International Law

Bakers Delight franchise off the ACCC hook -

Posted on April 23, 2008
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission announced yesterday that it had concluded its investigations into allegations that Bakers Delight engaged in misleading and deceptive and unconscionable conduct towards franchisees in operating its franchise system...

Google's AdSense Program Sparks Lawsuit

Posted on April 23, 2008
A search marketer has sued Google for allegedly tricking him into paying for ads on its publisher network, when he only wanted to purchase ads that would run on the search results pages. This is an interesting story, as the person complaining says that "Google instead charged him for pay-per-click ads on AdSense pages--which, he alleged, "are demonstrably inferior to ads appearing on search result pages...

Fraud Link Tuesday

Posted on April 22, 2008
Psychic Con GamePsychics say the new rules will shift the responsibility of proving they are not frauds from prosecutors and onto them. "By repealing the Act, the onus will go round the other way and we will have to prove we are genuine," McEntee-Taylor told Reuters...

Are You Smarter than a Monkey?

Posted on April 21, 2008
Monty Hall Game Recently, the New York Times John Tierney reported on a serious instance of the Monty Hall fallacy. "The economist, M. Keith Chen, has challenged research into cognitive dissonance, including the 1956 experiment that first identified a remarkable ability of people to rationalize their choices...

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How to Help Yourself

Posted on April 18, 2008
This is the final piece of a five part series on Arlan Galbraith Pigeon King scheme. The other four other posts were: What is New in Family Farming?, Why being a Sucker Seems So Right, Pigeon King and Testimonials, and How Will Pigeon Scheme End? We have learned that even when we see a Ponzi scheme for the illogical economic mess that it is, it still remains an attractive - as Charles Ponzi said about his own scheme: Many people who would not gamble can be tricked into experiencing the same hedonistic delight by dressing the scheme up as an "investment"...

Logic and Inference: How to avoid some Attractive but Bad Inferences

Posted on April 18, 2008
The majority of observations in this blog are: a) deception, or the tort of misrepresentation, deceives smart people who are none the less completely aware of many of the warning signs of fraud, and that b) public education aimed at giving more information to consumers to make their decisions is likely to fail or worse induce uncertainty at the wrong time which then pushes the decision maker to make the bad decision faster, just in order to preserve internal consistency...

How will the Pigeon King Scheme End?

Posted on April 17, 2008
Dave Thornton, of CrimeBustersNow, has written some amusing "retrospective" pieces on Arlan Galbraith's Pigeon King scheme. But how in general does a Ponzi scheme end? What causes there to be a run on the bank? Recall what we have learned in the first three days investigating what was behind the Iowa Attorney General's concern that Arlan's PKI is a Ponzi scheme...

Pigeon King and Testimonials

Posted on April 16, 2008
Over the last two days, we have discussed Arlan Galbraith's Pigeon King scheme, amid the allegations from the Iowa Attorney General that Arlan is running a Ponzi scheme. We have talked about two of the essential elements in a Ponzi scheme: return of capital masquerading as income and magical thinking...

Why Being A Sucker Seems So Right.

Posted on April 15, 2008
Yesterday, we talked about the difficulty about detecting whether monies returned from an investment were a return of capital or a return from a real economic activity. Anyone can provide a "pretend" investment of say 10% a month on a hundred dollars, by simply returning $10 to each month for 10 months, until the money runs out...

Tempted by Sweet-Sounding Claims for Candy Machine Venture?

Posted on April 15, 2008
According to the FTC, Business Opportunity Marketers Settle with FTC "Lifestyle Vending, Inc., and its owners, Michael Eisenberg and Maryann McCulloh, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that they misled consumers into paying thousands of dollars for a vending machine business venture without substantiating their claims about its earning potential...

How Online Coupon Companies Can Save You Money

Posted on April 14, 2008
According to US Today, Online buyers crack the code on deals . How you ask? "For budget-minded shoppers, few feelings are more deflating than noticing a sale going on — and realizing that they're missing out on it. Happily, consumers who shop online stand to benefit from websites that list coupon or promotion codes for the taking...

What is New in Family Farming?

Posted on April 14, 2008
Apparently, breeding pigeons - or so says Arlan Galbraith, the man behind the Pigeon King International scheme. In an interview with CBC, Arlan Galbraith claims to be able to save the family farm - with pigeon breeding. In essence, Arlan will sell you now, for $500...

W Financial Group, LLC, and others Scam Elderly Investors

Posted on April 11, 2008
SEC Charges Houston Company With Sales of Fraudulent Securities to Mostly Elderly Investors, W Financial Group, LLC, Adley H. Abdulwahab, Michael K. Wallens, Sr. and Michael K. Wallens, Jr. "The Commission's Complaint alleges that the defendants, directly and through sales agents, have raised at least $17...

Final Defendant Settles with FTC in Cross-Border Telemarketing Fraud Case

Posted on April 11, 2008
Final Defendant Settles with FTC in Cross-Border Telemarketing Fraud Case: Charles P. Farrugia, a defendant in a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against a fraudulent telemarketing scheme based in Canada, has agreed to settle FTC charges for his role in allegedly scamming American businesses into paying for business directories and listings they didn't order...

W Financial Group, LLC, and others Scam Elderly Investors

Posted on April 10, 2008
SEC Charges Houston Company With Sales of Fraudulent Securities to Mostly Elderly Investors, W Financial Group, LLC, Adley H. Abdulwahab, Michael K. Wallens, Sr. and Michael K. Wallens, Jr. "The Commission's Complaint alleges that the defendants, directly and through sales agents, have raised at least $17...

