by Anonymous

Op-Ed: We Are Not Immune to Being Scammed

There’s a story told about a great pious Rabbi who was becoming deaf in his old age. His students could not understand “why is this happening to you, a man who has spent his whole life studying and teaching the Holy Torah”. They felt that  Zechus should protect him from ailment.  “What can I say… I sinned in my youth and now Hashem is helping me atone for those mistakes”. He explained that as a young prodigy he was very well versed in Choshen Mishpat and would sit in on many Din Torahs, “but I lacked maturity and succumbed to the temptation of bribery.”

“But Rebbe” the students argued back “we’re taught that Hashem punishes Midah K’neged Midah – in The Torah it associates taking bribes with being blinded”. “Ah, I’ll explain” said the Rabbi “you see I dealt with Jews so I only sinned with my ears… I only heard of the money but never saw it!!!”.

Several years ago when the whole scam of Bernie Madoff and later of Sanford broke, I was certain that something like this can never happen to US. By “us” I mean smart disciplined people who follow Halacha and in general belong to and behave as “Am Chacham V’nanon”.  After all, we’re not the type to collect interest nor would we fall into something which sounds too good to be true. Besides, we ARE all pretty smart… And that happened to stupid people.

Which Yungerman with a half a brain would get duped into a similar scam?! Certainly after the fact, after all the exposure of those major & public scams, there could never be even a chance that a typical Chasdishe (you know: smart, sharp) Yungerman would ever get sucked into throwing away hid family’s life savings to a scam artist.

Of course! I was wrong! No, all those people who lost so much money to Maddof were NOT simpletons or fools. They were all smart, well connected people. They were not necessarily greedy or evil. They were just trying to do what we all try to do: make a couple of bucks. They got duped into losing all that hard earned money by master scammers; by  super manipulators.

For the Frum Yid this can NOT happen? Wrong. Heter Iska… Childhood friend… A fellow Chosid… “You are on the ground floor of something big, really big”. “We are gonna make a lot of money”. “It’s ONLY you and a few selected others who are exposed to this wonderful opportunity”. All this is enough for us to begin to “hear” the money. Problem is we didn’t get see the money. Nor did we ever get our “secure, guaranteed loan” back.

Truth be said we did “see” some money back. That is enough to assure us that we are making a good investment. The first few payments and interest were paid promptly. We were immediately encouraged and enticed to “even more profit” and opportunity. We ended up giving more and more and more money. Little did we realize this is text book, typical procedure for the scammers.

The point of my sharing this sad and painful story. I know it will not take away the pain from me or the so many young families who have lost all their money. I know there will be people as “smart” as I was to “smell a scam” that WILL “know” when it is really legit. But to the rest of you, please protect yourself. Please never forget that “if it sounds too good to be true, it most probably IS too good to be true”!!!

In addition, if G-d forbid you have unfortunately been scammed please don’t hide it out of shame. You have a duty to spread the word so it doesn’t end up happening to others.

24 Comments

  • Yeruchem T.

    Abit confused with this article. Is their someone in Crownheights or lubavitch borrowing money and not paying back? Please explain?

    • Yungerman

      There is young “entrepreneur” in crown heights who scammed in the last year close to a million dollars from all his friends, based on a Hetter Iska for “Multiple investments”..

  • This is a BIG problem

    This story is so sad, because the people that are conned usually do not have enough. I wish there could be more discussion of scams, so that others will not be R’L be victims.

    • What about local scammers?

      Unless their names are made public, or at least their MO this will continue to be a problem, and yes, it is happening here. Passing bad checks & call backs on CC purchases are two scams I know of.

  • What about local scammers?

    Someone here ripped off a friend of mine & since then, I heard about other scams on other Lubavitchers. This person is still openly living here and giving their opinion about everything especially Chassidishkeit (HA!) and going about their business as if they are tzadikim. Even though many people know what they did, they have no busha at all. It’s like they are Teflon coated – like Bill clinton, it doesn’t stick. Meanwhile, my friend lost the side business of gift cards that was helping put bread on the table as well as their reputation and I think, their credit score.

    It’s erev Rosh Hashana – are you listening? Put it right. You know what you did. And we all know who you are.

  • DA

    I greatly enjoyed the joke. But I failed to see any news relevance of the op-ed. Was there something just recently that happened? If yes please tell us what specifically to be aware of. Or were were rather suddenly inspired to make us aware of being scammed?

    Is… this op-ed the scam?

  • awacs

    “In addition, if G-d forbid you have unfortunately been scammed please don’t hide it out of shame. ”

    So, why hide when writing this article as ‘Anonymous?’

  • to # 1

    Yes. Yes unfounately there are young so called businessmen who are preying on Yungeleit who are eager to make. A few dollars. I know anumber of young hard working fathers AND NEW SHLUCHIM who have been taken to the cleaners for 50, 75, 100 & even more – thousand dollars. Be carefull!!!!!!!!!

