4 ms·

$500M Ponzi scheme preyed on Mormons

37 points by latchkey 4y ago

latchkey 4y ago
https://archive.is/MzFVz https://archive.is/MzFVz
- jollofricepeas 4y ago
  Religion has nothing to do with it. “Successful Ponzi schemes prey on close-knit communities of victims, so-called “affinity groups,” which the perpetrators of the frauds are either already linked to or can tap into.” This is hacking of the human mind. Within social groups, we humans become extremely dumb as we jockey for position, acceptance and the like. The largest and latest Ponzis have happened within the various insular tech & crypto communities which have nothing to do with religion (ex. OneCoin, Terra, DC Solar). DC Solar even got Berkshire Hathaway to give them $340 million USD. SOURCES: - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ponzischemes-idUSTRE53R74O20090428 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ponzischemes-idUSTRE53R74...
  - latchkey 4y ago
    > The largest and latest Ponzis have happened within the various insular tech & crypto communities which have nothing to do with religion Depending on how to define the word religion, one could argue that a community, is a religion.
    - dibt 4y ago
      Depending on how to define the word potato, one could argue that a community, is a potato.
      - latchkey 4y ago
        By that logic, religion is a potato!
    - arp242 4y ago
      It's true; to be allowed to join the Hacker News community/religion you need to sacrifice a goat once a week to St. Dang the moderator, and a cow once a month to St. Paul the founder.
al2o3cr 4y ago
The investment was pitched as a nearly risk-free opportunity to earn annual returns of 50 percent Preyed on morons, more like. Anybody who believed that pitch should call me for a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge.
- ww520 4y ago
  It’s an idiot filter. Anyone believes a return at that level is susceptible to the scam.
elkos 4y ago
My understanding is that many religious communities are targeted by fraudsters like ponzi-schemes, or MLMs (that may in some cases be legal but in most cases are financially detrimental).
- boeingUH60 4y ago
  Yeah, but Utah is just an extreme case. I detest reading about MLMs and similar fraudulent schemes, but almost every one I read about happens to come from there. I'm not Mormon or even American...just an outside observer, but what makes that place so ripe for these schemes?
  - mistrial9 4y ago
    that LDS community is high-trust environment plus many barriers to entry. I suspect that part of the reason one guy shot himself so quickly over a money crime is that he knew that the social condemnation would be intense and endless, in that world.
  - atkailash 4y ago
    [dead]
- caminante 4y ago
  The article references another article that goes into detail about "affinity scams". > Most scams are not carried out as big institutional frauds. Rather, it is a friend or a fellow Rotarian, your accountant or even the local church deacon putting together that Ponzi scheme. He’s in your group. You have the same interests. It’s almost unimaginable that he would rip you off. It’s called “affinity fraud.” [0] [0]https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/beware-the-ponzi-schemer-next-door/2011/05/03/AFdz8e8F_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/beware-the-ponzi-sch...
wilg 4y ago
[flagged]
- lern_too_spel 4y ago
  It's the same reason I wasn't surprised when GameStop started selling NFTs.
yieldcrv 4y ago
mormons are the ripest for affinity scams they're really gullible and think everyone is neighborly, but especially other mormons this is corroborated by the data, Utah has the most of these scams per capita https://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/utah-fraud-capital/ https://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/utah-fraud-capital/
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
dahdum 4y ago
> He placed the letters — along with a note addressed to the FBI and a zip drive of computer files — upstairs on the desk in his office. Forget about the ponzi, I want to hear more about him using a zip drive in 2023.
caminante 4y ago
> Anderson, 38, who’d once worked with the whistleblower who tried to warn the SEC about Bernie Madoff, said he had immediately spotted the telltale signs of a Ponzi scheme. An online search showed neither Judd nor Beasley had liens listed under their names, which, in a legitimate endeavor, would have ensured legal recourse if the slip-and-fall victims didn’t pay back their loans, Anderson said. I'd want liens recorded in the public records, but it isn't required, AFAIK. As the article shows, the fraudsters already had a dodge ready in saying they wanted to fly under the radar to avoid copycat competitors.
solarman5000 4y ago
https://ie.energy/earth_engine/index.html https://ie.energy/earth_engine/index.html This guy is a Mormon, scamming other Mormons.. Not surprising given that the founder of LDS church was a convicted scammer, it's part of church history

