Week of August 28, 2008, Issue #671
FRONT
Top 5 scam artists
OMAR MOUALLEM / omar@vueweekly.com
We’ve all been hustled. Whether it was buying an oregano-filled joint or the time Tommy bet you a nickel he would kiss Mary-Sue, only to learn that Mary-Sue was in on it too. But while these small-timers destroy an evening at most, some scam artists have destroyed entire families’ lives. There are far too many faith healers, spirit mediums, pyramid schemers and snake oil salespeople waiting to pounce on your pockets, but here’s a short primer on five of the most infamous and dangerous swindlers out there.
- Benny Hinn is the richest faith healer in the world. By “curing” AIDS, cancer and even crossed-eyes on television, his ministry accumulates over $100 million a year, all tax-free. With all that money, What Would Benny Hinn Do? He’d buy a $10-million-dollar home, stay in a $10 000-a-night hotel and purchase a private jet that costs $112 000 per month to fuel. When asked to be interviewed on Dateline, he evaded the offer because “the Lord said don’t.” Let’s see if the Lord can get him out of the current US senatorial investigation of his expenses.
- Dr Matthias Rath’s prescription for everything—cancer, strokes, atherosclerosis—is vitamins. According to his website, “Dr Rath has made scientific discoveries that rank among the most important discoveries of all time in the field of medicine.” Rath dismisses his opponents as pharmaceutical minions. Banned from advertising in most western nations, Rath took to South Africa, where he claimed antiretroviral drugs for treating HIV were “poison” and his vitamin soup was better. It is unknown how many people died because they replaced the proper treatment with his, however, last June the South African government joined the list of nations banning Rath’s medical trials.
- Dick DeVos and Steve Van Andel are the inheritors of Quixtar, the company left to them by their billionaire fathers. Call it a pyramid scheme, call it multi-level marketing, or, better yet, call it by its original brand name: Amway. Quixtar created a pseudo-religion where God is money and its prophets are the success stories recorded in expensive tapes and books. Quixtar has convinced millions around the world that they too can make six figures simply by selling “the best” soap, vitamins and other amazing products, when the actual average annual income of a recruiter is $1400. Some even lose money at the cost of the recommended seminars and audio tapes.
- Kevin Trudeau’s ubiquitous infomercials peddle books with weight, debt and illness cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About. Why is he selling books? Because it’s all that the FTC allows him to sell. After losing his licence to a trove of scam products like the Mega Memory System, which promised to teach impeccable visual memory techniques, and Hair Farming, which claimed to prevent hair loss, Trudeau sells books because they’re protected by the First Amendment. But that’s just the first loophole; the books are supposed to uncover government and corporate conspiracies withholding cures to diseases and illnesses, but the chapters usually lead to his pay-for-membership-only website for more information.
- Sylvia Browne is not much different from other psychic mediums except that she doesn’t always please the bereaved people desperately seeking her heavenly connections. On YouTube you can find videos of her trying to convince a widow that her husband drowned to death (he was a fireman killed on 9/11), telling the parents of a missing boy their son was dead (he was later discovered alive) and informing a woman that her granddaughter had been sold into Japanese sex slavery (she was, unfortunately, dead ... in America). Browne has sold millions of books and has recently passed her “powers” on to her apprenticing son, Chris Dufresne. V
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