Can anyone tell me why and how Peter Popoff is back?  Unless I was dreaming, wasn't he exposed as a fraud in the 80s?
Lately, I keep seeing infomercials where he advertises "Miracle Spring Water", a miracle liquid which after you drink it, will cure your physical and financial ailments. 

It gets me how people can fall for these scam artists.  If it's not Popoff selling water, it's Kevin Trudeau and his "Miracle Cures" or the super annoying Matthew Lesko.  When will it end?  :(

looks like he's still going as strong as ever ::)

http://www.peterpopoff.org/

or the super annoying Matthew Lesko. 


seriously...I mean, who in their right mind, would take any advice from this character, and think that it would actually work?

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiVFdXFG5F8BdxujzbkF/SIG=12lq3rn18/EXP=1181927109/**http%3A//www.emediawire.com/prfiles/2005/03/18/219791/leskosit2.JPG

looks like he's still going as strong as ever ::)

http://www.peterpopoff.org/


Dang, he's got everything on that website .. online prayer requests, miracle water order form, all his books.  Apparently his estate is worth some $3 million.  Kinda makes you wonder how much of that came from the life savings of old ladies who fell for his trickery

If you ever watch the movie 'Fletch Lives', Chevy Chase does a hilarious spoof of the faith healer lol

seriously...I mean, who in their right mind, would take any advice from this character, and think that it would actually work?

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiVFdXFG5F8BdxujzbkF/SIG=12lq3rn18/EXP=1181927109/**http%3A//www.emediawire.com/prfiles/2005/03/18/219791/leskosit2.JPG


He looks like he should be out trying to foil Batman

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiVFdXFG5F8BdxujzbkF/SIG=12lq3rn18/EXP=1181927109/**http%3A//www.emediawire.com/prfiles/2005/03/18/219791/leskosit2.JPG
An U.S. televangelist who has spent most of his adult life claiming to treat physical ailments dressed like that, the mind boggles.

An U.S. televangelist who has spent most of his adult life claiming to treat physical ailments dressed like that, the mind boggles.


no, this guy wasn't the televangelist....this one just tries to sell books to people that supposedly help them get free money! ::)

no, this guy wasn't the televangelist....this one just tries to sell books to people that supposedly help them get free money! ::)
Then Wikipedia has it all wrong

no, this guy wasn't the televangelist....this one just tries to sell books to people that supposedly help them get free money! ::)



THAT'S where I recognize him from...he stands in various places (around the capitol, right?) and tells you about a book to get free money!  Thanks, Quirk!

An U.S. televangelist who has spent most of his adult life claiming to treat physical ailments, the mind boggles.

Adults believing in televangelist miracle cures, the mind boggles. 

Rev. Popoff was exposed on three counts that I remember:
1. Investigative journalists intercepted the radio signal from Mrs. Popoff to the receptor in Rev. Popoff's ear.  When Popoff selected an individual from the congregation for healing, his wife was ready with the congregant's name, address, age, and ailment.
2. Rev. Popoff's "miracle water" was tap water in little plastic bottles.
3. Hidden cameras showed Popoff's stooges removing the checks from the prayer requests and chucking the envelope into a giant pile without even looking at the enclosed request. 

On the expose I saw, you could hear Mrs. Popoff calling Peter's earpiece, "Petie, I love you.  Petie, can you hear me?  'Cos if you can't hear me you're in trou-ble!"

The other televangelists set up toll-free numbers on their telethons.  Not Popoff.  His contributors had to call Dallas on their own dime!  I guess he figured anybody dumb enough to send him money was dumb enough to pay the toll too...and it worked (the Youtube clip shows an 800 number, but on a different telethon, I saw an 814 area code!)

