#ponzischemes — Public Fediverse posts

Ex-NFL player John Leake, convicted of $8M Ponzi scheme, should have league benefits garnished, fed say https://www.rawchili.com/nfl/880443/ #CommercialRealEstate #Crime #Football #gambling #PonziSchemes #USNews #WireFraud

Ex-NFL player John Leake, convicted of $8M Ponzi scheme, should have league benefits garnished, fed say https://www.rawchili.com/nfl/880443/ #CommercialRealEstate #Crime #Football #gambling #PonziSchemes #USNews #WireFraud

Tom’s Hardware: Ponzi schemer behind $201 million Bitcoin scam sentenced to 20 years in federal prison — promised 3% daily returns on Bitcoin investments, left investors reeling. “The cryptocurrency rush of the late 2010s led to heavy investment in the field. However, as with every gold rush, there are always fake map sellers. One of those is Ramil Ventura Palafox, who today was sentenced to […]

How are Americans going to bail out the social security ponzi scheme?
#pensions #retirement #budgetdeficits #pyramidschemes #ponzi #ponzischemes #socialsecurity #uspolitics #usa #americans #retirees #bailouts

How are Americans going to bail out the social security ponzi scheme?
#pensions #retirement #budgetdeficits #pyramidschemes #ponzi #ponzischemes #socialsecurity #uspolitics #usa #americans #retirees #bailouts

How are Americans going to bail out the social security ponzi scheme?
#pensions #retirement #budgetdeficits #pyramidschemes #ponzi #ponzischemes #socialsecurity #uspolitics #usa #americans #retirees #bailouts

How are Americans going to bail out the social security ponzi scheme?
#pensions #retirement #budgetdeficits #pyramidschemes #ponzi #ponzischemes #socialsecurity #uspolitics #usa #americans #retirees #bailouts

How are Americans going to bail out the social security ponzi scheme?
#pensions #retirement #budgetdeficits #pyramidschemes #ponzi #ponzischemes #socialsecurity #uspolitics #usa #americans #retirees #bailouts

Mashable: Internet marketer Tai Lopez bought RadioShack. Now he’s being sued for using it in a Ponzi scheme.. “RadioShack. Modell’s Sporting Goods. Pier 1 Imports. Dress Barn. Linens ‘n Things. What do they all have in common? These once well-known brick-and-mortar retail brands eventually hit hard times and were then acquired by Retail Ecommerce Ventures (REV), run by Tai Lopez and Alex Mehr. […]

https://rbfirehose.com/2025/10/07/mashable-internet-marketer-tai-lopez-bought-radioshack-now-hes-being-sued-for-using-it-in-a-ponzi-scheme/

"If you reject the very idea that problems are systemic, then you have no use for institutions, and institutions are the only effective response to systemic problems. That primes you to reject the unsatisfying answers of science ("If you don't want to get cancer, regulate corporations and cars that dump carcinogens into the environment") in favor of individual solutions, which are, inevitably, products that someone can sell you, from alkaline water to electrosmog-shielding hats.

Rejecting systemic explanations also primes you to believe in conspiracy theories. This is why antisemitism is called "the socialism of fools": rather than fighting against the system of primacy of extractive finance capital over the productive economy, you spend all your time locked in a one-sided battle with an imaginary cabal of evil Jewish bankers.

Conspiratorial beliefs make you especially vulnerable to a grifter's sales pitch that goes like this: "Of course they don't want you to drink raw milk, otherwise you'd be as powerful as they are." Variations on this theme include "buy the miracle anti-aging cure that only billionaires are privy to" and "buy a bump stock before the conspiracy to take away your right to self-defense makes them illegal."
(...)
Many people have observed that one of the reasons conservatives govern so badly is that they campaign on the idea that "governments are wasteful and inefficient," which means that if they run the government in a wasteful and inefficient fashion, they only prove their point. In the same fashion: right-wing grifters who pitch you on the idea an evil cabal has rigged the game, and then take your money and rip you off, are demonstrating the correctness of their pitch."

https://pluralistic.net/2025/07/22/all-day-suckers/#i-love-the-poorly-educated

#Conservatism #ConspiracyTheories #PonziSchemes #PyramidSchemes #MultiLevelMarketing

Cybercriminals are increasingly targeting retail affiliate programs with sophisticated cryptocurrency scams. Retailers and customers must stay alert against domain fraud, brand impersonation, and online Ponzi schemes to prevent losses.

