Finance

Is Buying A Signed Photo Of John Travolta Really Any Better Than The ‘Trump Bucks’ Scam?

Trump Bucks are a bad deal, but evidently that hasn’t stopped some people from shelling out thousands on the things.

By  
on

939637A few days ago, news broke of perhaps the most brazen right-wing financial scam yet. It seems a phalanx of Colorado companies have been aggressively marketing “Trump Bucks” — worthless pieces of fake cash emblazoned with the former president’s image — online.

The marketers of Trump Bucks tell Mr. Trump’s most fervent supporters that they will be rewarded for their loyalty when he returns to power and unveils a new monetary system. This will, supposedly, turn Trump Bucks into legal tender currency worth dramatically more than the purchase price.

Of course, none of that is true. One might think this would be apparent, given the scope of some of the claims. For instance, a “$10,000 Diamond Trump Bucks” bill, available for $99.99, is supposed to be cashable at major banks and retailers for its face value of $10,000.

Let’s see, that’s about a 10,000% rate of return being promised that they had to advertise heavily to market on the internet. Well, with billions at their disposal, not to mention all the industry talent, it’s basically considered a miracle if some of the top hedge funds can get a 30% rate of return. The 489% rate of return realized by Scion Asset Management by betting against subprime mortgage-backed securities during the 2007-2008 financial crisis was such a crazy one-off situation that they made a whole movie about it. A promised return more than 20 times better than even that would, if it had any chance of working out at all, probably not require advertising dollars to attract random geriatric internet users clicking around Facebook.

Some of the Trump Bucks branding goes so far as to promise buyers “the American Dream” and “the things you always wanted” but emphasizes action “without thinking twice.” Hmm … I wonder why a company would want you not to stop to think for a moment before purchasing their product?

So, I would say Trump Bucks are a bad deal. Evidently that hasn’t stopped some people from shelling out thousands on the things. One guy told NBC News that he’d paid $2,200 for a worthless pile of Trump Bucks. Reports are beginning to surface of people trying to cash these things in at major banks and retailers, where they are obviously turned away.

It would be really easy to pile onto the victims of this scam. They should see it coming, they are absolutely throwing their money away, and I guarantee that the perpetrators here who are getting the real cash are not great people who will do worthwhile things with it.

Sponsored

On the other hand, maybe we should try to be less judgmental. We all blow money on stupid crap in America all the time.

For example, a few weeks ago I was invited to a charity dinner by a coworker in an attempt to fill a table. I didn’t have anything else going on, so I parked the table’s bottle of white wine in front of my plate and guzzled just enough to sharpen my comedic wits.

Well, maybe it was a little more than just enough, because for some reason before the end of the night I placed a silent auction bid on a signed photo of John Travolta from the, let’s say “hit,” 1996 film “Broken Arrow.” Seemed like a fabulous idea at the time. It seemed like an even better idea to take my new John Travolta photo to the bar after the charity dinner ended. I set up the picture on the bar and made all my new barroom friends toast John Travolta. I loudly sang the praises of “Broken Arrow” to a number of confused tavern patrons who hadn’t even been born when it came out. At some point, I stumbled back from the restroom to find that John Travolta had disappeared.

Now, it would be easy to call that a waste of money. I didn’t really believe in the usefulness of the charity I’d donated to, and I didn’t walk away with anything of any tangible value. Yet, I got in an evening of jokes reminiscing about 1990s-era John Travolta, and to me, it was worth throwing away a few bucks on that.

I sure hope your grandpappy isn’t mortgaging the family farm for Trump Bucks. If that’s the case, maybe look into a conservatorship and take the credit cards away.

Sponsored

But, you know, every victim of the Trump Bucks scam interviewed for the NBC piece was in their mid-to-late 70s. Shame’s probably not going to change their minds about Donald Trump grifts in general at this point. Perhaps just letting them think that Trump’s going to swoop in and finally make them happy, if they’re not putting that much money into it, is the equivalent of one perfect evening with a signed photo of John Travolta.

Jonathan Wolf is a civil litigator and author of Your Debt-Free JD (affiliate link). He has taught legal writing, written for a wide variety of publications, and made it both his business and his pleasure to be financially and scientifically literate. Any views he expresses are probably pure gold, but are nonetheless solely his own and should not be attributed to any organization with which he is affiliated. He wouldn’t want to share the credit anyway. He can be reached at [email protected].

Topics

, , , ,