Scam Psychology: is Positivity Training perpetuating Mental Illness symptoms?

A recent Dilbert comic had this quote

"Certainty about the future is a sign of mental illness."  (NOTE: There's a second lesson here about "we shall (not) be vindicated".)

Why? Because only the self-delusional are absolutely certain about anything... including the future. And self-delusion is a mental illness.

Therefore, thinking only positive thoughts about yourself (well beyond what's needed for self-esteem) and your future is also self-delusion.

But wait, you say, are you saying that I can't give myself a compliment? A thumbs up to myself in the mirror?

No, I didn't say that. Going OVERBOARD with such compliments to the point of ignoring reality is dangerous, and so are anyone trying to dissuade you from reality.

But to explain that, we need to explain how the brain works when it comes to social interactions.

BREAKING NEWS: Brazilian Authorities Cracking Down on What's Left of TelexFree in "Operation Orion"

English: Coat of arms of the Brazilian Federal Police Português do Brasil: Brasão da Polícia Federal Brasileira (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

News in Brazil, citing sources within Brazilian Federal Police, reported that "Operation Orion" (allegedly named because it aligned with the 3 pyramids in Giza, Egypt) has commenced against TelexFree / Ympactus in Brazil, with no less than NINE search warrants being served on various TelexFree / Ympactus related locations.

http://www.eshoje.jor.br/_conteudo/2014/07/noticias/policia/20222-operacao-orion-pf-investiga-crimes-financeiros-das-atividades-da-telexfree.html  (link in Portuguese)

http://www.pres.mpf.mp.br/site/  Link in Portuguese

It is also worth pointing out that these warrants were issued by the court of Espirito Santo, where Carlos Wanzeler currently lives as it was where he originally came from. Wanzeler is now a fugitive from US law (a warrant for his arrest was issued yesterday from the US grand jury indictment, according to WSJ) having abandoned all his properties and his wife in the US before the indictments were handed down. His wife had attempted to leave the US for Brazil but was arrested on a material witness warrant at JFK airport, minutes from boarding the plane. His daughter had left with him by driving across the border into Canada THEN took a flight to Brazil (apparently in an attempt to get away from government watchlists)

His partner in TelexFree, James Merrill, is under house arrest and GPS monitoring having previously been arrested, and was only let out after almost 1 million dollars in bail had been posted.

Due to the timing (this being handed down one day after the US grand jury indictment against Merrill and Wanzeler in the US) many are speculating that there may be tight cooperation between the US and Brazilian authorities on this matter. However, this cannot be confirmed at this time.

Stay tuned for further updates.

Related articles

• BREAKING NEWS: Grand Jury Indicts Merrill and Wanzeler in TelexFree ponzi; arrest warrant issued for Wanzeler
• (UPDATE) BREAKING NEWS: Wife of Carlos Wanzeler, TelexFree fugitive, detained at airport
• One TelexFree Owner Arrested in Worcester
• Wife of TelexFree Owner Who Fled Released From Jail

BREAKING NEWS: Grand Jury Indicts Merrill and Wanzeler in TelexFree ponzi; arrest warrant issued for Wanzeler

Decision on 23-JUL-2014 by Federal Grand Jury has indicted Carlos Wanzeler and James Merrill of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Apparently Wanzeler had transferred TENS OF MILLIONS into his own account and had used it to buy up properties all over the state using his wife, Katia Wanzeler's real estate business.

All of that is YOUR money, if you had put money into TelexFree. It simply went into "their" pockets.

According to Wall Street Journal, there is now a formal arrest warrant out for Wanzeler.

Details at BehindMLM

http://behindmlm.com/companies/telexfree/merrill-and-wanzeler-indicted-for-fraud-and-conspiracy/


In other news, some (3 total) moronic defendants of clawback lawsuit launched by the Zeek Receiver chose to fight back by filing a countersuit, demanding almost a million in "back wages". What they don't tell you is they each are facing clawback of about 1.5 to 1.7 million EACH. That's how much they benefited from Zeek.

http://behindmlm.com/companies/zeek-rewards/zeek-top-pimps-demand-almost-1-million-from-receiver/

Due Diligence: How to Read an Income Disclosure Statement

It seems that people are losing their basic math skills, or even willingness to apply math to simple problems... such as "should I join _____". Today, we are going to pick an example, and show you how to read such an income statement. And yes, this may involve some WORK, so you should probably sit in front of a computer, as you may need to type in some numbers into a computer (one in library should be fine as long as you have access to Google)

Today's... example, Vemma. Their 2013 income disclosure can be access here:

http://news.vemma.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Income-Disclosure-2013.pdf

Any way, first thing you should note about the two bar graphs is... WHY TWO GRAPHS? Looking at the two graphs should make you realize two things:

1) The two graphs have DIFFERENT scales

2) The two graphs both use exponential scale instead of linear, thus de-emphasized the difference in bar heights. 

In fact, if you regraph the same numbers, using a linear scale, it looks like this (go ahead, do this in Google Sheets yourself)

The red line has the SAME numbers as the Vemma graph, but using a LINEAR scale, combined into a single graph. The blue line is the percentage of all affiliates. 

Roughly translated: vast majority of the company make peanuts, while a selected few made much much more... one made like 2.5 million in 2013. 

Scam Psychology: Are Religious People More Gullible? The Answer Will Surprise You

Mixing religion and scam is nothing new. Here are several older headlines:

SEC says "Social Capitalist" is really a Ponzi Scammer scamming churchgoers
http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2012/04/13/sec-alleges-that-social-capitalist-ripped-off-churchgoers-with-ponzi-scam/2/

SEC / prosecutors went after Puerto Rican Evangelical Ponzi
http://www.forbes.com/sites/billsinger/2012/08/21/sec-and-federal-prosecutors-go-after-puerto-rican-evangelical-christian-ponzi-scam/

SoCal Korean Pastor stole millions from his flock, fled to Korea
http://www.realscam.com/f14/san-gabriel-korean-pastor-scammed-millions-out-parishioners-escaped-korea-1393/

Toronto Husband/Wife Pastors Operated Ponzi with money from flock
http://www.patrickpretty.com/2013/05/03/bulletin-3-church-officials-including-2-pastors-arrested-by-toronto-police-in-alleged-fraud-scheme-in-which-money-was-funneled-to-panama/

Which makes you wonder, are religious people more... gullible and thus, more vulnerable to scams?

The answer is very likely yes, according to a latest study on children.