Exposing Financial Grifters: The Scams Hiding in Plain Sight
WDOWS (00:00.864)
grifting cockroaches. I would have used a different word than cockroaches, okay? I would have, but my mom listens to the show and I, you know, try to calm it down. There are so many grifters, liars, cheats on the media when it comes to financial scams. I can’t even tell you. I can’t tell you. I don’t watch a lot. I was alerted.
to this latest one, this YY, it’s a letter Y, REFI, R-E-F-Y, pitching this on various different cable news programs. It’s some loan program that they’re pitching to senior citizens where they are packaging, they are packaging,
student loans that have been defaulted on and they’re getting kids to refinance these loans at a higher rate. And there’s various different tranches, tranches. Remember that word tranches from the great recession? I have been been on air for, I’ve had my show Watchdog and Wall Street Show for 26 years. I have appeared as a guest.
on countless, countless radio shows, never on Rush Limbaugh’s program, but he the only guests he really ever had on the program were presidents and vice presidents. Very rare he’d have everybody on. Been on Hannity, been on Glenn Beck’s program, Michael Savage guest hosted. One of the things that has got me got me trouble with some of those guys is I call them out.
I called them out on their bullshit. I did. I’m go back in time a little bit. This is important. I know I’ve covered this before here on the program, but they haven’t gone away. These little grifters out there, little radio show, television host grifters, and it’s all sides, all shapes and sizes. But I gotta be honest here, most certainly a hell of a lot more
WDOWS (02:24.31)
in the conservative circles and it’s always made me sick to my stomach. I had a show with, well, still have show, but it was on a network that’s no longer. It was called the Talk Radio Network and the hosts on that show were Laura Ingraham, Tammy Bruce. Tammy Bruce is in the Trump administration. Michael Savage, headliner. Jerry Doyle, late Jerry Doyle, he was a good guy.
and few others, few others. And I was approached by the people and introduced by the people at talk radio network. And they were a bit odd, to say the least. But anyway, they were the they were the big dog in town when it came to conservative radio was at and premiere, which had Russian, I think, Hannity is on premiere as well. And they wanted me to take on an advertiser on my program.
I don’t take on advertisers. I know you’ll hear ads. You’ll hear ads probably here on this podcast. You’ll hear ads on my radio show. I wash my hands of that. I don’t do anything with that. I don’t make a dime. Okay? And I can’t lie about that. I don’t take a dime. And I get asked, yeah, I’m like, I just, don’t even, that’s not why I do the show. Okay? So.
This was, oh, this is gonna be great. This could be enormously lucrative. And it was one of those gold coin companies. So, and I really know much about it. This had to be circa 2005, 2005, 2006. Can’t remember the exact year. And I speak with the guy and he’s explaining to me the type of money that
I am going to make based upon the amount of money that people invest in these gold coins. Now my first thought is like, huh? Well, I said I’ll type my head. I’m a registered investment advisor. can’t that’s there would be illegal. I can’t do that. Doesn’t make any sense. But I was curious nonetheless, because he’s talking these dollar amounts.
WDOWS (04:46.478)
and the dollar amounts were getting like, if someone decides to buy $10,000 in gold coins, you can make over $5,000 in commission.
WDOWS (05:01.418)
Again, I’m not stupid. How is that possible?
How is that possible? I’m back to the great movie Boiler Room, where Giovanni Robisi’s character, this was about boiler room stock operators, starts asking questions about how are they paying us this much money at this firm to sell these stocks? Well, anyway, I’m thinking about this and I’m saying, well, you’re paying me this much. How much are you making? How does this work? And I started.
doing some homework into these gold coins. They’re not investments. Let’s just make this perfectly clear. But basically by the rule of law, the rule of law here in the United States, you’re buying gold coins, you’re not gonna fall under the guise of the Securities and Exchange Commission. It’s a trinket. It’s a collectible is what it is. Don’t believe me? Look it up.
You’re buying yourself a collectible. That’s all. Try, try if you don’t believe me on this one, call up one of those gold salespeople where you got those guys on TV fondling their gold coins or some radio show host out there, I buy all my gold at so and so. Shut the flip up, you ain’t buying crap, okay?
Yeah, ask them if I were to buy this gold coin today, how much could I sell it for tomorrow?
WDOWS (06:47.66)
and you’ll understand.
You’ll understand and you’ll see.
Commodities have made up a part of our portfolios for decades, not collectibles.
not collectibles. And this has been a long standing trend by, I’m using air quotes, conservative talk show hosts. Actually, one that Limbaugh didn’t sell is crap.
If I recall Limbo, don’t think Limbo had anything to do with this crap, quite frankly. But it’s not just that. You had various different trading, like Andy was pushing this trading academy and this trading software and all these.
WDOWS (07:49.326)
I don’t know what type of…
ethical bypass
You take you know at some point time that that would allow you again. I understand you got to make a living
Bring up bring up my second time. I brought up Martin Sheen’s character from the movie Wall Street Is that line? I don’t I don’t go to bed with no whore. I don’t wake up with no whore I don’t know how you live with yourself, buddy. I don’t know how you live it yourself
I don’t know how you live it yourself. I’ve never understood that. You’re using your name, your position. People trust you and you don’t give a shit what you’re selling. You don’t even check out to see if it’s legitimate or not. You don’t care whether or not they’re on the up and up and they’re being honest. That doesn’t matter.
WDOWS (08:55.384)
to you? Yeah, let’s just say, okay, they know me. Okay. I remember, I mean, there were times, we want Markowski to come on this cruise, this conservative cruise. Then they find out exactly who I am and what I stand for, what I think about them and their sponsors. And you don’t really hear from them much anymore after that. And I don’t give a
I care what they think about me. I don’t. I know who they are. I see you, okay? I know what you do. I understand your grift. I mean, burnt by it too. To be honest.
WDOWS (09:48.428)
Yeah, times we will call out various different radio shows that are on air in certain markets, knowing that this guy’s a con artist ripping people off. Program director, none too happy because he’s collecting a nice check from that guy, buying time on his radio station. I get kicked off the station. I turn out being right, guy rips people off. What the hell they care?
You should.
Again, I know it’s not the world we live in, but we should try to strive to live in a world where we take care of one another.
We look out for one another. It’s not about getting over on one another.
WDOWS (10:38.446)
Frickin’ grifters, man. Watchdog on wallstreet.com.