Rev. Popoff (feigned sobbing):
"For so long I was like you...I didn't believe...in the Bible...I didn't understand....the Bible was hear to help people!  You think it's a con...it's not a con...Jesus....he had fish left over!"
Sixty seconds later, after the pledge period ended, Popoff spoke sternly into the camera and chastised all viewers who did not call and donate when the know they should have!
::)

How do these clowns carry on after they've been exposed as frauds? 
As one elderly African-American lady told the journalists following the expose on Popoff:
"Well, I believes a little lesser in Petie now!"
:-\\

Popoff--post debunking debunking:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUm-zcmswxE

Matthew Lesko is the name of the question mark-bearing "free money" huckster.  There are no laws that can bust him as a fraud.  Technically he tells the truth, there are numerous government grants out there that most people don't know about.  You will notice in his infomercials, Lesko does not tell you what applying for any specific grant entails, nor the chances you will be awarded any specific grant, nor the specific amount of any grant.  He lies in spirit only. 

I would like to think anybody old enough to have a credit card would be level-headed enough to know if it sounds too good to be true, it is.  Not so.  You know those whacky spam emails you get from the Nigerian princess in distress who needs your $5,000 to access her Swiss bank account so she can split $20 million with you?  There is a reason they keep coming.  I get as many as a dozen of these a day.  It costs next to nothing to send a million emails, which is not true of postal mail.  Think probability.  A million is a big number.  If you ask a million (seemingly rational) people if the moon is made of green cheese, I guarantee there will be at least one who will say it is so.
:D

Matthew Lesko is the name of the question mark-bearing "free money" huckster.   :D 


Thanks for clarifying!


You know those whacky spam emails you get from the Nigerian princess in distress who needs your $5,000 to access her Swiss bank account so she can split $20 million with you?   :D 

I usually get the one from the Nigerian businessman/govermental figure requesting US funds be put in an overseas account to "invest" in something (can't remember what now).  Now the one going around campus is the one supposedly from the IRS.

I usually get the one from the Nigerian businessman/govermental figure requesting US funds be put in an overseas account to "invest" in something (can't remember what now).  Now the one going around campus is the one supposedly from the IRS.

There are a dozen or more different versions of the same confidence trick.  You can trace the trick all the way back to the 16th century and a con known as the "Spanish Prisoner."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Prisoner
see also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud
Learn to talk smooth, find yourself a "mark," and avoid the cops, and you too can make easy money!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/diablotin.gif

There are a dozen or more different versions of the same confidence trick.  You can trace the trick all the way back to the 16th century and a con known as the "Spanish Prisoner."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Prisoner
see also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advance_fee_fraud
Learn to talk smooth, find yourself a "mark," and avoid the cops, and you too can make easy money!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/diablotin.gif



Thanks, but I'll keep my day job.  It may not pay enough, but at least I know it's legal! lol  ;D

Thanks, but I'll keep my day job.  It may not pay enough, but at least I know it's legal! lol  ;D


Oh, well, you don't quit your day job right away. You gotta get your feet wet first.  You know, feel out your preferences.  You start with the short con, such as the "Just $5.00" scam or the "change raising" scam and then work your way up into high stakes international long cons.  Tell you what, I got real good feeling about you, I think you just might have the stuff.  My starter kit usually goes for $100.00, but just for you, I'll send it to you for free for just $20.00 to cover shipping and handling.  Now, I don't do this for just anybody, I do it because I believe in you.
That's,
Mr. Smart
#551-1555
Concord Corrections Institution
P.O. Box 416
Concord, MA 01404-5551


(Just ask Ken Lay, I got him started too!)
:D

1. Investigative journalists intercepted the radio signal from Mrs. Popoff to the receptor in Rev. Popoff's ear.  When Popoff selected an individual from the congregation for healing, his wife was ready with the congregant's name, address, age, and ailment.

It's funny how the people who get called up don't realize this.  These people are amazed to find out Popoff knows these things that they told in confidence when they were asked while waiting in line.  It really is a miracle! :o

Oh, well, you don't quit your day job right away. You gotta get your feet wet first.  You know, feel out your preferences.  You start with the short con, such as the "Just $5.00" scam or the "change raising" scam and then work your way up into high stakes international long cons.  Tell you what, I got real good feeling about you, I think you just might have the stuff.  My starter kit usually goes for $100.00, but just for you, I'll send it to you for free for just $20.00 to cover shipping and handling.  Now, I don't do this for just anybody, I do it because I believe in you.
That's,
Mr. Smart
#551-1555
Concord Corrections Institution
P.O. Box 416
Concord, MA 01404-5551


(Just ask Ken Lay, I got him started too!)
:D




Wow, how can I resist such a tempting offer?  lmao  ;D  I'll find a way somehow, though, thanks anyway  ;)

You know those whacky spam emails you get from the Nigerian princess in distress who needs your $5,000 to access her Swiss bank account so she can split $20 million with you?

