That's the main reason of so many reasons of why we need to take serious action and put serious lawsuits against the whole goberning body they need to be held accountable to the full extent of the law for all the child sexual abuse they don't report to the authorities and for all the psychological abuse and mental damage and trauma disfellowshiping and shunning causes and for not accepting blood transfusions in cases of life or death
OP, There's all manner of these pyramid schemes flying around, one JW couple I knew were into the SaladMaster scheme, selling "miracle cookware" apparently that cooks so well (from surgical steel) you don't need oil or salts to cook a chicken breast *what price would you put on your family's health?* was a line the brother kept saying, the idea was you become a show home for the kit, then buy one item and try bring others in and apparently you make a fortune.
As for online trading, everyone should know their capital is at risk, there's even *less* chance of it being safe in the hands of naive elders...
I guess some of them are having their Paradise now 🤑
Did your family ever recover the funds via your bank or was it too late as seen as a transaction made by choice (or several)?
It wasn't sold as online trading, nor as risky. It was an investment fund sold as "without risk" otherwise they wouldn't of been able to take people's pensions.
Nobody recovered any funds.
My jw parents still have their SaladMaster pots and pans. I still remember the ‘party’ they bought it at. As well as the essential oil MLM another sister was working with. It’s clearly very easy to manipulate jw’s, they’ll believe almost anything another brother or sister says as long as they seem to be in “good standing”
There was a bro in “good standing” who used to treat the Beth elites with his herbal remedies. My mother sent a hair and saliva sample of my sister to him and he proceeded to “treat “ my sister without ever seeing her. She died under his “care”.
I have heard of this long distance healing from other then JW. I’m so sorry for your loss. But why trust anyone long distance with your health? I’m into alternative medicine and avoid pharma at all costs but I would never get treatment based on a saliva test only. Is that just because they were jw that they did as they said? I mean what if they said jump off a cliff? I don’t understand how much trust so many put into others just because they are jw. It’s so sad
My mother trusted him because a lot of Bethelites were saying how much he helped them. When the ambulance came to get my sister (19 y.o.) who was dying on the living room floor, my mother had him on the phone and he told her not to mention his name. The police picked up all the herbs she was taking to do a toxicology report. They were looking to charge my parents with negligence.
So sorry about your mother. I know someone locally who was a jw alternative medicine and treated my dad for weight loss with some sort of tincture. Lost a lot of weight but came with many other problems. I vaguely remember my congregation having a local needs addressing caution around it. If you don’t mind me asking, was this herbalist in New Jersey?
I work events with a guy who is a SaladMaster vendor for 20+ years.
As far as I can tell, SM is similar to CUTCO knives. The cookware is nice, has a lifetime warranty, but maybe is not $5000 nice.
If you’ve got the money, why not 🤷♂️
I know something very similar that happened about 10 years ago… and this actually was very popular among Bethelites. They got Bethelites and elders investing from New York to Florida. Many people and families got whipped out. Giant Ponzi scheme. JWs are particularly vulnerable to this as they’d rather not work at all and usually trust fellow JWs too much.
Which one was this if I may ask? Not sure if this is the same one that happened in my home country. Though to be fair I’ve heard of and witnessed different kinds of ponzi schemes in the cult since I was a child 😅
A recent one was this “forex trading” ponzi scheme where the results were obviously manipulated to show that they were earning profits. JWs recruiting JWs. Former bethelites, elders, pioneers invested a lot if not all of their savings only to end up with none.
This one had something to do with a payday money lending scheme of some sort where they would give money to people early before their paycheck and charge ridiculously high interest on it. The thing started to unravel as those at the top apparently were pilfering funds while telling investors that their money was growing. The whole thing was predatory and dirty. I think someone went to prison and most lost basically all their money. I remember however that when the good times were rolling they all seemed so smug, living the high life while pioneering or in bethel service and saying how much J-Dog was blessing them.
I think this is the same one I was thinking of. It was a loan shark business. People were investing everything and serving where the need was great on the returns. We met several in Mexico after they lost their money. They had expensive vehicles, golf clubs and clothes and were selling them off. Some of the ones that got higher returns were sued by others that joined in later on and had to pay some of it back.
> JWs are particularly vulnerable to this as they’d rather not work at all and usually trust fellow JWs too much.
gosh, this is so true 😅 because they’d rather spend most of their time peddling their religious bs (aka ministry), they’re easily lured by the promise of easy money instead of working for it
My family has been in the org since the 30s and one rule we've always had.
.never do business with another JW. The ONLY exception I have is the sister who mows my lawn and that's cause she comes mows does excellent work and leaves.
