Stephanie Hoffman & the Shills at JEDI

JEDI/Great Northern Confidence trick, aka "Scam", "Swindle"

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A confidence trick (synonyms include confidence game, confidence scheme, scam and stratagem) is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their confidence, used in the classical sense of trust.

A confidence trick is also known as a con game, a con, a scam, a grift, a hustle, or a bamboozle.

In the name of supposed "Economic Development", prospective victims (aka "investors") seeking help and advice from JEDI are guided to loans provided by Great Northern.

The intended victims (purchasers of a local Mt. Shasta Toy Store) are known as "marks", "suckers", or "gulls" (i.e. gullible).

When accomplices are employed, like Stephanie Hoffman and e-Jedi, they are known as shills.

The business loan from Great Northern allows the victims to pay higher purchase prices for businesses being sold by locals.   The locals are selling the businesses because they are bankrupt and failing.   
The financial statements of the businesses are Falsified to make the businesses appear profitable.
The Great Northern business loans enable local Mt. Shasta business people to become enriched by selling worthless businesses to people who are new to town.

The victims lives are destroyed in the process.  They are liquidated out of every cent they own today, and will ever earn in their lifetimes.  These loans cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.

It is the perfect Trap.

A long con or big con is a scam that unfolds over weeks.

 It aims to rob the victim of huge sums of money or valuable things, often by getting him or her to take CBDG loans from Great Northern Services of Weed, CA and emptying out banking accounts to purchase bankrupt businesses by Falsifying the financial statements provided to prospective Suckers.

Stages of the con[edit]

In Confessions of a Confidence Man, Edward H. Smith lists the "six definite steps or stages of growth" of a confidence game.^[6] He notes that some steps may be omitted.

Foundation Work

Preparations are made in advance of the game, including the hiring of any assistants required.

Approach

The victim is contacted.  

Build-up

The victim is given an opportunity to profit from a scheme. The victim's greed is encouraged, such that their rational judgment of the situation might be impaired.

Pay-off or Convincer

The victim receives a small payout as a demonstration of the scheme's effectiveness. This may be a real amount of money, or faked in some way. In a gambling con, the victim is allowed to win several small bets. In a stock market con, the victim is given fake dividends.

The Hurrah

A sudden crisis or change of events forces the victim to act immediately. This is the point at which the con succeeds or fails.

The In-and-In

A conspirator puts an amount of money into the same scheme as the victim. This can reassure the victim, and give the con man greater control when the deal has been completed.^{[clarification needed]}

In addition, some games require a "corroboration" step.^{[clarification needed][6]}

Vulnerability to confidence tricks[edit]

There is no consistent profile of a confidence trick victim; the common factor is simply that the victim relies on the good faith of the con artist.  Even alert and educated people may be taken in by other forms of a confidence trick.

Accomplices, also known as shills, like Stephanie Hoffman and JEDI, help manipulate the mark into accepting the perpetrator's plan.