Ok I think I am starting to understand what’s going on. After re-reading the entire thread and seeing the thorough cross examination by The Gooner, I think the problem may not be that you were scammed. It may be that you didnt understand exactly what you were buying and therefore had expectations that were not in line with what you actually purchased.
Ok it sounds as if:
1. You purchased the website(s) only, not the affiliate accounts from the previous owners.
2. During due dilligence the seller indicated what their present earnings were. These figures may or may not have been inflated. Either way it doesnt matter because you werent buying the affiliate accounts that were generating the earnings.
3. Based on the figures for earnings that you were presented you decided to purchase the website(s).
4. The transaction took place. The funds were exchanged and you have ownership of the websites, but NOT the affiliate accounts that were generating the earnings you were presented.
5. You now find that the websites are NOT producing the earnings you expected by a wide margin.
Ok if those points are correct, lets examine the “rub”
The problem is the earnings, right? Well the earnings being generated were from affiliate accounts. The seller retained those accounts so they in essence retained the earnings. What you bought was the websites, not the affiliate accounts.
What you most likely didn’t understand was:
1. Without the players there were NO EARNINGS. When the players left with the seller you only had website(s). You were starting from zero. Yes, the sites had search rankings, but no income.
2. It can take YEARS to build up an income from a depositing player base. We have no way of knowing how long it took the previous owner to build up a base of 132 depositing players. It’s also a fact that 90% of your income will come from a few whales. MOST players will produce little income.
You assumed since the previous owners were earning x number of dollars that you would earn a similar amount of money, and you very well may, eventually, but its not going to be in the short term. You have to build up a player base from scratch and thats going to take time.
I dont believe the previous owners really explained the nature of the sale well and allowed you to make assumptions which were not correct. They SHOULD have informed you that you were basically just buying websites with search rankings and X number of visitors. They should NOT have made reference to their earnings with the site as it was totally Irrelevant and did mislead you.
In that respect they are guilty of less then above board dealings.