The "Astonishing Secrets" Thread

[Odysseus M Jones]

Some of the gold threads here are really GOLD. Can we have a new tag like “epic GOLD”? This is great. Bump to get newer members like myself to read.

Edit:
@IceCreamKid - did you write a book yet? If you didn't, I'll copy every word you posted here, make it sound like a guru I met in India who changed my life and title it "The Astonishing Secrets Steve Jobs told you... exposed". I'll make a fortune for very little work. Race to the finish line? Let's get drunk on ice-cream booze.

@OleksiyRybakov - read this thread.

You'll have to repost the tags, they don't get notified when it's done on an edit.

 

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[Antifragile]

@IceCreamKid @OleksiyRybakov - repost of tags. Learned something new today. See my post above.

 

[nothingness]

Very interesting thread. Personally I hate people, most of my life I gave people the benefit of the doubt and tried to help people and just got backstabbed. Even now I still try to help people and most of the time they just take advantage of it. It's super hard to minimize your ego and just sort of get used to people treating you like shit and not take it personally. I honestly think it's just the way 99% of people are...the 99% who are suffering in the rat race and take it out on others.

It's kinda ironic the advice to love others came from zen someone who turned out to be a prolific scam artist for decades.
I've noticed this common theme with people like that, Kevin Trudea springs to mind; constantly preached to love others and this way the law of attraction will treat you...ends up in fed jail for a decade for....scamming people.

Not gonna lie though it was funny watching everyone proverbally sucking Z's **** via likes and the now defunct rep bank only for him to be exposed as a fraud. I've seen this on supercar forums before, someone very good at lying crafts a profile of someone with an expensive car collection and they become GODLIKE in every thread, then they get exposed and all the people who treated him like a god are suddenly like "I knew there was something up with him"

 

[Black_Dragon43]

It's kinda ironic the advice to love others came from zen someone who turned out to be a prolific scam artist for decades.
I've noticed this common theme with people like that, Kevin Trudea springs to mind; constantly preached to love others and this way the law of attraction will treat you...ends up in fed jail for a decade for....scamming people.

I agree. Those who preach universal love are most often those who will screw you over. I never believed much of the BS in this thread personally.

With regards to Z... I do wonder what has happened to him. I see he has deleted all his social profiles. I did check the court cases against him, most were dismissed. Imo, he is a scam artist, but he's no different than most of the guys in high finance. Most of those guys make money by getting a lot of it from investors... which opens a lot of doors for influence and other things. In my view, I don't see a difference between him and a politician.

But it's not the kind of business we learn to run around here. These guys don't care for marketing, branding, etc. It's all influence and politics.

 

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[Andy Black]

most of my life I gave people the benefit of the doubt and tried to help people and just got backstabbed. Even now I still try to help people and most of the time they just take advantage of it.

Might be worth reading "Give and Take" by Adam Grant.

According to Adam, the lowest rungs of the ladder are occupied by the Givers who help others progress in their careers. Above them are the Takers and Matchers. But at the top of the ladder are the Givers who've learned not to be taken advantage of.

 

[Ravens_Shadow]

I lived with Z for a year before I realized who he really was, as in actually lived on his farm in a separate house. Having gone through the fallout of having my name associated with him by proxy was probably the worst and most stressful thing that ever happened to me. In my case my fallout was the government coming after me for far more than I'd ever made in unpaid taxes. The gist is that he needed merchant accounts and with my young 22 year old self, I believed every word that came out of his mouth.

So an LLC was opened under my name, and I got $1,000 a month for letting them open a merchant account on it. Turns out LLC's are passthrough and I didn't know that at the time. Guess who had to put that income on their personal tax return? Me. The first year had no inherient tax impact on me so I thought, so it wasn't a big deal for me as they made everything on the balance sheet a loss despite having run nearly a million through the account. Year two was completely different and the "profits" were massive. I have my fallout with Z after I got fired from his marketing company for standing up against how they sold supplements and what I thought was ultimately scamming people. Around a year later (2017-2018) is when I started getting letters about unpaid taxes. Throughout that year the company that I was dealing with who was *supposed* to pay those taxes via dale kept saying they would pay but never did. Soon enough they just disappeared. 2018 rolls around and now things are getting HOT. Government starts telling me their gonna throw liens up against me if I don't pay. I call them and plead that I was scammed, they don't wanna hear it. "Sir, you signed the papers, the LLC is in YOUR name. YOU are responsible for this."

