Nothing new about that. lol What was fascinating was the complexity of the scamming operation and the number of shell companies they had, and how they used sponsorships of a number of English Premier League teams as a way to *legitimize* their scam operation. The length some people will go through to steal your money!
I'm watching it right now. About 10 minutes into it. I'm impressed at the level of effort they put into it. I get about 10 calls a week from these Indian scammers that say they are either part of Medicare of some sort of Solar-Energy company and they put zero effort into their pitch. They're also too stupid to remove me from their auto-dialing database when they know I'm not buying what they're selling. After watching this, I kind of respect criminals that try because the bar has been raised and I feel like they somehow deserve their spoils. Morally it is wrong, but they managed to outsmart their victims by actually using their mind, rather than just robo-dialing people or holding up a liquor store for peanuts, which I find admirable.
Yeah, but if one has the ability to use his or her mind and is prepared to put forth the level of effort you referenced above, then why not do so with some level of integrity, and better yet, in a manner that actually brings some kind of value to people? Then folks like me would be able to join you in finding their endeavors admirable.
Many years ago I met a guy whose entire existence was getting rich quick schemes. He lived a bling bling lifestyle in Paris, lived at a nice address, drove the latest Mustang (rare in Paris), ate at the best restaurants, had suitcases full of cash... The stereotype. Everything he did was on the grey side of legality, as in, it's legal once but not over and over. Back in the days RAM was very valuable because the demand was high, prices were climbing and RAM sticks were small and light enough to carry in volume. He would open a retail tech business, buy a million € worth of RAM at volume discount, watch its value climb because of short supplies, advertise his stock at below retail rate, sell it all and shut down the business within 12 months without paying the French tax office the 20% sales tax he received from his sales. He paid guys handsomely to sign all business papers to their names while he carried on, sometimes 2-3 businesses at a time, always ahead of the tax office which took far too long to track the scam. The only reason he finally stopped was because RAM supplies increased globally and prices started to drop. He moved on to other more profitable scams.... Some people only function that way. The thrill of the scam, the returns, the freedom from 9 to 5 job, the ego.
My old self would have agreed with you 100%. Now that I'm older, the line between good and evil has blurred, and I've come to realize that morality doesn't actually exist and I end up just admiring intelligence instead. The world is ultimately a shithole.
In a lot of these countries ethical conduct is subjective. Unemployment is high, opportunities to be financially successful are low. Everyone is an idiot or a fool, except for those who beat the system. The big fish have no difficulties finding little people to do the scamming. The returns are so high it's also no difficult to pay off those who could possibly question the scams.
I lost sight of this guy but, by incredible coincidence, I was in a lawyer's office in Paris maybe 10 years later to discuss a business idea when his phone rang. He picked up and started talking to this person who he seemed to know quite well. When he addressed him by his first name I instantly knew who it was! Later, through a friend who had originally introduced me to the scammer, I found out that he had been involved in some crazy shit trying to swindle anyone he could. He'd had to quit the RAM business after his partner had been kidnapped and nearly killed by a local mafia who had figured out the scam and wanted the business for themselves. Apparently he had leased a safe deposit storage facility under the French stock market building, promoted it in the specialized media as a gold storage with the sole goal of breaking into it and emptying the place. Finally he was about to get caught for that or another scam and had to flee to Israel where he may still live if he isn't dead.