Learn more on @Hackread: https://hackread.com/amazon-target-hackers-top-brands-crypto-scam/

#CyberSecurity #Retail #RetailSecurity #PonziSchemes #BrandImpersonation #Fraud #DomainFraud

In the latest episode of our podcast, @NotTheLinux, @ColonelPanic, @seanmcnee, and Sasha Angus dive deep into the murky waters of retail-targeted campaigns. From domain fraud and brand impersonation to Ponzi schemes, cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated. Learn how to protect your business and stay ahead of the threats.

🔗 Watch on YouTube: https://bit.ly/4gmXbnX

OR

🎧 Listen here: https://bit.ly/3z5b1eb

#CyberSecurity #RetailSecurity #DomainFraud #BrandProtection #PonziSchemes

A man who lit himself on fire Friday across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is facing a criminal hush money trial is in critical condition, New York City police said. #Manhattan #DonaldTrump #HushMoneyTrial

The man walked into Collect Pond Park at 1:30 p.m., removed several pamphlets from his backpack and tossed them on the ground, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters. #CollectPondPark

He then pulled out a canister of liquid accelerant, doused himself with it and lit himself on fire, the chief said. #LiquidAccelerant

The man took a few steps before falling onto a police barrier and then to the ground. #PoliceBarrier

Civilians and officers ran into the park, and used coats and fire extinguishers to try to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived and fully extinguished it. #Firefighters

Paramedics transported the man — identified by police as Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Fla. — to a hospital, where he was intubated, according to New York City fire officials. #MaxwellAzzarello #StAugustine

Four police officers were treated for minor injuries. #PoliceOfficers

The pamphlets Azzarello, 37, threw on the ground promoted various conspiracy theories, including ones about Ponzi schemes and local educational institutions being fronts for the mob, Joe Kenny, the police department’s chief of detectives, told reporters. #ConspiracyTheories #PonziSchemes #EducationalInstitutions

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/ #WashingtonPost #ManOnFire #TrumpTrial

A man who lit himself on fire Friday across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is facing a criminal hush money trial is in critical condition, New York City police said. #Manhattan #DonaldTrump #HushMoneyTrial

The man walked into Collect Pond Park at 1:30 p.m., removed several pamphlets from his backpack and tossed them on the ground, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters. #CollectPondPark

He then pulled out a canister of liquid accelerant, doused himself with it and lit himself on fire, the chief said. #LiquidAccelerant

The man took a few steps before falling onto a police barrier and then to the ground. #PoliceBarrier

Civilians and officers ran into the park, and used coats and fire extinguishers to try to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived and fully extinguished it. #Firefighters

Paramedics transported the man — identified by police as Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Fla. — to a hospital, where he was intubated, according to New York City fire officials. #MaxwellAzzarello #StAugustine

Four police officers were treated for minor injuries. #PoliceOfficers

The pamphlets Azzarello, 37, threw on the ground promoted various conspiracy theories, including ones about Ponzi schemes and local educational institutions being fronts for the mob, Joe Kenny, the police department’s chief of detectives, told reporters. #ConspiracyTheories #PonziSchemes #EducationalInstitutions

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/ #WashingtonPost #ManOnFire #TrumpTrial

A man who lit himself on fire Friday across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is facing a criminal hush money trial is in critical condition, New York City police said. #Manhattan #DonaldTrump #HushMoneyTrial

The man walked into Collect Pond Park at 1:30 p.m., removed several pamphlets from his backpack and tossed them on the ground, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters. #CollectPondPark

He then pulled out a canister of liquid accelerant, doused himself with it and lit himself on fire, the chief said. #LiquidAccelerant

The man took a few steps before falling onto a police barrier and then to the ground. #PoliceBarrier

Civilians and officers ran into the park, and used coats and fire extinguishers to try to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived and fully extinguished it. #Firefighters

Paramedics transported the man — identified by police as Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Fla. — to a hospital, where he was intubated, according to New York City fire officials. #MaxwellAzzarello #StAugustine

Four police officers were treated for minor injuries. #PoliceOfficers

The pamphlets Azzarello, 37, threw on the ground promoted various conspiracy theories, including ones about Ponzi schemes and local educational institutions being fronts for the mob, Joe Kenny, the police department’s chief of detectives, told reporters. #ConspiracyTheories #PonziSchemes #EducationalInstitutions