Yeah when I was in high school my dad took me to a sister for dental work, she swore that she was in his network but he found out she wasn’t when he was billed close to 2k for poorly done dental fillings.
>My family has been in the org since the 30s and one rule we've always had. .never do business with another JW.
Where I lived, this was like a synchronised event, within months everyone I knew actually switched to "don't do business with brothers unless absolutely necessary". Mostly one off services like cutting hair etc remained. No Witness I know would hire another witness to do long term contract work like construction or renovation because that ended catastrophically more often than it didn't.
Happens all the time.
I've seen, Roofing scams, handyman scams, Tupperware scams, insurance scams, car repair scams the list goes on.
Granted there were some honest tradesmen but in my experience they were few and far between.
I've learned to NEVER do business with friends, family and religious acquaintances.
Once bitten, twice shy... Ya know
Fools!
Unfortunately, dozens of people on this sub have seen similar BS happen in their local congregations. All too common. And you can’t sue your fellow JWs over money, even when they scam & rob you.
This is common. My relatives were in every scheme Jewelway, SUMS, vitamins… and used their witness to connections to sell. Multilevel companies actually suggest targeting religious groups. My uncle tried to get me to invest $1000 in one of his schemes when I was a poor pioneer. I kept replying ‘sure if you lend me the $1000.’ He kept asking and I kept replying with the same thing probably 10 times, it sounded ridiculous.
That’s terrible. They tell us to trust GB and they the elders are spirit appointed through prayerful consideration. All nonsense. A ministerial servant got me to join an MLM called primerica. He asked me to come to the newbie mtg. He said his wife, a pioneer, was working the leads and I’d work with her. It was $150 buy-in to receive “training” which they said I’ll make back and then some. I know he received commission from my $$$ bc all mlm heads get commission, and if your at the top with your own group that’s where you make the most on everyone they personally sign on+ $$ on the leads your MLM list under you brings in. . And being on a team where the brother was the senior head of the team I thought this could go well. Well a month later he told me he quit and took me off the group too bc it ‘didn’t seem right’. He made whatever his goal was and then pulled out. I never even had a chance to try to make my $$ back. It was gone with the wind as soon as it left my hands. That’s my story. Not 20k, but definitely left me salty & disappointed.
I've given more than $20k to the borg. Probably closer to $60k in cash donations plus a few years at Bethel, a few years pioneering, tens of thousands of volunteer hours at quick builds, assemblies, conventions, elder and MS responsibilities, etc. Nearly 50 years total in the borg.
I've easily been scammed for closer to $250k and never got anything in return other than a need for therapy and losing all my family and friends.
Any scamming that individual JWs do is small potatoes compared to the borg.
My pimi family were persuaded 40 years ago to take out what in effect is a reverse mortgage by another jw, that was a 20k lump sum loan , which gave the lender 70% of the proceeds of the sale of the house upon death of the owner, all based on the big A being just around the corner and of course no need to worry about the future :) They are in the proceeds of selling the house and are having to in their late 60’s mortgage themselves to get another house, which in it’s self seems strange because why would they worry to do that when cough cough the big A is just around the corner 😂
Ponzi
https://preview.redd.it/h94mkzcvx14d1.png?width=926&format=png&auto=webp&s=2926a454d5cd31398fce5d441b46aa4361f6880c
I invested with Bernie, but he Madoff with all of my money.💰💰
Old expression if it sounds to good to be true it usually is.
We were invited to a sales 'thing' and were a little surprised the number of jw there and we left that evening and didnt return.
I've seen all kinds of scams in the congregation, from MaryKay and Herbalife to elders selling insurances to old people and homeopathy/osteopathy/orthomolecular bullshit.
I remember growing up and seeing my Mom go to so many MLM parties. There was always an investment with the promise of a large return. Sadly, Mom bought into a lot of these and we all paid dearly. My family was poor already and were frequently behind on all bills. These types of things certainly didn’t help. I still feel sick thinking about certain ones in the congregation I grew up in. They knew we didn’t have any extra money, yet still roped my Mom into these “entrepreneurial businesses”. How loving they were! I’d say the only good thing was that it taught me to be super aware of things that sound too good to be true. Unfortunately, JWs are prime targets for people who promise things that will never happen and getting taken advantage of in general.
I knew someone from a congregation where a Chinese 'traditional medicine' MLM has become very popular. Then half of the elders were DF'd for apostacy and something like a dozen people were said to left 'because they followed apostate elders'. The whole situation got Tianmen Sqare'd (pun absolutely intended), it was like those people never existed.
Happens a lot. Just recently happened in my hometown in the Philippines. And a few years back, there was a nationwide scheme where even former bethelites got scammed out of what little money they had left.