F*ck F*ck F*ck F*ck.

I called a good friend on the forum, and he told me to lawyer up. So I did. Oof my credit card. At the time I had *just* paid off all of my debt and suddenly I was back in it again due to lawyer fees. The good news is I paid many tens of thousands less than what I "owed".

January 2021 I won the case against the government.

As far as I know, Z fled to mexico and is still running his scams. He siphoned millions out of far unluckier people than I. I don't know how he hasn't been caught and he is a master at manipulation.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

I lived with Z for a year before I realized who he really was, as in actually lived on his farm in a separate house. Having gone through the fallout of having my name associated with him by proxy was probably the worst and most stressful thing that ever happened to me. In my case my fallout was the government coming after me for far more than I'd ever made in unpaid taxes. The gist is that he needed merchant accounts and with my young 22 year old self, I believed every word that came out of his mouth.

So an LLC was opened under my name, and I got $1,000 a month for letting them open a merchant account on it. Turns out LLC's are passthrough and I didn't know that at the time. Guess who had to put that income on their personal tax return? Me. The first year had no inherient tax impact on me so I thought, so it wasn't a big deal for me as they made everything on the balance sheet a loss despite having run nearly a million through the account. Year two was completely different and the "profits" were massive. I have my fallout with Z after I got fired from his marketing company for standing up against how they sold supplements and what I thought was ultimately scamming people. Around a year later (2017-2018) is when I started getting letters about unpaid taxes. Throughout that year the company that I was dealing with who was *supposed* to pay those taxes via dale kept saying they would pay but never did. Soon enough they just disappeared. 2018 rolls around and now things are getting HOT. Government starts telling me their gonna throw liens up against me if I don't pay. I call them and plead that I was scammed, they don't wanna hear it. "Sir, you signed the papers, the LLC is in YOUR name. YOU are responsible for this."

f*ck f*ck f*ck f*ck.

I called a good friend on the forum, and he told me to lawyer up. So I did. Oof my credit card. At the time I had *just* paid off all of my debt and suddenly I was back in it again due to lawyer fees. The good news is I paid many tens of thousands less than what I "owed".

January 2021 I won the case against the government.

As far as I know, Z fled to mexico and is still running his scams. He siphoned millions out of far unluckier people than I. I don't know how he hasn't been caught and he is a master at manipulation.

Wow brother that really sucks big time... just goes out there as a big word of warning. I always tell people not to get involved in deals that go over their heads... you never know what you can get yourself in. Just make sure you understand what's going on and never let anything fishy happen. People like Z do prey on those who are ambitious but don't yet have sufficient knowledge to smell the schemes...

How come he didn't get caught / arrested? I searched for the court cases against him in New Mexico, and it seems most were dismissed by the Judge, only one from what I've seen he's actually lost and had to pay damages.

Everyone else can read more about him on ripoff reports, if you know Z's real name, that is: Scams, reviews, complaints, lawsuits and frauds. File a report, post your review. Consumers educating consumers.

And it looks like all his social media accounts have been deleted... There is a really old YouTube channel he has from 2008, now under a different name that's left. Does anyone know if any action was taken against him?

 

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[MJ DeMarco]

Who knew that the "astonishing secrets" were to rip off young ambitious people with bro-marketing schemes.

I lived with Z for a year before I realized who he really was, as in actually lived on his farm in a separate house. Having gone through the fallout of having my name associated with him by proxy was probably the worst and most stressful thing that ever happened to me. In my case my fallout was the government coming after me for far more than I'd ever made in unpaid taxes. The gist is that he needed merchant accounts and with my young 22 year old self, I believed every word that came out of his mouth.

So an LLC was opened under my name, and I got $1,000 a month for letting them open a merchant account on it. Turns out LLC's are passthrough and I didn't know that at the time. Guess who had to put that income on their personal tax return? Me. The first year had no inherient tax impact on me so I thought, so it wasn't a big deal for me as they made everything on the balance sheet a loss despite having run nearly a million through the account. Year two was completely different and the "profits" were massive. I have my fallout with Z after I got fired from his marketing company for standing up against how they sold supplements and what I thought was ultimately scamming people. Around a year later (2017-2018) is when I started getting letters about unpaid taxes. Throughout that year the company that I was dealing with who was *supposed* to pay those taxes via dale kept saying they would pay but never did. Soon enough they just disappeared. 2018 rolls around and now things are getting HOT. Government starts telling me their gonna throw liens up against me if I don't pay. I call them and plead that I was scammed, they don't wanna hear it. "Sir, you signed the papers, the LLC is in YOUR name. YOU are responsible for this."

f*ck f*ck f*ck f*ck.

