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Monday 23 January 2017

WARNING: pmacademyusa.org / "Project Management Academy USA"

For the past six years I have been following the exploits of Patchree "Patty" Patchrint and Anthony Christopher Jones who claim to run a series of seminars on project management and grant writing. Umm.. and failed restaurants in Los Angeles. I'm not going to repeat all of the information in this post, I advise you to read the whole story.

This latest scheme is a quite snazzy-looking website at  www.pmacademyusa.org called "Project Management Academy USA".

The website may look professional, but it is simply done using the WIX website builder:


You'll notice that the site supplies no information at all about who runs it. However a useful tip alerted me to the site, which is basically a more glitzy version of the Institute of Project Management America from a few years back, including this lazy example of copypasta:

About Project Management Academy USA
At Project Management Academy USA, our programs are led by practitioners-working professionals who are experts in the process of maximizing results using professional project management practices. Modern industry needs results driven professionals who are focused on a disciplined dedication to effective project management from initiation to closing. We strive to combine real-world scenarios, actual case-studies, with the knowledge provided by PMI and academic foundations to create certified project managers who are prepared for further certification and credential. Our programs are ultra-foundational, meaning they ensure attainment of the universal basics of project management, prepare participants for certification exams, and provide the advantage of our mastery components, which are unique to our programs and are followed by a Masters designation.
They currently advertise courses running in the following locations:
January 17-20, 2017
University of Southern California
8:00am to 5:00pm

February 21-24, 2017
University of Miami
8:00am to 5:00pm

February 28 - March 3, 2017
University of Texas at Austin
8:00am to 5:00pm

March 21-24, 2017
University of California Berkeley
8:00am to 5:00pm

March 28-31, 2017
University of Chicago
8:00am to 5:00pm
Funnily enough, the venue seems to be changed at the last minute from the prestigious university it was advertised at to some other location in the rough vicinity. And also, at the last moment the person who was meant to be teaching the course is substituted at the last moment for someone who has to fill in and mysteriously seems to have problems getting paid (if this is you then please add a comment below).

If you have doubts about the quality of these causes, I urge you to read the posts and especially the comments that go with them. Those are not my words, but the words of the people unfortunate enough to either pay for a course or who turn up to teach.


3 comments:

Patty and Anthony Flossed Me Too said...

Looks like they are still doing it. - any word on who to contact at FBI- http://www.pmacademyusa.com

William Favre Slater, III said...


Below is the message that brought me into this mess, and I bitterly regret it.

===================================
----- Original Message -----
From: Catherine Masterson [mailto:catherine.masterson@outlook.com]
To: slater@billslater.com slater@billslater.com, williamslater@gmail.com williamslater@gmail.com
Sent: Sun, 26 Mar 2017 22:13:43 +0000
Subject: URGENT: PMP Training Opportunity - Chicago, IL


Dear Mr. Slater,


We found your profile and are reaching out to you about an upcoming contract position we are seeking to fill for a Project Management Trainer. Our company provides project management training courses throughout the country and currently have an opportunity in Chicago, IL from March 28-31, 2017. The training hours are from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each day. We would like to discuss your availability and interest in facilitating this course.

Our ideal trainer will have at least 5 years of project management work experience and hold the PMP certification. You should be comfortable with teaching groups of 20-30 people and be familiar with the application of lmanthe PMBOK in the various work environments.

We will provide with all of the course materials and will be glad to forward the full presentation to you for review. Our standard training fee is $3,000. Future assignments are available but would require travel which we provide for you. We have attached a copy of our agenda for your review. Please reply to this message to schedule a conference call this weekend to discuss the opportunity further. Thank you for your time and consideration.


Catherine Masterson
Program Manager

Tangent Point Consultants



===================================

I just wanted to let you know because I cannot sit on this information any longer after finding out it really is a SCAM.

This is my Plan of Action:



1) Contact all stydents who attended the clas I taught to alert them about te scam.

2) File compaints with the following:

The Internet Crime Complaint Center:

https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

The Attorney General for the State of Illinois

The Attorney General for the State of California

The Federal Trade Commission

Unknown said...

omg, i almost registered to the course.... my professor received an email from this fake PMA USA and forwarded it to me to have a look and I did. When I firstly had a quick glance in the website, everything looked okay so I tried to search the flight, accommodation and things to go for it. But at the end, I tried to figure out the detailed agenda with the lecturers' information, but I could not find it at all and the website now looks SO WEIRD to me.

Thank god I got this before I registered, but there should be some people who already registered.