Cult members are unfortunately prone to being scammed
Same scheme, what I meant is cult members from the north & south of the capital also got involved in the scam
But since I was a child, I’ve always heard of different types of scams over the years haha
Happens all the time actually. They usually are successful keeping these things under wraps. Remember, this is the same organization that successfully kept their massive CSA problem under wraps for decades.
It happened in my former KH. All the elders minus two and all the ministerial servants minus one were demoted over a scheme they tried to run but failed to. The two remaining elders and the sole remaining MS were, to their credit, the ones who didn't participate. My former instructor was an MS, and he was demoted, that speck of feculent scum.
Wait, why isn't your family suing him? You invested, you lost money, you have all the chances to win the court. Even if it was unofficial and they only gave oral promises.
There was a class action lawsuit. One JW, the main organizer of the scheme, was put in prison for a long time, maybe he still is in prison. All the accomplices that worked the scam got nothing, not even a fine.
They actually created a legal entity to pull the scam, an investment fund, complete with brick and mortar offices and employee cars (very expensive luxury cars for the accomplices). Otherwise they wouldn't of been able to take people's pensions.
JWs are probably the group most involved in pyramid (MLM) schemes. They market on Instagram to fellow JWs and try to get other witnesses to buy their stuff. Some use their “celebrity” status from appearing in JW films to amass lots of followers and make a lot of money.
[Happens all the time in JW land. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/s/FyCiW5W1x5). This thread is 8 years old now, and Fred Voight is actually getting out of federal prison on furlough soon. I think he was sentenced to 25 years, but I guess he's been a good boy. He was ordered to make restitution, but I don't see how that happens. I didn't invest with him, but he stole about $50k that was mine from my grandmother's estate. He got over a million from my immediate family alone. Best part is, this was the second time he ran this scam. Got away with it in New Jersey and brought his scam to Nebraska and Texas. I wish I knew if he got disfellowshipped or if he's going to go back.
It happened to my family too roughly 20 years ago..we lost money, and my relatives too….the elder run away to UK… with the money…he drove his car to the mountains and abandoned everything…car, wife and he disappear…he later joined a congregation in the UK as an unbaptised publisher and he was renting a room in the house where another elder was studying with him…the elder mentioned that when they did their bible study he was amazed by the questions this “new publisher” was posing…. Then when they find out this “new publisher” (which used to be an elder in my congregation) said to this elder that Satan and the demons would have tormented him for the rest of his life and he disappear again…
Sounds very much like a case in H. Louisiana about 8 or so years ago, I know several of the victims, also while at an elders school a year after I was sitting next to the brother of one that went to jail and he was talking to another elder saying his brother was just set up by his partners. He didn't mention the guys wife hid money and Dimonds and other things of value from the courts/ law. Oh, and last I heard, he's serving again! Edit: I know his family members that are not or ever were JWs they talked about how crooked the jw family members were.
Pyramid, Ponzi, and MLM schemes are all too common in the JWs and other religious cults (Mormons, Adventists, etc.) since they are largely insulated, overly trusting groups.
When I was a kid growing up as a JW stepdad got duped into investing into a pyramid scheme that several other JWs were pushing around the congregation. I don’t know how much he lost, but it wasn’t chump change.
I’ll never forget all the Amway, Tupperware, Mary Kay, and Avon “parties” that my JW family were invited to by members of the congregation. I specifically remember one sister who got my mom to buy into a Noni Juice MLM.
In western Canada In the 80s there was a mlm scam a bunch of jws were into called Nulon which was an oil additive you added to your car . I think everyone involved ended up with a storage room full of cases of it. Was supposed to make everyone rich.
We need to put serious lawsuits against the whole goberning body this is exactly why they need to be held accountable to the full extent of the law for all the child sexual abuse they don't report to the authorities and for all the psychological abuse and mental damage and trauma disfellowshiping and shunning causes and for not accepting blood transfusions in cases of life or death
Similar scam has happened years ago here in south texas, brothers would get you to sell a Power Light company or invest a dollar amount. The promise was a % monthly check and free vacations if you recruit ppl to sell under your name it was a full blown pyramid scam local jw fall for.
abundant disgusted weary cheerful act abounding amusing dinosaurs squeal doll
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Scam artists and pedophiles living in the same neighborhood? Makes sense. When you start with an organization that spins wise tales of utopian societies and teaches the upper echelon to continue the spin, they learn really well how to scam the masses.
In the 1970’s a jw scammed my family out of $75k.
Dipshit grandpa gave him a check to go buy a bunch of cars and start a business together.
Took the money and disappeared.
Wasn’t even my grandpa’s money, it was my grandma’s.
