100k cash drop in AKL - but fake or real money!

Forums › Off topic › 100k cash drop in AKL - but fake or real money!

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#2620099 11-Dec-2020 13:43

tripper1000:
The vast majority of the population would not/did not fall for this scam because everyone with any sense knows that no one just throws away $100K.

There's an interesting hypothesis put forward by a linguist in the US that things like the Nigerian prince scams are deliberately worded the way they are in order to filter out anyone who wouldn't fall for the scam once it develops. In other words it's made to look deliberately dodgy so that the scammers don't waste their time on people who will see through it later.

I pointed out that this was probably giving the scammers too much credit, but it's an interesting idea. In this case they've certainly done a good job of matching the scam to people gullible enough to fall for it.

quickymart

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#2620350 11-Dec-2020 23:29

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/cash-drop-controversy-who-is-safety-warehouse-boss-andrew-thorn/J55EY3OGLYEOXRKSK3DNXQK56A/

This is the clown who dreamed it up. He's been on the wrong side of the law a few times before.

As an aside, it looks like his image on those fake $5 notes.

JaseNZ

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#2620354 11-Dec-2020 23:36

Honestly jack will happen to him.

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quickymart

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#2620376 12-Dec-2020 08:08

https://www.stuff.co.nz/business/123677734/safety-warehouses-andrew-thorn-doesnt-regret-fake-cash-drop

If that was me running it I would be very concerned about how it looked for my business, especially having a few previous failures under his belt.

The vouchers were a bad idea - why make them look like money? I wonder who told him that would be a winning formula?
He could have also said in the advertising there would be vouchers, but looking at that "money" it does come across as misleading.

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#2620380 12-Dec-2020 08:18

Just read this story "“We do a lot, per se, in the shadows”".

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#2620398 12-Dec-2020 09:32

I met the guy once at an event (not his) and he came across as nothing but a self entitled arrogant cock whom I quickly walked away from thinking what a tosser.

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quickymart

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#2620426 12-Dec-2020 11:02

How was he like that, just out of interest? I thought he came across as quite clueless in that interview, until the last bit where he starts talking about lawyers, etc.

Edit: okay, this makes a bit more sense now. https://www.webworm.co/p/the-100000-money-drop-that-went-bad

1101

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#2621197 14-Dec-2020 09:45

Lets remember he NEVER said $100k in cash.
The promotion was carefully worded . Something along the lines of $100K in vouchers & cash .

Oblivian

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#2621203 14-Dec-2020 10:00

1101:

Lets remember he NEVER said $100k in cash.
The promotion was carefully worded . Something along the lines of $100K in vouchers & cash .

Depends on what part of the advert you are shown/read.

Left has a $. And the right side where people 'booked'...

https://resources.stuff.co.nz/content/dam/images/4/y/p/t/8/r/image.related.StuffLandscapeSixteenByNine.1240x700.4yptfm.png/1607236246966.jpg?format=pjpg&optimize=medium

It's the fine print that went on to clarify the dubious use of above. And generally, if you aren't doing only cash. The amount is traditionally specified to keep the exact blow up this whole thing has had at bay.

Stu

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#2621210 14-Dec-2020 10:18

The words "in value" after the 100,000K should be enough to ring alarm bells.

People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

Keep calm, and carry on posting.

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#2621216 14-Dec-2020 10:25

For the majority of us. Sure.

But suspect we weren't the target market. And guessing they knew full well.

Really does smell of an easy target customer base details capture more than anything else.

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#2621221 14-Dec-2020 10:41

Oblivian:

For the majority of us. Sure.

But suspect we weren't the target market. And guessing they knew full well.

Really does smell of an easy target customer base details capture more than anything else.

The whole thing is quite strange. I assume a safety equipment company would be largely targeting sales to businesses (large through their procurement channels, and small via owners web searches etc). I don't think any of these people would have the time or will to turn up at a real money lolly scramble event, Given the value of their time, coupled with associated risk of injury etc.

The business has been widely blamed for the event targeting the deprived / desperate. Franky the worst possible demographic to market a safety equipment business too.

With regards to the advert, yeah, the use of the term value in the fine print adds doubt, but it does not contradict the headline "The Drop - 100k Live Cash Giveaway NZ (RE-RELEASE)". Given the headline it is reasonable to expect that value was in cash.

There was an eairly statement by the orginiser that states that they did drop $100k in cash + additional vouchers, but it didn't seem to be repeated in their subsequent press releases.

jonathan18

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#2621324 14-Dec-2020 13:17

Scott3:

The whole thing is quite strange. I assume a safety equipment company would be largely targeting sales to businesses (large through their procurement channels, and small via owners web searches etc). I don't think any of these people would have the time or will to turn up at a real money lolly scramble event, Given the value of their time, coupled with associated risk of injury etc.

