HARTFORD, Conn. -- A company first exposed by the Channel 3 Eyewitness News I-Team is now on the wrong end of a $6 million lawsuit.

The Georgia-based company put together Web sites for people interested in skydiving, but hid the fact that there were no local locations to actually perform the jumps.

Middlefield resident Susan Lipper bought her husband a birthday gift certificate from a Web site called Connecticut Skydiving. When he called to set up the jump, he was told that he would have to drive to Vermont or New York.

An investigation from the Channel 3 Eyewitness News I-Team found that the Web site was run by a Georgia outfit that set up similar sites for almost every city in the country. They took customer's money, then told them where the closest jump site was.

Lipper said, “The feeling of violation where you trusted something, then obviously you have to be a lot more careful these days and not just trust what you see on the computer.”

After the I-Team report, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal launched an investigation. His office was able to clear up the complaints from Lipper and others in Connecticut.

Blumenthal said, “The company seems to have changed its message, probably as a result of your report that the skydiving is not available in Connecticut.”

Then, an attorney from Arizona, Sid Leach contacted Channel 3. He represents one of the largest legitimate jump sites in the country, SkyDive Arizona.

Leach said, “They were having customers showing up at their skydiving center saying they had purchased these certificates from people on the Internet who claimed they were SkyDive Arizona.”

The owner of the skydiving center is also involved in national skydiving associations and heard complaints from all over the country. Like the Channel 3 Eyewitness News I-Team, Lipper did some investigating and found dozens of knock-off Web sites. So he decided to sue. At trial, SkyDive Arizona proved that the Web scam netted $23 million and fooled some 75,000 customers. A jury awarded $6.6 million.

Leach said, “With very little investment they were able to divert hundreds and hundreds of customers specifically looking for my client to their Web sites where they took the people’s money before they ever revealed who they really were.”

However, the Arizona attorney is taking it a step further. He is asking attorneys general nationwide to support his efforts to shut down the Web sites across the country.

Blumenthal said, “We’re considering whether to support this lawsuit and how we can best do it, working with other states, if there are practices that affect our customers.”

Even as they pursue the injunction, they’re hoping there are now 6 million reasons for businesses to curtail deceptive Web sites.

Leach said, “That will make this unprofitable and serve as a message to anyone who considers doing this sort of scam against consumers in the U.S.”