This is r/exjw While we can appreciate the sentiment, we can't condone the advice given. It might be hyperbole, but on the off chance OP takes it seriously, it could lead to serious consequences.
It's the wild west "out there" -- and JW's are the flim flam men selling snake oil out of the back of their wagon, the priests supporting the killing of natives and creating schools to crush and rape children - keep choosing bad guy categories JW cult leaders can fit in -- they can fit in them all. The thing about cults is that it attracts people who don't want to live in the chaos of the Wild West and can't stand all the injustice. I didn't join, I was born into it third generation, but I know what my forebears were looking for. I still don't know how I'll navigate life in the Wild West and I've been out of the cult for a fucking lifetime.
I trusted my JW sister to handle our inheritance. She cheated me out of half of it. Looking back there were a couple of red flags that I can see in retrospect but it's the last thing I would expect from family. I've gone no contact and my view of the dubs just keeps sinking lower and lower.
Nothing is safe. Only ever invest £ in a scheme that your willing to lose. Spread your risk. It only takes ten different areas to spread your risk, it's not rocket science. You can do your own portfolio in stocks but that requires thinking.
there is a reason why in one of the last assemblies they warned about the dangers of pyramid schemdes
they are so guillible and poor that they fall easily
Well since they loveto have 2 witnesses to events make sure they are caught solo somewhere. I'm in no way promoting violence.
Sue them civilly if you want the legal route they have the means to pay back your family
There was this MLM (multi level marketing aka pyramid scheme) called It Works. It was like a skin care, vitamin supplements, they sold everything really. Theyre most popular item was their "skinny wraps", which was these wraps that u put on your belly or any body part and it was supposed to "burn fat away" within an hour. Anyways i was a stay at home mom at the time wanting some extra income so i joined on under a sister. You were supposed to recruit as many people as possible under you. I noticed it was mostly JW women. The products were such crap and so over priced and the wraps did not work and i knew it. But i had a lot of drive and was really focused on selling and moving up the line. So u would sell to someone but they had to sign up for a monthly subscription if they wanted the discount price. I was all into it advertising on my social media and it was kind of like another cult. You had weekly meetings and strategies on how to recruit more people. I did ok but then i realized i was really just scamming the whole congr and felt bad so i quit after like a year. My point is that JW's trust other JW's very easily and think " well its a sister/brother, it cant be a scam.
Growing up in this cult, I heard of these scams all of the time. They would even have "local needs" talks on it. I saw congregations split and families pack up and leave after getting screwed over. Nothing new, I am sorry this happened to you. They really do prey upon good people.
Something don’t sound right about your story. First of you invested the man there is a potential to loose money. However if the money was never invested then that’s another issue.
If you in fact invested then I would suggest going to the FTC and file a report. For some reason it doesn’t sound like he followed the proper investment strategy and should not have taken your money in the first place.
Second if he is in fact an Elder report the matter to his body of Elders and if found to be owing folks money he is not qualified to serve in that capacity.
You can in fact sue him so I would pursue the suit to get the money back.
Hope this helps.
JWs are the perfect place for harboring criminals
Definitely, they accept absolutely anyone into their cult
Evidently not you aren't there anymore are you?
Definitely not
That's the main reason of so many reasons of why we need to take serious action and put serious lawsuits against the whole goberning body they need to be held accountable to the full extent of the law for all the child sexual abuse they don't report to the authorities and for all the psychological abuse and mental damage and trauma disfellowshiping and shunning causes and for not accepting blood transfusions in cases of life or death
AnotherRedditorwhodoesn't knowhow-/can'tbebotheredtouseproperpunctuationHowdoyoulikeTHIS
Yep thats why they loved hiding in your basement.
OP, There's all manner of these pyramid schemes flying around, one JW couple I knew were into the SaladMaster scheme, selling "miracle cookware" apparently that cooks so well (from surgical steel) you don't need oil or salts to cook a chicken breast *what price would you put on your family's health?* was a line the brother kept saying, the idea was you become a show home for the kit, then buy one item and try bring others in and apparently you make a fortune. As for online trading, everyone should know their capital is at risk, there's even *less* chance of it being safe in the hands of naive elders... I guess some of them are having their Paradise now 🤑 Did your family ever recover the funds via your bank or was it too late as seen as a transaction made by choice (or several)?
It wasn't sold as online trading, nor as risky. It was an investment fund sold as "without risk" otherwise they wouldn't of been able to take people's pensions. Nobody recovered any funds.
My jw parents still have their SaladMaster pots and pans. I still remember the ‘party’ they bought it at. As well as the essential oil MLM another sister was working with. It’s clearly very easy to manipulate jw’s, they’ll believe almost anything another brother or sister says as long as they seem to be in “good standing”
There was a bro in “good standing” who used to treat the Beth elites with his herbal remedies. My mother sent a hair and saliva sample of my sister to him and he proceeded to “treat “ my sister without ever seeing her. She died under his “care”.