Can You Make Money with a Play N Trade Video Game Franchise?

Posted on April 10, 2008
It is funny how shills for a franchise system will post on a forum, expecting that no one has actually done any research. For example, over at the franchise pundit forum, we read that Re: Play N Trade Video Game Franchise: "Play N Trade is the best thing to happen to the Video Game Industry since the NES...

Final Defendant Settles with FTC in Cross-Border Telemarketing Fraud Case

Posted on April 10, 2008
Final Defendant Settles with FTC in Cross-Border Telemarketing Fraud Case: Charles P. Farrugia, a defendant in a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against a fraudulent telemarketing scheme based in Canada, has agreed to settle FTC charges for his role in allegedly scamming American businesses into paying for business directories and listings they didn't order...

Why do people fall for these scams?

Posted on April 10, 2008
Tracy Coenen writes: "I was just reading on TechCrunch about a scam called Bux.to that looks poised to fold. Members are complaining that they are not being paid the money they've earned. The site shows some comments from supposed members who say they've been paid, but it's sketchy whether or not that's real...

CFA President Speaks at Franchise Show

Posted on April 10, 2008
CFA President Speaks at Franchise Show: "In this short video clip Lorraine McLachlan, President & CEO of the Canadian Franchise Association (CFA), gives a short overviread more" (Via Blue MauMau - The Web's #1 Franchisee Community.)

Final Defendant Settles with FTC in Cross-Border Telemarketing Fraud Case

Posted on April 10, 2008
Final Defendant Settles with FTC in Cross-Border Telemarketing Fraud Case: "Charles P. Farrugia, a defendant in a Federal Trade Commission lawsuit against a fraudulent telemarketing scheme based in Canada, has agreed to settle FTC charges for his role in allegedly scamming American businesses into paying for business directories and listings they didn't order...

W Financial Group, LLC, Adley H. Abdulwahab, Michael K. Wallens, Sr. and Michael K. Wallens, Jr.

Posted on April 10, 2008
W Financial Group, LLC, Adley H. Abdulwahab, Michael K. Wallens, Sr. and Michael K. Wallens, Jr.: "SEC Charges Houston Company With Sales of Fraudulent Securities to Mostly Elderly Investor" (Via SEC.gov Updates: Litigation Releases.)

Can You Make Money with a Play N Trade Video Game Franchise?

Posted on April 10, 2008
Re: Play N Trade Video Game Franchise: "Play N Trade is the best thing to happen to the Video Game Industry since the NES. It’s a franchise model, which means the owners have the ability to make alot of money or screw it up. The store and everything it stands for, is the best thing out there...

Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur

Posted on April 10, 2008
From Fortune 2004, Skorman talking about the beginning of Elephant Pharmacy, "Stuart Skorman has a penchant for sitting on the floor during meetings, contorting his frame like a yogi, and uncapping his black felt-tip pen to scrawl his latest spark of insight onto a wrinkled piece of scratch paper...

Confessions of a Serial Entrepreneur

Posted on April 10, 2008
From Fortune 2004, Skorman talking about the beginning of Elephant Pharmacy, "Stuart Skorman has a penchant for sitting on the floor during meetings, contorting his frame like a yogi, and uncapping his black felt-tip pen to scrawl his latest spark of insight onto a wrinkled piece of scratch paper...

What is Wrong with Interlake Chemicals?

Posted on April 08, 2008
Here is a very interesting comment about the business Interlake Chemicals is in. David, I am in the chemicals business and will like to bring you the disadvantages about this business: 1. Most of the tiles in restaurants and hotels, to include bathtubs, are already non-slip...

Click Fraud - What is it, Really?

Posted on April 08, 2008
What is click fraud? Well, we know all about the problem for advertisers. Click fraud depletes their advertising dollar, and returns nothing of value. But there is a corresponding problem of click fraud for publishers - which is not talked about. A couple of weeks ago, Tracy Coenen wrote about the problem that all of us writing about fraud face: the placement of google ads for fraudulent business opportunities beside the very posts we write about...

How To Spot Fraudulent Business Opportunities And Money Making Schemes?

Posted on April 08, 2008
Serge Dandelin writes about fraud and due diligence: "Fraud. You find it everywhere. There is so much of it in today's world that you would think this is the rule and not the exception. The fact is that many people find it easier to make money by cheating others than working hard...

How to Legally "Cheat" the IRS

Posted on April 03, 2008
At this time of the year, everyone looks for ways to "cheat" the IRS. Professional con criminals take advantage of this the desire to save money. Here is the FBI's description of a $132 million tax fraud. "Edward H. Okun, 57, of Miami was arrested today and charged in an unsealed indictment with mail fraud, bulk cash smuggling and making false statements U...

How to Make an Earnings Claim - For Network Marketers

Posted on April 02, 2008
I have no idea about who VitaMist is and whether their products are worthwhile. But I do know that their simple statement about earnings claims is very useful. # Income Claims In their enthusiasm to enroll prospective Representatives, some Representatives are occasionally tempted to make income claims or earnings representations to demonstrate the inherent power of direct sales...

Want to Buy a Quiznos? Listen Up.

Posted on April 01, 2008
From the ever interesting Blue Mau Mau, we get an insider's look into the costs of a operating a Quiznos franchise. First lesson: the cost of staying open. "We transferred our Quiznos over 23 months ago. Our weekly labor ranges between 22% to 25% - the goal is 20%...

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