Would you like to work for the goverment? (Scam)

Posted on by The Old Wolf

It’s safe to say that there are as many ways to scam as there are scammers.

From: “Abranco” <demoonth@demo.ontha.com>
To: <abranco@cheshirect.org>
Cc: <undisclosed recipients>

Subject: Government Job Offer

Dear Sir or Madam

Would you like to work for the Government organization and participate in
the development of the United States?
Perhaps it is your talent the country needs at this moment.
Requirements – U.S. citizenship and minimum age 21
We invite you to work closely, anyone who does not care about the life of the state.
If you are a student, military, businessman, retired – we’ll be happy to listen to the opinions of everyone and take help from you.
Please send a brief summary to the human resource assistant on the lyne.holt@gmail.com and you will be assigned to interview

Naturally I never responded to this illicit offer, but you can bet your bottom dollar that the response would have somehow involved wiring funds via Western Union to someone in Africa for “interview fees,” or perhaps lead to a mail forwarding scam.

In the 1st quarter of 2015, spam accounted for almost 60% of all email traffic, according to this excellent article from SecureList. Have a look at the very top of my Spam inbox:

spam

Even if these emails are not directly criminal in nature (that is, loaded with malware or phishing attempts), my rule of thumb is this:

 “If a company spams you, avoid them at all costs.”

It’s a virtual certainty that their “offer” is fraudulent or, at the very least, a bad deal for you and a good deal for them.

Be careful out there.

 The Old Wolf has spoken.

The Story of Draper Hall at George Washington University

Posted on by The Old Wolf

So it turns out that my uncle, Courtney Rogers Draper, had a building named after him for as long as it existed.

Courtney Rogers Draper 150 (2)

The Story of Draper Hall

In the GWU Mail Call, 2 July 1946
Volume 1, No. 3

If you will walk over about a block to 22nd and G streets, you wil notice a two-story barracks-like building that looks uncomfortably like an amputated part of an army camp.

Your first impression will be corrected swiftly, however, when you walk into the spacious inviting lobby, and watch the easy-going, friendly dormitory life that opens out upon it.

No, the Army flavor is all gone. It’s civilian life, and civilian life at its best.

Perhaps that is why it is called Draper Hall. You see, Courtney Rogers Draper typified in his life, as in his death, the finest in American life.

He was the son of a Salt Lake City lawyer, with three sisters, one employed in the office of Gen. Elbert D. Thomas of Utah, here in Washington, and a brother, attending the University of Utah. This was the institution Courtney attended before he came to Washington, and to GWU.

In Washington, he was secretary to Gen. Hugh S. Johnson, administrator of the NRA, and then served as an auditor in the General Accounting Office here.

While working, e received the Bachelor of Laws degree from George Washington Law School in 1937.

In April, 1936, he was appointed as a second lieutenant in the Officers Reserve Corps. Although instructed as an artillery officer, Lt. Draper was assigned as an assistant adjutant at the presidio in San Francisco, upon entering active duty in July, 1941.

In August he was sent to the Philippine Islands attached to the air force, and was at Clark Field at the outbreak of hostilities with Japan.

Captured at Mindanao, where he was in charge of defending forces, Lt. Draper rejected an opportunity to escape and remained behind to attend to the removal of nurses and other flying personnel. He learned the Japanese language and served as prisoners’ liaison officer at Mindanao until 1943 when he was transferred to Cabanatuan, and later to Bilibid.

Courtney Purple Heart

As the steel ring of MacArthur and Nimitz drew ever closer to the Philippines, he was placed aboard a Japanese ship bound for Japan. American fliers sank the vessel in the China Sea in December, 1944. He was 31.

Today, although he is not here to enjoy the fruits of his sacrifice, that spirit in Courtney Rogers Draper which made possible such things as low-cost veterans’ housing and the many other things he would have wanted to see in contemporary America — that spirit is exemplified in the cooperative attitude and the zest for life that you can see in the 126 young fellows who inhabit the 86 rooms of Draper Hall.

Along with Draper Hall itself, the University housing development includes another section of 48 rooms on H. St., as well as a family section, in which ten veterans’ families are living.

This was the first veterans’ housing development of any university in Washington, and its construction was due to the constant cooperation of University authorities with the federal agencies responsible for such developments.

