…and this is a 
A reader wrote in to say his mother was being victimized by a putative religious organization called Elite Activity Resurrected. It has to be seen to be believed. It's all dressed up in egalitarian pieties about ending world poverty, but when you look at the actual operation, it's a remarkably blatant con game.
The World's first Interdenominational Belief System on the Internet!
Poverty is our Adversary!
"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. These are revolutionary times. All over the globe men are revolting against old systems of exploitation and oppression, and out of the wounds of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born. Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty." -- Martin Luther King Jr., April 4, 1967.
"Learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow." -- Isaiah 1:17.
Aww, that sounds so noble. But here's how it works:
Our models of abundance are designed specifically to anchor the belief that giving opens the way to receiving. Once you choose to participate in any Elite Activity model, you enter the cycle of abundance from the outer circle and give unconditionally without consideration to the participant in the inner circle. When you do this with the proper intent, and follow the guidelines, you will eventually reach 'the inner circle'. This is where other participants give their unconditional gifts to you, and you experience the power of 'Many giving to one'.
And here's a kind of 'review', if by that we mean 'uncritical endorsement of fraud'.
You are first "invited" to join the Elite Resurrected gifting program by a current member and then on the out-most ring in which place your "gift" (starting at $100), a monetary amount to the person that has made it to the center. You then "invite" at least two people that want to share in the giving during the second phase (the person that originally invited you will help you in this.). During the "Empowering" phase you help the people that you invited and once you successfully fulfill that part you move into the inner circle where you receive your gifts. There, it says, you will be able to receive 4 "gifts" (a total of $400) before being "invited" to join a new cycle at $250. You can still receive 2 more "gifts" at the center of the $100, after which time you will be recycled back to another $100 circle to make your way to the center once again.
Can you say "PYRAMID SCHEME!", boys and girls? Sure, I knew you could. This is criminal activity; the only people whose poverty is going to be diminished are the members of the inner circle, and they're going to make out like bandits. They are bandits!
Alert the police. They have a list of upcoming gatherings in places like Little River SC, Litchfield Park AZ, Houston TX, and lots of events in Mexico. I think having the local bunco squad paying a call on these thieves would add a welcome bit of festivity to their gatherings. They are vermin preying on fears of the economically disadvantaged.
Comments
Posted by: JD | June 19, 2009 11:39 AM
Fucking frauds. Bernie would be proud.
Posted by: SVN | June 19, 2009 11:42 AM
A crazy fraud, but this doesn't even come close to the Vatican.
Posted by: Levi in NY | June 19, 2009 11:45 AM
It's not a pyramid scheme. Didn't you see the graph? It's a circle scheme.
Posted by: James Sweet | June 19, 2009 11:48 AM
I guess while he was in prison, Bernie Madoff found Jesus.
Posted by: Rorschach | June 19, 2009 11:52 AM
Circles are the new pyramids.
Posted by: Lynna | June 19, 2009 11:52 AM
Speed-reading the post, I accidentally read one of the headers as "Poetry is our Adversary!" and I thought we were really onto something there.
Posted by: ajbjasus | June 19, 2009 11:53 AM
Anyone remember WOW - Women Empowering Women. That was a pyramid scheme glossed over with pseudo feminism. I had to sack someone who worked for me who was canvassing her colleagues, and wandering around with huge wadges of cash.
Posted by: Michelle R
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June 19, 2009 11:56 AM
I knew it. I bloody knew it. The second I saw that circle it was screaming evident. Scam artists, the lot of 'em.
Damn they're good salesmen...
Posted by: Bryan Perkins | June 19, 2009 11:57 AM
My dad used to live in Litchfield Park, AZ. I should tell him about this, I think he would get a kick out of it.
Posted by: charley
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June 19, 2009 12:00 PM
Good job calling these crooks out.
Now, if you want to go after worldwide multi-billion dollar pyramid-type fraud, far right wing-nuttery, fundamentalist Christianity and cult tactics all at once, take on Amway.
Posted by: Nichole | June 19, 2009 12:00 PM
They're not salesmen, they're predators. Which clearly means we need Arnold to come fight them.
Posted by: Happy Tentacles
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June 19, 2009 12:00 PM
Is a circular pyramid a cone?
Posted by: DaveL | June 19, 2009 12:00 PM
Is it just me, or do a lot of people lack the basic insight that the accumulation of wealth, as well as the elimination of poverty, requires that value be added at some point in the process, such as through the creation of goods and services?
I'm not just speaking about the victims or inventors of pyramid schemes, but also financial professionals at hedge funds and investment banks...
...or is that a distinction without a difference?
Posted by: Rick Snow | June 19, 2009 12:00 PM
From their contact page:
Media, Law Enforcement or Anyone wishing to Contact the Leadership - You may send us an e-mail at contact@eliteresurrected.org
Now why would they need to provide a specific email address for law enforcement to contact them? Hmmmm?
Posted by: One Eyed Jack | June 19, 2009 12:02 PM
It's sad that people still fall for this crap.
Posted by: gman
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June 19, 2009 12:04 PM
According to this link, Harvey J. Dockstader (president of Elite Resurrected) has already been convicted of pyramid scheme fraud:
http://club.hbcuconnect.com/cgi-bin/blog.cgi?cid=10&blog_id=93083&reading=1
... but apparently he hasn't learned his lesson.