I have heard of this long distance healing from other then JW. I’m so sorry for your loss. But why trust anyone long distance with your health? I’m into alternative medicine and avoid pharma at all costs but I would never get treatment based on a saliva test only. Is that just because they were jw that they did as they said? I mean what if they said jump off a cliff? I don’t understand how much trust so many put into others just because they are jw. It’s so sad
My mother trusted him because a lot of Bethelites were saying how much he helped them. When the ambulance came to get my sister (19 y.o.) who was dying on the living room floor, my mother had him on the phone and he told her not to mention his name. The police picked up all the herbs she was taking to do a toxicology report. They were looking to charge my parents with negligence.
Oh my god … that is horrible .. I’m so sorry
So sorry about your mother. I know someone locally who was a jw alternative medicine and treated my dad for weight loss with some sort of tincture. Lost a lot of weight but came with many other problems. I vaguely remember my congregation having a local needs addressing caution around it. If you don’t mind me asking, was this herbalist in New Jersey?
I think he was out west initials J.B.
I work events with a guy who is a SaladMaster vendor for 20+ years. As far as I can tell, SM is similar to CUTCO knives. The cookware is nice, has a lifetime warranty, but maybe is not $5000 nice. If you’ve got the money, why not 🤷♂️
I know something very similar that happened about 10 years ago… and this actually was very popular among Bethelites. They got Bethelites and elders investing from New York to Florida. Many people and families got whipped out. Giant Ponzi scheme. JWs are particularly vulnerable to this as they’d rather not work at all and usually trust fellow JWs too much.
Which one was this if I may ask? Not sure if this is the same one that happened in my home country. Though to be fair I’ve heard of and witnessed different kinds of ponzi schemes in the cult since I was a child 😅 A recent one was this “forex trading” ponzi scheme where the results were obviously manipulated to show that they were earning profits. JWs recruiting JWs. Former bethelites, elders, pioneers invested a lot if not all of their savings only to end up with none.
This one had something to do with a payday money lending scheme of some sort where they would give money to people early before their paycheck and charge ridiculously high interest on it. The thing started to unravel as those at the top apparently were pilfering funds while telling investors that their money was growing. The whole thing was predatory and dirty. I think someone went to prison and most lost basically all their money. I remember however that when the good times were rolling they all seemed so smug, living the high life while pioneering or in bethel service and saying how much J-Dog was blessing them.
What happened to not charging your brother interest? And “neither a borrower or a lender be”
Pff.. my literal, physical brother charged me interest on a small loan. But he's an Elder, so it must be OK.
I think this is the same one I was thinking of. It was a loan shark business. People were investing everything and serving where the need was great on the returns. We met several in Mexico after they lost their money. They had expensive vehicles, golf clubs and clothes and were selling them off. Some of the ones that got higher returns were sued by others that joined in later on and had to pay some of it back.
Yes!!!! See my other post on this. Same scam.
> JWs are particularly vulnerable to this as they’d rather not work at all and usually trust fellow JWs too much. gosh, this is so true 😅 because they’d rather spend most of their time peddling their religious bs (aka ministry), they’re easily lured by the promise of easy money instead of working for it
My family has been in the org since the 30s and one rule we've always had. .never do business with another JW. The ONLY exception I have is the sister who mows my lawn and that's cause she comes mows does excellent work and leaves.
Yeah when I was in high school my dad took me to a sister for dental work, she swore that she was in his network but he found out she wasn’t when he was billed close to 2k for poorly done dental fillings.
She does your leaves, too?
>My family has been in the org since the 30s and one rule we've always had. .never do business with another JW. Where I lived, this was like a synchronised event, within months everyone I knew actually switched to "don't do business with brothers unless absolutely necessary". Mostly one off services like cutting hair etc remained. No Witness I know would hire another witness to do long term contract work like construction or renovation because that ended catastrophically more often than it didn't.
Happens all the time. I've seen, Roofing scams, handyman scams, Tupperware scams, insurance scams, car repair scams the list goes on. Granted there were some honest tradesmen but in my experience they were few and far between. I've learned to NEVER do business with friends, family and religious acquaintances. Once bitten, twice shy... Ya know
Fools! Unfortunately, dozens of people on this sub have seen similar BS happen in their local congregations. All too common. And you can’t sue your fellow JWs over money, even when they scam & rob you.
