MAGA cultists are easy marks
2023-08-13 20:21:09
If you're looking for a way to make easy money, make sure that your con targets people who believe anything they hear and don't possess much in the way of critical thinking skills. That was the plan of a Colorado-based company operating under the names "Patriots Dynasty", "Patriots Future" and "USA Patriots" when they started selling "Trump Bucks" to MAGA loyalists.
Trump Bucks are fake bills with Donald Trump's picture on them, but they're being sold to the MAGA faithful by telling them that purchasing them will somehow help put Trump back in office and that the Bucks will be worth many times their purchase price once he is back in office. The bills were being sold on Telegram and other websites popular with the MAGA crowd.
On social media sites and in promotional videos, many featuring faked celebrity endorsements, the scammers have targeted people that believe Trump’s ouster was part of a great conspiracy, and that by investing in the Trump Rebate Banking System (TRB), Trump will reward their devotion by making them rich beyond their wildest dreams.
When John Amann, one of the faithful, took the $2200 worth of Trump Bucks he'd purchased to his bank he found out they were worth $0 in real money. His Twitter messages indicate that he's beginning to suspect that he was scammed, saying "Alert if you purchased any of the TRB SYSTEMS ITEMS. YOU GOT SCAMMED. THE TRB VOUCHERS, DJT GOLDEN CHECKS, DJT DIAMOND CHECKS, TRB GOLDEN CHECKS have no monetary values they are COMMEMORATIVE ONLY!"
He later wrote directly to Eric Trump "Eric what is going on with the TRB SYSTEM is it a scam? I own several products from the TRB SYSTEM and went to Bank of America to redeemed [sic] and was told they never heard of it!"
Eric Trump did not respond. John did get a response from @Fiercemama_1977 who wrote back "Lolololol. Perfect."
In another case, a Florida woman who asked not to be identified by name, said her 77-year-old mother-in-law had invested tens of thousands of dollars in Trump Bucks.
"My mother-in-law has always been conservative and prone to believe in conspiracy theories" Florida woman said.
To prove to her mother-in-law that she had been swindled, she drove her mother-in-law to a nearby bank and had her try to cash in some of her Trump Bucks. The bank would not cash them.
"We thought she got it, she even admitted she got scammed," the Florida woman said. "But then giant boxes arrived at the house full of Trump checks and other stuff that she bought for $500 and that would supposedly be worth $6 million one day. We tell her she’s getting scammed and she says, 'Just wait, Trump will make all the patriots rich.'"
"It's like she’s in a cult," Florida woman said.
So if you're looking for someone to con, it's not surprising that people who have pledged their allegiance to Trump turn out to be easy marks. They don't question what you tell them as long as it's what they want to hear and the person they hear it from sounds sincere. Even better, they almost never realize they've been conned, so you can take their money again and again and again.
T O P S T O R I E S
California Glory Hole attracts huge crowds
A glory hole at Napa's Lake Berryessa is drawing huge crowds. According to Chris Lee, the general manager for the Solano County Water Agency, the glory hole hasn't been active since 2019, and only restarted operations on Feb 4. (More...)
Republican State Senator busted after soliciting a teenage girl
Republican State Senator Justin Eichorn of Minnesota was arrested for soliciting a teen girl on Monday just hours after he introduced a bill proposing "Trump derangement syndrome" (TDS) as a form of mental illness. (More...)
Parents claim measles is not that bad after having only one child die
The parents of a Texas girl who died from the measles are defending their decision not to vaccinate their daughter. "She says they would still say 'Don't do the shots,'" an unidentified translator for the parents said. "They think it’s not as bad as the media is making it out to be." (More...)
Delusional rich man tries to fire town staff
"I'm mayor now" said write-in mayoral candidate and founder of Pirate’s Booty Snacks Robert Ehrlich after losing the election for Mayor of Sea Cliff, NY. Then he tried to take over the Village Hall and fire everyone. (More...)
Musk claims Xitter security is staffed by idiots
Earlier this month Xitter experienced a massive outage. In an interview, Musk told Fox Business that he believes the attack came from "IP addresses originating in the Ukraine area." (More...)
The Future Ain't What It Used To Be
Ideas have taken horrifying shape and rooted into our modern reality. (More...)
C L A S S I C P I G D O G
The end of summer is near and sirens call of Black Rock City are beginning to summons Pigdoggers from all of the world to Burning Man. Spock Mountain Research Labs (SMRL), the world leader in beverage science and leisure technology will be at our second home for a week at 5:00 and Infant (how fitting) as we enjoy the liberated lifestyle of a temporary community 200 miles from nowhere... (More...)
It was the night of the Leonid meteor showers -- the perfect opportunity to break out the evil opaline liquor, get madder than hatters, and test wireless ethernet hardware... Would the plunging meteorites interfere with the 2.4GHz band? What about our delicate brain waves? (More...)
Our team of crack journalists went insane, and made the drive from Concord, California to Concord, New Hasmpshire on Interstate 80. Read the insightful observations of our intrepid travelers made on their journey into the heartland. (More...)
Our man Daemon Agent checks out the heavy heavy sounds of crazy space surf rockers Man or Astroman?. (More...)
My dear and close friend, Porn Maven Shannon Mariemont, sent me a titillating message the other day about her new project: the PornOrchestra. Her desire, at most, is to reinvent the porn soundtrack and, at least, to receive a cease-and-desist order like all her cool friends did last year. (More...)
What do Computers and Skateboards have in Common?
They both sprang from the mind of John Mauchly that's what. (More...)