Tyler, the scam artists are counting on their victims to be ashamed and embarrassed to come forward. Thankfully, you had the guts to come forward and are helping many other potential victims before they get burned.
At 6:00 "Anyone can become a victim to a Ponzi scheme". Anyone but not everyone, I've never ever invested into anything but my own small business. I just don't trust anyone out there but myself, simple as that.
@@BillAnt Fair enough. I don't think I'd fall for one as I'm naturally suspicious an 10x that with money. I still have compassion for those who do, because it hurts the scammers and helps people, since it encourages people to educate each other by sharing their stories. The reason u probably doesn't trust people with investments is because you've seen and heard about people getting screwed and learned from that.
What more can the SEC do for him if he filed an individual complaint. They are already investigating the parties involved and are aware of the 2,100 investors who were scammed. When the initial SEC complaint was filed, it was discovered that Agridime-held cattle contracts required payment to investors of $123 million in principle, plus $24 million in guaranteed "profits", but the company had less than $1.5 million and insufficient operating revenues. People are losing a lot of money. It's sad.
My retired parents lost $80K to Bernie Madoff. They have recovered a lot of it back slowly over the years. It sort of dribbles back as more and more of Madoff's assets get discovered and liquidated. Then the proceeds are divided up and sent out to his victims.
My great uncle lost his whole savings (family thinks it to be over 200k but nobody really knows) to Madoff. He was smart enough to have bought a few silver bars and a bunch of gold which he didnt lose and was enough to live the rest of his life (another 6 years after)
Bernie victims were almost made whole. They got back about 91% of their invested money. They are probably one of the luckiest scam victims ever. Who gets back 91% from a ponzi scheme?
Thanks to patriotic President Joe Biden doing the right thing, Trump's dystopian dream to Make America Hate Again is over. This 78 year OLD disgraced convicted felon Top Secret Classified documents thief is the new Bernie Madoff. He knows he's going to lose the election, he knows he's going to prison for his multiple crimes, he knows he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison and he knows he's going to die in prison.
Antenna Man, this video shows you care about your subscribers in more ways than one. It's been a somewhat crazy year for you with the demonetizing by You Tube now this. Your video should be shown to more than just cord cutters to bring to the surface situations like this. Let's hope justice prevails
Having helped my dad with cows I could have told anyone that any double digit return was a scam. Fuel to transport them and getting mineral blocks and hay during the winter for feed makes it impossible
@@jtmg11 The next pyramid schemers will start with exactly that; a good story with a good name. Something about toddlers, or puppies, or the environment, or helping old folks. And ... a 20% return.
@@yourneighborhood Silver is not a good investment. Up 20%? So what did you gain about 10 dollars? It has never held up over time. You would be better off with index funds since silver is of low value anyway.
Always ask yourself a question, if it's so profitable why isn't the big money gobbling it all up? People like me and you NEVER get the opportunity to get in on such good deals.
You should have said "Nothing produces a guaranteed 20% return." There have been several years where the S&P has returned 20% and even 30%. These huge gains will be followed by a drop eventually but it definitely has happened more than once.
@@peteb5883 Yes, that is the point,if they claim 20% returns or guarantee it, it likely is a fraud. There is tremendous risk in high yields, it is how they make those returns. One of the biggest busts in financial history, Long Term Capital, was in a fund that thought they had the magic formula, investing across asset classes, had huge returns, then was sunk when Asian currencies suddenly went poof. It is why when looking at funds look at the several year track record, it is a lot more legitimate an indication of how good they are.
I think your candor and willingness to share a bad personal experience with your community is invaluable. I don’t think there’s any dollar amount or other way to express how much someone like you. Who is seen by so many people every week is appreciated no matter what your topic of discussion. you’re willingness to share your learned lesson with your community is what your channel is all about. your next step going forward has to be right for you, as far as what anyone else thinks that’s in material because you got the message out and that’s all that counts as far as the TH-cam community is concerned. Great job as always on this and your previous and upcoming videos, you can go forward with the peace of mind that you’re going to have the support of your entire TH-cam channel community for years to come. Best wishes.
Better yet don't trust anyone for any amount. If you have money tor burn, at least go with large institutions like the stock market which is heavily regulated While there are pump and dumps, that's usually not the case with large companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google etc.
Agreed. The one thing in this video I disagree with is when he says that nobody could have seen this coming. Yes, they could. It was easy to see coming if you researched the industry itself, and saw how Agridime's promised returns were so far out of line with legitimate returns in the industry. Beyond that, their simplified explanation of how the promised returns would be generated, was beyond amateurish. They literally did not account for one penny of the expense of raising and finishing the cattle. They simply said, "The cattle cost X and we sell them for Y, therefore the profit is Y-X."