I get ones all the time saying I've won the UK National Lottery.  How the hell can *I* a Canadian citizen, win the UK National lottery?  I'd be better off buying Popoff's miracle water ;D

I get ones all the time saying I've won the UK National Lottery.  How the hell can *I* a Canadian citizen, win the UK National lottery?  I'd be better off buying Popoff's miracle water ;D
Similar to you, I have the Spanish Lottery, but I did not chase it up.

Similar to you, I have the Spanish Lottery, but I did not chase it up.


It makes you wonder how these places get our e-mail addresses.  They probably have some super computer that randomizes numbers and letters, and automatically sends like a million a day to millions of potential e-mail users

It makes you wonder how these places get our e-mail addresses.  They probably have some super computer that randomizes numbers and letters, and automatically sends like a million a day to millions of potential e-mail users
There is another way in which unscrupolous companies pass on the e mail address for money.

Thought you had to enter a lottery to win a lottery.
:-\\

Thought you had to enter a lottery to win a lottery.
:-\\
You have got to be in it to win it.

You have got to be in it to win it.

I get those spam emails myself.  I've never looked at them.  I always figured the scam was you had to send $150.00 to secure your prize for one million pounds, or some crap like that.
::)

I get those spam emails myself.  I've never looked at them.  I always figured the scam was you had to send $150.00 to secure your prize for one million pounds, or some crap like that.
::)
Why not get the address of those ofering the money and go knocking on the door and ask for the money upfront?

I get those spam emails myself.  I've never looked at them.  I always figured the scam was you had to send $150.00 to secure your prize for one million pounds, or some crap like that.
::)


I have a friend who followed up on one of those pop-ups that says "you are the 1,000,000th visitor to this webpage.  You've won a free vacation.  Click to claim your prize"

To sum it up ... she didn't win the trip, she bought it at a small discounted price.  The "win" part was winning a discount ::)

Why not get the address of those ofering the money and go knocking on the door and ask for the money upfront?

If you could find out where spammers live, the homicide rate would shoot up 1000% over night!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/03/couto.gif


I have a friend who followed up on one of those pop-ups that says "you are the 1,000,000th visitor to this webpage.  You've won a free vacation.  Click to claim your prize"

To sum it up ... she didn't win the trip, she bought it at a small discounted price.  The "win" part was winning a discount ::)

Old P.T. Barnum smiles down from heaven...
This way to the Great Egress!

Never heard of this guy until now, but after what you've all told me I hope his peter pops off.

Never heard of this guy until now, but after what you've all told me I hope his peter pops off.


;D

I hope this guy's peter pops off too:

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiVFdXFG5F8BdxujzbkF/SIG=12lq3rn18/EXP=1181927109/**http%3A//www.emediawire.com/prfiles/2005/03/18/219791/leskosit2.JPG

Seriously though...don't you just want to punch him in the face???  >:( >:( >:(

I hope this guy's peter pops off too:

http://rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A9gnMiVFdXFG5F8BdxujzbkF/SIG=12lq3rn18/EXP=1181927109/**http%3A//www.emediawire.com/prfiles/2005/03/18/219791/leskosit2.JPG

Seriously though...don't you just want to punch him in the face???  >:( >:( >:(


I'd like to hit him in the face with his own book ...

"Free money?  I'll give you a free black eye" :D

  So, like, who is this guy..?

  The pic on the linked website looks like the dude on the netzero commercials...