The serious lack of furniture is helped being met by an anonymous gentleman from Virginia, whi is arranging to send up furniture from surplus government vessels.

Draper Hall was demolished in 1956 to make way for newer structures, but during its tenture it bore the name of an honored American soldier.

GWU Mail Call 1  GWU Mail Call 2

The GWU Mail Call from 2 July 1946

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Warren Burger on the Second Amendment

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Updated 2/23/2018 after the Pennsylvania school shooting and the Las Vegas Massacre.

Edit Again, after the Uvalde massacre: Sensible and meaningful gun control is more critical now than ever before.

Note: This blog is not a place for debate. If you have a pressing need to prattle the NRA poison, do so on your own website, not here.

An image has resurfaced on Facebook lately highlighting a quote from former Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger:

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I did a litte digging just to make sure this wasn’t Snopes-worthy, and it turns out that this quote came from a PBS News Hour interview in 1991 and is correctly attributed to Chief Justice Burger.

With two school shootings in two weeks, (Oregon last week, and Arizona yesterday), it seems only right to be asking questions.

An article originally published in Parade magazine in 1990, asks some really good ones (excerpt below), and I submit it here for consideration. At the time of this update, you can still see the full article at Google Books (click the link for page 377):

The Constitution does not mention automobiles or motorboats, but the right to keep and own an automobile is beyond question; equally beyond question is the power of the state to regulate the purchase or the transfer of such a vehicle and the right to license the vehicle and the driver with reasonable standards. In some places, even a bicycle must be registered, as must some household dogs.

If we are to stop this mindless homicidal carnage, is it unreasonable:

  1. to provide that, to acquire a firearm, an application be made reciting age, residence, employment and any prior criminal convictions?
  2. to required that this application lie on the table for 10 days (absent a showing for urgent need) before the license would be issued?
  3. that the transfer of a firearm be made essentially as with that of a motor vehicle?
    to have a “ballistic fingerprint” of the firearm made by the manufacturer and filed with the license record so
  4. that, if a bullet is found in a victim’s body, law enforcement might be helped in finding the culprit?

These are the kind of questions the American people must answer if we are to preserve the “domestic tranquillity” promised in the Constitution.

What is clear is that in today’s society, the domestic tranquility is not being preserved, nor are the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness mentioned in the Declaration of Independence. School shootings appear in the news regularly, but less-reported is the daily slaughter in our inner cities and elsewhere, for example the recent murders of a dog walker and a backpacker by three drifters in California. Articles like this surface, are news for a day, and are then forgotten, and nobody seems to care that gang-bangers are killing each other and innocent bystanders with reckless abandon. For the victims of such acts of violence, somehow those inalienable rights are failing to apply, and it must stop.

By Warren E. Burger, Chief Justice of the United States (1969-86)
Parade Magazine, January 14, 1990, page 4

The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment can be summarized by two flags that I’ve seen flying in my own neighborhood:

41N9RURhEWL

“Molon Lave“

5.5x3.5_cati_AR15_b

both of which echo the “cold dead hands” sentiment originated by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and popularized by Charlton Heston.

One of my European colleagues asked, at a Facebook discussion of this issue,

You do realize that, seen from abroad, you all seem to have taken leave of your senses?

A libertarian friend of mine responded,

And from an American’s perspective, … you appear to be incredibly vulnerable.

These are the views from the polar opposites. We have to find a middle ground, and we have to stop the carnage. Not to do so is to sacrifice our humanity at the altar of death. With the words of Warren Burger ringing in my ears – and it’s to be remembered that he was a conservative justice, not a liberal one – the questions he asks appear both valid and sane.

My additional thoughts on the subject can be found at Guns are in America’s DNA

The Old Wolf has spoken.

A historical weekend in Texas

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Back in 2015, a wonderful thing happened to us – a longtime friend of my wife’s turned the big five-0, and her family all chipped in to bring my wife (and me, tagging along) down for the weekend as a surprise gift. They hadn’t seen each other for 11 years or so, and so it was a pretty good stunt. And we got the ancillary benefits.

The people in question live in Greenville, east of DFW. We got to visit their “Rally Round Greenville” downtown festival, which featured some fun ersatz bands such as Trio Grande, Infinite Journey, Pearl Gem, and Def Leggend, among others.

