Victim Location 35640
Total money lost $1,300
Type of a scam Scholarship
I live in north Alabama and I met Mark Hadden at a basketball overseas showcase in Jackson TN. He provided a convincing story of his coaching background with the Fort Pierce Warriors, a professional basketball team of the Central Basketball League (CBL), but failed to also say that he had been relieved of his position after a short time for reasons of unprofessionalism. He told me that for $1200 he would contact all the schools in the southeast United States that I requested of him and that he "recruited" for in Florida, provide lodging for the weekend, train me almost everyday for the 10 days I was in the Orlando area, and also take me to the schools to visit. After traveling to the Orlando Florida area in March 2016, all I got when I arrived was a request for me to drive 2.5 hours and get my own place to stay in Vero Beach so I could play in a tournament his team was playing in that weekend. Once I got there on Friday night, he came to hotel to get money. The next morning, he contacted me before the tournament and requested an extra $250.00 for highlight tape and video crew. All I gave was a $100.00 and told him I had no more. He said he would "cover the rest". I never saw a video and never received any kind of highlights. After the two day tournament and the last game I went over and asked him, "What days are you coming over to work with me?" His response was "call me tonight and I will let you know", so I packed up and left. I called him later that night and he said he would call me back. He didn’t call me until 12:30 that night to explain to me how his car was messed up and how he couldn’t make it up this week to train with me, told me to come down to Fort Pierce (3hr drive) and I told him I couldn’t do that again. He said he would call all the coaches the next day for me and for me to send him all the schools I was interested in and so I did. Two days later, he texted me requesting the $200.00 I "owed" him for the video that I have yet to this day to see. He requested multiple times for me to send it to his bank account and gave me the info for his account so I could send it. I responded with "I have no more money I have given you the $1200 like you said". Then he said "Ok. Get back in touch with me and send. Take care." He did not provide the school visits or recruiting assistance that I paid him for and I haven’t heard anything from him since. Upon returning back home to north Alabama, a family member did some research on him and found that he has a somewhat shady past and that he has a notable criminal record, including that he is a registered sex offender and DUI offenses. I am only 21 years old and it was a very costly lesson for me. I know now that I should have gotten a receipt and contract for the services. I paid him in cash and allowed myself to be duped. This complaint is to document the experience and hope that someone else might see the complaint and save them from being taken advantage of by Mr. Hadden. He is selling services that he does not provide and pocketing the money in a very smart and deceptive way.