I called a good friend on the forum, and he told me to lawyer up. So I did. Oof my credit card. At the time I had *just* paid off all of my debt and suddenly I was back in it again due to lawyer fees. The good news is I paid many tens of thousands less than what I "owed".

January 2021 I won the case against the government.

As far as I know, Z fled to mexico and is still running his scams. He siphoned millions out of far unluckier people than I. I don't know how he hasn't been caught and he is a master at manipulation.

And here I remember a bunch of sycophants here hated me for taking action against this clown and removing him from the forum, resulting in a mass exodus of his band of miscreants. Funny, my then girlfriend at the time, met him in person and instantly knew he was a scumbag.

 

[Itizn]

Share his real name

 

[Black_Dragon43]

And here I remember a bunch of sycophants here hated me for taking action against this clown and removing him from the forum, resulting in a mass exodus of his band of miscreants. Funny, my then girlfriend at the time, met him in person and instantly knew he was a scumbag.

How did she get that impression? What were the triggers? I think it would be helpful to share so that people can better protect themselves.

 

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[socaldude]

I remember that zen******* guy. I never followed the threads because they made no sense to me.

LOL the forum software censors it like a cuss word.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

How did she get that impression? What were the triggers? I think it would be helpful to share so that people can better protect themselves.

Said he was a flamboyant "speed talker" who used a lot of nonsensical jargon coupled with a lot of vagueness.

"We got a lot of great things going right now!"

You mean like scamming a bunch of naive 19 year olds?

This is why "crypto" has my BS meter on high alert, because the same conditions exist for the same type of scammery.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

Said he was a flamboyant "speed talker" who used a lot of nonsensical jargon coupled with a lot of vagueness.

I never liked that type. The type that I most associate with scams are people who talk in a vague way, but not in a vague way wherein you think they're stupid, but rather a vague way wherein you're always trying to keep up with what they're trying to say... you're always one step behind, and preoccupied with catching up, rather than truly understanding what they mean. In my experience, that's the most dangerous type - I've encountered them before.

 

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[Mattie]

Might be worth reading "Give and Take" by Adam Grant.

According to Adam, the lowest rungs of the ladder are occupied by the Givers who help others progress in their careers. Above them are the Takers and Matchers. But at the top of the ladder are the Givers who've learned not to be taken advantage of.

I think that's where I am at the moment. Giver, but understand be selective who you help. Since most of the time, there is a underlying motivation, intention, and I don't believe much what people say anymore, since "Words" tend to be manipulated to fit agenda's, motivation, and intention. I believe at a certain point in the process I learned giving to others is just the win-win situation, but it's learning who those other win-win players are versus win-lose players that would be go back to the theory there are wolves, sheep dog, and sheep. You can have wolves dressed up like sheep. You can have wolves dressed up like sheep dog, and then you just have the wolf who is the wolf. They come in all shapes and colors. I think "Words" has been my best teacher the last 20 years. It's all in the words!

 

[nothingness]

I think that's where I am at the moment. Giver, but understand be selective who you help. Since most of the time, there is a underlying motivation, intention, and I don't believe much what people say anymore, since "Words" tend to be manipulated to fit agenda's, motivation, and intention. I believe at a certain point in the process I learned giving to others is just the win-win situation, but it's learning who those other win-win players are versus win-lose players that would be go back to the theory there are wolves, sheep dog, and sheep. You can have wolves dressed up like sheep. You can have wolves dressed up like sheep dog, and then you just have the wolf who is the wolf. They come in all shapes and colors. I think "Words" has been my best teacher the last 20 years. It's all in the words!

Might be worth reading "Give and Take" by Adam Grant.

According to Adam, the lowest rungs of the ladder are occupied by the Givers who help others progress in their careers. Above them are the Takers and Matchers. But at the top of the ladder are the Givers who've learned not to be taken advantage of.

Thank you, I will follow up on that. At present my focus is on helping people whilst forcing myself to not expect a thank you or even them not to take advantage, therefore minimizing my ego. Like if you open the door for a woman then get pissed off internally if she doesn't say thanks, are you opening the door to be kind or opening the door for a compliment? Apply that to all forms of giveness... I think a lot of people are kind in hope of something in return.
Psychopaths will always prosper on the ladder as they have the "fortitude" of doing things that people with empathy would just never do, usually combined with the charisma required to get away with it.

