Who Is Stealing from Your Mama?
Dean Bonner
An acquaintance made a big deal of her refined Charleston upbringing—until she let it slip that she was actually a native of Charlotte. I had to duck when I pointed out with a grin that she was actually a “Charlott’an.” But I want to discuss the other kind of charlatan: the kind who preys upon the desperation of others. They do it to your neighbor in Camp Hill and your church friend in Dadeville.
People in this area still send televangelists like Peter Popoff money despite the number of times he has been exposed as a fraud (check Wikipedia).
Popoff’s wife was recorded feeding Peter’s radio-linked earpiece with previously collected personal information about the infirm people in the crowd. Mrs. Popoff was even recorded making a racial slur over their transmitter about one of the ill people. These are the kind of heartless people who will steal from the sick and poor, then laugh at them.
Those who gamble to be the one person in ten thousand who actually gets money back from the thieves who rake in millions is one thing. When they take advantage of the elderly, many of them with dementia, I get angry. 112 businesses were soaking my mother-in-law through mail offers and scare tactics. She’s 91.
A Federal judge penalized Porter Stansberry’s “Pirate Investor” company (an Agora Financial subsidiary) $1.5 million for securities fraud in 2007. At least 12 companies associated with Agora or Stansberry sell similar products: expensive financial newsletters, metals, and health supplements of dubious value. Most seniors are unaware that variously named tentacles of the same company target them using shared mailing lists and PO boxes.
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Telemarketer Telequal was forever banned in Iowa when an elderly Alzheimer patient’s family forwarded her telephone to Consumer Protection. The agency recorded the calls Telequal made on behalf of “A Child’s Dream Foundation,” catching them in bald-faced lies.
Many target the soft spot that elders have for veterans. Look up veterans’ charities on charitywatch.org and you will see that Allied Veterans of the World, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Helping Hospitalized Veterans only give two to 35 percent of the money they collect to veterans.
To avoid ordering from a company with the reputation of Swiss Colony, do a Google search of “complaints” followed by the organization or person’s name.
If someone claims that you can turn one silver dollar into $4,000 in medical grade colloidal silver, consider your chances of convincing anyone to drink your homemade concoction. Blessed water and energized backyard soil are no different than the magic beans sold to Jack in the beanstalk story.
Fraud victims can call INFOLINK at the National Center for Victims of Crime Resource Center 800-394-2255.
(originally published in The Dadeville Record)