Beware The American Education Foundation in San Diego is a Scandalous Offshoot of a Health Care Scam And Not Related to Its Namesake in New York

The education system in the United States has been in deep decline for many years now, and as a result several non profit making foundations have been set up to help students overcome this big issue.

One such organization, the American Education Foundation was created in the early 1990s in Western New York.

The foundation’s website notes that the current college circuit is very complicated, with record numbers of students competing for admissions.

Given the current economic climate and a lessening of job prospects many families will probably turn to the foundation to learn extra skills and seek advice on financing their kids’ college education.

The catch here is there is another organization in San Diego also called the American Education Foundation, which tries to con people out of their money.

The San Diego operation is totally unrelated to the American Education Foundation based in New York, and has been found to be unreliable to put it very mildly.

This organization presents itself as a non profit making group hoping to benefit America’s students by selling SAT prep study guide CD at $54.95.

Becoming a member of the foundation also costs an expensive monthly fee of $54.95, although their website alleges all profits go straight to donating educational materials to students who may not be able to afford them.

In fact it asks people to send them contact information for charities or high schools that may benefit from their help. C

uriously there appears to be no mention of any of the individuals, charities or schools the foundation claims it helps.

Surely this would be something to tell the world about and even boast how you are helping the needy.

However, the group has been beset with complaints over calls from rude or impatient sales people, or unmet customer service needs.

Actually a lot of the complaints went to the New York organization because people thought the two were the same thing or they couldn’t contact the San Diego office.

The telemarketing tactics are a little suspicious too, as the callers apparently sell the CD via phone as a much cheaper offer than via the website, which puts in to question how legitimate it all is.

The other odd thing about this organization is there is no mention of who runs the American Education Foundation as the website give only an address and phone number.

Many comments have been made on the website whocallsme.com from people saying they have had calls from this group of crooks.

Rude, Persistent and Dishonest Callers

The comments posted on whocallsme.com have various themes, but all of them bar one are complaints. Calls have been made claiming a student has shown an interest in the materials on offer.

Parents have been duped in to trying them out as a result. However, the offer of a free 1 or 2 month trial has been a lie.

Complaints were made that their cards were charged straight away, in spite of the agreement being there would be a free trial period.

Others have suggested the salesmen are very aggressive, and if they cannot get a sale because their potential customer is suspicious, they hang up.

Link to Health Care Scam

These complaints hark back to early 2008. In May of that year FOX6 news reported this scam, which makes it a surprise it is still continuing.

They uncovered two years prior to this a health scam, which was run from the same offices as the American Education Foundation in San Diego.

Initially run as First Choice, the bogus company sold phony medical insurance to elderly and vulnerable people. They were exposed and fined $770,000.

That did not deter these fiends. They opened up again under the name Affinity Health Care, but were again caught out. The state gave them a cease and desist notice.

Back to Haunt People

Obviously the health care scam didn’t work out as they would have liked. So they went from health to education.

Given the current economic situation many families are struggling to help their kids through higher education.

This scam seemed a great way to manipulate families and squeeze more money out of them.

This is not a foundation or a charity, just a telemarketing scheme claiming to sell a service and product, which is 100 per cent tax deductible.

Their telemarketers are also illegally breaking the do not call list.

When the FOX6 reporter asked if they were the same company as Affinity, he was kicked out of their offices. Not very charitable behavior.