20150919 Downtown Greenville 120150919 Downtown Greenville 3

Downtown Greenville

20150919 Greenville Auto Show 120150919 Greenville Auto Show 4

Auto Show

If we hadn’t just gorged ourselves at a Chinese buffet – and I mean gorged – the street eats looked really tempting.

Later in the afternoon we had the chance to visit the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum. I had heard of Murphy, but had no idea what an amazing person he was.

But more than Murphy himself, I came away from that visit with a profound feeling of astonishment at the expense and ingenuity man put into ways and means of destroying one another, and a deepened sense of respect for all who ever wore the colors and the families that support them.

I learned a lot about the history of the cotton industry, as well.

Cotton Museum

Cotton Museum Display

20150919 Slave Cabin 3

Slave cabin

Audie Murphy Portrait 2

Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy Medal of Honor

Audie Murphy’s Medal of Honor

Audie Murphy Medals

Audie Murphy’s other medals.

A visit to the 6th Floor Museum was haunting, having lived through the days of the assassination.

20150921 Kennedy Museum Outside from the Grassy Knoll

The Book Depository from the Grassy Knoll

20150921 View from the 6th Floor in Dallas

The view from the 6th floor. The “x” marking the spot where Kennedy was shot is in the center lane, just to the left of the white car.

20150921 Kennedy Museum 2

Nobody knows what kind of president Kennedy might have become if he had lived to complete his term and perhaps win a second one. We can only speculate.

20150921 Taco Loco in Dallas.jpg

On the way to the airport for our trip home we dined at Taco Loco in Dallas. They make a mean taco, and have some varieties I had never experienced before.

All in all it was a stupendous trip and a great opportunity – we’re grateful to the family that flew us down for this lovely weekend.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

The Casio CA-95 Musical Watch

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Some time ago I wrote about early calculator watches and mentioned some of the favorite geek watches I’ve owned over time. My all-time favorite is the CA-95, which I bought in Hannover in 1983 as I arrived at the airport for CEBIT. I needed a new watch, and this one just called out to me.

By dint of a little work, I was able to resurrect it, almost – the “=” button doesn’t work, and I think it’s because I didn’t get it properly aligned. But everything else functions, more or less, which enabled me to record the sounds which I so dearly loved.

Back in that day, a watch would go “beep.” With this model, Casio upped the game substantially – sort of the same effect that Macintosh had on the computer world with its integrated sounds.

Enjoy.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

An Insider’s View of Martin Shkreli

Posted on by The Old Wolf

The media has gone nuts about Martin Shkreli, the CEO of Turing Pharma who “obtained the manufacturing licence for Daraprim, an out-of-patent medicine, and raised its price by 5,455 percent (from $13.50 to $750 per tablet).” (Wikipedia)

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While the company has stated that there will be a price reversal (as of this writing, we don’t know how much yet), Shkreli has now “receded from the public” according to USA Today, and who can blame him with the furious media storm raging out there?

Most analyses focus on rampant greed within the pharma industry, and use Shkreli as the poster boy for the zenith thereof. One redditor (/u/BlueGold), however, offers a different viewpoint which sheds some additional light on the subject. I’ve bowdlerized it a bit for family consumption – the original thread is here if you don’t mind colorful language.

Legal securities transaction experience and a little SEC regulation fluency checking in:

I’ve actually been doing some more research on the guy at work today, and am pretty blown away at how this all went down, should this theory be on point.

I’d like to state first that he’s a total jerk, and that this is a theory, but it’s becoming more and more convincing that he intended for all of this to happen, and it’s been a fun idea to play with – help educate me in what else this would require and each other:

So he knew the 4,700% cost-floor revaluation was an embellishment with a purpose:

He has, from what I can find, $4 – $15 million in shares of borrowed stock in various pharma corp. entities.

So, the moment reddit started raging about the injustice to the AIDS victims, and someone on Hilary’s digital media team said “Mrs. Clinton – appeal to all these voters by coming down on this dude!” he cracked a beer and watched his whole plan unfold.

In realistic share terms, taking taxes, interest rates in the ST contract with his lenders, and estimated holding into account, is probably several million dollars in profit for a day of acting. Someone above said “he’ll make billions short-selling!” Not only could he not make that much on a 20% drop short sale with his highest estimated borrowed holding, but the profit from a short sale like this doesn’t come to light for the market player until days, weeks, even months later when the price is back up to optimal value for cashing out.