Posted by: Unity | June 19, 2009 12:05 PM
The site is registered to a Harvey Dockstader who, it appears. may be currently enjoying the hospitality at a Texas State Pen.
http://www.mlmwatchdog.com/Z_Gifting_Schemes_Elite_Activity.html
Dockstader also appears to be/have been associated with Warren Jeffs' polygamy cult until Jeffs kicked him out.
Posted by: sammywol
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June 19, 2009 12:05 PM
you experience the power of 'Many giving to one'. HUH? That's a step worse than a pyramid scheme. It's right up there with 'last chance to send in your dollar!' - a simple 'make me rich' scheme with no middle men. It's a black hole scheme where a superdense point of total, greedy arsed shamelessness sucks the cash right out of people's wallets and no agency in this universe can retrieve it.
Posted by: Mark L | June 19, 2009 12:06 PM
Check out the blog on his site (if you have a strong stomach) - he actually admits to being charged and found guilty for "Promotion of a Pyramid Scheme". BUT somehow he won and somehow it isn't a pyramid scheme because... OK I lost track at that point...
Posted by: damnedyankee | June 19, 2009 12:10 PM
Send your checks and prayers (but mainly your checks) to the Church of the Blessed Saint Ponzi!
Posted by: Duae Quartunciae | June 19, 2009 12:11 PM
Try googling for "Elite Activity Resurrected". These guys seem to have hundreds of websites! An example: http://www.scamreviewer.org. A site that reviews scams, you might think? Not really. There's only the one "review"... of EAR, to say it isn't a scam, unlike all those other horrible pyramid schemes. Incredible.
Posted by: Quidam
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June 19, 2009 12:14 PM
I was surfing the site and then it suddenly went off-line.
Has it been shut down or is it the Pahryngulite hordes?
Or is it just me?
Posted by: Lynna | June 19, 2009 12:15 PM
Unity @17: very informative link, thanks. Here's an excerpt (scroll down a lot to the excerpt from a Houston newspaper):
Ministering To His Flock Or Fleecing Them? By Allan Turner - February 19, 2005
Sally Riley was hopping mad at the devil. Speaking in tongues, brandishing a wooden staff to vanquish God's enemies Old Testament-style, the co-pastor of the nondenominational Secret Place International Church reached a crescendo as she warned that sooner or later all good Christians would find themselves assailed by Satan.
Pink slips, cancer, crack cocaine, knuckleheaded kids — the devilish assault would be brutal. But God would prevail, toss the evil one into a fiery lake and reward his children in spades.
From a wing chair on the sidelines, the Rev. Sean Riley exhorted his wife to greater heights, clapping, shouting and swatting the air as if delivering a knockout punch to an unseen adversary.
Interesting that Warren Jeffs kicked the perpetrator out of the FLDS cult. It thought the FLDS was also into pyramid schemes.
This bible-based (so the perpetrator claims) pyramid scheme reminds me of Cloudpiler's multi-level marketing scheme that played a part in the Daniel Hauser case.
Posted by: Rob the Lurker FCD | June 19, 2009 12:16 PM
A Circle? I guess a pyramid would be too obvious.
Posted by: raven | June 19, 2009 12:17 PM
All areas with large concentrations of poor, ignorant, and highly religious people. They do know where to find the desperate and gullible.
That diagram of theirs is a classic example of a Ponzi scheme.
Oh well, "A fool and their money are soon parted."
BTW, I have some magic beans and will trade them for a cow or new car or whatever. They lead to a treasure chest in the sky. After planting them, just ask the first giant you see for directions.
Posted by: amphiox | June 19, 2009 12:17 PM
The circle is actually a cone, seen from the top.
Posted by: Holbach
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June 19, 2009 12:19 PM
I said my name is Tucker, not sucker. Dumb shits doing their imaginary god's work in the guise of humanism. Of course the brain- dead by -religion will gladly fork over their dough. They forked over their dead brains long ago, so it is easy to be fleeced by religious morons. Isn't religion just a wonder to behold?
Posted by: Rick R | June 19, 2009 12:21 PM
The mormons are gonna be all over this. They LOVE shit like this.
Posted by: ThirtyFiveUp | June 19, 2009 12:25 PM
And they even drag out Einstein to validate their fraud. See the bottom of their web page.
"Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life's coming attractions."
(This may not be an accurate quotation.)
Posted by: David Marjanović, OM | June 19, 2009 12:25 PM
Wow. It's like being sent spam from Blockhead J. Minolta, only worse. First they quote MLK talking about socialism, and then…
Comments 11 and 26 are right.
Posted by: littlejohn | June 19, 2009 12:31 PM
This is just a chain letter! A chain letter with graphics and shit, but just a chain letter. Just put your name and the bottom of the list and send $10....
Posted by: raven | June 19, 2009 12:32 PM
I've heard rumors that the FLDS runs a lot of scams against the heathens.
Why not? According to them, everyone else are pagans following false religions including the main LDS church. No one likes the FLDS anyway so it isn't like they are ripping off their buddies or anything. And they need the money to support their polygamy-mobs of kids habits.