  • Yungerman

    Sooo true!
    Many Yungerlait sign a Heter Iska document and have no clue what they are signing or where the money is going..
    The money looks so promising that they are ready to put in even money they do not have (I.E.credit cards and end up paying Huge interest)..

  • It's about time

    for a “Wall of Shame” for the scammers. It is very much needed and could save us from disaster. I’m sorry to tell you #1 that there are numerous scammers here in Crown Heights & have been for many years. A relative of mine will probably never recover from the financial damage done to his family ( all their savings lost, huge judgments & leins on property, non-stop lawyer bills ). And these guys have it down pat, never miss a minyan, shuckle like mad – even a long full beard is just a costume !
    I don’t know who could start this, but if their names were verified and publicized, these criminals would have a much harder time finding new victims. As it is now, they ruin someone completely & then just move on to the next person but no one knows bc the victim is ashamed. Yes, all of this is classic – one has a tiva for children ( lo aleinu ) and one has a tiva for gelt. But HaShem is the True Judge and all of this is being recorded upstairs for the Yom HaDin. PLEASE BE CAREFUL – this could be your brother-in-law or the “zeir frum” guy you have dovened next to for years !!!! Don’t risk your family’s future – research any offer that comes your way and remember “if it sounds too good to be true, that’s because it probably isn’t “

  • Socher SZG

    Whole iPhone thing going on in crown heights. Guys blinding swiping their cards for more money then they’ve ever seen and would CH” V be in a very bad situation if they lost it. Its scary how it became so normal. Be smart and be carful.

    • Please dont compare

      Im doing this for over 2 years and always got exactly what was promised.

      In this case we know exactly what is happening with our Money and it all makes sense. The guy i did it with is doing this for years and has a flawless reputation.

  • a victim

    The scammersusually start by taking a GMACH and never paying back.
    So I would suggest that the first move would be for the GMACHS to meet & come up with a list of the people that “borrow” never to pay back.
    Let that be the first step

  • careful

    These promises of great returns are not true, otherwise, why do they need your money for?
    Today money is very cheap from the banks.
    Don’t trust you money to ANYONE, the Yetzer ara is very strong in it
    ANd if someone is so smart to make a lot of money, why isn’t he a millionaire? he doesn’t need your money
    Advice, DOn’t make partnerships with friends ,because in most cases is the end of your friendship
    Educate yourself about money, its hard to make it
    The math and the reality are completely different

  • Levi t

    This article has NOTHING to do with those swiping iPhones. It’s a someone borrowing money( cash not cc) with “investment purposes” with no intention of paying back. He has scammed many people into this. Shame of him…

    • yankel

      while you cannot totally compare the two there is risk involved in buying anything for someone on your CC. such things have happened before after someone builds a reputation as honest then they can scam more people.

  • List of Biggest Scammers

    List of THE Biggest Scammers:

    #1 Schools that hire teachers and don’t pay them.

    #2 Camps that hire staff and don’t pay or bounce the last check.

    These are THE biggest scammers around. They are predators who take advantage of the weak and bully them into silence.

  • To #1 Yeruchom

    Why is everybody so scared to post names if that’s the purpose of the article

    Nobody owes me money Bh but if I was scammed I would plaster his name everywhere

    POST NAMES FOR OUR GOOD

    The next korbon r”l

  • Ambit

    One such scam that they cleaned me out on was ambit. Thank G-d it was only $450 and the one person that I recruited (which pains me that I dragged another victim into it) in the one week that I fell for it. Even the cheaper money on energy bills was a scam because they sent me a reimbursement check (of the difference) in the mail in the guise of junk mail (hoping id throw it out) for charging more than coned and national grid, not to mention that it was from 3 years ago so essentially they held my money interest free for 3 years (they were legally obligated to reimburse that money). The 450 was lost forever. This company was rated by inc 500 Magazine as #1 on the list of 500. And they were A rated by the BBB. A few months ago an employee of a horribly unethical business bragged to me how they bribed the BBB and are thus A+ rated. I know my story was small potatoes but just goes to show you that even an A rated company by the BBB and a company with glamorous reports in glossy business magazines can be a load of crock. Do real due diligence before investing real money and never invest your life savings in anything unless it’s your own business venture and you are the CEO. Always diversify.

    Kudos to author. Good article.

  • private wall of shame

    If a wall of shame did come out, it should be private and not put on website for the public to view. Like this, if someone wants to enter into a business relationship, he can check with the monitors of this list to see if his potential partner/investor was on that list.

  • mesira

    Many of the comments here ask for the names of people. I don not know the names of the scammers, although I have a relative who was scammed, but exposing the names would be a question for a rav because ti could involve mesira.
    A rav should be consulted as to when mesira is allowed and when not. Perhaps the community could deal with this without publicizing it on public forums.