Last updated: July 21, 2026

Security Alert: Verify Communications from First Pier

Scammers have been impersonating First Pier for over a year, using unauthorized lookalike websites, fabricated contracts, spoofed Maine (area code 207) phone numbers, and fake Gmail and lookalike-domain email addresses that include our real company name, Portland, Maine business address, and logo without authorization. They contact people through WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, SMS, email, and forwarded Gmail accounts, posing as our employees and running several scam variations: fake remote work and "tasks," fake unpaid wages, fake website sales under sub-brands called "AI Revolution," "AI System Plan," and "AI System Upgrade Package," follow-up "advertising investment" upsells on existing victims, fake recruiter outreach under brand names like "RemoteHire USA," and unsolicited B2B technical pitches to Shopify merchants offering services like "Modernization Sprints." Victim communications and dated payment receipts we have collected span from at least January 2026 through the present, indicating a sustained, organized operation with rotating aliases and infrastructure — not a one-off scam. We have heard from targeted individuals and merchants in the United States (including Maine, Hawaii, and New Jersey) and Japan.

An important note: When victims push back, scammers in this operation will sometimes cite our real website (firstpier.com) as "proof" they represent us. They do not. Citing our domain, our address, our Portland Maine location, or our company name does not make any communication legitimate — every channel listed in this alert is fraudulent regardless of what the sender claims. Verify only through firstpier.com directly, not through anything sent to you by anyone you do not already have a contracted engagement with.

For additional information about this type of fraud, please see the Federal Trade Commission's alert: Task Scams Create the Illusion of Making Money

How to Know You've Been Targeted

• You were contacted on WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, or SMS by someone claiming to work for First Pier.
• You were called from a Maine (area code 207) phone number that is not (207) 747-1650. Our only real phone number is (207) 747-1650. Any other 207-area-code number claiming to be First Pier — including (207) 808-0090 — is spoofed by scammers deliberately choosing a Maine number to match our real geography.
• You were "recruited" by a third party (such as "RemoteHire USA" or any unverified recruiter) who introduced you to a First Pier "trainer," "Success Manager," "Gold Standard Success Manager," "Floor Manager," "Manager," or "Japanese staff member."
• The website you were sent to is anything other than firstpier.com (no hyphen, no extra words, no alternate TLDs like .online, .cfd, or .icu, and no third-party subdomains like *.myreviewsite.net).
• You received a "welcome to First Pier" onboarding email introducing you to a "dedicated Success Manager" who wanted to schedule a "20–30 minute introductory call" to walk you through your "recent purchase" — but the email came from an address ending in @first-pier.com (with a hyphen) rather than @firstpier.com.
• You received an order confirmation or customer-portal receipt for an "AI System Upgrade Package," "AI System Plan," "AI Revolution," or any other "website package" branded as a First Pier product. We do not sell any such products.
• You were offered remote work, "tasks," wages, commissions, or a "pre-built website" that required you to make deposits, buy products, or send cryptocurrency first.
• You were told you were buying a website, a "website package," or a product called "AI Revolution," "AI System Plan," or "AI System Upgrade Package" from First Pier.
• You were sent a personal "dashboard," "admin login," or "Customer Portal" showing fabricated metrics — impressions, clicks, sales, revenue — designed to look like your business is growing. Common phrases include "you're on the perfect path for a huge breakthrough" and a "Success Manager" encouraging you to keep going.
• You were directed to a payment link at payment.parvaty.com (often with parameters like ref=fp or provider=fanbasis in the URL), a Fan Basis checkout (fanbasis.com/agency-checkout/...), or any other third-party checkout. First Pier does not invoice through Parvaty, Fan Basis, or any payment gateway routing through external "sales" URLs.
• You were asked to send payment through any third-party payment app, peer-to-peer transfer, cryptocurrency, wire, or personal account.
• You were paid small amounts for several weeks or months, and then the "platform" suddenly disappeared, the staff vanished, or you were asked to pay a "deposit," "verification fee," "tax," or "unlock fee" to recover your earnings. This is the moment you are about to be defrauded — do not pay.
• After an initial payment of around $500–$4,000, you were pitched a follow-up "advertising investment" of $5,000–$6,000, often framed as a "Gold tier," "Gold Standard" upgrade, "scaling phase," or "Test → Validate → Scale" program over a 6-month management period — frequently with promises of 1 million monthly views, $4,000+ in monthly revenue, or a six-figure resale on Empire Flippers or Flippa.
• You were guided through opening a Flippa, Empire Flippers, or similar marketplace account and beginning a listing for "your" website, with suggested valuations in the $15,000–$25,000+ range. The valuation is not real and the listing is part of the script designed to justify the next deposit.
• You were offered a "performance guarantee" or "performance refund guarantee" — often quoted in mixed currencies like €10,000 / $10,000 — as reassurance that "you're taking virtually no risk." No such guarantee is real, and there is no entity standing behind it.
• When you hesitated on a large payment, you were offered a "staged payment plan" (e.g., 50% upfront, the rest on a flexible schedule) with reassurance that you "will not be pressured for subsequent payments." This is the same script applied at a smaller increment to get the first dollar through.
• You received a phone call or message from a new person introducing themselves as the manager of your existing contact — explaining that your contact "called in sick" — and offering an extra "free" website, bonus, or upgrade "as a gift." This is a coordinated handoff designed to keep you engaged through the next extraction.
• You were asked to refer friends or family to the program, often with the promise that the operation would "add them to our CRM" once they had purchased a website. The operation actively recruits new victims through its existing victims.
• You received a contract or "Advertising Investment Agreement" on what appears to be First Pier letterhead, with our logo and company name. Any such document not issued directly from @firstpier.com to a verified client under an existing engagement is forged.
• You were asked to move the conversation to Telegram or to "download Telegram to continue." Legitimate First Pier business does not require off-channel encrypted messaging.
• You are a Shopify merchant who received an unsolicited email from a Gmail address (not @firstpier.com) signed "First Pier — Shopify & E-commerce Growth Agency," pitching a "Modernization Sprint," Shopify Functions migration, EAA accessibility compliance, or other technical work — often with fabricated urgency around a Shopify deadline.
• When you raised doubts, the person on the other end pointed you to our real website (firstpier.com) as "proof" they represent us. They do not.
• The person you spoke with used one of the aliases listed below.