Like I said, rumors, no idea if they are true. Jeffs might have kicked him out because he wasn't giving a decent split to the Prophet of God and Chief Revelator who oddly enough is Warren Jeffs himself.
L. Ron Hubbard has got some competition here.
Posted by: Marcus Ranum | June 19, 2009 12:32 PM
Wait.... does this mean I won't get the money out of social security that I paid into it?
Posted by: Teh Merkin | June 19, 2009 12:33 PM
It's really no surprise these criminals prey on the religious. It's a group that has already self-identified as a bunch of credulous fools.
Teh Merkin
Posted by: raven | June 19, 2009 12:40 PM
FWIW, this is a common type of scam. So common it has a name.
"Affinity group scam."
They are common in fundie churches. One in Tennessee involved a perpetual motion machine.
Posted by: BTJ | June 19, 2009 12:42 PM
Next thing you know, religious people dressed in funny costumes will be claiming wages for interceeding on your behalf to an invisible man in the sky. Wait...never mind.
Posted by: Lycosid | June 19, 2009 12:49 PM
I love people.
Posted by: Richard Harris
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June 19, 2009 12:58 PM
May Abundance fill your life like the ocean fills the sea!
Harvey J. Dockstader Jr.
Elite Activity Founder
Ungrammatical, stupid, & the guy's a creep.
Posted by: Steve_C | June 19, 2009 12:59 PM
Reminds me of the Landmark Forums or Est seminars. They keep you in a room for hours tearing down uor self esteem then build it back up with bullshit psychobabble lingo. By the end people are more than happy to invite 2 or 3 friends to the next one. It's pretty insidious. Then it turns into a Scientology thing where you take "courses" the get you closer to your "truth".
Posted by: Wry Mouth | June 19, 2009 1:06 PM
"Religious" is the least part of this scam... several years ago, the faculty and administration (up to and including the Deans of the school) of my local college were caught up in a similar scam, called, I believe, something like "Gift Exchange."
It was ludicrous. As an adjunct maths teacher, I made it my business to use them in classroom examples when discussing exponential growth or repetitive multiplication (powers), depending on the class taught and the sophistication of the audience. The school leaders were either monumentally stupid or criminally greedy.
And their "religiosity," or more likely lack thereof, was of no concern to me, as was their "intelligence level," which was (sadly) demonstrably high.
Posted by: Sastra
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June 19, 2009 1:07 PM
I'm surprised they're not using the headline Do you believe in miracles???
The correct -- and expected -- answer, of course, is "yes." Why yes, I do believe in miracles. With God, all things are possible. I do believe then that there is a way for everybody to give everybody else money -- and everyone gets rich. Why not? Miracles happen every day.
After all, we all know what happens to those doubters who are skeptical of miracles.
Posted by: Porco Dio | June 19, 2009 1:13 PM
Hey PZ,
Why shouldn't stupid people be allowed by law to be parted with their money in such a way?
After all, it is legal to promise someone an afterlife in heaven if they would just put a few dollars in the hat...
Posted by: BigMKnows | June 19, 2009 1:13 PM
It's a cone, basically the same idea as a pyramid, and we're looking down from the top.
Posted by: Sastra
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June 19, 2009 1:14 PM
Another popular appeal for these schemes is to "The Power of Positive Thinking" -- a sort of religion/God lite. Anything which can feed into the sense that it's important to really believe, and not falter.
Posted by: Blondin | June 19, 2009 1:23 PM
Rats. Several people beat me to the "conical scheme" comparison. A cone is just a pyramid with the corners knocked off.
Posted by: Lynna | June 19, 2009 1:25 PM
Raven @32: The command to "bleed the beast" has been documented in relation to FLDS communities, so the pyramid scheme seems to fit right in. However, I don't have any current info on FLDS-fostered pyramid schemes. Info from 2006 seems to indicate that in some cases FLDS members were also victims, or they preyed on one another when it came to MLM schemes.
Posted by: Brownian, OM
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June 19, 2009 1:26 PM
I see they cite a version of the age-old religious loophole on their "Statement of Beliefs" page:
Compare "What? You didn't make all of your money back and more? The Theory of Abundance is still true. You must not have had the right 'intent'."
with "What? God didn't answer your prayers? God still exists and hears your prayers. You must not have had enough 'faith'."
with "What? Brownian didn't bodily manifest in front of you with keys to your new Shelby Mustang? Brownian still magically appears to all of the deserving. Your thoughts must not have contained enough 'schmib-schmab.*"
It's a con man Mad Lib.
I imagine there are well-meaning people falling for this scheme, but it's hard to be too sympathetic when the selling point of the religion is that you'll receive back everything you give and more (or earn a seat at Yesu's magic dinner table watching the non-believers fry). I've a few paternal relatives who'd fall for this hook, line and sinker because their greed makes them stupid.
*And Brownian spaketh to the crowd: Verily I say, for whomever shall thinketh of me with schmib-schmab in his head shall sooneth be cruising in a 2008 or 2009 model Shelby Mustang depending on availabilityeth. But only those believers whose thoughts are free from glomis (and send a cheque for $250,000 CDN for 'shipping and handlingeth') will be thusly rewardedeth. --Book of Brownian to the Gullible 23:14-15
Posted by: Zar | June 19, 2009 1:37 PM
I'd recommend contacting the web site's host/server/whatever. They might not be too happy to be associated with illegal activity.