Indeed, index funds are great. Of course you have the occasional down year, a few that are deep. But if you can handle them and keep in the game Index funds are great.
I see alot of people making a 20% return as a red flag, but it's actually possible in the stock market. Will it last forever, certainly not but over the last 5 years it was very much possible to average 20% because I did.
My father got sucked into one of these schemes in the 1990s. Lost his life savings. The company went bankrupt and my dad got no restitution. Karma caught up with the principals of this terrible company, though... One of the instigators ended up being "life-ended" by his own wife! And the other one died in prison. Sorry you are going through this, and it takes real bravery to discuss this publicly. Thanks for all you do for cord-cutters everywhere!
I'm 75 years old. Welcome to the world that has made me a MAJOR cynic! During my years, as I reflect, the LARGEST losses I've endured, all came back to one common denominator, MY GREED!!
Respect. Must be tough to admit something publicly. Best of luck to you in the future. Lesson learned: be weary of anyone who promises a specific return.
It was a bit tough. I didn't exactly want to make this video but figured to do so in hopes that it prevents others from falling victim to a similar scheme.
@@AntennaManI got lucky and got out on the early side of something similar. It wasn't exactly a ponzi scheme, but they were selling a product they didn't have and skimming off more than just profits. I got my order, but people who were just a couple of months behind just lost all their money. This was not a cheap product. Glad you made it out with something! It's OK to kick yourself hard enough to remember the pain, but then you have to forgive yourself and move on with life. In an unrelated incident I found out how little I could trust family or friends in hard times. That was not a fun lesson. I hope you don't have to learn it, but from your intro it sounds like you are bracing for that impact. Remember, Jesus loves you, even if no one else does.
I used to work for American Business Financial Services in Philadelphia specializing in Sub Prime loans. They sold Junk Bonds to retirees and went belly up. They advertised in newspapers in Kansas City and other far away places. Investors didn't visit Philadelphia to do Due Diligence. Their rates were 5% higher than normal and the Fed's caught them doing improper activities. They had to have FIRE Sales for their Loan Portfolios, so no longer were institutional banks ready to buy their mortgages. Was not a ponzi scheme, but the top executives knew they only had a 6 month life expectancy. We even got stock for a Christmas bonus that could not be cashed in for 6 months. Worthless!
@@stevebabiak6997 , ABFS stiffed paying the GA title fee of $6.50 per loan. I made the Journal entry into the account, but there were no entries made to Pay GA to clear the account.
Thanks so very much for setting aside the regular topic of TV antennas to address this issue that I'm so sorry you've had to go through. Hopefully this issue will be resolved and you'll be able to get everything back that you lost. This video should serve as a warning to always watch very carefully what people do with their money when it comes to investing. Listen to what happened to the Antenna Man here and let this be a lesson not to fall victim to atrocious schemes like this one. I wish you the best and for a full recovery from this appalling thing that was done to you.
It's a sick system that a young person should have to worry about retirement during the best years of their life the system needs to be completely overhauled
@@dampergoldenrod4156 Really saving should be started in your 20's most young people spend, spend, spend and try starting in late 30 or early 40 when saving or investing leaves little time for mistakes.
It's good you made the video. I just heard a story yesterday of a bunch of people who trusted a guy who bought about 130 houses and they were all supposed to make money from this... then all 130 got foreclosed on. They lost every cent. Those people you show look like normal people. Yuk. The most I ever lost on a scam was $400 from someone sending a phony email from a friend whom I loved. If she wanted $400 she could have it.
Antennaman, thank you for having the balls to talk about this here, and thanks for your good and honest work. Like you said you will recover fine, and who knows maybe even fully. Do not let this waste of humans ruin your life. To some extent the whole financial system is a humungous pyramid scheme. Precisely the work you do is to try to cut one of the hundreds of cords that keep us being puppets of all kinds of corporations.
Thank you Tyler for coming forward and sharing this. It can be embarrassing, and one can desire to keeping it hidden, but by coming forward and sharing, you help others avoiding being victimized as well.
My father got sucked into this kind of thing in the 1960s. It wasnt a Ponzi scheme, it was just a poorly run enterprise that sucked the cash out of the company for the benefit of the founders and then went bankrupt. I learned my lesson from that.