Known Scammer Aliases and Fake Brand Names

The people impersonating First Pier have used these names. None of them work for us. We have no employees or contractors by these names, and we do not sell any product or service by these names.

People:

• Alex Haber
• Alex
• Alex Pappas (claimed to be a "Success Manager")
• Luke Peterson (claimed to be a "Gold Standard Success Manager")
• Luke
• Idan
• Phill Hanson / Phillip Hanson (claimed to be a "Floor Manager" and "Success Manager"; contacted victims via phillip.h@first-pier.com from at least March 2026)
• Marco Rouzek (claimed to be a "Success Manager," contacted victims via marco.r@first-pier.com — documented activity as early as January 2026)
• Stephen (claimed to be Phillip Hanson's manager, used in a coordinated "your contact called in sick" handoff)
• "Support floor manager"
• Ms. Harada Mie (claimed to be "Japanese staff" or "trainer")
• Ms. Shimizu Yui (claimed to be a "RemoteHire USA" recruiter introducing victims to First Pier)
• "The AI System Team" (used as a closing signature on scam messages)

Fake products, sub-brands, and program tiers:

• AI Revolution
• AI System Plan
• AI System Upgrade Package (documented in receipts dated as early as January 2026)
• "Gold Standard," "Gold tier," "Gold website," or "Gold Advertising Campaigns" upgrade programs
• "Modernization Sprint" (offered to Shopify merchants as a fake technical migration package)
• Any "website" being sold under the First Pier name (we do not sell pre-built websites)
• Any "additional free website" or "bonus website" offered as a gift to retain or escalate engagement

Fake affiliated companies and recruiter brands:

• RemoteHire USA (we have no partnership, recruiter relationship, or affiliation with any company by this name)
• Any company claiming to recruit, train, or onboard on behalf of First Pier — we do not use third-party recruiters or staffing partners

Known Fraudulent Websites

The following domains are not affiliated with First Pier. We did not create them and have no control over them. We are actively working with hosting providers and law enforcement to remove them, but new ones appear regularly.

• first-pier.com (note the hyphen — our real site is firstpier.com, no hyphen)
• firstpier.online (note the .online TLD — our real site is firstpier.com)
• firstpierppc.com
• firstpierai.com
• firstpierpcpincpro.com
• firstpierpcpincpro.cfd
• firstpierpcpincpro.icu
• firstpier-dataseo.com
• reviewrankinghub.com (used as a fake "admin dashboard" hosting fabricated traffic and revenue numbers)
• myreviewsite.net and any subdomain of myreviewsite.net (e.g. softsenify.myreviewsite.net) — scammers spin up per-victim subdomains here and present them as "your personal AI-powered website"
• siteboosterai.com (used to send forged "Advertising Investment Agreements" and follow-up upsell pitches under the alias "Luke Peterson")
• payment.parvaty.com (used as a checkout/payment gateway routing transactions through Fan Basis — payment links use parameters like ?ref=fp&provider=fanbasis)

Our only website is firstpier.com. Any other "First Pier" website is fraudulent.