Posted by: Roland Branconnier | June 19, 2009 1:38 PM
Did someone say Carlo Pietro Giovanni Guglielmo Tebaldo Ponzi aka Charles Ponzi. It is the 21st Century and P.T. Barnum was right: "There's a sucked born every minutes." Take the advice of George Santayana: "Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
caveat emptor
Posted by: Interrobang | June 19, 2009 1:46 PM
What do I get if I think happy thoughts, smile prettily, and send Brownian a cheque for $2.50 in Canadian funds (a half an hour later in Newfoundland)? :)
Posted by: natural cynic | June 19, 2009 1:53 PM
I am curious as to how soon "Ponzi" or "pyramid" flashed into your consciousness?
I looked at the bullseye first and thought "Hmmmm...". Then I went to the text above it. By the end of the first sentence, "Our models of abundance are designed specifically to anchor the belief that giving opens the way to receiving.", the distinct odor of rotten fish was perceived. And then, by the middle of the next sentence, it was rather obvious.
Anybody that had to read the paragraph below the bullseye to get what it was all about needs to check their BS meter. Is there any way to speed up production and distribution of BS meters, or is it a marketing problem? Unfortunately, IMO it appears the be the latter.
Posted by: pdferguson
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June 19, 2009 1:54 PM
That was my first reaction to this, too. If I were going to set up a pyramid scheme, this is exactly the group I would target. Not only are they self-identified fishes who are comfortable handing over money for empty promises, so much of the work of creating the proper atmosphere of gullible eagerness has already been provided by their Sunday school teachers...
Posted by: Jason Sexton | June 19, 2009 1:57 PM
They even offer "Turbo Mode"
Posted by: T.Converse | June 19, 2009 1:59 PM
Have you read the "Gifting" form? For a gift it's a lot of legal BS. Clearly attempting to cover their collective asses at that point as well.
Posted by: Slamguy | June 19, 2009 2:07 PM
"Can you say "PYRAMID SCHEME!", boys and girls?" I can but I won't. This is certainly NOT a pyramid scheme. The shape is a CIRCLE, not a pyramid. Hence, it is legitimate. QED
Posted by: Abs42 | June 19, 2009 2:14 PM
@ Charley #13 - My sister got wrapped up in AMWAY at one point - drove us all nuts getting us to buy stuff! Luckily she found a boyfriend and got a bit distracted :D
They are scary folks - can anyone smell a cult?
Posted by: SteveM
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June 19, 2009 2:17 PM
It isn't really a fraud if they tell you exactly how it works. Ponzi led everyone to believe that they could double their money and did not tell them their profits were just two newcomers' "investments". Here they are quite open about it. Like someone pointed out above, this is just a chain letter; send a dollar to each of the 5 people on this list, take the top name off, put yours on the bottom of the list. By the time your name gets to the top you'll receive hundred of dollars. (as long as no one breaks the chain)
I understand this is pretty much how Amway, Tupperware, Mary Kay, etc operate. At the lowest level you make very little, but if you recruit a few people, you collect a portion of their sales. If they then go on to recruit others, you get a portion of theirs and a portion of your direct recruits. Technically a pyramid scheme, but not a scam because there is no deception.
Posted by: Acronym Jim | June 19, 2009 2:19 PM
So...Instead of eliminating poverty by giving to the poor, they're going to eliminate poverty by having the poor give to them?
Sounds like a solid plan to me. Where do I sign up?
Posted by: KeithB | June 19, 2009 2:20 PM
This is not a ponzi scheme, it is a pyramid scheme. A ponzi pretends to be a legitimate fund that takes new deposits and uses them to make high interest payments to fool investors into thinking the fund is legitimate.
This was a ponzi scheme aimed at churches:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundation_for_New_Era_Philanthropy
Posted by: Lynna | June 19, 2009 2:28 PM
@51:
I got more than the stink of pyramid scheme at the first sentence. With a well-tuned BS meter you can tell right away where they're going with this. This is only a slight rewording from the standard reason given for tithing.
Posted by: Fred the Hun
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June 19, 2009 2:28 PM
Damn I can do better graphics than that!
Please send me money! You will be happy! God loves you!
http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll225/Fmagyar/Lizards1.jpg
Posted by: Matt Penfold | June 19, 2009 2:29 PM
"Technically a pyramid scheme, but not a scam because there is no deception"
So conning people is OK as long as you tell them you are conning them, nevermind that you are relying on the fact they remain unware of that fact ?
Posted by: Dr.Woody
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June 19, 2009 2:29 PM
Posted by: Levi in NY | June 19, 2009 11:45 AM
It's not a pyramid scheme. Didn't you see the graph? It's a circle scheme.
Me, I'd call it a "conical" rather than a "pyramid" scheme, there being no apparent angles in the graph of the operation.
And I'd applaud the grifters getting sat on hiway cones in a construction zone on a rainy night, or any approximation thereof...
Posted by: Roland Brancoinnier | June 19, 2009 2:32 PM
Its only a series of two dimensional concentric circles if you look at it as if it were attached to a wall, ergo: a bulls-eye. However, if you are looking down on it (pun intended) from above, then it can be perceived in the form a series of three dimensional cylinders that form a circular step pyramid. The eye of the beholder! QED redux.