So, its safe to say that he made millions with his little PR stunt, and vocationally, in a vacuum, he’s totally brilliant. Again, universally – he’s a jerk, but has an undeniable vocational aptitude for what he does.

If this probable play theory is on point, he knew he’d announce this cost reduction and caving on the 5k% value inflation shortly after reddit, twitter, mainstream media, and Hilary all started airing out their grievances – and he knew that there would be a subsequent revitalization in the pharma. share market base.

Bada bing bada boom. Say what you want about this guy, but he just acted like a jerk in order to troll the outrage bandwagon into actually influencing share values, and it totally worked. He didn’t deprive any dying children, he didn’t put anyone on the street, he probably didn’t even leave his office.

Alas, the predictable freakout hit the exact water mark he wanted it to, maybe even higher, and he bought all he could at the low price the bandwagon created, flipped back his $4-$15 million in borrowed shares to his creditors with presumably a “lets do business againreal soon” interest rate, and will soon profit generously when the market settles back to its regular CFS.

It would be really impressive, entirely because of the ignorance that is the foundation of everyone’s outrage.

I see a lot of people griping and moaning about the “system,” and the “extortion,” and the “broken justice” of SEC regs, and no suggestions other than “Old_Wolf_Censored this psychopath.”

Ya know what the ironic thing about this situation is though? His play will encourage the SEC revision committee to act. Not PI groups, not activists, not media attention. But this guy, who took advantage of the volatility of the market in response to uninformed social justice outcry. The only thing that really gets the attention of the SEC revision committee is economic circumstances, and the potential to not have firm control over happenings in private trading.

From 1934 – 2012, the SEC Regulatory Revision Committee has instituted 7 major acts, all in response to participant profiting, no one went to prison, and ALL THE ACTS were in the interest of non-corporate market participants.

Like it or not, he’s the only one who’ll make a difference for the better, whether it’s his intention or not – and he’s getting rich while he’s doing it, and not actually acting any differently than 80% of the other AIDS med manufacturers in the industry. In fact, he’s lowered his price below many others.

EDIT: Hopefully this adds some umph to anything I’ve said or answers any questions:

This guy is a master at short selling tactics.

He would get in a run of the mill short sale position, but then encourage the FDA via filing of “citizen petitions” to stall the release of certain products from corporations whose stock he was short selling. In doing this, is where his real mastery lies:

Dr. Hayflick, of OHSU (an outstanding medical research facility), “got a call from him in 2012, suggesting she try a different molecular modification to remedy pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration, or PKAN. ‘Damned if it doesn’t do what he thought it would do…It’s impressive. It’s humbling.'”

This isn’t a new thing, at all. I think this outrage is situational discontent with the pharma industry at large, and the for-profit nature of its governance. This, unfortunately, is a product of our privatized medical production realm that happens constantly. He just happened to make a noisy jerk out of himself, but really is one of many players, and still a small one at that.

Gylbera costs 1$ million buckaroos for annual treatment.

Acthar gel was marked 7000% for years.

Cinryze runs 3 times as much as his proposed value.

Short selling, multi-thousand percent mark ups from production-to-sale on drugs, constitutionally-protected systematic deflation of competition, reverse mergers… These are all well established market practices, just usually employed by undeniably smart, exploitive market players and CFOs who keep their mouths shut. This kind of noisy behavior has potential to create a PR nightmare that influences shareholder’s reactionary tendencies. Alas, it’s going back up!!! like our little jerk here has done.

This dude is a jerk. And if this hypothetical situation is on; a really smart jerk.

Once more, it serves to emphasize that this is one person’s theory. But it’s based on substantial experience in the industry, and makes for fascinating reading. There are some possibly good outcomes from this entire debacle:

  1. It has shined the light of reason on some of these scummy financial practices that seem commonplace, and
  2. It has energized the debate over the outrageous costs of drugs in the USA during a bitter election cycle.

Let us hope that some good comes out of this, whether or not Shkreli ever intended such an outcome.

The Old Wolf has spoken, with thanks to /u/BlueGold.

Send now, $115 through Western Union or Money Gram!