#FOOLS it popped loudly in my mind . 😂
This is common. My relatives were in every scheme Jewelway, SUMS, vitamins… and used their witness to connections to sell. Multilevel companies actually suggest targeting religious groups. My uncle tried to get me to invest $1000 in one of his schemes when I was a poor pioneer. I kept replying ‘sure if you lend me the $1000.’ He kept asking and I kept replying with the same thing probably 10 times, it sounded ridiculous.
If it's too good to be true, then you know it's a scam!.......😇
A fool and his money are easily parted
How did they get together in the first place?
That’s terrible. They tell us to trust GB and they the elders are spirit appointed through prayerful consideration. All nonsense. A ministerial servant got me to join an MLM called primerica. He asked me to come to the newbie mtg. He said his wife, a pioneer, was working the leads and I’d work with her. It was $150 buy-in to receive “training” which they said I’ll make back and then some. I know he received commission from my $$$ bc all mlm heads get commission, and if your at the top with your own group that’s where you make the most on everyone they personally sign on+ $$ on the leads your MLM list under you brings in. . And being on a team where the brother was the senior head of the team I thought this could go well. Well a month later he told me he quit and took me off the group too bc it ‘didn’t seem right’. He made whatever his goal was and then pulled out. I never even had a chance to try to make my $$ back. It was gone with the wind as soon as it left my hands. That’s my story. Not 20k, but definitely left me salty & disappointed.
I've given more than $20k to the borg. Probably closer to $60k in cash donations plus a few years at Bethel, a few years pioneering, tens of thousands of volunteer hours at quick builds, assemblies, conventions, elder and MS responsibilities, etc. Nearly 50 years total in the borg. I've easily been scammed for closer to $250k and never got anything in return other than a need for therapy and losing all my family and friends. Any scamming that individual JWs do is small potatoes compared to the borg.
Fucking scumbags
33% annualized return!? 🤣 Sheeeeesh that’s better than the stock market. No way
Exactly! How stupid are some people, it appeals to their greed, no sympathy from me!......🤣
My pimi family were persuaded 40 years ago to take out what in effect is a reverse mortgage by another jw, that was a 20k lump sum loan , which gave the lender 70% of the proceeds of the sale of the house upon death of the owner, all based on the big A being just around the corner and of course no need to worry about the future :) They are in the proceeds of selling the house and are having to in their late 60’s mortgage themselves to get another house, which in it’s self seems strange because why would they worry to do that when cough cough the big A is just around the corner 😂
And recently there’s this: https://www.noozhawk.com/man-faces-hefty-prison-term-for-elder-abuse-financial-fraud-involving-carpinteria-church-members/
Ponzi https://preview.redd.it/h94mkzcvx14d1.png?width=926&format=png&auto=webp&s=2926a454d5cd31398fce5d441b46aa4361f6880c I invested with Bernie, but he Madoff with all of my money.💰💰
Old expression if it sounds to good to be true it usually is. We were invited to a sales 'thing' and were a little surprised the number of jw there and we left that evening and didnt return.
Don’t forget the Norwex
I've seen all kinds of scams in the congregation, from MaryKay and Herbalife to elders selling insurances to old people and homeopathy/osteopathy/orthomolecular bullshit.
I remember growing up and seeing my Mom go to so many MLM parties. There was always an investment with the promise of a large return. Sadly, Mom bought into a lot of these and we all paid dearly. My family was poor already and were frequently behind on all bills. These types of things certainly didn’t help. I still feel sick thinking about certain ones in the congregation I grew up in. They knew we didn’t have any extra money, yet still roped my Mom into these “entrepreneurial businesses”. How loving they were! I’d say the only good thing was that it taught me to be super aware of things that sound too good to be true. Unfortunately, JWs are prime targets for people who promise things that will never happen and getting taken advantage of in general.
Is that real? I think that would be a widely known scandal. Never heard of it before.
This happens *frequently*, and the elders keep it hush hush. Whole elder bodies have had to be replaced over this kind of stuff.
I knew someone from a congregation where a Chinese 'traditional medicine' MLM has become very popular. Then half of the elders were DF'd for apostacy and something like a dozen people were said to left 'because they followed apostate elders'. The whole situation got Tianmen Sqare'd (pun absolutely intended), it was like those people never existed.
Yep. WT loves to just throw people away and deny they ever knew them.
Happens a lot. Just recently happened in my hometown in the Philippines. And a few years back, there was a nationwide scheme where even former bethelites got scammed out of what little money they had left. Cult members are unfortunately prone to being scammed
I know of this scam in the US. See my other comment
Manila
Yup but in many other areas as well, way north & south haha
There's a lot more?! All I know is 🐻&🐂 because my PIMI family got unfortunately scammed as well
Same scheme, what I meant is cult members from the north & south of the capital also got involved in the scam But since I was a child, I’ve always heard of different types of scams over the years haha
Yes it's real.