Posted by: Acronym Jim | June 19, 2009 2:37 PM
Lynna@23:
But isn't polygamy just a pyramid scheme in a different form?
Posted by: Gruesome Rob | June 19, 2009 2:47 PM
@SteveM:
Still illegal. Unless there's physical product involved, FTC would come down on this like a ton of bricks. I don't remember what the threshold of money coming in from physical products is, but it set high enough that you need a real product (that's why Amway is legal)
Posted by: blf | June 19, 2009 2:49 PM
They all pile on at once? I didn't think the FLDS cultists did orgies.
Posted by: F | June 19, 2009 2:53 PM
http://www.eliteresurrected.org/content/guests/legal.php
http://www.eliteresurrected.org/content/legal/legal_letters.php
I love the CYA pages. This "attorney" needs to pull his head out of his ass.
Posted by: Chris | June 19, 2009 2:59 PM
With a focus on rendering and animation enhancements, modo® 401 delivers a wealth of new features and innovative workflows, which enable users to easily model on top of existing geometry, see changes in their scene immediately from the radically improved Preview renderer and efficiently re-use assets throughout the content creation process. These new features benefit customers in a broad array of disciplines such as architectural visualization, product design, game development and advertising image production.
Posted by: Acronym Jim | June 19, 2009 3:05 PM
Not just orgies, blf, but biblically condoned orgies.:D
Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of the older (traditional!?) form of marriage that includes dowries and multiple wives contributing to labor required to maintain the husband's standard of living and pleasure.
Of course, this would be a pyramid with a broad* base and extremely narrow tip.
*the old hollywood use of the word.
Posted by: Brownian, OM
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June 19, 2009 3:07 PM
What?! That paltry sum won't even touch the processing costs, nevermind the air-conditioning for the dog ho--[notices mute light on phone is unlit]--I mean, thank you my dear. All Brownie's children are welcome to donate to His magnificence, whatever the amount.
Posted by: littlejohn | June 19, 2009 3:07 PM
Using religion in this sort of thing is apparently not unusual. I used to manage the typography department of a large commercial printer in Charlotte.
One of our clients was an outfit, now defunct, called WeCare cosmetics. It apparently had some sort of affiliation with the Amway Corp., and used the same sort of marketing arrangement. I.e., the only way to actually make money was to recruit more salespeople, as opposed to actually selling stuff.
Their promotional copy, which I typeset, was just larded with religious references. I met the clients, who literally carried around attache cases of cash, like B-movie hoodlums. They seemed to have no real interest in religion at all. They just talked, often in stereotypical gangster slang, about money.
Their cosmetic products, BTW, were extolled as superior because they were made with "mink oil," which I gather is a fancy way of saying "weasel fat."
As fur lost its cachet (this was the mid-80s), WeCare quietly disappeared. Maybe some of the older readers here remember it. It was an obvious scam aimed at religious believers.
Posted by: Omphaloskepsis | June 19, 2009 3:08 PM
Thomas Kincade, the darling artist of faith-minded Wal-Mart shoppers, has apparently been using his faith to scam galleries to the tune of several million dollars: http://www.avclub.com/articles/qvc-artist-teams-up-with-god-for-art-gallery-scam,29425/
Posted by: Wendell Way | June 19, 2009 4:08 PM
From what I've gathered, this "Elite" group is in cahoots with FLDS and the Little Shell Pembina fake Indian tribe. The three are almost an "Unholy Trinity" in some regions.
Contempt of court seems to be a way of life for both Elite and the Pembinas. The sheer number of court cases they've lost and then ignored the rulings from boggle the mind.
Posted by: LeeLeeOne | June 19, 2009 4:15 PM
I have filled out an Internet Crime Complaint Form. Not sure if this will do any good, but it may.
Posted by: Ken Mareld | June 19, 2009 4:52 PM
If it smells like bullcrap and tastes like bullcrap, why the hell would you eat bullcrap?
I worked in automotive several decades ago. I saw two cycles of this in the LA car dealership community. One in the late seventies and the other in the late eighties. I knew several people that lost piles of money in these 'gifting' scams. Both times the ones who went in early and heavy were the car salesmen. And boy did they hustle to get other employees to buy in. Everybody lost money. Especially the car salesmen. The car dealership owner that I worked for forced them to pay back any money they scammed from the other employees. Otherwise they would lose their jobs. And be turned into the state wherein they would lose their car salesman license. And that would end their ability to make a living. In California it is a licensed profession. In the sales profession it is well known that the easiest sales can be made to other salesmen. I think that extends to the idea that the most easily scammed are scammers. I understand that the largest number of fraud convictions per capita is in Utah. The sleaziest used car salesman I ever met was in Yakima, WA, he was also a Pentacostal minister. I was in auto parts for 30 years (honorable and helpful to the do-it-yourselfer)and at one point I spent six awful weeks selling cars. Worst job in my life, there are a few straight salesmen in the profession, but it attracts an awful lot of hustlers.
Oh, I got out of Automotive several years age and just graduated Nursing school (YIPPPEE!!).
Now to find a job in this crappy economy. At least Nursing is not as badly squeezed as everywhere else.