Known Fraudulent Contact Details

Our real phone number is (207) 747-1650 — voicemail only during off hours. That is the only First Pier phone number. Scammers deliberately spoof Maine (area code 207) numbers to match our geography and defeat caller-ID verification. Any 207 number that is not (207) 747-1650 is not us.

• Email: Any address ending in @first-pier.com (with a hyphen). Confirmed addresses include alex.h@first-pier.com, marco.r@first-pier.com, and phillip.h@first-pier.com. Our real email addresses end in @firstpier.com (no hyphen).
• Email: support@myreviewsite.net (used by scammers posing as a First Pier "Success Manager" team)
• Email: luke.p@siteboosterai.com (used by scammers posing as "Gold Standard Success Manager" to push a $5,000–$6,000 "advertising investment")
• Email: info.firstpier@gmail.com (Gmail address impersonating First Pier in B2B outreach to Shopify merchants)
• Spoofed Maine phone: (207) 808-0090 (used by "Phillip Hanson" for onboarding calls to victims)
• WhatsApp: +1 555 8181 218 (also used by the "Marco Rouzek" alias)
• WhatsApp / phone: +1 908 258 5140 (used by the "Phill Hanson / Floor Manager / Success Manager" alias)
• Phone: +1 239 376 1004
• Any Gmail address claiming to be First Pier — we do not send business correspondence from Gmail accounts
• Any phone number, email, or social account not listed on firstpier.com/contact

Forged Documents and Contracts

Scammers have produced forged "Advertising Investment Agreements," service contracts, order receipts, welcome emails, customer-portal pages, and proposals using our company name and logo. These documents have no legal weight and were not created or signed by anyone at First Pier.

A document claiming to be from First Pier is forged if any of the following are true:

• It was sent from any email address that does not end in @firstpier.com.
• It is signed by anyone not listed on firstpier.com — including any of the aliases above (Alex Haber, Alex Pappas, Luke Peterson, Idan, Phill / Phillip Hanson, Marco Rouzek, Stephen, Ms. Harada Mie, Ms. Shimizu Yui).
• It uses a title we do not have at our company, such as "Gold Standard Success Manager," "Success Manager," "Floor Manager," "Support floor manager," or "Manager."
• It is an order summary, invoice, "welcome onboarding" letter, or "Customer Portal" receipt for a product we do not sell, including "AI System Upgrade Package," "AI System Plan," or "AI Revolution."
• It asks for payment through Parvaty, Fan Basis, cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer payment apps, or any platform other than direct invoicing from First Pier.
• It includes a "performance guarantee," "performance refund guarantee," or similar buyback promise. We do not offer guarantees of this kind, and any such language in a "First Pier" document is a fabrication.
• It was provided without a prior, signed engagement letter between you and First Pier issued from @firstpier.com.

If you received a contract, receipt, welcome email, or "Customer Portal" page claiming to be from First Pier and you are not currently a contracted client, the document is fraudulent. Do not sign. Do not send payment. Forward the document to info@firstpier.com — we add forged contracts and receipts directly to our federal case file.

Known Fraudulent Payment Methods

First Pier invoices verified clients directly through standard business channels. We do not accept payment through any of the following — if you were asked to pay through any of these for a "First Pier" service, you were targeted by a scam:

• Parvaty (payment.parvaty.com) — used by scammers as a checkout layer that routes transactions through Fan Basis. Confirmed URL pattern includes parameters like ?ref=fp, product_id=101, provider=fanbasis, and t=FP, embedding the First Pier name directly in the transaction metadata.
• Fan Basis (creator-funding platform) — scammers have directed victims to specific checkout links such as fanbasis.com/agency-checkout/myreviewsite/<code>. The path often embeds "myreviewsite" or another scam-domain name, tying the payment rail directly to the fake-website infrastructure.
• Any cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, or any other)
• Peer-to-peer payment apps to a personal account (Venmo, Cash App, Zelle, PayPal Friends & Family, etc.)
• Wire transfer to a personal account or unfamiliar business name
• Any payment platform First Pier did not invoice you through directly

Tactics This Operation Uses

Beyond fake websites and aliases, the impersonation operation uses several recurring social-engineering tactics. Recognizing these in the moment is often what separates a near-miss from a financial loss:

