have your cancelled check, money order receipt, credit card receipt or however you paid -- have your proof of payment. You might have to do a money order trace. Print off the frauder's indentifying information. Take all that information and head down to your local police department. File a complaint. Then, check the links below to file other complaints. If you end up being part of a group that has been scammed, start a discussion loop with those people. Share information and support each other. You may or may not get back your money. If you do, consider yourself lucky. Either way, before you buy, always read the feedback. Homeschool BasketballA situation has come up in the local homeschool community that needs to be addressed. Many groups have been affected and involved. To ensure that everyone involved can make an informed decision, we have decided to share this information with everyone. This is not done lightly or for any malicious or vindictive reasons. Many of us do not know this individual personally. We have seen the announcements (earliest post I know of is May 17, 2004 on a non-public group) and discussion involving Darien Small and his basketball programs. An ambitious project under the best of circumstances and all very good sounding. As the weeks progressed, we began to see emails expressing concern about lack of communication, non-payment for jobs done, misleading information, etc. All valid concerns and easily explained by Darien as due to over commitment of time and more difficulty than expected in getting practice venues, etc. However, in recent days we have been contacted by people from the Small's last home in PA and have been told of similar concerns. His former group has incurred, and of this date (November 15, 2004) is still waiting for payment, of over $1900. Also, the team had all paid for plane tickets for an out of state tournament and then parents found out that the money had never been used for ticket purchase, but rather for Darien's VISA bill. Darien has acknowledged this debt and has been saying he will be paying it since sometime in July. This group ousted Darien when a girl's basketball travel team was at a tournament and the gym owner, trophy person and others almost called off the tournament due to not being paid. We have been provided with names, phone numbers and email addresses for several people who were involved in the problem in PA. These names include the financial person who took over the books for the team and has records of all of the problems, the man attempting to rebuild the reputation of the homeschooling community in their area, a gym owner who was not paid, a woman who "worked" for his organization without getting paid. We have contacted these people to verify the claims made and they are true. Here are issues that are shocking: 1. In May, after the PA group had banned him and started demanding their money, he began posting on Michigan groups offering his programs. He was still living in PA and in debt to these people. 2. He committed to start paying off his debt to the PA group starting Sept 15th, and none of these people have been paid. 3. Some of the scenarios described by the group in PA are very similar to those that people here in Michigan have experienced. The PA group found out only recently that he was here in Michigan trying to do this, and so they are using the internet to contact groups in Michigan and to pass on the information regarding their experiences with him. They have been spoken to in person by a concerned parent in Michigan. This sports program is a wonderful idea, one that could possibly happen if coordinated properly. We have heard from parents whose children are participating and are pleased. However, it sounds very much like this is a risky venture at this time and it seems only fair that families know the situation before being involved. Several ideas have been recommended for those choosing to be involved Do not give him any money, take only cash, no checks, ask the gyms you play at personally to accept only cash before you go to practice there, and ask the referees if they have been paid and how. Request names and phone numbers of his alleged board of directors and his accounting firm. Follow up with this information Ask a lot of questions. Many of these ideas are good suggestions anytime we are dealing with someone we don't know well. It is also a good idea to get references from anyone starting any kind of organized activity or classes. If you would like the details about all these events including emails and contact information, please . They will be provided upon request. They have not been included simply because it would be long and tedious for those who are not involved in this. UPDATE: November 24, 2004: A lady from REACH has a friend in the Oakland County Sheriff department and sent our info to him to look at. He said this guy has done this in multiple states along the East coast. He (Darien Small) is a very clever scam artist. They (the sheriff dept) would love to have him stopped. The sheriff needs people directly involved to contact him. He will also be contacting the Wayne County Sheriff. For those directly involved, please contact: Detective Sutton at or call him at 248-452-9986. NOTE: November 24, 2004: At the moment no details will be sent since all those having been directly affected should contact Detective Sutton. If you would like to read some of the information which had been posted on an open message board, please see: http://disc.server.com/Indices/200612.html, you may have to scroll down the page and then click on 'next page'. http://tinyurl.com/3p68c and http://tinyurl.com/5l6ca are just two of the earliest posts on the message board from Darien. Note: The old Michigan Homeschool Message Board has disassembled. However, if you click on the link or Google it, you should be able to click on the cache link and the information will show. There are legitimate basketball associations available to homeschoolers. To find out more, see Sports page. Please take the necessary precautions and thoroughly check out ALL organizations in which your children are involved. Tryouts for AAU Basketball UPDATE: July 1, 2006 I received an email this week about another problem Darien Small has caused. Right now he is running a Bridal photography scam, so he may be intending on doing that when he gets there. But he may also come up with another scam all together. I Googled his name, Darien Small, and found the information on a local television station's website. You will be able to read the link if you use the Internet Wayback Machine. UPDATE: July 9, 2006 I received an email yesterday about yet another problem Darien Small has caused. View his eBay member id awesomestories (which is now NARUed). UPDATE: February 2007 StopDarienSmall.com is a community of victims with one common trait - all were had by Darien (Dare) Small. I may choose to post any information regarding Darien Small and homeschool basketall, but any other messages regarding Darien Small should be posted to StopDarienSmall.com. UPDATE: October 20, 2007 Some of Darien Small's aliases: Darien Smalls, Darien Small, Dare Smalls, Dare Small, Craig Smalls, Craig Small, Darrell Smalls, Darrell Small Please note: Sponsor links come from the Google search engine. They do not reflect the views or opinions of this website. 
Homeschooling on a Shoestring
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