Attorney General's News Release

October 6, 2006

Web of deceit: Nixon shuts down Poplar Bluff Web site designer who defrauded customers

Poplar Bluff, Mo. — Attorney General Jay Nixon has pulled the plug on a Web site design firm that accepted payment for services from small businesses and then failed to deliver on a variety of promises, defrauding at least 15 victims out of thousands of dollars. Circuit Judge Mark Richardson granted Nixon a temporary restraining order against Christina Stevens of Poplar Bluff, owner and operator of Just Two Girls and The Tech Girls. Nixon's lawsuit, filed in Butler County Circuit Court, is also seeking injunctions and appropriate penalties.

Nixon says the defendant marketed her services mostly to women small business owners who do most of their business online. Stevens claimed that her business provided Web site design and development, Web hosting, installation of special Web site features such as shopping carts and security protections, Internet domain name registration and graphic design. The 15 victims who filed complaints with the Attorney General's Office paid between $500 and $800 for the services, and included the wives of four current major league baseball players.

“Many small business owners are too busy to learn Web site design themselves, so they entrust their hard-earned money to a Web design firm such as the defendant's to help market themselves,” Nixon said. “Instead of getting a Web site to help their bottom line, these victims were fed a line by the defendant about the quality and timeliness of services and verbally harassed when they had complaints.”

Nixon alleges that the defendant engaged in numerous instances of fraud and deception, including:

• Misrepresentations about the total price of the services, features that could be provided on the consumers' Web sites and dates by which the consumers' Web sites would be fully operational;
• Refusing to transfer consumers' Web sites to a server not controlled by the defendant in a timely manner, and refusing to release Web site templates to the consumers for whom the templates were designed;
• Damaging databases provided by consumers such that the consumers were required to pay another company to repair the databases;
• Sending harassing and/or threatening e-mails, some containing profanity or racial slurs, to consumers with whom the defendant had a disagreement; and
• Shutting down or denying access to the consumers' own Web sites when the defendant had a disagreement with the consumer, and posting banners on consumers' Web sites indicating that the consumer owed the defendant money.

Nixon is seeking preliminary and permanent injunctions against Stevens to prohibit her from continuing to solicit and provide internet services such as Web design to consumers. The lawsuit also asks the court to order the defendant to provide full restitution to all consumers from whom she received payment for Web design services and were victimized by fraud and deception; pay a civil penalty of $1,000 per violation to the state; pay to the state an amount of money equal to ten percent of the total restitution paid by the defendant to her victims; and pay all court, investigative and prosecution costs in the case.

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Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

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