• Spoofed Maine phone numbers. Scammers deliberately choose (207) area-code numbers to match our real Portland, Maine geography. When a careful victim asks "what number will you be calling from so I can verify," they provide a 207 number that looks legitimate. Our only real number is (207) 747-1650 — every other 207 number is a spoof.
• The fake "welcome onboarding" email. After a fraudulent purchase, victims receive a warm, professional-sounding welcome email from a "dedicated Success Manager" offering to schedule a 20–30 minute introductory call. The email is designed to feel exactly like real agency onboarding — until you notice the sender address ends in @first-pier.com (with a hyphen) instead of @firstpier.com.
• The coordinated handoff. A new person introduces themselves as the manager of your existing contact, explains that your contact "called in sick" or is "out of office," and offers an extra "free" or "bonus" website as reassurance. The purpose is to keep you engaged during a moment when you might otherwise step back to think.
• The staged payment plan. If you hesitate on a large ask, they will offer a 50% deposit with the rest on a flexible schedule, and reassure you they "will not be pressuring you for the subsequent payments." Any payment received is the goal — the deposit alone often clears thousands of dollars.
• The performance guarantee. A $10,000 or €10,000 "performance refund" promise designed to make the ask feel risk-free. No such guarantee is real, and there is no entity standing behind it.
• The referral hook. After a victim has paid, they are asked to refer friends or family — often with language like "send me their email so I can add them to our CRM once they have their website." The operation actively recruits new victims through existing ones. Do not refer anyone.
• The Telegram migration. A request to "download Telegram to continue the conversation" moves communications off traceable platforms and onto encrypted channels where evidence is harder to preserve.
• The marketplace resale walkthrough. Scammers walk victims through actually opening an account on Empire Flippers, Flippa, or similar marketplaces and starting a listing — sometimes with suggested valuations of $15,000–$25,000+. The valuation and the listing are part of the script, not a strategy. Their goal is to make the resale promise feel concrete enough to justify the next deposit.
• Citing our real domain as verification. When skepticism rises, they will link to firstpier.com itself as "proof" they represent us. Our real domain belongs to us, not to anyone who points to it.

If You Received a Pitch from "First Pier"

We do not cold-pitch services to Shopify merchants or other businesses through Gmail addresses or unsolicited email. If you received an email signed "First Pier" or "First Pier — Shopify & E-commerce Growth Agency" from a Gmail account, proposing a "Modernization Sprint," Shopify Functions migration, EAA accessibility compliance, or any technical work outside an existing engagement, the email is not from us. All real First Pier outreach comes from @firstpier.com.

Specific red flags we have seen in these B2B impersonation emails include: fabricated Shopify deadlines (such as a fake "June 30, 2026 Ruby scripting engine shutdown"), false claims of prior familiarity ("since we already know your codebase inside and out"), a bundled-compliance pitch combining a Shopify migration with EAA accessibility work, and a low-friction reply prompt ("just hit reply with 'yes' or 'no'").

If you are an existing or past First Pier client and received an email that seems off, please verify directly through firstpier.com/contact or by replying only to an address you know is ours.