37 points by latchkey 4y ago

latchkey 4y ago

https://archive.is/MzFVz https://archive.is/MzFVz

jollofricepeas 4y ago
Religion has nothing to do with it. “Successful Ponzi schemes prey on close-knit communities of victims, so-called “affinity groups,” which the perpetrators of the frauds are either already linked to or can tap into.” This is hacking of the human mind. Within social groups, we humans become extremely dumb as we jockey for position, acceptance and the like. The largest and latest Ponzis have happened within the various insular tech & crypto communities which have nothing to do with religion (ex. OneCoin, Terra, DC Solar). DC Solar even got Berkshire Hathaway to give them $340 million USD. SOURCES: - https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ponzischemes-idUSTRE53R74O20090428 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ponzischemes-idUSTRE53R74...
- latchkey 4y ago
  > The largest and latest Ponzis have happened within the various insular tech & crypto communities which have nothing to do with religion Depending on how to define the word religion, one could argue that a community, is a religion.
  - dibt 4y ago
    Depending on how to define the word potato, one could argue that a community, is a potato.
    - latchkey 4y ago
      By that logic, religion is a potato!
  - arp242 4y ago
    It's true; to be allowed to join the Hacker News community/religion you need to sacrifice a goat once a week to St. Dang the moderator, and a cow once a month to St. Paul the founder.

al2o3cr 4y ago

The investment was pitched as a nearly risk-free opportunity to earn annual returns of 50 percent Preyed on morons, more like. Anybody who believed that pitch should call me for a great deal on the Brooklyn Bridge.

ww520 4y ago
It’s an idiot filter. Anyone believes a return at that level is susceptible to the scam.

elkos 4y ago

My understanding is that many religious communities are targeted by fraudsters like ponzi-schemes, or MLMs (that may in some cases be legal but in most cases are financially detrimental).

boeingUH60 4y ago
Yeah, but Utah is just an extreme case. I detest reading about MLMs and similar fraudulent schemes, but almost every one I read about happens to come from there. I'm not Mormon or even American...just an outside observer, but what makes that place so ripe for these schemes?
- mistrial9 4y ago
  that LDS community is high-trust environment plus many barriers to entry. I suspect that part of the reason one guy shot himself so quickly over a money crime is that he knew that the social condemnation would be intense and endless, in that world.
- atkailash 4y ago
  [dead]
caminante 4y ago
The article references another article that goes into detail about "affinity scams". > Most scams are not carried out as big institutional frauds. Rather, it is a friend or a fellow Rotarian, your accountant or even the local church deacon putting together that Ponzi scheme. He’s in your group. You have the same interests. It’s almost unimaginable that he would rip you off. It’s called “affinity fraud.” [0] [0]https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/beware-the-ponzi-schemer-next-door/2011/05/03/AFdz8e8F_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/beware-the-ponzi-sch...

wilg 4y ago

[flagged]

lern_too_spel 4y ago
It's the same reason I wasn't surprised when GameStop started selling NFTs.

yieldcrv 4y ago

mormons are the ripest for affinity scams they're really gullible and think everyone is neighborly, but especially other mormons this is corroborated by the data, Utah has the most of these scams per capita https://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/utah-fraud-capital/ https://attorneygeneral.utah.gov/utah-fraud-capital/

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

dahdum 4y ago

> He placed the letters — along with a note addressed to the FBI and a zip drive of computer files — upstairs on the desk in his office. Forget about the ponzi, I want to hear more about him using a zip drive in 2023.

caminante 4y ago

> Anderson, 38, who’d once worked with the whistleblower who tried to warn the SEC about Bernie Madoff, said he had immediately spotted the telltale signs of a Ponzi scheme. An online search showed neither Judd nor Beasley had liens listed under their names, which, in a legitimate endeavor, would have ensured legal recourse if the slip-and-fall victims didn’t pay back their loans, Anderson said. I'd want liens recorded in the public records, but it isn't required, AFAIK. As the article shows, the fraudsters already had a dodge ready in saying they wanted to fly under the radar to avoid copycat competitors.

solarman5000 4y ago

https://ie.energy/earth_engine/index.html https://ie.energy/earth_engine/index.html This guy is a Mormon, scamming other Mormons.. Not surprising given that the founder of LDS church was a convicted scammer, it's part of church history