ORLANDO, Fla — Action 9 is looking into a company that’s been pushed hard on social media as a great investment. The investigation started after investors from all over the world, including many in central Florida started to believe it’s nothing but a scam. Even some law enforcement agencies are warning about it.
A woman on Instagram showed off a new luxury SUV with a red bow wrapped around it. She said, “Guys, look at my gift. LSSC is not all about the car. It’s about unity.”
On another video, Action 9 saw a man in a police uniform who said, “Making money in your free time. It’s literally at the push of a button.” He was also talking about a company often referred to as LSSC. That’s short for Lightning Shared Scooter Company.
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The pitches on social media and even at in-person presentations made investing in Lightning Shared Scooter Company out to be a great opportunity.
“When you become a manager, you get $5,000 more. You become second level manager, you get $10,000 it’s quite exciting, you know,” said Bernard Blake of Kissimmee.
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Blake told Action 9 Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal he invested around $12,000 in LSSC. On its website, the company shows it’s all about electric scooters that people can rent, sort of like the other brands that line the streets of downtown Orlando.
But now it seems the excitement of the investment is turning to dread. For investors Action 9 spoke with, the dividends stopped coming in and now Bernard Blake and others claim they can no longer pull their money out.
Blake said, “From here to Africa. A lot of people in Africa actually joined this business. I have some friends in Europe that joined before me.”
And there are warnings from government agencies. The Salinas Police Department in California is calling LSSC a fraudulent scheme. A couple of provinces in Canada have posted warnings about it. The Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick wrote the company isn’t registered to deal or advertise in securities there.
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The Better Business Bureau has at least 70 Scam Tracker complaints about Lightning Shared Scooter Company in North America with claimed losses of $365,000.
BBB CEO Holly Salmons said, “The opportunity was presented to members of a church. And so unfortunately, there was a concentration of victims there, because they’re surrounded with people that they know and trust and they felt comfortable.”
Action 9 located an office for LSSC off Orange Blossom Trail in Orlando. No one answered at the business, and it appeared to be empty inside except for some LSSC posters and other materials. When Consumer Investigator Jeff Deal called the phone number posted on a sign at the business there was a message saying it was not accepting calls.
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Investors said they were encouraged to bring in more people to invest. The more people they brought in, the more money they received. Minnesota’s Attorney General issued a warning “to be on the lookout for e-scooter pyramid schemes.” But his news release didn’t name any specific company.
Many investors, like Bernard Blake now believe LSSC is a Ponzi scheme, and they worry they may never see their money again.
Blake said, “It impacted a lot of people. You know? It hurt a lot of families.”
A filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission suggests a trading company that appears to be connected to the platform investors used to buy into LSSC has around $49 million dollars poured into it.
Contacting the Florida Attorney General’s Office and the FBI is a good option for anyone who believes they lost money with LSSC.
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