Visa Exposed As Massive Credit Card Scam

[Ichingcarpenter]

SAN FRANCISCO—In coordinated raids Monday at locations in Delaware, South Dakota, and California, federal agents apprehended dozens of executives at Visa Inc., a sham corporation accused of perpetrating the largest credit card scam in U.S. history.

According to indictments filed in U.S. District Court, Visa posed as a reputable lender, working through banks to peddle a variety of convincing-looking credit cards carefully designed to dupe consumers into spending far more money than they had. The criminal group would then impose a succession of escalating fees on unpaid balances, allegedly bilking some $300 billion from victims in the past year alone.

"This is criminal behavior of the most vile sort," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a press conference following the arrests, estimating that one in three Americans have fallen for the scam since its inception in the 1970s. "By masquerading as a legitimate business, this illicit syndicate was able to prey on helpless citizens for decades, charging unfathomable interest rates on the order of 15, 20, even 30 percent or more. It's staggering. Nobody could afford that."

"The actions of the Visa crime ring amount to nothing less than mass extortion," Holder continued. "Anyone who's holding a Visa card has most likely already been ripped off."

Calling the scam's breadth and sophistication "unparalleled," Holder said the ringleaders of the plot carefully portrayed themselves as top-level financial executives, spent untold sums of victims' money on a luxurious high-rise headquarters in San Francisco, and employed scores of graduates from elite business schools—all as a means to perpetuate an elaborate confidence game.

†Investigators said Visa often targeted vulnerable individuals, such as those with limited financial resources, students, and even the elderly. The group's typical con involved direct solicitation through letters supposedly written by the CEO himself, which often praised the recipients by name and stated that they had been hand-selected for favored treatment. . http://www.theonion.com/articles/visa-exposed-as-massive-credit-card-scam,21136/

[pepperbear]

1. damn that onion! telling the truth with humor again! n/t

[jwhitesj]

2. I thought this was for real

Until the end I saw it was from the onion.

[AlmostUlyanov]

14. In spirit, it is!

[Cirque du So-What]

3. The intersection of satire and reality

This would actually occur in a world where justice was truly valued.

[pa28]

4. Thank god they finally decided to crack down on 30% interest.

Seriously though. It's funny when the only real news comes in the form of veiled comedy on cable TV and parody stories on the Onion. We really are doomed.

[Divine Discontent]

5. *snicker* this one's good. I got it after a few sentences, but it's bitingly true!

[Ichingcarpenter]

6. The dead giveaway it wa satire was Holder doing something

Not the onion link

[Divine Discontent]

7. .....

:spray:
:rofl:

Effing hilarious! so true!



http://www.cafepress.com/barackobama12

[Capitalocracy]

8. .

:toast:

[WinkyDink]

9. Seriously do not care for joke-posts on GD. Especially as a Visa customer.

[TBF]

12. The only "joke" part is that Holder would never do it - the rest is true.

And the fact that some have their underwear in a twist over it shows just how corporate this party has become. It's truly sad.

[slay]

15. +1

i couldn't be more disappointed in Obama, Holder - the whole crew. hope and change MY ASS! Dems need to make sure to NEVER elect another pro-corporate sock puppet like Obama ever again - that is if he hasn't damaged the Dems beyond repair already at this point. and i bought into his crap too - voted for him in the primary and the reg election in 2008. sigh...

[socialindependocrat]

10. Stop this onion shit!!!! Give it a new topic of it's own

there needs to be an ONION sign at the top of these things. I had a feeling because it was so outlandish. I'll check all future links but this isn't funny. It belongs on a separate thread for those who get a kick out of these posts.

[demwing]

18. breathe in through the nose

out through the mouth...

[Orrex]

19. Yeah, god damn it!

When are people going to learn that satire isn't funny!


HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA!

[krispos42]

11. *snort*

:rofl:

[malaise]

13. Too good

:rofl:

[orbitalman]

16. The fact is, it did happen to me...

with a Chase Visa. I was promised a 10% rate years ago and made minimal payments with autopay (or more if I chose). After a couple years it didn't seem to be getting paid off. During that time I hadn't looked at a statement. Then, one day, I did. WOW. I was up to 26%. I went back over the stored statements and saw they were raising interest little by little each month. Needless to say, they never received another payment.:grr:

[jimmil]

17. Every credit card is a scam

Many people don't have the means to pay off their Visa, Master Card, etc. and can miss a payment. Heck, people miss a payment because the bill is under some junk on the counter. The credit card companies use that to jack up your interest rates. It isn't at all uncommon for them to charge 30% and more for missing a payment. That to me is a scam.

[Odin2005]

26. This!

:applause:

[upi402]

20. Attorney General Eric Holder please continue

We need to have faith that the rule of law will be re-established.

[begin_within]

21. That's gotta be some sort of non-joke.

At at time like this, why are people making non-jokes about it?
It's like they took this whole issue and turned into one big non-joke.
Does everything have to be the truth? Does everything have to be turned into an non-joke?

[toddwv]

22. Eh... a bit too unbelievable to be true...

Feds cracking down on bankers? C'mon... they're more likely to bail them out than require them to post bail... hell, Congress would probably post their bail for them.

[Monk06]

23. When Italians do it on the street it's called loan sharking. When WASPS do it from offices in your

local bank branch, it's called BUSINESS.

[socialindependocrat]

25. I had a "Platinum Card" that I"thought" was paid off

I opened the envelope one month and they were charging me $29 each month

and a $57 balance turned into $150. When I called the company I said,

"The Mafia doesn't even charge this much interest!"

she didn't laugh....

I'm older and wiser now.

[AtheistCrusader]

24. Priceless.

(rimshot)

[Odin2005]

27. LOL!