Share his real name

just go to ripoffreport and search mj demarco, mj's name will come up in the text for Z's report.

How did she get that impression? What were the triggers? I think it would be helpful to share so that people can better protect themselves.

Smart women are in touch with their gut instinct, which is usually always right.

 

[IceCreamKid]

Said he was a flamboyant "speed talker" who used a lot of nonsensical jargon coupled with a lot of vagueness.

This was exactly the first red flag that I noticed when I finally met the guy in person. He wouldn't stop talking about money and his achievements which really turned me off for some reason. I didn't catch the red flags on the forum because this is a place where people come specifically to talk about money, investments, etc

There is a special place in hell for these gurus who take advantage of young hopefuls who are just trying to better their lives. I still remember the daily passive aggressive voicemails being left on my phone during the mass exodus. It's been 8 years since that fallout, lots of lessons learned since then. I hope to one day write a thread here with an incredibly actionable roadmap that many can use as a blueprint to start from. The problem is I learn something new on a damn near daily basis so the roadmap is never complete.

 

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[Kak]

I was solicited several times for the merchant account and some kind of credit card thing. I always said no.

He was a seemingly intelligent and charismatic guy. Like I always say with people like him who screw people over and ruin their reputation… He could have been a legitimate businessman, but instead everyone thinks he’s a douche and his life sucks.

It’s honestly just a shame. An utter waste.

 

[Kak]

This was exactly the first red flag that I noticed when I finally met the guy in person. He wouldn't stop talking about money and his achievements which really turned me off for some reason. I didn't catch the red flags on the forum because this is a place where people come specifically to talk about money, investments, etc

There is a special place in hell for these gurus who take advantage of young hopefuls who are just trying to better their lives. I still remember the daily passive aggressive voicemails being left on my phone during the mass exodus. It's been 8 years since that fallout, lots of lessons learned since then. I hope to one day write a thread here with an incredibly actionable roadmap that many can use as a blueprint to start from. The problem is I learn something new on a damn near daily basis so the roadmap is never complete.

Dude! Good to see you here!

 

[Disciple96]

Ugh, what a nasty rabbit hole that was...

For anyone who was as curious as I, just to save you some time...

Just Google "fastlaneforum ripoff report" and it'll come up.

Not like it's really that interesting anyways. Mad depressing, actually, that someone would take advantage of the medium MJ created to manipulate others.

Long and short of it is, eff that guy. What a disgusting coward. Its a shame he still hasnt been held accountable, but the BIG MORAL here is just focus on doing right by others, and the ice cream will follow.

Remember, a cult of personality is just that... a cult. And this is just one more reason not to violate the commandment of CONTROL (not that anyone should have expected that outcome, the fault is 100% with Z)

In a perfect world, we can trust people to do the right thing... but we live in the world of business where it's dog eat dog and YOU are the only one who is responsible for YOUR SECURITY. Never forget that some people will cut you down to lift themselves higher, and be prepared to deal with them appropriately.

Thanks @IceCreamKid for the insane value you provide here in this post. Still have more to go but all the Z posts triggered my sleuthing instincts to figure WTF everyone is referencing.

 

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[Andy Black]

I think a lot of people are kind in hope of something in return.

I like being the first to give, even if it’s a hello or a smile. I observe whether it’s appreciated, or even noticed.


Applied to business:

“Sales is a screening process” (Blaise Brosnan)

I don’t try to sell to everyone. I try to see who’s interested and then engage with them to see how interested they are.

 

[Andy Black]

This was exactly the first red flag that I noticed when I finally met the guy in person. He wouldn't stop talking about money and his achievements which really turned me off for some reason. I didn't catch the red flags on the forum because this is a place where people come specifically to talk about money, investments, etc

There is a special place in hell for these gurus who take advantage of young hopefuls who are just trying to better their lives. I still remember the daily passive aggressive voicemails being left on my phone during the mass exodus. It's been 8 years since that fallout, lots of lessons learned since then. I hope to one day write a thread here with an incredibly actionable roadmap that many can use as a blueprint to start from. The problem is I learn something new on a damn near daily basis so the roadmap is never complete.

Welcome back @IceCreamKid.

Yeah, it’s hard to bash thoughts and learnings into a blueprint. I often just braindump into a thread so people can get value, I can get early feedback, and to have it all stored somewhere.

