Do I Have a Deal for You*

We all love a good scam. Whether it’s reading about hustles like the Abscam entrapment or the Madoff Ponzi scheme or watching movies like Catch Me if You Can or The Sting, we enjoy the intricacies of plans that take others for a ride. Heaven forbid, however, it happens to us.

The most recent grand hoax was a doozy, and almost resulted in the sale of Elvis’ Graceland. Subsequent to the 2023 death of Elvis’ daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, “Naussany Investments” went into court claiming that Ms. Presley had borrowed $3.8M and put Graceland up as collateral. Naussany submitted loan documents and Deeds of Trust purportedly signed by Presley to support their claim.

A foreclosure sale was actually scheduled for May. It was only then that attorneys for Presley’s granddaughter went to court to stop the charade. The sale was blocked, and various law enforcement agencies got involved.

The scheme was uncovered as the brainchild of a Lisa Jannine Findley. Findley not only created a non-existent corporation, but numerous personas to support her claim. She reportedly has a history which includes romance scams, forged checks, and bank fraud. When confronted she apparently tried to blame that ever convenient group of scam professionals – Nigerian identity thieves.

The audacity of this scheme is breathtaking. Usually scams are done behind the scenes, in private face-to-face meetings or over the phone, and involve things of interest only to the scamee, like money. This one not only required the sanction of a court but involved one of the most famous buildings in the United States. It was bound to create significant publicity. You have to be impressed by the cajónes necessary to even try and pull this off.

In many ways that audacity was key to this ploy, and its attraction. Who would have thought someone would really try something this outrageous. You can’t blame the Court and Presley family for their initial acceptance of the documents produced. Yet, Findley had to know that sooner rather than later many people – lawyers, reporters – were going to pick the scheme to shreds. Maybe she thought she could get the foreclosure through quickly and disappear with the money. Maybe she just has more hubris than the average bear.

Most scams are not as intricate as this one, which is probably why many succeed where this one failed. We know how easy it is for people to be hoaxed by complete strangers who either promise the moon and stars or present some heartbreak story that would make even baseball players cry. The idea is to get the money fast and melt into the sunset.

I am not sure why humans are so susceptible to these ploys. It would seem that evolution would have honed our radar to look out for gifts falling from heaven, or sob-stories with no support. Wasn’t it beat into the heads of our ancestors that if Kronk in the cave next door told us that there was mammoth meat just sitting out on the veld waiting to be taken something was radically wrong? Did they just fall for the mammoth meat trick time and again, only to return to find their cave stripped of their best flint tools?

Why didn’t we learn that there are certain people out there that can render a story so convincingly they can have us signing over our first-born child? Has the narrative always been so enrapturing that it’s worth the price of whatever we give up, at least until we that time when we cry out “Eine moment, Bitte”? By that time the storyteller has generally flown the coop.

In some ways our gullibility reflects well on humanity. We tend toward trust and compassion, which makes us a target for those who would abuse that trust. We want to think that we are tough, but in reality we are marshmallows constantly on the precipice of believing whatever some silver-tongued shyster has to offer.

We also are eternal optimists. When a treasure trove appears to be dropping from the sky we hesitate, but then say, “why not?”. Why can’t it be me who strikes it rich through sheer luck? Why can’t I be as fortunate as all those rich jerks who are wealthy solely because of the family they were born into?

At the same time, we believe that we are better than that. We won’t fall for the tricks thrown at us. We aren’t going to respond to an email from a Nigerian Prince needing a few thousand dollars before they can transfer their massive wealth to us. We aren’t going to send money to a stranger to bail our grandchild out of jail.

Conversely, we think that those taken in by schemes are sad sack dolts who just couldn’t see the obvious. But when you read about the people involved, they are just normal folk. Yes, they made bad decisions. Maybe they let their greed get ahead of them. Maybe they thought with their heart and not with their head. But they aren’t that different from the rest of us.

I know that I am susceptible. While I have never been scammed, I have been tempted. Once Julie and I went to one of those Buyer Clubs. It was all hush, hush. Everyone there was talked to individually, and we were not allowed to ask questions before the entire group. Still, I was intrigued by their sales pitch. That was until Julie pointed out that their selection was very limited, and we were locked into what they had without seeing it. They wouldn’t even show us their prices until we joined. That’s when we walked out.

Knowing my predilections keeps my guard up. More important is to have someone to sanity check what seems attractive in the moment. A minimal explanation is generally needed to burst the bubble and see the scheme for what it is. Once that happens, we can just retreat to our own version of the Jungle Room and rewatch Paul T. Goldman.

*Sorry for my recent silence. I was having technical difficulties, which hopefully have now been resolved. I hope to get back to regular posts.