AW: guaranteed 10%/month with little risk?

[MikeSuesserott@xxxxxxxxxxx (Michael Suesserott)]

Paul,

you might have a look at www.quatloos.com. Go to "Offshore Frauds". Great
site for a brief reality check.

Regards,

Michael Suesserott



-----Ursprungliche Nachricht-----
Von: Paul Altman [mailto:paulha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Gesendet: Wednesday, January 10, 2001 06:44
An: omega-list@xxxxxxxxxx
Betreff: guaranteed 10%/month with little risk?


Did you guys know that it's easy to make a guaranteed 10% a month, with
little risk?   So claims an investor I met while travelling last week.   If
only we stupid investors/traders would take off our blinders, we'd learn
"the secrets" that only "the rich" know about....that offshore investing
offers returns unheard of here in the US, and that it's common for the rich
to give dough to secretive "investment clubs" that "guarantee" (with a
note) this type of return/risk, while refusing to reveal much of anything
about their investment style/practices.   If you were to ask for more
details from one of these clubs, you might be brushed off with something
like "sophisticated investors know that international banking and trading
require an enormous level of discretion and non-disclosure".   Supposedly,
people are willing to accept nonsense answers like this because they have
friends who have been receiving the 10%/month for some time.   It's
obviously a word-of-mouth business.

Don't take my word for it....here's a link to one of these "clubs".

http://www.triwestinvest.com/

Can some of you more experienced guys tell me what the deal is with this
type of "investment"?    It's easy enough for us to speculate that it's
some type of Ponzi scheme, but is anyone actually familiar with this flavor
of "investment"?   Strangely, supposedly some of these have been going on
for at least a few years.

Is this a familiar scam to any of you?   What are the mechanics of the
scam?  Where does the dough come from?  (Also, note on the Triwest site
that it seems to be a pyramid scheme where you can get rich by referring
others.)    Or is anyone actually going to have the nerve to claim that
it's true:   "Sophisticated investors know to ignore the popular myths
about risk being commensurate with return, and instead go offshore to black
box firms that reliably return 10%/month."

An interesting note:   Some of these "clubs" have a connection or following
among new age types _and_ hard-core US patriots, the type of folks who
converse about the mechanics of "legitimately" refusing to pay the IRS, are
survivalists, carry guns, etc.

Plus, at least some of the salesmen are well-anchored in their
community.  The person I s/w has lived, rather visibly, in the same town
for 30 years.  I.e., it will be difficult for them to simply disappear if
and when the time comes for the "club" to sour.

Any comments, guys?

       Paul