 

[Black_Dragon43]

“Sales is a screening process” (Blaise Brosnan)

I don’t try to sell to everyone. I try to see who’s interested and then engage with them to see how interested they are.

You and I have very different styles when it comes to sales Andy, but we share the above. It’s a BIG BIG point… sometimes people don’t realise how big. But a lot of the anxiety that comes with sales is because people put so much pressure on themselves to close the person… they think it’s their duty to close everyone they speak to. But as you said, the first step of sales is filtering… figure out who has SOME interest in solving the problem you can solve and then pursue them. So it shouldn’t matter to you if they have no interest… just speak to more people, figure out how to create higher volumes of conversation!

Its a shame he still hasnt been held accountable

I am not sure that this is the case. He may have been held accountable in some way, I mean there must be a reason why ALL his social media profiles went blank and got deleted right?

 

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[Consolation]

This thread is EPIC GOLD!

 

[robins]

I hope to one day write a thread here with an incredibly actionable roadmap that many can use as a blueprint to start from.

Please do

 

[MJ DeMarco]

I mean there must be a reason why ALL his social media profiles went blank and got deleted right?

For Bucks sake, I wish I knew.

 

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[nothingness]

Whether you believe in it or not, karma has it's way with people like this. He will get his, one day.
The mindblowing part is how scammers like this invest years of hard work just to scam people, then have to create fake personas and live that lie, the stress (and therefore damage) to oneself from having to remember the lies must be huge!!!

And a personal thanks to @IceCreamKid for this thread. What I have taken away the most is "how can I help this person?" The thought came to me whilst sitting with my therapist today. How can I help my therapist? I didn't get the answer today, but I'm sure I will at some point.

 

[Mattie]

Smart women are in touch with their gut instinct, which is usually always right.

Good to hear someone say this. I could tell you some great stories through out my life when I told people stuff and they ignored it and crap happened right afterwards. I had to stop doubting myself, because people like to tell you that your gut instinct is wrong and it's usually right on the dot. Good way to sabotage yourself is not trusting yourself. The answers are all inside of you. You just have to Know Thyself as they say.

 

[Mattie]

Whether you believe in it or not, karma has it's way with people like this. He will get his, one day.
The mindblowing part is how scammers like this invest years of hard work just to scam people, then have to create fake personas and live that lie, the stress (and therefore damage) to oneself from having to remember the lies must be huge!!!

And a personal thanks to @IceCreamKid for this thread. What I have taken away the most is "how can I help this person?" The thought came to me whilst sitting with my therapist today. How can I help my therapist? I didn't get the answer today, but I'm sure I will at some point.

I find it fascinating when people ask for your help like someone did today. Then they say, well you know I don't always agree with you, but thanks for sharing your advice. Now, love those moments, when people like this waste your time.

 

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[Mac]

Z's probably out in Tulum these days

I also had a run-in with a very skilled manipulator/scammer/conman around 5 years ago [2017 in Thailand]. He claimed he was from San Francisco, a big startup guy that just exited his company [and if you searched it up, he was apart of the company and the company DID exit... so his story somehow checked up].

However, he was not really apart of the company. I forget the exact details of it, but it was very believable.

He would name drop people from Silicon Valley, talk about little quirks [he mentioned he had tacos a few times with Noah Kagan]. The fact he was so detailed made it seem more believable. Very sophisticated.

Long story short, he ripped off a good friend of mine by changing his Shopify payout to his own bank account, and siphoned around $6K from his PayPal at the time. His ecommerce biz was just taking off, so it was a big blow...and of course Shopify wouldn't recover it.

The guy wasn't my friend prior to this, but we became friends after this scenario unfolded. The con artist brought him to our house to build up rapport. After my now friend saw we were cool people, he trusted the con artist even more. The con man knew he had to be quick to achieve his plan. We literally met him 2-3 days prior, and he didn't stay for long. He displayed intense knowledge about the startup world, had the aura of a busy investor type who was looking to invest in entrepreneurs. Within 1.5 weeks of meeting all of us, he went off with around $6K in cash.

We later found out this guy was involved in multiple schemes in the US, ripping off business partners for around $50K and was even brought to court, where he was forced to repay the amount he took.

Thankfully I had a bad gut feeling and avoided sending this guy money.

The guy he ripped off has went on to make millions, while this con artist is probably bouncing around in Vietnam or Cambodia like a scrub. A fitting end.

 

[basedzoomer]

I like this thread A LOT!

(Only read till page 3 so far)