@Scott3 - have you had a chance to read the Webworm (and Stuff) material linked to earlier in this thread? I think it’s critical to do so to get a better understanding of the man behind it and his likely business model/approach.

My sense, based on reading this stuff, is the founder jumped on the band wagon thanks to Covid, and it’s just his latest get rich quick scheme. He’s not the first and won’t be the last (see David Farrier’s other WW posts on a charming mask seller as another example).

Scott3

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#2621342 14-Dec-2020 14:22

jonathan18:

@Scott3 - have you had a chance to read the Webworm (and Stuff) material linked to earlier in this thread? I think it’s critical to do so to get a better understanding of the man behind it and his likely business model/approach.

My sense, based on reading this stuff, is the founder jumped on the band wagon thanks to Covid, and it’s just his latest get rich quick scheme. He’s not the first and won’t be the last (see David Farrier’s other WW posts on a charming mask seller as another example).

Yeah I have. Found the below comments by Paul Wilson particually interesting.

I still don't quite get what is driving it. If it is money, I don't think this was a smart marketing spend. I spouse it could be power over people, getting a rush from people scrambling to get money and vouchers thrown from a stage, and a bit of press with it?

"Paul Wilson Dec 10Liked by David Farrier

Inter-personally predatory individuals do seem quite alien to most us, so I totally get why people reach for labels like delusional or irrational. They are usually neither.

Sure, they will pretend to be mentally ill or impaired if they think it will help them avoid the consequence of their actions when caught. Hence the 'devil made me do it' or more recent 'meth made me do it' excuses. The most recent one is the 'autism made me to do it' excuse.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/11/17/backlash-grows-to-van-attack-perpetrators-autism-related-defence/

Non-neurotypical individuals on the autism spectrum already suffer from unwarranted stigma and prejudice, so I too find that claim offensive on both a personal and professional level.

But I digress.

Anyway, what we now call psychopathy or antisocial personality was initially called 'moral insanity' in that people where shocked at those who don't follow the social norms of reciprocal altruism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocal_altruism like the rest of us since they are unburdened by conscience. No internal limits on their behaviour - all gas, no brakes in terms of going for what they want - which is usually money and power over others.

But unlike the truly irrational, they often are quite predictable and detectable if you know what to look for. Humans have evolved a set of intuitive emotional responses to detect human predators but we are often conditioned by modern society to override or ignore them.

Sudden shifts from glib verbal charm and evasion to naked threats is quite something to experience. When all pretence at friendliness isn't working and the mask drops, it's very chilling. That cold predatory gaze tells you that you are a 'thing' to them and you are angering them and getting in their way.

When someone shows you who they truly are, believe them!

In that vein (sorry, unintentional energy vampire pun), I recommend Gavin de Becker's book 'The Gift of Fear' https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Fear-Survival-Signals-Violence/dp/0440226198"

"Paul Wilson Dec 10Liked by David Farrier

Inter-personally predatory individuals do seem quite alien to most us, so I totally get why people reach for labels like delusional or irrational. They are usually neither.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2020/11/17/backlash-grows-to-van-attack-perpetrators-autism-related-defence/

Non-neurotypical individuals on the autism spectrum already suffer from unwarranted stigma and prejudice, so I too find that claim offensive on both a personal and professional level.

But I digress.

When someone shows you who they truly are, believe them!

In that vein (sorry, unintentional energy vampire pun), I recommend Gavin de Becker's book 'The Gift of Fear' https://www.amazon.com/Gift-Fear-Survival-Signals-Violence/dp/0440226198"

neb

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#2621512 14-Dec-2020 20:38

Just as something to compare to in terms of the claims made, a day or two back I saw in passing an ad for a "100% plant based active ingredient" insecticide on TV, I can't remember the brand but I'm 99% sure it was the Aerogard range. It's "100% plant based", and the ad noted that it also contains synthetic ingredients. So looking at the MSDS it's pyrethrins (which were originally found in plants but now are always synthetic because they're cheaper, more effective, and don't break down as quickly as the plant extracts), also butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), a preservative that may or may not be safe on skin, and methylisothiazolinone, benzisothiazolinone, and methylchloroisothiazolinone, more preservatives that can cause allergic contact dermatitis. So you've got a "100% plant based product" that may or may not actually be from plants, but most likely isn't, and in any case is < 1% of the product, and a bunch of synthetic chemicals that can't even pretend to have originally come from plants - the biggest component is the chemically synthesised geraniol which I haven't mentioned because it's not an active ingredient as emphasised by the marketing.

Is this more, less, or equally misleading as the 100K drop marketing was?

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