Now to bring this back to the beginning of the post. Don't most of these scam artists pop up during down cycles in the economy? When people are desperate?
Posted by: Becky | June 19, 2009 5:28 PM
I am always so jealous when I don't think of these things first.
Please let me tell you about Poontangology and the loving Goddess Krystal, where for an offering of only $500.00 one of our beautiful priestesses will perform the healing ritual of the laying on of thighs.
Posted by: Randy Owens | June 19, 2009 5:41 PM
The Pharyngula effect: The new Slashdot effect!Posted by: a non | June 19, 2009 5:41 PM
"Is it just me, or do a lot of people lack the basic insight that the accumulation of wealth, as well as the elimination of poverty, requires that value be added at some point in the process, such as through the creation of goods and services?
I'm not just speaking about the victims or inventors of pyramid schemes, but also financial professionals at hedge funds and investment banks..."
Uh, talk about lacking a basic insight ...
Posted by: grenangle | June 19, 2009 6:15 PM
If someone was to video the police raiding one of ( and hopefully the last ) meetings that would rock.
Posted by: Heidi | June 19, 2009 6:49 PM
@SteveM #57: Those send-us-money chain letters are also illegal.
https://postalinspectors.uspis.gov/investigations/MailFraud/fraudschemes/sweepstakesfraud/ChainLetters.aspx
Posted by: shifty | June 19, 2009 8:21 PM
Of course this would remind me of an old joke....
A priest, a minister and a rabbi are all discussing their fund-raising efforts. The priest says "we use a circle and have all our congregants throw money at it. Whatever lands inside goes to the church, outside goes to god." The minister replies that in his church they follow a similar routine only in reverse, inside to god, outside to the church. The rabbi chuckles at their charade and chimes in, "at our temple we get the congregation to throw their money in the air. Whatever god wants, he takes....."
Posted by: Angry & Anonymous | June 19, 2009 8:49 PM
I've left an FTC complaint: reference #23143547
Posted by: mandrake | June 19, 2009 9:56 PM
Probably more illegal than these scammers, but definitely morally superior.
Posted by: Dale Husband | June 19, 2009 10:05 PM
Last year I got sucked into a simular pyramid scam run by a company called Primerica. I paid $200 for training (which no company should ever require),and to get licensed to sell insurance policies. I later learned via the internet about pyramid schemes like that (referred to in business circles as Multi-Level Marketing or MLM) and quit the company and never looked back. Throughout the seminars I attended over several weeks, the emphasis was not on selling the product, but on recruiting, recruiting, recruiting new members. Promises of rapid advancement and wealth were emphasized, not customer service. I could only get promoted by recruiting new members to work under me, and I would be paid ONLY by commission, and the pay rates were designed so that only those at the higher levels could make enough money to live on, the members on the lower levels risked going bankrupt trying to earn back the money they earlier paid for their training. When I realized that the only way I could make any real money was by scamming others I knew into the company, I bolted.
Posted by: OurDeadSelves | June 19, 2009 11:40 PM
This sounds suspiciously like the beginnings of the whole Jonestown fiasco...
(Sorry if it's been mentioned. I haven't read all of the comments yet, it was just my first reaction.)
Posted by: 12th Monkey | June 20, 2009 12:42 AM
There is a teaching among certain fundamentalist groups that one can "plunder the unrighteous" with impunity. There are Bible verses that justify this supposedly. This sounds like a variant of that except that they are preying on fellow Christians. I'm sure that in their minds they will justify it somehow. Maybe the marks were of a slightly wrong denomination.
Posted by: astrounit | June 20, 2009 8:40 AM
Foul.
Posted by: IainW | June 20, 2009 9:02 AM
Can't help but be reminded of the vampire pyramid scheme in the Angel episode "Disharmony" ("Turn two, the rest is food.")
On a less nostalgic note, all proselytising religions are basically pyramid schemes, with in-group status substituted for money. Except for the ones in which money is substituted for money.
Posted by: Cheezits | June 20, 2009 9:38 AM
Technically a pyramid scheme, but not a scam because there is no deception.
*boggle* No deception in Scamway? It makes promises it can not keep. It claims you can make loads of money and quit your job and spend more time with your family and none of that is true. Unless you are one of the VERY few lucky ones at the top. Every new recruit is led to believe that he can be the top of his own little pyramid, which is mathematically impossible.
Posted by: Lurky | June 20, 2009 9:47 AM
"and you experience the power of 'Many giving to one'."
Bukkake?
Posted by: wotty | June 20, 2009 10:39 AM
Have a chuckle at this: http://www.telefonica.net/web2/paramahamsa/abundance3.html
Posted by: wotty | June 20, 2009 10:41 AM
Have a chuckle at this: http://www.telefonica.net/web2/paramahamsa/abundance3.html
Posted by: wotty | June 20, 2009 10:43 AM
Sorry for the double post above.
There's also this interesting bit of news: http://www.childbrides.org/sex_Fox11_more_CC_men_indicted.html
Posted by: pogoman5 | June 20, 2009 11:55 AM
How right you are this is simply another type of scam, pure and simple. There are thousands out there. Everything from Nigerian to pyramid. These parasites need to be stopped at all costs.Is it knowledge? Yes. I have just read a book published by Eloquent Books titled 'Scammers Among Us Beware' which is a self-help guide to scams and fraud. This book can be viewed on Amazon.com and purchased there as well. Please check it out. We all need a tool or help mate to keep us informed.This is a global epidemic not just here in the USA but world wide.Thank you.
