Scammers & Victims

Last week I wrote about telephone scams. This week the conversation continues by delving into the type of person who excels at scamming with a focus on charismatic investment advisors, corporate swindlers, and religious leaders.

Though in the past, there certainly were snake oil salesmen who conned innocent people out of their money, today’s electronic technology moved fraudulent deceptions to an entirely new level that enable tricksters to reach broader audiences. As I mentioned in my previous newsletter, 95 million robocalls a day are made to reach a small number of gullible people. 

High among the list of scammers are charismatic leaders who get millions of people to empty their purses. Some are financial wizards who offer Ponzi schemes with promises of easy riches while others are preachers out to benefit unscrupulous ministries. And, there are the conniving ways of executives of large corporations that supposedly operate under the watchful eye of government regulators.

Con artists have been fooling the public for generations. In the late 18 and early 1900s, George Parker successfully sold the Brooklyn Bridge many times over, getting $50,000 for it at least once. Police removed several of victims when they tried erecting toll booths on the bridge. During his career he sold Madison Square Garden, The Metropolitan Museum of art, and the Statue of Liberty, setting up fake offices to handle real estate swindles targeting immigrants and tourists. He turned actor and dressed in Civil War attire when selling Grant’s Tomb. Convicted of fraud three times, he escaped once, was recaptured and sentenced to a life term in Sing Sing. His exploits gave rise to the phrase, “and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.” 

What Parker had in common with other con artists was an ability to exploit a need to feel part of a group. He looked for people with knowledge-gaps and pretended he was able to help them. When techniques like this fail, scammers resort to intimidation or force as exemplified by shops that conduct endless sales and salesmen who push customers with fake time pressures.

In the early 2000s, Enron, under the leadership of Kenneth Lay (now deceased), inflated profits and concealed debt, fooling both regulators and investors with fake holdings and off-the-books accounting. After its stock peaked at $90.75 it plummeted to 26 cents a share causing shareholders to lose $74 billion in what at the time was the largest bankruptcy ever. Lay was considered a good guy who insisted the world needed equal opportunity, that smoking was bad, and that the African-American arts community deserved support. He knew what was best for you, how to negotiate conflicts among peers, and was admired widely.

Parker also liked drinking coffee from china cups, had an Enron plane repainted during a layover because he didn’t like the color, and spent thousands of dollars on antiquing trips and birthday parties when his company was tanking. Lay was featured on television going to church and carrying a bible. Most people in Houston thought they knew who he was, but by the end of his trial the jury uncovered the truth. His win-at-all-costs personality showed him to be imperious, devious, and disloyal, pushing his crimes onto the shoulders of colleagues.

Bernie Madoff’s empire came crashing down in 2008. The following year he pleaded guilty to engineering the biggest Ponzi scheme in history, losing $65 billion that included the life savings of close friends and family members. The 81-year-old, still in prison serving a 150-year sentence, recently petitioned for release due to kidney failure. His request is being considered.

Mr. Madoff was a swindler who conned investors to hand over their savings and falsely promised consistent profits in return. He is described as an affable, charismatic man who moved comfortably among power brokers on Wall Street and Washington. He had a penthouse apartment in Manhattan, shared in two private jets, and owned a yacht on the French Riviera. Madoff honed his image carefully and shunned one-on-one meetings with investors to make him more desirable to those seeking access. He was greedy and didn’t care whom he hurt to get what he wanted. 

Gregg McCrary, a former F.B.I. agent who constructs criminal behavioral profiles, said Madoff shared destructive traits typically seen in psychopaths who lie, manipulate, have feelings of grandiosity, are self-confident, and are callous towards their victims. He calls him a chameleon, good at “impression management,” a man who cast himself as a crusader protecting the interests of smaller investors. He wooed regulators to ignore what he was doing and told employees to adopt the mantra “KISS,” or “keep it simple, stupid.”