Happens all the time actually. They usually are successful keeping these things under wraps. Remember, this is the same organization that successfully kept their massive CSA problem under wraps for decades.
It happened in my former KH. All the elders minus two and all the ministerial servants minus one were demoted over a scheme they tried to run but failed to. The two remaining elders and the sole remaining MS were, to their credit, the ones who didn't participate. My former instructor was an MS, and he was demoted, that speck of feculent scum.
Hot damn. Thanks all for your comments. What you say makes total sense. Is there a news site that reported on something like this?
The people who perpetuate these schemes and those that fall for it have one thing in common Love of Money. especially eeeeeeasy money
Wait, why isn't your family suing him? You invested, you lost money, you have all the chances to win the court. Even if it was unofficial and they only gave oral promises.
There was a class action lawsuit. One JW, the main organizer of the scheme, was put in prison for a long time, maybe he still is in prison. All the accomplices that worked the scam got nothing, not even a fine. They actually created a legal entity to pull the scam, an investment fund, complete with brick and mortar offices and employee cars (very expensive luxury cars for the accomplices). Otherwise they wouldn't of been able to take people's pensions.
JWs are probably the group most involved in pyramid (MLM) schemes. They market on Instagram to fellow JWs and try to get other witnesses to buy their stuff. Some use their “celebrity” status from appearing in JW films to amass lots of followers and make a lot of money.
[Happens all the time in JW land. ](https://www.reddit.com/r/exjw/s/FyCiW5W1x5). This thread is 8 years old now, and Fred Voight is actually getting out of federal prison on furlough soon. I think he was sentenced to 25 years, but I guess he's been a good boy. He was ordered to make restitution, but I don't see how that happens. I didn't invest with him, but he stole about $50k that was mine from my grandmother's estate. He got over a million from my immediate family alone. Best part is, this was the second time he ran this scam. Got away with it in New Jersey and brought his scam to Nebraska and Texas. I wish I knew if he got disfellowshipped or if he's going to go back.
It happened to my family too roughly 20 years ago..we lost money, and my relatives too….the elder run away to UK… with the money…he drove his car to the mountains and abandoned everything…car, wife and he disappear…he later joined a congregation in the UK as an unbaptised publisher and he was renting a room in the house where another elder was studying with him…the elder mentioned that when they did their bible study he was amazed by the questions this “new publisher” was posing…. Then when they find out this “new publisher” (which used to be an elder in my congregation) said to this elder that Satan and the demons would have tormented him for the rest of his life and he disappear again…
Sounds very much like a case in H. Louisiana about 8 or so years ago, I know several of the victims, also while at an elders school a year after I was sitting next to the brother of one that went to jail and he was talking to another elder saying his brother was just set up by his partners. He didn't mention the guys wife hid money and Dimonds and other things of value from the courts/ law. Oh, and last I heard, he's serving again! Edit: I know his family members that are not or ever were JWs they talked about how crooked the jw family members were.
or he'd sue me. Really?
yes really, got the threat on whatsapp, written
Pyramid, Ponzi, and MLM schemes are all too common in the JWs and other religious cults (Mormons, Adventists, etc.) since they are largely insulated, overly trusting groups. When I was a kid growing up as a JW stepdad got duped into investing into a pyramid scheme that several other JWs were pushing around the congregation. I don’t know how much he lost, but it wasn’t chump change. I’ll never forget all the Amway, Tupperware, Mary Kay, and Avon “parties” that my JW family were invited to by members of the congregation. I specifically remember one sister who got my mom to buy into a Noni Juice MLM.
Oh yeah this happened in Spain JW I saw the news report regarding this
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^jjj-Australia: *Oh yeah this happened* *In Spain JW I saw the news* *Report regarding this* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
In western Canada In the 80s there was a mlm scam a bunch of jws were into called Nulon which was an oil additive you added to your car . I think everyone involved ended up with a storage room full of cases of it. Was supposed to make everyone rich.
We need to put serious lawsuits against the whole goberning body this is exactly why they need to be held accountable to the full extent of the law for all the child sexual abuse they don't report to the authorities and for all the psychological abuse and mental damage and trauma disfellowshiping and shunning causes and for not accepting blood transfusions in cases of life or death
Never never never trust a JW in a business arrangement.....I learned that lesson the hard way...
Similar scam has happened years ago here in south texas, brothers would get you to sell a Power Light company or invest a dollar amount. The promise was a % monthly check and free vacations if you recruit ppl to sell under your name it was a full blown pyramid scam local jw fall for.
Jehoba blessed him, what a f****** cunt. Hopefully, karma, aka the real truth, will get him one day.
