Defrauding banks is taken so seriously in the US that there are many instances where it leads to longer sentences than murder. We will not go into such details in this article, but will discuss 3 fraudsters who worked different cons in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
In one case, it led to banks shutting down and people losing their life Continue reading
If you understand nothing else about the Catholic Church’s active practice of criminal activity, consider that this story from only a day ago could not have happened without a network of help and assistance from within its walls:
As for the rest of this article, it will deal with:
Every generation has a guru who comes along and proves that their understanding of money is far superior. We know this because they part us from ours, and then we gladly promote their ideas.
Just like in lessons from the Bible, where Joseph helped Pharoah see the wisdom of storing up grain in good years to prepare for the bad, Forbes has “9 Ways to Automate Your Savings.” There are not actually 9 ways discussed in the article. There’s 1 way: Have the funds automatically allotted. The other “ways” are just Continue reading
A former concern about marijuana in the US was that it made Mexican beet workers think they were matadors. “All Mexicans are crazy” it was said, and this was the stuff that made them that way. But it was not just our southern neighbors we had to worry about. “Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos and entertainers” were also offenders.
And do not get these guys started on what happens when white women smoke it!
Because Continue reading
Imposter scams involve social engineering to help you trust that the person you are talking to is reputable. People do this to part you from your money or information.
In this article we will discuss 3 scams in 3 different centuries, and how they went down.
Gregor McGregor’s biggest red flag might have been Continue reading
The year was 1893. Grover Cleveland, the first Democrat elected President after the Civil War, was back in office, and the world was going to heck.
Hundreds of banks were folding, thousands of businesses shut down, and millions of households had no providers. Among the causes was a depletion of gold from the national reserves. Another were years of falling crop prices, leading to Continue reading
FI/RE (pronounced like the word fire) stands for Financially Independent, Retiring Early. Among the sub-cultures of this movement is a group called the Mustachians due to their fandom of Peter Adeney, creator of Mr. Money Mustache.
Among the influences that led to Adeney wanting everyone to build their “stache” so they could live on their own terms was Henry David Thoreau. Thoreau talked and wrote a great deal on the value and virtue of frugal living.
We will dive into his ideas by exploring 3 of his works.
The US Civil War bolstered the need for efficient mail delivery. In 1861, one could write “soldier’s letter” on an envelope and the recipient would pay the postage. In 1863, Congress passed legislation that mail delivery in cities could be free! To reliably send funds from a battlefield to home, a money order system was established in 1864.
With such a reliable way to transmit money, fraud went from coast-to-coast.
Fraud is the intentional deception of another for some type of gain. Mail fraud adds the element of using the post office. The improved postal system during the Civil War created a phenomenal opportunity for con artists for the following reasons:
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