Institute of Project Management America (instituteofprojectmanagementamerica.org). Is this a scam?

Three years ago I was spammed by an organisation called the North American Program Planning and Policy Academy (NAPPPA) which was attempting to get me to sign up for some seminars. It looked like a scam at the time, and it still looks like a scam now.

It took me a year of sporadic research to come up with the names of the people running the scam. Anthony Christopher Jones (known sometimes as "Tony Jones") and Patchree Patchrint (known as "Patty Patchrint"). After exposing them and detailing some of the evidence against them, NAPPPA, Jones and Patchrint dropped out of view. I assumed that this was the cockroach effect.. switch the lights on, and those roaches scurry for cover.

It looks like I was wrong.

A unexpected comment on my blog post opened up a new line of investigation.

Lem said...

I wish I would have found this blog prior to teaching a course for the Institute of Project Management America (IPMA). www.instituteofprojectmanagementamerica.org
The student certificates were signed by none other than Anthony C. Jones. Needless to say, I have not been paid nor the facility that hosted the training. I plan to sue them. In addition, there is a Patty Jones serving as the administrator/front person for IPMA. Perhaps his spouse. If anyone has any additional information about them, please share.
6 June 2014 22:25 

Could this be the same Anthony C Jones and Patty Jones (or Patchree Patchrint) that ran NAPPPA?

A look at instituteofprojectmanagementamerica.org shows an unremarkable site, but one which is carefully devoid of any contact details. The WHOIS records for the domain are hidden, and the only contact data that can be found are the telephone numbers  888-859-5659 and 866-959-3543.

The logo on the website has been recycled from elsewhere  and otherwise the template is bland, professional looking but completely anonymous.

A close look at the hosting history shows a number of related sites, either which are direct clones of instituteofprojectmanagementamerica.org or are previous versions. A full list is at the end of the post in Appendex 1, but principle domain names in use are:

americanprojectmanagementusa.org
instituteofprojectmanagementamerica.org
instituteofprojectmanagementamerica2.org
instituteofprojectmanagementamerica3.org
instituteofprojectmanagementamerica4.org
ipma5.org
ipma6.org
ipma7.org
mastercoursedevelopment.org
projectmanagementusa.org
projectmanagementusa1.org
projectmanagementusa2.org
projectmanagementusa3.org

The ones in the format projectmanagementusa3.org go all the way up to projectmanagementusa212.org. Who needs 212 copies of the same website? Well, spammers use these techniques to evade blacklisting.

The domains americanprojectmanagementusa.org  and projectmanagementusa.org are rather interesting as it is an older generation of the "Institute of Project Management America" spam site entitled "American Project Management" (you can see them at the Internet Archive).

A quick search against the phone number listed on that site (213-293-7410, 877-359-1110 and 888-739-0821) lead us to a BBB report with an alert to say the business has ceased trading.

The BBB indicates that this is a Colorado business, but a search of State records shows that there is no such business of that name registered in that state.

But a further Google search of the phone numbers also brings up this document at Scribd outlining the so-called American Project Management outfit and its activities [pdf copy here]. And who uploaded the document? A user called ppatchrint. That is undoubtedly Patchree Patchrint.

This document gives a California address rather than a Colorado one:

American Project Management
645 W. 9th Street
Unit 110-603
Los Angeles, CA 90015

So this gives us a clue to search the state records in California. An LLC search for "Institute of Project Management America" comes up blank, but a search for "American Project Management" comes up with a hit for "DDGLA AMERICAN PROJECT MANAGEMENT, LLC"

Now, I know that "DDGLA American Project Mangement LLC" is not quite the same thing  as "America Project Management", but the "645 WEST 9TH ST STE 110-603" address is the same as "645 W. 9th Street, Unit 110-603" as seen in the Scribd document. So there's a high likelihood that this is a match.. but there's no real contact information for this company.

But what does DDGLA actually stand for? I've been down this particular path with the NAPPPA investigation, so I know that DDGLA actually stands for "DOSS Development Group Los Angeles". A search for DOSS DEVELOPMENT GROUP at the California secretary of state reveals a name behind that company. And you've probably already guessed that it is Patchree Patchrint aka Patty Jones.

So, between the blog comments, the Scribd document and data held by the California Secretary of State, there are now three points of evidence linking the "Institute of Project Management America" and "American Project Management" with Patchree Patchrint aka Patty Jones and Anthony Christopher Jones.

So, is it a scam?

I haven't personally seen any spam promoting this so-called institute, but that was the basic approach with NAPPPA. Millions of credible-looking spam emails were sent out to universities and other organisations, that were published in good faith (such as this one).

Project Management Masters Certification Program

June 10-13, 2014
Association of Research and Enlightenment of New York
The PMMC is designed for those seeking professional project management certification.
PMMC program provides 36 hours of project management education, meeting education requirements for both PMI's Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) ® and Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications. The program meets the education requirement for all professional designations through the Project Management Institute and other professional agencies. Additionally, the program awards 3.6 Continuing Education Units (CEUs) upon request. Tuition for the four-day Project Management Masters Certification program is $995.00

Participants may reserve a seat online at the website, or by calling the Program Office toll-free at (888) 859-5659

Go to: http://www.instituteofprojectmanagementamerica.org/

What happened with NAPPPA is that these courses appeared to be booked at universities throughout the US, presumably to give them an air of authenticity. But at the last moment the venue for the course got moved to somewhere off-campus, people drafted in to teach the course never got paid and many students complained that the courses were of low quality. I don't doubt that the same is happening here.

