that is until it came across ingrid robinson who on her own was able to topple a financial giant that was illegally charging people desperately in need of money. all the work she did from her house. for a mother on a mission, this was the promise land. >> when michelle died, everything went to hell in a handbag. >> on this barren property in clear lake, california, she hoped to develop an upscale luxury town home community. >> i renamed it michelle's diamond after my daughter. >> reporter: but first ingrid robinson needed $100,000 to kick start michelle's diamond. a broker referred her to the remington financial group based out of phoenix in philadelphia. >> remington said we love this project so much, we want to invest the whole $5 million to develop it. next thing i know, i received a contract from remington saying they wanted $10,000 upfront to doo their due diligence. >> reporter: she would be one of nearly 2,000 people to get the same request from remington. the company would send out letters of interest indicated it had lenders prepared to fund and touting an 80% success rate se

she's not done y. { track } something was not right in r city ingrid robinson said she smd a rat just weeks after payi remington financial group a $10,000 advance fee. the company's ad promises connections to hundreds of investors that will fund business projects. ingrid b. she had plans for a multi million dollar resort in clr lake. but those "connection were bogus. the first time i saw that rejection letter.. i felt le somebody punched me in the stomach. after you gave them $10,000? correct. she excha emails with remington execus demanding an explanation...e finally reached one on the e -- and what ingrid got-- wad -- when heard this: ah, ingrid.. you sound liken hysterical woman. we don't w what we're missing here.. because we're trying everytg we can to fund your deal. i heard that .. if you thi'm hysterical now.. just wait'l become your worst nightmare. ingrid went online and found hundreds of other victims w were also scammed into givip $10 to $25,000 "advance fee. and no one got their invest money either. she even discovered the companies remington bragged about hel -- never he

that is until it came across ingrid robinson who on her own was able to topple a financial giant that was illegally charging people desperately in need of money. all this work she did from her house in marin county. for a mother on a mission, this was the promiseland. >> when michelle died. everything went to hell in a handbag. >> on this barren property in clear lake, california, she hoped to develop an upscale luxury town home community. >> i renamed it michelle's diamond after my daughter. first, she needed $100,000 to kick start michelle's diamond. a commercial broker referred her to remington financial group out of phoenix and philadelphia. >> remington said, no, we love this project so much we want to invest the whole $5 million to develop it. next thing i know. i receive a contract from remington. saying that they wanted $10,000 up front to do their due diligence. >> ingrid would be one of 2,000 people to get the very same request from remington. the company would send out letters of interesting indica indicating it had lenders and touting 80% success rate in securing money so