Mormons Now Losing Billions to Affinity Fraud

Religion Dispatches.org ^ | Sept. 13, 2010 | Joanna Brooks

[Colofornian]

Mormon folks in Utah have been fleeced of $1.4 billion over the past few years in affinity fraud schemes designed to exploit their connection to the LDS community and culture, according to news reports.

Oh, yes, we've all seen it. Or heard about it from friends and relatives. Ponzi schemes. Multi-level marketing. Miracle health products. Peddled to people who have been raised in an LDS culture that values “insider” status, kinship ties, hierarchy, and unquestioning respect for authority over critical thinking and skepticism.

A Mormon taste for the miraculous doesn’t hurt either.

Fraud peddlers have been known to call down church membership lists and enlist returned missionaries fresh back from service and hungry for work. Their capital? Utah County, Utah, home to Brigham Young University, and the beating heart of the Book of Mormon belt.

A friend from a northern Utah farmtown remembers that her dad always said: “If the first thing someone says when they introduce themselves to you is that they’re LDS, keep your hand on your wallet.”

Sigh.

And amen.

[Colofornian]

From the article: Mormon folks in Utah have been fleeced of $1.4 billion over the past few years in affinity fraud schemes designed to exploit their connection to the LDS community and culture...

A whopping $1.4 billion!!!

From the article: ...according to news reports

One of those likely sources is perhaps a Sept. 12, 2010 article in the Las Vegas Review-Journal by John L. Smith: "JOHN L. SMITH: Thieves in the temple: How 'affinity fraud' hurts LDS church members"

Smith's article can't be excerpted on FR for copyright reasons. I suggest you go to the LVRJ site and read it. It's heartbreaking at the end.

[ejonesie22]

Oh the irony...

[svcw]

Wow. That is very sad.

[greyfoxx39]

I read the article. There was no mention of the "affinity" fraud of coerced tithing to the mormon church in order to receive a temple recommend.

The mormon church news website has This Article

[Colofornian]

Wow. That is very sad.

Yes, indeed. An Lds FBI agent relating common suicides as a result.

Reminds me also how sad to see these 'spiritual suicides' due to Joseph Smith's spiritual fraud.

That indeed, Ejones, is ironic. That so many originally "taken in" to spiritual fraud would likewise be so vulnerable & gullible to trusting fellow Mormons. And Not only that but how they even race to sign up for these things...that's it's not just one-way traffic from perp-peddler to victim.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

Thank you for posting this. With this affinity fraud being an ongoing problem, it is helpful for it to be continuously exposed.

[Tennessee Nana]

Greed will get ya every time...

[Paragon Defender]

Greed will get ya every time...

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You mean Mormons aren’t perfect???????

Oh My GOSH Halt the presses!! Post something on a board! Throw in a few “friendly” jabs!

Thank you Greyfox for at least posting that link to a church response. Too bad you are so confused about the Lord’s commandment to tithe though.

[Colofornian]

Perfect?

How many tithes is $1.4 billion...???

The indicators are that Utah Co -- the heart of Mormonism (85-90% Lds)...home of BYU...is where many of these frauds have taken place...also...Utah Co. has the highest foreclosure rate of a state that's already in the Top 5 of all foreclosures!

What's going on financially in the heart of Mormonism, PD?

[TexasRepublic]

That group has been afflicted by fraud since the 1820’s.

[Osage Orange]

FWIW.....I've been screwed larger and harder by so called Christians than any other folk. To the tune of thousands of bucks.

Maybe I was young and dumb.

Maybe...I just trusted them more...because I went to church with them, and felt like it was the Christian thing to do...to help your fellow "Christians".

Maybe this, maybe that....I dunno. I've evolved in my thinking...and my discernment. I continue to give, and help...but I pick and choose better I guess.

My point I guess...is mormon's aren't the lone ranger's in this type of behavior.

[Osage Orange]

Tithing is one thing, FRiend.

It's quite another...when you are giving to a Corp. that has anywhere from 30-60 BILLION in assets. And gives away a few dimes and quarter's every year...and crows about it!

Too bad YOU are confused.....You know, "good ground and all that".

Bonus question. How many million dollars, is 40 billion dollars???

[svcw]

Too bad you are so confused about the Lord’s commandment to tithe though.

Source.

[svcw]

Sorry grey forgot to ping you on post #13.

[BlueMoose]

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=8608529&nid=309

Here, it tends to be the Mormon Church," he says. "But if you're in New Mexico, it's the Catholic Church. If you're in Alabama, it's the Baptist Church. So, it's everywhere."

[greyfoxx39]

Too bad you are so confused about the Lord’s commandment to tithe though.

The Lord never "commanded" anyone to tithe to the mormon church in order to be allowed to take part in phony rituals that are supposed to result in "covenants" that falsely bind Him to any earthly promise by any man.

[Elsie]

Mormons Now Losing Billions to Affinity Fraud

AGAIN?!?!?

Don't they EVER learn?

[Elsie]

Too bad you are so confused about the Lord’s commandment to tithe though.

 

 

#10

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Temple recommend questions

 

1 Do you have faith in and a testimony of God the Eternal Father, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost?

2 Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Christ and of His role as Savior and Redeemer?

3 Do you have a testimony of the restoration of the gospel in these the latter days?

4 Do you sustain the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the Prophet, Seer, and Revelator and as the only person on the earth who possesses and is authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators? Do you sustain the other General Authorities and local authorities of the Church?

5 Do you live the law of chastity?

6 Is there anything in your conduct relating to members of your family that is not in harmony with the teachings of the Church?

7 Do you support, affiliate with, or agree with any group or individual whose teachings or practices are contrary to or oppose those accepted by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

8 Do you strive to keep the covenants you have made, to attend your sacrament and other meetings, and to keep your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel?

9 Are you honest in your dealings with your fellowmen?

10 Are you a full-tithe payer?

11 Do your keep the Word of Wisdom?

12 Do you have financial or other oblgations to a former spouse or children? If yes, are you current in meeting those obligations?

13 If you have previously received your temple endowment:

Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple?
Do you wear the garment both night and day as instructed in the endowment and in accordance with the covenant you made in the temple?

14 Have there been any sins or misdeeds in your life that should have been resolved with priesthood authorities but have not been?

15 Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord's house and participate in temple ordinances?

[Elsie]

Too bad you are so confused about the Lord’s commandment to tithe though.

 

 

Sorry; you asked for the COMMAND to do so; and I just gave the the inquisional questioning of whether you DO or not.

[ejonesie22]

I am sure it happens many places.

But there is no irony in that...