Posted on by The Old Wolf

nigerians

As soon as you see the words “Nigeria,” “Western Union,” “MoneyGram,” or anything else that has to do with sending your hard-earned money to Africa, run the other way and don’t look back.

While these letters may seem repetitive, I post them here in case anyone who is considering acting on these scams does a Google search. If I can keep a single person from losing their funds to these scumbags, it will have been worth it.

From: Info Desk <ndlea1@yahoo.com>
Subject: RE: We have completed the Automated Access code number program.

To: edcsservices@hotmail.com

From the desk of: Dr (Mrs) Sarah Alade,

Deputy Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way CBD, Cadastral Zone, Abuja, FCT
Attn: Beneficiary
We have completed the Automated Access code number program.
All we need now is for an attorney from our legal department to sign and we shall give you the access code and the program which your bank or our accredited paying bank near you will use to access the escrow using the password and your will get your funds.
Truly, everything is ready to go. It would cost you US$115.
The US$115 is to obtain the authorization and legal signing fee of the accredited attorney from our legal department, who will sign to enable us give the release codes to either JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America or BB&T Corporation to enable them access the escrow and pay the first $500,000 installments to you through check, draft or cash.
Due to nefarious activities of our corresponding banks and agents, we went into processing, management and online portal services pact with some banks in US.
We presently have three claimants in Georgia (U.S. state) and New York, one is from White Plains and 1 is from Ellijay.
We set up a secured escrow which can be accessed by and domiciled in JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America or BB&T Corporation for the purpose of these transactions.
Once the claimant satisfies the rule, the authorization and legal signing by the Central Bank of Nigeria accredited attorney done, we will give remittance order/authorization to either JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America or BB&T Corporation depending on proximity to the client. Then either JP Morgan Chase & Co., Bank of America or BB&T Corporation will access the escrow using the PIN and password, then update the programmed funds from the escrow and pay it to the client in $500,000 installments through check, draft or cash even through local wire transfer depending on the choice of the beneficiary.
The US$500,000 is to bypass bureaucratic bottlenecks and unending money laundering quagmire and brouhaha.
Send now, $115 through Western Union or Money Gram to:-
Receiver: Adamu Ahmed
Address: Plot 33, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Way Central Business District, Cadastral Zone, Abuja, FCT
Question: Place
Answer: FCT
Thanks, and we regret any inconveniences you might have passed through.
Yours sincerely
DR. (MRS) SARAH ALADE,

DEPUTY GOVERNOR, CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA (CBN)

Enough is as good as a feast

Posted on by The Old Wolf

The following cartoon appeared on my Facebook newsfeed today.

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I am reminded of a couple of old stories. The first:

The Mexican Fisherman

A boat docked in a tiny Mexican village. An American tourist complimented the Mexican fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

“Not very long,” answered the Mexican.

“But then, why didn’t you stay out longer and catch more?” asked the American.

The Mexican explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The American asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

“I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, have a few drinks, play the guitar, and sing a few songs…I have a full life.”

The American interrupted, “I have an MBA from Harvard and I can help you!

“You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat. With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers.

“Instead of selling your fish to a middleman, you can negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Mexico City, Los Angeles, or even New York City! From there you can direct your huge enterprise.”

“How long would that take?” asked the Mexican.

“Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,” replied the American.

“And after that?”

“Afterwards? That’s when it gets really interesting,” answered the American, laughing. “When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!”

“Millions? Really? And after that?”

“After that you’ll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta, and spend your evenings drinking and enjoying your friends!”

The Second:

A farmer’s son had worked his father’s farm all his life, but when he became of age he realized he wanted more out of life than farm labor could bring him, so he went off and got multiple degrees in agricultural engineering.

Years later he returned to the farm and began proudly showing his father all the ways that he could improve his output. “For example, Dad, just look at that tree over there. I bet you wouldn’t get more than 10 pounds of cherries off that tree.”

“I daresay you’re right, Son,” replied the farmer. “That there is a pear tree.”

More is definitely not always better. The accumulation of wealth beyond one’s needs, save for “the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted” is generally an exercise in misery. Happiness is not found in the end of the journey, for once the journey ends there’s always something else to tempt us.

I WISH YOU ENOUGH.