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/ #WashingtonPost #ManOnFire #TrumpTrial

A man who lit himself on fire Friday across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is facing a criminal hush money trial is in critical condition, New York City police said. #Manhattan #DonaldTrump #HushMoneyTrial

The man walked into Collect Pond Park at 1:30 p.m., removed several pamphlets from his backpack and tossed them on the ground, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters. #CollectPondPark

He then pulled out a canister of liquid accelerant, doused himself with it and lit himself on fire, the chief said. #LiquidAccelerant

The man took a few steps before falling onto a police barrier and then to the ground. #PoliceBarrier

Civilians and officers ran into the park, and used coats and fire extinguishers to try to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived and fully extinguished it. #Firefighters

Paramedics transported the man — identified by police as Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Fla. — to a hospital, where he was intubated, according to New York City fire officials. #MaxwellAzzarello #StAugustine

Four police officers were treated for minor injuries. #PoliceOfficers

The pamphlets Azzarello, 37, threw on the ground promoted various conspiracy theories, including ones about Ponzi schemes and local educational institutions being fronts for the mob, Joe Kenny, the police department’s chief of detectives, told reporters. #ConspiracyTheories #PonziSchemes #EducationalInstitutions

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/ #WashingtonPost #ManOnFire #TrumpTrial

A man who lit himself on fire Friday across the street from the Manhattan courthouse where former president Donald Trump is facing a criminal hush money trial is in critical condition, New York City police said. #Manhattan #DonaldTrump #HushMoneyTrial

The man walked into Collect Pond Park at 1:30 p.m., removed several pamphlets from his backpack and tossed them on the ground, Chief Jeffrey Maddrey told reporters. #CollectPondPark

He then pulled out a canister of liquid accelerant, doused himself with it and lit himself on fire, the chief said. #LiquidAccelerant

The man took a few steps before falling onto a police barrier and then to the ground. #PoliceBarrier

Civilians and officers ran into the park, and used coats and fire extinguishers to try to put out the blaze before firefighters arrived and fully extinguished it. #Firefighters

Paramedics transported the man — identified by police as Maxwell Azzarello of St. Augustine, Fla. — to a hospital, where he was intubated, according to New York City fire officials. #MaxwellAzzarello #StAugustine

Four police officers were treated for minor injuries. #PoliceOfficers

The pamphlets Azzarello, 37, threw on the ground promoted various conspiracy theories, including ones about Ponzi schemes and local educational institutions being fronts for the mob, Joe Kenny, the police department’s chief of detectives, told reporters. #ConspiracyTheories #PonziSchemes #EducationalInstitutions

Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2024/04/19/man-sets-himself-fire-near-trump-trial/ #WashingtonPost #ManOnFire #TrumpTrial

#Scams #PonziSchemes #MLMs #Crypto #Cryptocurrencies: "A "bezzle" is John Kenneth Galbraith's term for "the magic interval when a confidence trickster knows he has the money he has appropriated but the victim does not yet understand that he has lost it." In every scam, there's a period where everyone feels richer – but only the scammers are actually cleaning up. The wealth of the marks is illusory, but the longer the scammer can preserve the illusion, the more real money the marks will pump into the system.

MLMs are particularly ugly, because they target people who are shut out of economic opportunity – women, people of color, working people. These people necessarily rely on social ties for survival, looking after each others' kids, loaning each other money they can't afford, sharing what little they have when others have nothing.

It's this social cohesion that MLMs weaponize. Crypto "entrepreneurs" are encouraged to suck in their friends and family by telling them that they're "building Black wealth." Working women are exhorted to suck in their bffs by appealing to their sisterhood and the chance for "women to lift each other up."

The "sales people" trying to get you to buy crypto or leggings or supplements are engaged in predatory conduct that will make you financially and socially worse off, wrecking their communities' finances and shattering the mutual aid survival networks they rely on. But they're not getting rich on this – they're also being scammed:"

https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/15/passive-income-brainworms/#four-hour-work-week

Gary Gensler: Crypto market is like 1920s stock market, full of 'fraudsters' - Gensler argued that securities laws helped prevent stock market s... - https://cointelegraph.com/news/gary-gensler-crypto-market-is-like-1920s-stock-market-full-of-fraudsters #securitieslaws #ponzischemes #garygensler #lawsuits #frauds #scams #sec