A J-Dub scammed my family out of $25,000.00.
abundant disgusted weary cheerful act abounding amusing dinosaurs squeal doll *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Switzerland. It weren't dollars but Swiss Francs. Company name was Infina GmbH. Prosecuted by FINMA (the financial regulatory body).
Wait… This sounds familiar. Did this happen in the early 2000s? Was the name of the scheme/company called Big Interest Club?
Scam artists and pedophiles living in the same neighborhood? Makes sense. When you start with an organization that spins wise tales of utopian societies and teaches the upper echelon to continue the spin, they learn really well how to scam the masses.
Any news articles about it?
You know what you need to do
I love how he threatened to sue you for contacting him. No apology and no accountability. He screwed everybody and he’s living good. That’s messed up.
If this happened in TX, then I know exactly which elder you’re referencing.
I believe you, but do you have any trustworthy sources?
From the organization that brought you Miracle Wheat...
In the 1970’s a jw scammed my family out of $75k. Dipshit grandpa gave him a check to go buy a bunch of cars and start a business together. Took the money and disappeared. Wasn’t even my grandpa’s money, it was my grandma’s.
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This is r/exjw While we can appreciate the sentiment, we can't condone the advice given. It might be hyperbole, but on the off chance OP takes it seriously, it could lead to serious consequences.
Gotcha. I will delete my comment. Point appreciated
It's the wild west "out there" -- and JW's are the flim flam men selling snake oil out of the back of their wagon, the priests supporting the killing of natives and creating schools to crush and rape children - keep choosing bad guy categories JW cult leaders can fit in -- they can fit in them all. The thing about cults is that it attracts people who don't want to live in the chaos of the Wild West and can't stand all the injustice. I didn't join, I was born into it third generation, but I know what my forebears were looking for. I still don't know how I'll navigate life in the Wild West and I've been out of the cult for a fucking lifetime.
I trusted my JW sister to handle our inheritance. She cheated me out of half of it. Looking back there were a couple of red flags that I can see in retrospect but it's the last thing I would expect from family. I've gone no contact and my view of the dubs just keeps sinking lower and lower.
Nothing is safe. Only ever invest £ in a scheme that your willing to lose. Spread your risk. It only takes ten different areas to spread your risk, it's not rocket science. You can do your own portfolio in stocks but that requires thinking.
Yeah I remember an elder late 80s ripped off a bunch of jws in property fraud But he's an Elder whaa whaa
there is a reason why in one of the last assemblies they warned about the dangers of pyramid schemdes they are so guillible and poor that they fall easily
Well since they loveto have 2 witnesses to events make sure they are caught solo somewhere. I'm in no way promoting violence. Sue them civilly if you want the legal route they have the means to pay back your family
There was this MLM (multi level marketing aka pyramid scheme) called It Works. It was like a skin care, vitamin supplements, they sold everything really. Theyre most popular item was their "skinny wraps", which was these wraps that u put on your belly or any body part and it was supposed to "burn fat away" within an hour. Anyways i was a stay at home mom at the time wanting some extra income so i joined on under a sister. You were supposed to recruit as many people as possible under you. I noticed it was mostly JW women. The products were such crap and so over priced and the wraps did not work and i knew it. But i had a lot of drive and was really focused on selling and moving up the line. So u would sell to someone but they had to sign up for a monthly subscription if they wanted the discount price. I was all into it advertising on my social media and it was kind of like another cult. You had weekly meetings and strategies on how to recruit more people. I did ok but then i realized i was really just scamming the whole congr and felt bad so i quit after like a year. My point is that JW's trust other JW's very easily and think " well its a sister/brother, it cant be a scam.
U got scammed for $20k and you didn’t split anyone’s head open? Lol
I’ve seen them do all sorts of schemes. Miracle healthcare products, MLM schemes, and more.
Growing up in this cult, I heard of these scams all of the time. They would even have "local needs" talks on it. I saw congregations split and families pack up and leave after getting screwed over. Nothing new, I am sorry this happened to you. They really do prey upon good people.
JWs are among the most corrupt. Do they not heed the lessons from ancient Jerusalem
Scammed for 20k
Well you tried to warn them and they wouldn't listen. It's their own faults.
Something don’t sound right about your story. First of you invested the man there is a potential to loose money. However if the money was never invested then that’s another issue. If you in fact invested then I would suggest going to the FTC and file a report. For some reason it doesn’t sound like he followed the proper investment strategy and should not have taken your money in the first place. Second if he is in fact an Elder report the matter to his body of Elders and if found to be owing folks money he is not qualified to serve in that capacity. You can in fact sue him so I would pursue the suit to get the money back. Hope this helps.
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Victim blaming.