Protect Yourself

• Check the Official Website: Our official and only website is FirstPier.com. Always confirm you're on the correct site.
• Verify the Phone Number: Our only real number is (207) 747-1650. If someone claiming to be First Pier gives you any other number — even one with a Maine (207) area code — it is a spoof. Do not add unfamiliar 207 numbers to your contacts, and do not treat a Maine area code as verification.
• A Real Domain Citation Is Not Verification: Scammers in this operation will sometimes link to our real firstpier.com domain to "prove" they represent us when victims push back. They don't. The only legitimate channels are @firstpier.com email and the contact methods listed at firstpier.com/contact — not any third party citing our domain to you.
• Official Channels Only: First Pier exclusively communicates through verified email addresses ending in @firstpier.com, clearly listed on our website. We never use @first-pier.com (with a hyphen), @firstpier.online, @myreviewsite.net, @siteboosterai.com, or any Gmail address.
• Ignore Unsolicited Contacts: We do not initiate contact via social media, messaging apps (including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Telegram), SMS, or third-party websites. Please disregard and report any unsolicited messages from these channels.
• No Third-Party Recruiters: We do not use external recruiters, staffing agencies, or "training partners." Anyone claiming to recruit, train, or onboard you on behalf of First Pier is part of the scam.
• No "Pre-Built Websites" or "AI Plans": We are a custom agency that works with verified clients on contracted engagements. We do not sell pre-built websites, "website packages," "AI Revolution," "AI System Plan," or "AI System Upgrade Package" through messaging apps or unsolicited contact.
• No Forged Contracts: We never send "Investment Agreements," "Modernization Sprint" proposals, or any other contract through Gmail addresses, third-party domains, or unsolicited outreach. All real First Pier contracts are issued from @firstpier.com to clients who have signed engagement letters with us.
• No Performance Guarantees: We do not offer "performance guarantees," "refund guarantees," or any buyback or money-back promises tied to advertising spend. Any "$10,000 performance refund guarantee" or similar language attributed to First Pier is fabricated by scammers.
• No "Manager Handoffs": If someone new contacts you claiming to be your existing First Pier contact's manager and offering free upgrades or bonuses, the entire chain is a scam. Stop responding and contact us through firstpier.com/contact.
• No Staged Payment Plans for Strangers: If you are not already a contracted First Pier client, any "50% deposit, the rest on a flexible schedule" arrangement is a scam structure, not a courtesy. Do not pay any deposit.
• No Referral Recruitment: Do not refer friends or family to anyone claiming to represent First Pier through unsolicited contact. The referral request is itself part of the scam structure — it expands the victim pool through trust.
• No Telegram or Off-Channel Migration: Real First Pier business does not require moving conversations to Telegram or other encrypted messaging apps. Anyone asking you to "download Telegram to continue" is moving you off-channel because what they're doing won't survive scrutiny on traceable platforms.
• Be Skeptical of Personal Dashboards and "Customer Portals": If you have been given a "personal admin dashboard" or "Customer Portal" at a domain like reviewrankinghub.com, softsenify.myreviewsite.net, or any other unverified site showing impressions, clicks, sales, or revenue, the numbers are fabricated. We never provide victims with private dashboards — verified clients have direct access to their own Shopify and analytics accounts.
• Never Pay Through Third-Party Platforms: Real First Pier work is invoiced directly. We do not accept payment through Parvaty, Fan Basis, cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer apps, or any platform not listed on a First Pier invoice issued from @firstpier.com.
• Never Pay to Access Your Earnings: No legitimate employer will ever ask you to pay a fee, deposit, tax, or "unlock charge" to receive money you have already earned. This is the defining moment of a task scam — if you are asked to pay to recover your earnings, do not pay.
• Be Skeptical of "Scaling" or "Gold Tier" Upsells: If you have already paid for a service from anyone claiming to be First Pier and you are now being pitched an additional "advertising investment," "Gold tier," "scaling phase," or "Test → Validate → Scale" program of $5,000 or more, you are being walked up a payment ladder. The first payment was the bait — the second is the extraction. Do not pay.
• Be Skeptical of Marketplace Resale Promises: Pitches that include projected five- or six-figure resale of "your website" on Empire Flippers, Flippa, or similar marketplaces are a script — not a strategy. The numbers are fabricated to justify the next deposit, even if the listing itself appears real.

Important Clarification

• We never solicit employment, contractor work, or tasks via external websites, messaging apps, or social media platforms.
• If you're uncertain about a website or communication, please confirm directly through our official contact page: FirstPier.com/Contact.

If You've Been Contacted or Scammed

1. Email us at info@firstpier.com with any screenshots and documents you have — conversations, websites, payment screens, order receipts, names and phone numbers used, dates and amounts of any payments, and any contracts or agreements you received. We're building a case with the FBI and FTC. Your information helps protect the next person.
2. Leave a voicemail at (207) 747-1650 and we'll return your call as soon as possible. Email is the fastest way to reach us — please include any screenshots and documents there.
3. File your own reports:
   • FBI's IC3 (most important if you lost money): ic3.gov
   • FTC: reportfraud.ftc.gov
   • If you are located outside the United States, also report to your country's consumer protection or cybercrime authority. In Japan: Consumer Affairs Agency hotline 188, or National Police Agency cyber crime division.
   • If you paid by credit card, contact your card issuer immediately to dispute the charges as fraud. Disputes within 60 days of the transaction have the strongest legal protection.
   • If you paid through Parvaty, Fan Basis, or another payment platform, contact their fraud or trust-and-safety team and report the transactions. Provide them your IC3 case number once you have it.
   • If you sent cryptocurrency, report the wallet address to the exchange you used.

Verified Business Information

First Pier
217 Commercial Street, Suite 300
Portland, Maine 04101
(207) 747-1650
firstpier.com

Your firsthand report carries more weight than ours when filing on your behalf.

Your online safety is our top priority. First Pier is actively working with authorities and hosting providers to address and promptly remove these unauthorized sites. Should you encounter any unauthorized website claiming affiliation with First Pier, we recommend reporting it to the appropriate authorities listed above.

Thank you for your continued vigilance.

— The First Pier Team