A great many mega-churches, pay-for-prayer calls, and televangelists are part of an underworld run by leaders who entice poor and ill people in desperate situations with promises of salvation, wealth, and healing. Known as “property preachers,” they link riches to religion and preach that health and prosperity are controlled by God. Charismatic preachers dress in suits, spout the bible, and urge devotees to send them “seed” pledges to demonstrate their faith. Followers are encouraged to contribute to the church before paying rent or utility bills. According to Christian religious scholar Michael Cooper,

“These personality cults-such as Jim Jones of the People’s Temple, David Koresh of the Branch Davidians, or David Berg of the Children of God/the Family-exhibit extraordinary influence over their followers. While these extreme examples resulted in abuse and death, others have exhibited a spiritual abuse couched in Christian language that appears legitimate for a while, but they are often exposed by disillusioned followers. In recent times, one may recall Jimmy Swaggert, Jim Bakker, Ted Haggard, Mark Driscoll, Bill Hybels, James MacDonald, and most recently, Jerry Falwell, Jr. as well-known examples of charismatic personalities within the evangelical world who held an extreme influence over followers, thus permitting their deviant behaviors and moral failures.”

They keep messages simple and provide followers with a way to make sense of sickness and healing. Claiming they are God-anointed figures, they promise that bequeaths made to the church will be repaid many times over with good fortune and healing. When donations don’t produce the desired results, followers are told that their faith is not strong enough, and that they need to contribute more. Kirbyjon H. Caldwell from Texas, Spiritual adviser to Presidents Bush and Obama, used his clout and influence to persuade people to invest $3.5 million in bogus bonds issued by the former Republic of China. The $900,000 he received before being sent to six years in prison, helped maintain his lifestyle and pay down credit cars and mortgages. 

Mega-churches collect millions of dollars that make the salaries of their senior ministers rival that of Wall Street executives, while most of their employees barely earn a living wage. They enjoy tax-exempt status and federal subsidies that are supposed to go to community outreach, but are not required to share how much of what they bring in goes to charitable causes. Collections support private jets, expensive cars, and numerous mansions. Followers turn their backs to their wealth since it is seen as proof that God shined on the preacher.

Charismatic scammers, whether financial or religious, are irresistible, hypnotic, exude confidence, and have a force of personality that draws people to them. They are strong communicators who know how to mobilize followers to view them as gifted, heroic and god-like. They are organizers who train banks of telephone callers, volunteers, and salespeople to push rattletrap messages and make pitches that bring in the gold.

Larger than life figures who produce positive results do exist. A good example is Bill Gates, Microsoft’s founder. But when manipulative, narcissistic men like Adolf Hitler take center stage, a dark self-focused side emerges. When errors in judgement, unethical behavior and self-serving actions go unchallenged due to fear of retribution by the leader, followers disengage and withdraw rather than act. Their timidity makes the leader stronger and enables him or her to become more wicked and corrupt.

The Federal Trade Commission says that people are less likely to lose money if they’ve heard about the scam beforehand. They suggest spreading the word when you read or hear about fraudulent acts or were victimized by one. Social media sites and television make it difficult to tell honest promotions from deceptive ones. We can help one another by sharing what we know, and by being dubious about investments and pitches that appeal to emotions and seem too good to be true.

References:

Lisa, a. (2019) 30 of the biggest scams in modern history. Stacker. retrieved from https://stacker.com/stories/2525/30-biggest-scams-modern-history

Swartz. M. (2006) The Three Faces of Ken Lay. New york Times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/21/opinion/21swartz.html

Crswell and Thomas Jr. (2009) The Talented Mr. Madoff. The New York Times. retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/25/business/25bernie.html

MacBeth, C. 2020 Are mega churches just businesses masquerading as worship? News Daily. retrieved from https://filmdaily.co/news/mega-churches/

Brown, D. (2020)How Megachurches Blurr Religion and Riches. How Stuff Works. retrieved from https://people.howstuffworks.com/do-megachurches-preach-that-prayer-will-make-rich.htm

Church Law Website (2020) Political Activities by Churches: What’s Permitted and What’s Prohibited. Church Law Center of California. retrieved fromhttps://www.churchlawcenter.com/church-law/political-activities-by-churches-whats-permitted-and-whats-prohibited/

Cooper,M. (2020) the Dangers of Charismatic Leadership. Ephesiology. Retrieved from https://ephesiology.com/blog-post/the-dangers-of-charismatic-leadership/

Audrey M. (2018) Battling the Dark Side Of Charisma. Forbes. retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/audreymurrell/2018/06/04/battling-th

Baker. V. (2019)The preachers getting rich from poor Americans. BBC News. retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-47675301

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