We’ve all been talking about the new challenges social media brings into our lives. With all the great, there is still some bad – specifically the con artists and image folks who appear to be so much bigger than life on social media, but who are in reality so much less than they appear.
We’ve all met them – and if you haven’t by now, consider yourself blessed. I personally have had a “top” leadership coach steal my content and plagiarize it as his own all over the internet, I’ve had leaders make commitments and then conveniently forget their side of the bargain once mine was delivered and I’ve been conned into supporting a cause that was, well, let’s just say fairy tales thrive on the internet.
What’s sticking in my craw is the ease with which people like this get by with what is such obviously conscious, planned and repetitive behavior. Because we don’t say anything. I’m reminded of some of the darkest times in our history – Nazi Germany, slavery, child prostitution, apartheid, the slaughter of Buddhist monks in Tibet - because the world stand up, or didn’t stand up until it was almost too late.
We get stuck in Gravity when it comes to such people. Specifically:
- We get stuck in our fear. “I can’t step up and say anything because that person might sue me.” “They might come after me, shut down my Twitter or Facebook account if I say anything negative about them.” “They might say bad things about me and then where would I be?”
- We get stuck in our victimhood. “That person took money from me and I’m mad but I just don’t know what to do about it.” “What was so awful, I’m devastated.”
And so we sit, discussing the issues behind closed doors, in private e-mails, in Twitter D’s and private Facebook messages.
Why don’t we step up for the truth? I don’t have an answer for that question. Especially in today’s world of social media. together we have the power to stop predators and sociopaths from moving among us. we can use the power of word-of-mouth to protect those who would be preyed on by con artists and worse.
I think it’s about time we started doing just that. that’s why I’m taking my first step today - out of my gravity and into a truth. I’m going to share a story with you about a predator who needs to be stopped. and then you ask you to help me stop him.
Over a year ago I met a man who I thought was a fabulous person on Twitter. He was a retired executive, committed to use his writing skills in supporting the Chiva Foundation - an organization he and his ex-wife had founded to fund an orphanage in Poland. Many of us bought his weekly Wisdom Notes (Cliff Notes on the books of master authors) as gifts for our friends and family. But mostly we did it to support those poor abandoned children. I also helped him market Wisdom Notes and some other fund-raising projects, all for worthy causes.
I began to notice that this fabulous man wasn’t living up to his commitments. Dichotomies and conflicting stories began to appear. I noticed but I didn’t pay attention. Many of us didn’t see those warning signs - we were wrapped in the power of his charm.
Then, he disappeared off the face of the planet. For days we called hospitals and emergency services, airlines and transport - no one had any record of him. Then we called his lawyer and his banks - they’d never heard of him either. Actually his lawyer didn’t exist. It was a phony name, address and phone number. The house he’d willed to my friend in case of his demise didn’t exist either. Nor did the bank accounts he’d claimed.
As the story unraveled, we learned that this knight in shining armor has had somewhere between 4-6 wives, a charge for bigamy, has defrauded people all over Europe. It gets worse. The $100,000 plus that he collected for the orphans went into his hip pocket - there never was a Chiva Foundation, nor was there an orphanage of any kind that we can find.
We now have evidence from numerous sources. We have falsified bank documents, wire transfers, legal agreements. Yet people continue to talk about what he might do, how he might attack anyone who speaks out against him.
For a while I have remained silent. But I can’t remain silent anymore. He’s back, selling Wisdom Notes, running the same scam again. This time to put money into his own pocket but still – people need to know the truth about this man. As a global village – we can slow him down, maybe we can even stop him. If we step up for the truth. We are not powerless – we are empowered.
www.wisdomnote.com this man’s website.
I’m writing this in hopes that readers will spread the word. Let’s use social media to help prevent others from being taken by this man. Together, we can protect the next poor family and the next group of souls he seeks to plunder. All it takes is a simple warning from us all.
Stay Away…..
