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Scam Tactic: Redefine Common Words / Doublespeak
The term doublespeak was introduced to the world by George Orwell's book "Nineteen Eighty-Four", where it was defined as "using language to introduce ambiguity and confusion to block out facts and aims...
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A Common Scam Defense: Similarity Between Homeopathy Advocacy and HYIP promotion
A frequent refrain among HYIP promotion are the following points:It's a conspiracy to destroy the alternative forms of income they don't want you to knowYou should be in control of your money, not...
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Scam Tactics: Evolution of a Scam, from Proto-Share to Investment Fund to...
A scam, like a specie, must evolve in face of pressure, such as law enforcement, spreading information about how scammy it was, and so on. To this end, it will often adopt the following...
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Scam Psychology: Know Just Enough to be Dangerous (to yourself and others)
Do you know just enough to be dangerous? You don't think so?You are probably wrong, as scientists have LONG documented "Dunning-Kruger Effect". Basically, for a given skill, incompetent people willfail...
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Scammer Update: Sann Rodrigues (i.e. Sanderlay Rodrigues de Vasconcelos)...
Previously MLMSkeptic has covered the various scams pumped by noted scammer Sann Rodrigues, whose real name is Sanderlay Rodrigues de Vasconcelos. For those who haven't caught up, here's a quick...
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Bad Argument: The Evil Twin Did it
When confronted with the news that their pet scheme may be a scam, victims of a scam react in various ways to deal with their cognitive dissonance, when two sets of facts collide as they can't both be...
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USFIA update: Who is Leonard S. Johnson and was he really invited to Dubai to...
One of the most interesting (yet ridiculous) HYIPs based out of the US is USFIA, i.e. "American Mining" 美洲矿业, which was apparently kicked out of China in 2014. USFIA claimed to be a part of AFG...
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USFIA Update: Was in China earlier than previous reported, but definitely...
Searching for signs of USFIA, known in China as 美洲矿业 (American Continental Mining Industries, or just 'American Mining' for now), yielded a couple more links.The earliest mention of American Mining...
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USFIA Update: Who is this security guard and was he also identified as...
Previously, we've identified the USFIA shindig in Arcadia, where Steve Chen threw a party for "USFIA Club Grand Opening", where he threw a party, then started up a motorcade to visit his closed Quail...
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USFIA Update: Gemcoin ATMs (probably not) and warning in Spain about it being...
NOTE: Previous coverage on USFIA can be found hereMLMSkeptic has a special disdain for someone scamming their own kind in order to get ahead, which is pretty much every scammer out there, when the...
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USFIA Update: Denial in Spain (and fun Spanish Vocabulary)
As previously mentioned, Spain Official Agency CNMV (La Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores trans: National Commission on Markets and Values/Investments) issued a warning against USFIA (i.e. AFG /...
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USFIA Update: Turns out both the Chinese name and the English name may have...
Today, MLMSkeptic takes a deep dive into the Interwebs, to dig up who is the REAL "American Mining" (it's NOT USFIA), by looking at various corporate listings as well as news from Asia to prove that...
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USFIA Update: What was USFIA doing before Gemcoin? Exactly the same thing......
Previously, we have established that the Arcadia based USFIA is the SAME "American Mining" scam that plagued China in 2014, and was destroyed in multiple raids in China as of June 2014. Its head in...
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Scam Psychology: How does a scam encourage people to adopt a lost cause?
When one questions scams and suspect schemes for as long as the MLMSkeptic did, one'd seen a lot of things, such as people claiming that they forgive ZeekRewards Ponzi even before we knew the full...
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Scam Tactic: Gaslighting (indignant denial)
English: This bright gas lamp has three mantles in UK (Photo credit: Wikipedia)Ever heard of "gaslighting"?From Wikipedia: Gas-lighting (or gaslighting) is a form of mental abuse in which information...
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USFIA Update: Who are they trying to fool with these "screenshots"?
A few days ago, the "official"Facebook page of Gemcoin / USFIA posted this:Facebook post by Gemcoin / USFIA official pageCan you see the problems? No?The "Blockchain Wallet" is the first problem....
View ArticleUSFIA Update: If you or family or friend invested in Gemcoin, a US Reporter...
Following comment was left on BehindMLM website, and the email address is verified.Posted by: Carol MatlackJul 16th, 2015 at 10:16 pm (Q)Hello, I am a journalist with Bloomberg Businessweek magazine....
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MLM Basics: Is Multi-Level Marketing a Shared Delusion?
In a blogpost back in 2014, author Robert Fitzpatrick, who operates the website PyramidSchemeAlert postulated that Multi-level Marketing, i.e. MLM is really a delusion that redefined various terms to...
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USFIA Update: Is USFIA involved in child labor exploitation of amber mines in...
Thanks to SierraMadreTattler, MLMSkeptic was recently made aware of an article published back in May 2015 that certain unnamed Chinese has been hiring anybody who can work (including children) in the...
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Scam Tactics: Two-face... being very different things to different people
One of the most memorable villains to Batman is Two-face, formerly district attorney Harvey Dent. After a severe injury that left him scarred on half of his face, he developed full blown schizophrenia:...
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