RFM & Bill take a look at Affinity Fraud in Utah and that which seems to have a root in taking advantage of unhealthy boundaries of trust within Mormonism. Affinity Fraud is a type of investment fraud in which a con artist targets members of an identifiable group based on things such as race, age, religion, etc. The fraudster either is or pretends to be, a member of the group. Often the fraudster promotes a Ponzi or pyramid scheme. Mormons are taught to trust their leaders, those who have a bright countenance, those with the Priesthood, Those who seem to be successful at Church or in business, and Mormons over non-Mormons. These often have members of the Church being particularly vulnerable to such rackets
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Shouldn’t you do a show on Mormonism and war? With what is going on in Ukrainian, now would be an opportune
time.
I loved your show on affinity fraud so much. It brought back a memory from about 20 years ago when a member of our Stake High Council came to me and wanted me to learn more about a water treatment marketing plan he was involved in and told me how much money I could make just by signing on other people to sell the product. He told me that with my connections as Stake Primary President I could get people signed up no problem. He told me that we could all trust each other as we all held current temple recommends. What really made me feel uneasy was when he finally talked me into investing about $200.00 and ended with the temple handshake saying now I would know he could be trusted. Needless to say, I lost my money and it turned out to be a scam.