A Seattle businessman has been ordered by a judge to pay $7.75 million, which he got from more than 125,000 people via a fake online prayer service. His misleading website charged thousands of people for prayers which is now dubbed as the online prayer scam.
The man was identified as Benjamin Rogovy and the online prayer service that he run was said to be fake. According to The Guardian, the website has been shut down by the Washington state attorney general's office. The $7.75 million ordered to be repaid by him includes the money he took from the customers as well as attorney costs, court fees and $1m in civil penalties.
Attorney General Bob Ferguson told Rogovy that he believes in the power of prayer but he does not believe and will not tolerate the unlawful business that preys on people. Ferguson added that Rogovy took advantage of the faith of his customers and their need for help in order to make quick money.
The websites have been identified as christianprayercenter.com and oracioncristiana.org. These websites offered to pray for English and Spanish speakers if they paid at least $9 and at most $35 for the prayer service. Rogovy has created fake ministers who would assist the customers with religious ceremonies and were available for consultation. The Christian Prayer Center website also used the name Pastor Eric Johnson and Pastor John Carlson but both of them are said to be fake, The News Tribune reported.
Aside from the fees for the supposed prayers and religious ceremonies, Rogovy was also able to have the victims pay recurring fees monthly. Accordingly, the victims were directed to a page and were given the option of receiving "continued blessings," thus the monthly fees.
Ferguson continued that Rogovy used other deceptive and unfair business practices to run a business that is called the Consumer Complaint Agency. The business promised people it would advocate on their behalf regarding complaints against businesses. People were charged up to $25, The Seattle Times reported.
When the websites of Rogovy were closed, the message in the homepage reads that the Christian prayer Center is now closed and that they thank people for their prayers. The sites now refer the viewers to other prayer websites that did not ask for any payment.
Consumers are asked to file a complaint in the Washington state attorney general's office until June 12 this year in order to receive a refund. They can also process it online.