Posted by: whitebird | June 20, 2009 2:53 PM
@ 94 - thanks for that link. Now I have to clean all this barf off my screen.
Posted by: wotty | June 20, 2009 7:16 PM
Was anyone surprised to find that Harvey J. Dockstader, the man behind Elite Activity Resurrected, was involved in a polygamy cult? I sure wasn't.
Posted by: wotty | June 20, 2009 7:22 PM
Mr. Dockstader, like so many of his ilk, has spread on the internet like a cancer:
http://www.giftingislegal.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JRP25LdY2M
http://www.eliteactivity.org
http://eliteactivity.tv
http://www.connectingusall.com
http://www.myspace.com/dboy_23
Posted by: 'Tis Himself, OM
|
June 20, 2009 7:48 PM
Hey, having a large household is expensive. You try keeping four or five wives in vittles and clothes on an average wage and see how far you get. Ol' Harve needed some extra income to keep his lil' darlings fed.
Posted by: wotty | June 20, 2009 8:10 PM
Did a quick Google search for Elite Activity's attorney Henry W. Curtis Jr. Turns out he's one of the founding members of the scam, as well as the "head Pastor of the on-line Ministry". Belinda Grandberry of Dallas, who's mixed up in the scam, spills the beans at http://connectingblack.com/ForumDetails.aspx?ForumID=68129
Internet sleuthing is fun! =)
Posted by: Dwatney | June 20, 2009 8:37 PM
Don't they know that only the government is allowed to run pyramid schemes?
Posted by: benji | June 20, 2009 9:29 PM
Wow. That is laughing at people.
Well at least I think the circles are very appropriate to describe a religious organization.
Posted by: Vinifera7
|
June 21, 2009 10:12 AM
This is a blatantly obvious pyramid scheme. It's like they're not even trying! The only difference is in the way that they draw the diagram and how they play up the new agey religious stuff.
From their statement of beliefs: "We believe that our intent affects our reward; that if we intend to give we will receive, but if we intend only to receive and give for that purpose we will be left wanting."
Playing on the idea of it being "better to give than to receive" much?
Posted by: Wendy Cheang | June 21, 2009 11:58 PM
This screams Ponzi scheme. You think people would learn something from Bernie Madoff. Ick just ick. Besides how does this help poor people?
Posted by: Prof. Higgins | June 23, 2009 12:36 AM
Curtis is more than just Dockstader's attorney. Grandberry herself sent me this gem of evidence against him a few years ago when I was trying to talk some sense into her.
--------------------------------
From: Carol Covey [CCovey@sos.state.tx.us]
Sent: Tuesday, August 21, 2007 7:20 AM
To: Elite Team
Subject: RE: Request for Corporate Information
Dear Sir or Madam,
The closest match we have to this name is THE ELITE ACTIVITY RESURRECTED, file number 800622651, an active Texas nonprofit corporation filed 3/2/06. The information we have is as of this date. There are no annual filings with the Secretary of State for nonprofit corporations. The entity status is: In existence. The entity address is:
7100 REGENCY SQUARE BLVD STE 250
HOUSTON, TX 770363186 USA
The registered agent is:
HENRY W. CURTIS Jr
7100 REGENCY SQUARE #250
Houston, TX 77036 USA
The management is listed as follows:
Last Update
Name
Title
Address
March 2, 2006
HENRY W. CURTIS Jr
Director
3831 PRUDENCE
Houston, TX 77045 USA
March 2, 2006
HARVEY JOSEPH DOCKSTADER Jr
Director
135 W. TAYLOR AVE.
Centennial Park, AZ 86021 USA
March 2, 2006
Maureen DOCKSTADER
Director
135 W. TAYLOR AVE.
Centennial Park, AZ 86021 USA
March 2, 2006
VERA ELLEN BESSARD
Director
106 BLACK WALNUT DR.
Houston, TX 77015 USA
Sincerely,
Carol Covey
Corporations
----------------------------
Interestingly, both Curtis and Bessard were also on the board of a fake charity called TaxFreeEconomy.org together.
Posted by: Mrs.jonas | July 13, 2009 5:19 PM
I would be more worried about these senators that are not
paying their taxes and taking your hard earned money than
these so called elite scamms. I did some research on IRS
and CASH GIFTING IS L E G A L up to 12,000 a year, as long
as the people are not recruited with deception, as long as
they are told how their system works, the gift statement is
exactly for the IRS in case the person gets audited you
alsohave to fill out a special form with the IRS that youre
getting so much money, now if they have deductions with this
hobby, like phone bills, gas, if they have a recognized
business they can deduct this income that theyve made and
also if they paid theyre taxes on this income, (IT BECOMES
LEGAL), but like I said people ought to investigate instead
of just critizicing and talking bla,bla,bla.
