There are probably thousands, if not tens of thousands, of schemes and scams going on like this at any given time. They happen so often because there is so litt

There are probably thousands, if not tens of thousands, of schemes and scams going on like this at any given time. They happen so often because there is so little enforcement. The SEC only goes after the most egregious offenders. And what a lot of people don't realize is that the SEC can not bring criminal charges… which is what most people think of when they read, "SEC charges." But the SEC can only bring civil action. While they can recommend a case to the DOJ, they rarely do. Maybe someone else knows why? Because I don't. With $40,000 in real revenue, this is a case of people with nothing to lose. They bet big and lost. The penalty is basically go back to zero… which is pretty close to where they started. One of the reasons I truly believe (perhaps misguided) in more equitable distributions of wealth is that I believe it would massively cut down on scams… of which everything seems to be these days. If people were not so desperate, and they risked losing something (UBI, their benefits, and the quality if life that could provide, etc.) maybe every other thing wouldn't be a freaking scam or scheme of some sort. Disclaimer: I have become extremely jaded, particularly in the post-COVID world. I see a new coffee shop open up and I instantly start to wonder, "What manner of scam is going on here?"