The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-12-04
HOW THE PUBLIC IS FOOLED.
SUCKER BORN EVERY MINUTE,
THE sWINDLERS SAY.

| POstOmce Inspector O'Brten Tells
of Some of the Numerous Schemes
by which Money Is Extracted
From GuIIibIe PubIic-There Are
Frauds of All Kinds and Every
Man Is IA Sucker Some Time in His
Life, Says the Inspector-The
"HOme Work" Frauds Are the
Meancst of the Lot.
Just how many people in Savannah were
/ caught in the collapse of the Franklin
| syndicate in New York recently end 9TH
ers OF a simi ar character wiz doubtless
/ never be known. AS several have been
| found who inves ed with the syndicate and
drew cut in time IL is feir 10 presume that
| there are a number Of others Naturally
| the losers are not saying anything. The
concern advertised several times in Savan-
nah and undoubtedly got returns for its
| investment in this dir cton
| young business man who was among
the lucky few who drew out in time said,
in rela ing his experience, that it was not
the first time he had invested in these
syndicates. They are an we'll enough at
FIRST" he said. IF you go in early in the
6NAA'N N'AiA Nph . ty III ADO iDHB you run
very little risk. Naturally they pay the
interest as promised to the early investors
in order not to attract suspicion. It's the
people who 60 in late who get caught"
Having had experience with these games
tefore The young man invested cautiously.
He sent forward $40 and received his 10
per cent. interest regularly for twelve
weeks when he w co Lea !. 4
been ip long enough and drew out. He
thus got back his $40 besides the $24 in
terest which he had drawn
The syndicate probably kept I'D the
racket as long as it could stand II so IL
was only the people who were greedy and
stayed in too long or those who came in
late who got caught. The money of the
late investors had to be used of course to
pay the dividends to the earlier and wiser
ones. Had the syndicate pursued any
other policy the dupes would soon have
made complaints to the postal authorities
and the Dostoftice inspectors would have
at once taken a hand. AS a rule most of
these frauds, of which there are a num-
Der, are broken up by the rostoffice in
spectors, but this case was an execution
the New York police having done the
work.
Few people have any idea how many
varied frauds are worked through
the mails and how much of the
time of the inspectors is spent
in running down these frauds and
breaking them up. Nest of these
schemes appear TO be legitimate business
ventures on the face, and not until num-
Der of people have been dipped end their
complaints begin to pour in upon the postal
department are the inspectors set to
work to gather evidence and run down the
swindlers. Many simple newspaper adj
vertisement conceals a fraud behind It
especially those Offering home work at
liberal pay to inexperienced persons or
promising opportunities for large returns
on small investments.
New York is the great headquarters for
fraudulent schemes of all descriptions,
| though frequently these schemes are work.
ed from small towns and cities through
out the country and not infrequently it is
the case that the persons operating the
schemes are of respectable standing in
the communities in which they live, which
enables them to conduct their operations
for a long time without suspicion attach
ing to them. This also explains why
it is rarely the case that the local authori-
ties interfere and that it is necessary for
the postoffice inspectors to work up the
evidence from the dupes who are scattered
all throughout the country.
Postoffice Inspector Frank A O'Brien,
who is now holding down the Savannah
blIlNSs 10 DiObdDlS DIS well With
the various swindling schemes by which
money is obtained from credulous persons
as any man in his line of business. Be
fore coming to Savannah Mr.. OBrien was
stationed in New York and did lot of
very creditable work work there. A post
Office inspector Is liable to be ordered any,
where and consequently he was not sur
prised when he found himself assigned
to the Savannah office some months ago.
Inspector O'Brien is a modest man and
does not like to talk about his work, but
when 1t was represented to him that in
view of the recent revelations with regard
to the Franklin and White Syndicate that
ii would be well to give the gullible pub
! lie some information as to these various
schemes to defraud, he consented to throw
some light on the subject
Section S34 of the postal laws" said
Mr.. O'Brien, provide for the punishment
of any person who devises a scheme to de-
fraud and uses the mails to carry it into
| effect. There are a great many devices to
| defraud which the local authorities con-
| not take care of. The schemers and their
| schemes are too deep. on the surface they
usually appear to be the legitimate busi-
ness contracts and frequently long and
| careful investigation is required to ferret
| them out My experience has shown me
| that there are schemes to defraud all
! classes of people, the wise as well as the
| ignorant. The swindlers say that
| lnere Is sucker born every minute, and
| my experience has convinced me that
! every man Is a sucker some time or other
: in his life, Some of the shrewdest bust
| ness men l have ever known have been
! caught in these frauds and badly caught.
| In fact, do not believe there is any man
so smart that he cannot be caught in a
| fraud of some kind"
| New York city is the great Mecca for
| frauds" said Mr. O'Brien 1T is a large
city. and the swindlers can move about
! easily and quickly and thus avoid attract
| ing attention. The attention of the public
! has been called to many of these schemes
for years and vet the suckers continue to
bite. There is the old green goods game
| 1t has been operated for years. No scheme
| has been more thoroughly published in the
| newspapers and yet the game goes on.
| There are three men in New York who
| have made fortunes out of the business.
It costs $4,000 to start green goods plant.
| As the swlndlers never ~handle any bad
| money, they must have $4,000 to $50 900
| with which TO deceive their customers