And we mustn't forget Kevin Trudeau.  Everytime I see him on TV, he always has this look on his face as though he's thinking "My natural cures don't work, but you will never know".  In the 90s, he went to Prison for Larceny, and has since been fined several times by the FTC for false claims in the books he sells.  Apparently in his latest book, he claims to have learned from his mistake

His big mistake could be pissing off the people that he scams.  I'm actually surprised these televangelists and scam artists haven't had death threats against them.  Perhaps they have, but we never hear about it in the media ???

http://www.cures-they-dont-want-you-to-know-about.com/images/kevintrudeau.jpg

   So, like, who is this guy..?

   The pic on the linked website looks like the dude on the netzero commercials...


He is a faith healer.  He claims Jesus can flow through him, and by placing his hand on the forehead of people, Jesus will pass through him into the person, and work the demons out, thus curing the person for life from their illness

He is a faith healer.  He claims Jesus can flow through him, and by placing his hand on the forehead of people, Jesus will pass through him into the person, and work the demons out, thus curing the person for life from their illness
...hears the voice of God through an ear piece?

He is a faith healer.  He claims Jesus can flow through him, and by placing his hand on the forehead of people, Jesus will pass through him into the person, and work the demons out, thus curing the person for life from their illness


  *Opsh* sh-e-e-e-it...

    I can do that...

I get ones all the time saying I've won the UK National Lottery.  How the hell can *I* a Canadian citizen, win the UK National lottery?  I'd be better off buying Popoff's miracle water ;D


I've won that lottery at least 7 times in the past week.  Not only that, now they are offering me jobs in the UK as well.  I feel so loved. ;D

Caveat emptor.  What it all boils down to is this:  If a guy says you can solve all your problems and make a million dollars over night, and you believe him, you WILL get ripped off!  (funny how close "Popoff" is to "ripoff")

After all, how much money would these creeps make if they went on TV and said, "Follow my plan and prosperity will follow--in about ten years with a lot of hard work and dilligent care on your part."
:D

He is a faith healer.  He claims Jesus can flow through him, and by placing his hand on the forehead of people, Jesus will pass through him into the person, and work the demons out, thus curing the person for life from their illness
Unless you've been bad, then Jesus will make your peter pop off.

Unless you've been bad, then Jesus will make your peter pop off.

What happened when Peter Popoff met Oral Roberts?
:P

What happened when Peter Popoff met Oral Roberts?
:P


;D ;D ;D

I don't know, but it probably couldn't have been good.

;D ;D ;D

I don't know, but it probably couldn't have been good.

eeeeeeeeewwwwww!!!!

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/04/drink.gif

Anyone ever see psychic Sylvia Browne on the 'Montel Williams Show'?  She's been wrong several times, and when criticized that she is a fraud, she says that she has often claimed that she is not always 100% correct.  Isn't the whole point of being a psychic to always be correct?  If that's the case, then heck, anyone can pull crap out of thin air and convince people that it's the truth.  That will be 700$/hr please

I've seen Sylvia on Montel a few times, and she is a total hoax.  In one show, she told some woman, whose boyfriend had died tragically, that she sees him in water, when in actual fact, he was a NYC fire fighter who died in 9/11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJTGC9YhU94

If these psychics are real, how come they never predicted 9/11 or other tragic events?

Anyone ever see psychic Sylvia Browne on the 'Montel Williams Show'?  She's been wrong several times, and when criticized that she is a fraud, she says that she has often claimed that she is not always 100% correct.  Isn't the whole point of being a psychic to always be correct?  If that's the case, then heck, anyone can pull crap out of thin air and convince people that it's the truth.  That will be 700$/hr please

I've seen Sylvia on Montel a few times, and she is a total hoax.  In one show, she told some woman, whose boyfriend had died tragically, that she sees him in water, when in actual fact, he was a NYC fire fighter who died in 9/11

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJTGC9YhU94

If these psychics are real, how come they never predicted 9/11 or other tragic events?

I've never heard self-described "psychics" boast of infallibility.  What I do see is a bunch of hocus-pocus rip-off artists who use the most obtuse methods of leading on the gullible subjects, eg:
"I see I James...a John...or a Joseph...."
"That's it!  My grandfather's name was Joe."
"And I'm getting a sense of blue...."
"Oh my God, he used to own a blue Dodge!"
And so on and so on.....

