14 DAY TRIAL // After being ripped off by a handyman, a Tennessee woman decided to take action against him in an original manner. Linda Corti decided to publicly warn others online by registering a website and naming it after her contractor.
The angry fraud victim bought the rights for the domain name jerrybreedlove.com, aiming to turn the website into a wanted poster for the Collierville, Tennessee contractor who stole $3,054 (€2,175) from her.
Linda Corti hired Jerry Breedlove to install recessed lights at her home in East Memphis as part of a renovation work. The man billed her in advance for all the equipment he supposedly purchased from Grahams Lighting, and she paid him in full, but after that he completely vanished and never returned to do the job.
Corti had hired Breedlove for previous jobs, so she didn't worry about his honesty. However, the woman never received the purchased materials and the contractor stopped answering her phone calls. That's when Corti began to get suspicious.
It later turned out that the invoices Breedlove presented to her were falsified and he never bought the items listed on them.
“So I thought what could I do myself to really...not just necessarily get back at him, but let the community know not to hire him,” Corti said, according to Yahoo News.
So, the woman, who works as a graphic artist, decided to design a website called jerrybreedlove.com. Under the headline “Do not Hire Jerry Breedlove as your Contractor,” Corti presents all the details of the fraud, including the falsified invoices, which were apparently created using wrong photo-shopped fonts and fake customer order numbers.
She reportedly purchased the rights to register the domain name for only $28 (€20,3).
On the other hand, when contacted by investigators, Jerry Breedlove admitted to the crime.
“Yes, sir, I admit that I did that. I had a situation that I couldn't control at my house, and I was wrong,” he stated. “She'll get payments every week until that is paid for, sir,” he added.
Lawyers explain that Corti is taking a huge risk operating the site, as it's unlawful to use Breedlove's name, image, phone number and other personal information without his permission. They say that if the contractor wanted to sue, he could do it, but they think he would have a hard time finding an attorney given that he admitted to committing fraud.
Jerry Breedlove apologized for his acts and he promised to return the money in full. So far, he has paid Corti a $500 (€362) money order.