Recently, I overheard a mother and daughter in their last moments together at the airport as the daughter’s departure had been announced. Standing near the security gate, they hugged and the mother said:

“I love you and I wish you enough.”

The daughter replied, “Mom, our life together has been more than enough. Your love is all I ever needed. I wish you enough, too, Mom.” They kissed and the daughter left.

The mother walked over to the window where I sat. Standing there, I could see she wanted and needed to cry.

I tried not to intrude on her privacy but she welcomed me in by asking, “Did you ever say good-bye to someone knowing it would be forever?” “Yes, I have,” I replied. “Forgive me for asking but why is this a forever good-bye?”

“I am old and she lives so far away. I have challenges ahead and the reality is the next trip back will be for my funeral,” she said.

When you were saying good-bye, I heard you say, “I wish you enough.” May I ask what that means?”

She began to smile. “That’s a wish that has been handed down from other generations. My parents used to say it to everyone.” She paused a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it in detail and she smiled even more.

“When we said ‘I wish you enough’ we were wanting the other person to have a life filled with just enough good things to sustain them”. Then turning toward me, she shared the following, reciting it from memory,

“I wish you enough sun to keep your attitude bright.

I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.

I wish you enough happiness to keep your spirit alive.

I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.

I wish you enough gain to satisfy your wanting.

I wish you enough loss to appreciate all that you possess.

I wish you enough hellos to get you through the final good-bye.”

She then began to cry and walked away.

They say it takes a minute to find a special person. An hour to appreciate them. A day to love them. And an entire life to forget them.

– Author Unknown

May we all have enough.

The Old Wolf has spoken.

Marketing by Deception (Once Again)

Posted on by The Old Wolf

Edit: A recent comment indicates that these bottom-feeders have changed their name to “PVS LLC,” but are still sending out basically the same letter. Also operating as “TCU 100” in New Mexico and elsewhere. Beware.

“You are a Finalist in our 2016 Toyota Prius Giveaway!” trumpets the letter.

Image0002

Notice: They’ve never tried contacting me before, but along with the Washington DC return address, the “Final Attempt” makes the letter seem more urgent.

Image0004

Cute electronic gizmo and a scratch-off number. Any bets as to whether the numbers match? Pull the tab, scratch the number:

Image0006

What a surprise!

So I’m guaranteed to win one of those four fabulous prizes. Let’s look at the odds of winning on the fine print:

  1. Prius: 1:180,000
  2. Plasma TV: 1:180,000
  3. Apple iPad Air: 1:180,000
  4. Cruise: 179,997:180,000

If you’ve taken 9th-grade math, you know that it’s a sure thing you’ll be walking away from this experience with a cruise (valued up to $1,900.00).

This promotion is run by “Book and Sea,” a travel club that is using this promotion to “introduce their services.”

When I called the number, the young lady launched into her pitch and told me I’d be winning one of these great prizes, plus up to a $100.00 WalMart gift card. I asked her which prize I had won, and she said that I would only find out about that at the presentation. At this point I hung up.

Based on comments found on the web, it’s just another tired clone of Global Travel Network, about which I have already written:

“It is a 90 minute presentation you must listen to about a travel club and the discount they can give you (after you pay the fee for the membership). The idea is very interesting and the price was about $11,000 for a life time membership and an additional $300 per year fee. If you are interested I would suggest you play the game and say no to them first because they will come down drastically with the dollar amount that you would end up paying . At the end we got our salesman to give us the same deal for $3,775 and he was going to throw in two additional tickets for the cruise. We did not make the purchase however several people did at full price. We walked out with a gift card to walmart, which when I call to et the balance was only $5.00.”

According to the letter, the odds for the $100.00 gift card are 4:180,000, meaning everyone else gets a measly five bucks.

Image0005

These drones are targeting married couples with a combined income of over $60,000. As I wrote about in my previous post, even the cruise is no “prize” – by the time you pay taxes and other activation fees, you could probably find a flight and cruise as cheaply by yourself on the internet. So if they can sucker three or four couples per presentation to drop $11,000 plus a $300 per year maintenance fee, handing out these worthless cruises and gift cards makes the whole operation a pretty sweet racket.

Stay away from such scummy operators. Anyone who advertises their services with such reckless deception has the morals of a honey badger.

The Old Wolf has spoken.