I spoke to an elite member and actually she spends some of
her money in other charities like Childrens cancer hospital
or shelters for battered women so it also depends onthe
intent on which people join these programs. I also give to
certain charities every year for my taxes, so IS GIFTING
ILLEGAL???? Im more afraid of these politicians that are
running our countrty there the real scams not people trying
to survive, I know there are lot of scams out there, ju just
have to be careful and pick the correct cash gifting program
one that suits your needs, if people joined knowingly knowing all this stuff and then cry scam,scam just to get
lawsuit and money whos the scam artist.
Source of information: IRS/publication and also a
tax advisor for 8 yrs.
Posted by: Froghemoth | July 14, 2009 11:53 PM
Dear Mrs. Jonas,
Apparently you failed to notice that the gifting program in debate has already had multiple felony convictions and been driven out of state after state.
It's racketeering. That's a crime. The IRS isn't even involved.
Posted by: Jay | July 23, 2009 11:37 AM
So let me get this straight you said:
"the only people whose poverty is going to be diminished are the members of the inner circle, and they're going to make out like bandits. They are bandits!
So with elite, eventually you make it in the inner circle therefore you make money??? not quite sure whats so bad about that. There are alot worse things you can be doing than gifting money to your fellow man to help make their life better. I say its a great program.
Posted by: Rev. BigDumbChimp | July 23, 2009 11:40 AM
Apparently you don't have a clue how pyramid and gifting schemes always work out. Not to mention they are illegal.
Posted by: worriedwonda | August 5, 2009 3:16 AM
It seems as if though you are saying "eventually" with a bit of ease there rev. bigDumbChimp. And I am exctracting your careful word choice because to some people like my mother the idea might come a little too easy as well. As I do not approve of her naive intuition, she is my mother and she is genuinlly too kind hearted. Then again anyone at church is more than likely too kind hearted, coincidence it seems; I think not. I wonder what goes through these people's mind. Just kick'em while their down? That is exactly what they are doing, asking for money from the people who dont have much just to progress their journey to the "inner circle" which is a bunch of crap in my opinion. Your are just an accomplished manipulator if you do make it that far. And that is how these things grow and influence; and maybe even why they are AGAINST THE LAW. Would make sense if you think about it, teaching a negative skill rather than a man how to fish. But wait im not quiet sure whats so bad about that...
Posted by: Ameria Robertson | September 7, 2009 10:06 AM
My dear brothers and sisters, why are you wasting your time arguing the fact that God's is the owner of the universe, when God Almighty is in control, and this is his purpose. Why are we still living in 300,000 years ago, Jesus came and He Died for you and me and that curse from Adam and Eve is being broken. Jesus said It is Done, you should be living in the Abundance of the Lord. Why cursing, hating and blaming eachother, lets be willing to love and be good to one another, life is beautiful and more joyful if every one just come in unity and make this world a better world for you and me. May the Love of our Dear Lord Jesus Christ touch each and everyone of you. Harvey and Curtis - God bless you, because someone has to do it and He chose You, Please fight the good fight for the benefit of us poor people, and first time I send a donation to ophanage and first time since I lay out from my job about a year now to cook stake for a meal for my family and what a wonderful and awesome joyful feeling.
Praise God for this great opportunity
Posted by: Ameria Robertson | September 7, 2009 10:10 AM
My dear brothers and sisters, why are you wasting your time arguing the fact that God's is the owner of the universe, when God Almighty is in control, and this is his purpose. Why are we still living in 300,000 years ago, Jesus came and He Died for you and me and that curse from Adam and Eve is being broken. Jesus said It is Done, you should be living in the Abundance of the Lord. Why cursing, hating and blaming eachother, lets be willing to love and be good to one another, life is beautiful and more joyful if every one just come in unity and make this world a better world for you and me. May the Love of our Dear Lord Jesus Christ touch each and everyone of you. Harvey and Curtis - God bless you, because someone has to do it and He chose You, Please fight the good fight for the benefit of us poor people, and first time I send a donation to ophanage and first time since I lay out from my job about a year now to cook stake for a meal for my family and what a wonderful and awesome joyful feeling.
Praise God for this great opportunity
Posted by: Ameria Robertson | September 7, 2009 6:04 PM
May the love of Almighty God be upon you all my dear brothers and sisters. Please hear me out, the law of giving and receiving was there since the beginning. God created the universe and blessed our foreparents. The had everything, life style, joy. God gave first without any work or anything that Adam and Eve did. He gave freely and unconditionally, BUT when they sinned, that was taken away from them. BUT GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON TO SAVE THE WHOLE WORLD. WHEN OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST DIED ON THE CROSS, THAT CURSE OF POVERTY UNLOVINGLY IS BEING BROKEN, NOW WE SHOULD BE LIVING THE LIFE THAT OUR FOREPARENTS ADAM AND EVE USED TO LIVE. GOD REVEALED TO ME TO READ EZRA 3, 4, 5, 6
Coming from a family that lived on a very strict budget and no spare money for insurance, donation for any charity organisation, even sacrifice my two weeks rent to participate in the Lord's Cycle of Blessing, in just a month now I am able to pay a life insurance for me and my family of four, able to send a donation of $1200.00 to ophanage. God put me in this activity to bless others in need. Because the power of Gift because I know God is not a man to lie, now is the time for Him to fullfill his promise. MORE BLESSINGS ON THE PERSON THAT GIVES THAN THE PERSON WHO RECEIVES.
GOD BLESS YOU ALL