In fact, this scam has been going on for a long time. Before the Institute of Project Management America, American Project Management and North American Program Planning and Policy Academy there were another similar scammy outfits.

The "Institute for Communication Improvement, LLC" (aka "The Grant Institute") seems to be the best known. For example:

• The Texas Workforce Commission issued a cease and desist order against them in 2008.
• The North Dakota AG's office warned about them in the same year. [PDF]
• The state of Iowa issued a warning using their alternate name "The Grants Institute" [scroll down to the bottom of page 4]

The evidence seems to show that in one form or another the business has been running since 2005 or 2006, only now it is charging victims nearly a thousand dollars a pop for a course of questionable value.

Given the history of this pair, it is my personal opinion that the Institute of Project Management America is a scam. Indeed, DDGLA American Project Management LLC have already been successfully sued in California over their unethical operations.

Who are Anthony Christopher Jones and Patchree Patchrint (Patty Jones)?

I coverered this pair before, a California-based husband-and-wife team with links to Hacienda Heights and Los Angeles. In addition to the programs listed above, they have run a number of (mostly failed) LA based restaurants such as Mother Road, Mode, and the Royale on Wilshire.

DDGLA is also associated with the following (apparently defunct) websites:

• ddglacommercial.com
• pettycashadvance.com
• bankddgla.com
• ddglafinancial.com

What should you do if you are unhappy with the Institute of Project Management America?

I don't live in the US so I'm not 100% familiar with the processes that you can use. But if you think you have been ripped-off then complaining the the BBB, your local Attorney General, law enforcment or the courts seem to be a way to go. I don't have a current address for this pair however, if you manage to turn one up then I can share it if you send me an email.

Appendix 1:
These are a selection of the domains and IPs used. There are hundreds of other ones, especially in in the format projectmanagementusa111.org .

americanprojectmanagementusa.org
instituteofprojectmanagementamerica.org
instituteofprojectmanagementamerica2.org
instituteofprojectmanagementamerica3.org
instituteofprojectmanagementamerica4.org
ipma5.org
ipma6.org
ipma7.org
mastercoursedevelopment.org
projectmanagementusa.org
projectmanagementusa1.org
projectmanagementusa2.org
projectmanagementusa3.org
projectmanagementusa4.org
projectmanagementusa5.org
projectmanagementusa6.org
projectmanagementusa7.org
projectmanagementusa8.org
projectmanagementusa9.org
projectmanagementusa10.org
projectmanagementusa11.org
projectmanagementusa12.org
projectmanagementusa13.org
projectmanagementusa14.org
projectmanagementusa15.org
projectmanagementusa16.org
projectmanagementusa17.org
projectmanagementusa18.org
projectmanagementusa19.org
projectmanagementusa20.org
projectmanagementusa22.org
projectmanagementusa28.org
projectmanagementusa31.org
projectmanagementusa32.org
projectmanagementusa36.org
projectmanagementusa37.org
projectmanagementusa38.org
projectmanagementusa39.org
projectmanagementusa41.org
projectmanagementusa43.org
projectmanagementusa44.org
projectmanagementusa46.org
projectmanagementusa77.org
projectmanagementusa92.org
projectmanagementusa99.org
projectmanagementusa100.org
projectmanagementusa111.org
projectmanagementusa114.org
projectmanagementusa143.org
projectmanagementusa157.org
projectmanagementusa210.org
projectmanagementusa212.org
23.94.13.183
23.249.165.7
37.59.255.192
50.2.193.25
63.223.125.56
63.223.125.58
64.37.51.2
64.37.51.10
64.37.51.19
64.37.51.45
64.37.51.80
64.37.51.107
64.37.51.110
64.37.51.112
67.23.232.6
67.23.238.35
67.23.238.36
67.23.242.154
67.23.242.181
67.222.130.43
75.127.3.76
96.44.146.44
96.44.189.189
107.155.68.39
107.158.160.92
107.161.114.135
107.161.158.57
107.178.105.133
108.160.156.59
108.174.54.119
109.169.37.185
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109.169.64.184
109.169.64.196
109.169.64.211
109.169.87.169
142.0.39.203
142.0.42.156
162.221.176.120
162.244.77.138
162.248.211.236
172.245.33.189
172.245.44.90
172.245.44.144
172.245.44.189
172.245.136.161
173.232.104.208
192.3.1.155
192.3.121.202
192.3.161.123
192.3.161.130
192.40.57.130
192.198.90.160
192.210.137.134
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192.227.166.167
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198.143.0.171
198.143.1.71
199.168.142.113
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199.204.23.129
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199.204.184.164
199.233.232.177
199.241.191.215
209.105.248.47