I'm a skeptic.  Perhaps there are people out there with genuine clairvoyant abilities, but as long as the scene is overrun by frauds, psychism will maintain a bad name.
::)

I've never heard self-described "psychics" boast of infallibility.  What I do see is a bunch of hocus-pocus rip-off artists who use the most obtuse methods of leading on the gullible subjects, eg:
"I see I James...a John...or a Joseph...."
"That's it!  My grandfather's name was Joe."
"And I'm getting a sense of blue...."
"Oh my God, he used to own a blue Dodge!"
And so on and so on.....

I'm a skeptic.  Perhaps there are people out there with genuine clairvoyant abilities, but as long as the scene is overrun by frauds, psychism will maintain a bad name.
::)

My best friend back in Nebraska told me a while back that he went out with this girl who, after a couple of dates called up her "telephone psychic" to inquire about him. The "psychic" told her that he was THE ONE! and that she should MARRY THIS GUY!
  She then told him about what the "psychic" said and he immediately bolted.  ;D ;D ;D

For anyone who wonders how Sylvia does it when Peter's method of using an accomplice with a radio has been discredited, here's how to make millions by convincing the ignorant and gullible that you, too, have supernatural powers.  It's called Cold Reading, and the link should tell you everything you need to know about how to get started.

For anyone who wonders how Sylvia does it when Peter's method of using an accomplice with a radio has been discredited, here's how to make millions by convincing the ignorant and gullible that you, too, have supernatural powers.  It's called Cold Reading, and the link should tell you everything you need to know about how to get started.


This is true indeed!

All of these so called psychics will deny they use this method

For anyone who wonders how Sylvia does it when Peter's method of using an accomplice with a radio has been discredited, here's how to make millions by convincing the ignorant and gullible that you, too, have supernatural powers.  It's called Cold Reading, and the link should tell you everything you need to know about how to get started.


Absolutely.  That's what I was saying.  In fact it is the opposite of clairvoyance, in which the so-called psychic's intuition is extrasensorily widened and deepened.  Cold Reading is a matter of taking broad, general information and narrowing it via deduction.  Effective Cold Reading is a honed discipline and not just anyone can do it.  It's sort of like the way Penn & Teller debunk "magic" and show you exactly how the trick is conjoured, but when YOU try to do it, it doesn't work!  But anyway, there's no ESP involved.  If I ever got in front of one of these "psychics," I'd just say, "I dunno, you tell me."

Tired of all these phony psychics? Then try some REAL psychics!  ::) ::) ::)

http://www.certifiedpsychics.com/

Tired of all these phony psychics? Then try some REAL psychics!  ::) ::) ::)

http://www.certifiedpsychics.com/


More like certifiable psychics!
:D

I'm a bit surprised no one has mentioned that a-hole Don Lapre yet. This guy has been scamming for probably 15 years now. Here's a youtube video spoof of him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nns3He0qYJs

Everyone who posted here is telling it like it is.

Everyone who posted here is an utter moron, and no doubt will soon be broke from trusting anything that comes out of Don Laprick's mouth.

I'm a bit surprised no one has mentioned that a-hole Don Lapre yet. This guy has been scamming for probably 15 years now. Here's a youtube video spoof of him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nns3He0qYJs

Everyone who posted here is telling it like it is.

Everyone who posted here is an utter moron, and no doubt will soon be broke from trusting anything that comes out of Don Laprick's mouth.




Man, I'd totally forgotten about Don Lapre.  I haven't seen an infomercial from him in years.  Does he still make 'em?

Man, I'd totally forgotten about Don Lapre.  I haven't seen an infomercial from him in years.  Does he still make 'em?


I think he still does (or up until recently did) some kind of Mega Vitamin scamercial. That vitamin will cure anything except getting suckered by Don Lapre.

I think he still does (or up until recently did) some kind of Mega Vitamin scamercial. That vitamin will cure anything except getting suckered by Don Lapre.


It will cure something alright .. your cashflow ;D