Fraudulent Freelancer Breaks Down a Sweepstakes Scam
Master designer of phony direct mail packages shares how he convinced millions they won big money
by Doug Shadel, AARP, November 10, 2020 | Comments: 1
https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2020/direct-mail-sweepstakes-fraud.html
WHEN, I READ THIS ARTICLE/STORY ABOUT HOW “SWEEPSTAKES FRAUD” WORKS SO EASY ON SOME PEOPLE AND NOT SO EASY ON OTHERS; I COULD NOT HELP BUT TO COMPARE THE “TRUMPSTERS” WHO HAVE CONTINUED TO BE “CONNED” OUT OF THEIR MONEY/$$=PENNIES/NICHOLS/QUARTERS/DOLLARS, TO THE PEOPLE WHO FALL, CONTINUALLY FOR “SWEEPSTAKES FRAUD” AND SEND THEIR HARD EARNED MONEY TO “FRAUDSTERS” WHO ARE HIDDEN OVERSEAS OR IN LIFETIME FRAUDSTER BASEMENTS THAT MOVE AROUND CONSTANTLY, “BILKING PEOPLE” CONTINUALLY…
EXCERPT:
AARP
Crime movies don’t have it wrong: To pull off a really big caper, you start by assembling the best team possible.
For roughly 30 years, if the caper you were planning was to defraud lots of people through a bogus direct-mail campaign, that very possibly meant hiring Steven Thomas (not his real name). Thomas was considered one of the most effective writers and designers of fraudulent mail — in particular, bogus sweepstakes mailings — ever to operate in America.
Thomas was a gun for hire, a high-priced freelancer. He didn’t want anything to do with all the many details of operating a fraudulent business. He fulfilled one key task: write and design mailers that sparked the largest possible response. His typical pay? About $20,000 a month. Over the years, he claims, he worked for hundreds of businesses.
Thomas, 68, is now in prison. In 2018 he was charged with mail fraud as part of a federal government takedown of over 200 illicit sweepstakes operations worldwide. How effective was his work? According to the charging documents, his mailers for one client persuaded 400,000 victims to send in over $50 million between 2012 and 2016.
In 2018 Thomas pleaded guilty to the charge against him, and today he resides in a federal “camp,” as he put it, in the California desert. That’s where I met him early this year, before the pandemic hit. After a series of letters back and forth, he agreed to spend several hours with me discussing the secrets of the illegal sweepstakes game. Even though his name is in the public record, he agreed to talk only if we used a pseudonym. And talk he did, throughout an afternoon. Here are some of the stories and secrets of fraud he shared with me.
Learning his craft
Thomas first started working for companies that used a sweepstakes as a hook to sell something -— coins, clothing, cleaning products — a marketing practice that continues to this day. Such practices are legal, provided the recipient is not required to buy anything or pay money to enter. Thomas claims those early employers were legitimate and that he was quite successful.
But his employers kept demanding higher and higher response rates, and he was running out of ideas for how to keep people coming back for more. So he decided to go to the best graduate school he could find. He went to Las Vegas.
Donald Trump’s latest endeavor? Asking his supporters to pay his debts
The outgoing president has two ‘election defense funds’ – but the small print shows donations will go towards paying off debt
EXCERPT: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/nov/10/donald-trump-election-fund-debt
Donald Trump has set up a retirement GoFundMe. Well, not exactly – he doesn’t call it a retirement GoFundMe, but his “election defense fund”.
‘Make America rake again’: Four Seasons Total Landscaping cashes in on Trump fiasco
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Those donating may believe that the money will be used towards challenging the election result, but may have missed that their contributions are earmarked for paying off Trump’s re-election debts. It seems to be the latest episode in the Trump team’s comedy of errors.
As Trump continues to refuse to acknowledge the election result by baselessly claiming that Biden’s victory was won through voter fraud, he is also calling on his base for help. Donations can be made to two different funds – Trump’s personal fund, and his joint fund with the RNC.
“President Trump needs YOU to step up to make sure we have the resources to protect the integrity of the election!” the wording on both funds says, which is featured in a huge pop-up on Trump’s re-election webpage. It continues: “Please contribute ANY AMOUNT IMMEDIATELY to the Official Election Defense Fund and to increase your impact by 1,000%!”
It is unclear who matches the donations.
But if you scroll down, past the information about the “Left-wing MOB” trying to “undermine our election”, you’ll see some fine print. On Trump’s personal fund, it dictates that of all donations raised, only 50% will go towards a recount effort, and that “50% of each contribution, up to a maximum of $2,800 ($5,000), [will] be designated toward DJTFP’s 2020 general election account for general election debt retirement until such debt is retired”.
“CERTAIN PEOPLE” WHO MAY GET “TRICKED/CONNED/HOOD-WINKED/BAM-BOZZLED” EVEN MULTIPLE TIMES, ESPECIALLY BY THE SAME “CON-ARTIST/DEMONIC/SATANIC/EVIL” TRICKSTER…MAKE US, RATIONAL AND “LOGICAL THINKING” PEOPLE, SIMPLY “SCRATCH OUR HEADS” AND WONDER HOW CAN HUMAN BEINGS NOT RECOGNIZE WHAT “MR. SPOCK” CALLED “LOGICAL THINKING” AND “ILLOGICAL RESPONSES”?????
MANY ARE “UNEDUCATED” BUT MANY OTHERS “ARE SUPPOSED EDUCATED” AND YET, THEIR BRAIN WAVES AND PATTERNS KEEP FUNCTIONING “ILLOGICALLY” TOWARDS A “CON-MASTER’S TRICKS”!
John 10:10
New International Version
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
TRYING TO “BARGAIN WITH”, OR “REASON WITH” OR “RATIONALIZE WITH” THE DEVIL, WHICH IS WHY “GOD” CHOSE THE “BIBLICAL IMAGE/NAME OF THE SNAKE” AS THE DEVIL/SATAN/DEMON; WELL YOU CANNOT MAKE A “TIGER CHANGE ITS STRIPES” OR MAKE A “SNAKE, NOT WANT TO BITE”=ITS IN THE SNAKE’S NATURE!! HE MAY BE YOUR FRIEND FOR YEARS, AND ONE DAY “JUST BITES YOU”!!; FOR NO APPARENT REASON! “THAT IS ITS/HIS/HER NATURE”!!!!!!!!!!!!
“LOONY TUNES”