The same thing happened to my dad in the 1960's. I think it was some sort of real estate investment scam, where the same piece of (almost worthless) land was 'sold' multiple times to a number of investors with promises they'd make big bucks with some supposed proposed development that would be built on it. Occasionally some people would get a little dividend that was simply money skimmed from new investors. Fortunately, my dad didn't invest more than he could afford to loose, so although he never really got his money back, at least he didn't go broke in the process. . and, as in your case, he turned it into a valuable leaning lesson for me.
@@a9ball1 Intention and technique. Ponzi was a scammer selling vegetable oil. He'd show investors full tanks of oil today and a different full ones the next day but there was only one batch of oil instead of many - he just kept moving it around. He intended to rip people off, much the same as Enron, Madoff, and others.
@@a9ball1 The Ponzi scheme is fraudulently misrepresenting their venture to entice you to make investments. The poorly run business isn't deceiving you by pretending they've made all sorts of money they haven't, they just suck at running a business.
It's very cool that you shared this with us. You didn't have to do it. We really appreciate how candid you are. It makes your reviews all the more credible! Thanks for all you do!
Tyler sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope that you recover from the incident and continue to bring informative cord cutting videos. I wish you well and much success.
That's good advice on how to avoid a Ponzi scheme. I haven't gotten suckered into a Ponzi scheme before, but I've been scammed and I've had things of mine that were stolen. It's never a good feeling, and you are not alone.
It's sad that there are people out there who have no regrets for taking people's hard earned money. Thank you for posting this because even if it looks legit, it may not be. Hope everything works out in the end.
You are very fortunate in that you're young and only gave them 25 percent of your money! Hang in there and keep doing what you do. Always enjoy your content
I must say you have skill in acknowledging you fell victim for such a scheme and able to directly share your experience to help others not fall for such schemes.
I admire your candor and willingness to share a painful experience that you had, and I appreciate what you are doing to inform your subscribers. Thank you Antenna Man!!!!
Thank you, for sharing your vulnerable side; most people would not want to tell any one that they have made a bad misstate! I'm proud of you for sharing so others won't become a victim! Thank you for being brave and sharing!
Thank you for sharing something like this. People try to save face when things like this happen. It's good to share these things to boost awareness for these scams and help people not feel stupid.
Glad you are sharing. It can feel real shameful, but by sharing, you are making it more normal so that other people can share and allow everyone to be more aware of these illegal scams. ❤
“In this day and age”…sounds like you never studied history. Investments have always had elements of risk and danger since markets began. Scammers scammed people pretty much the same ways as they did over 100 years ago. The first known Ponzi scheme took place before it’s namesake Charles Ponzi was even born.
@@drivebywire9962 It’s always been this way! Since the beginning of time! Again, anybody who has any sense of historical context knows that today is no different than 120 years ago, 100 years ago, 50 years ago, 5 year ago and 5 minutes ago. It didn’t magically get dangerous to invest today. People have aways tried to scam people out of money since money was invented. What you said sounds incredibly unsophisticated.
The leading voice in exposing tech support scams got scammed out of his TH-cam channel temporarily. If he can get scammed despite being the leading figure in exposing scams, anyone can.
I am so sorry this happened to you. Why is it that bad people always take advantage of good people like yourself. You are here to help complete strangers, as you have helped me when I cut the cord, and it makes me so angry that people like that take advantage of good people such as yourself. Thanks for all of your antenna help!
The other red flag, is investing in the animal itself, and not the company. I remember a similar scam with shipping containers. You would buy a container, and through out its lifetime take 25% of its profits. At the end of its life time you could have it delivered to where ever you wanted. They sold the same containers to hundreds of people. Thank you for raising awareness.
Sorry to hear this happened. I hope you are able to recover your money. Thank you for posting this. It take guts, but you are doing a real public service.
Hey , it happens to the best of us , I'm glad that you got a lawyer and I hope you get your money back, You do make good informative and educational videos , keep up the good work . Thanks for the heads up .
You're exactly right. No shame in falling victim to something like this. These people are professionals and make a career out of defrauding. They're experts at it. Most of us are average Joe's who just try to do the right thing. This video will help out tons of people. Keep up the good work, Tyler!!
"Anyone can become a victim" of a ponzi scheme. Not really... people smart enough to not funnel their money into an investment they don't understand and people who are rightfully skeptical of larger-than-life returns like 20% guaranteed per year wouldn't fall for anything remotely resembling this. Anyway, good on you for coming forward and getting the word out, it was the right thing to do.
Tyler - I say this with only kindness. If someone promises you 15-20% annual returns on a passive investment you should be very suspicious. If that kind of return was as safe as portrayed, no one would buy certificates of deposits, bonds or even stocks.
He only lost 10K. This is my lunch money. And like 1 month rent in California. This whole video is a crybaby, talk to me when you have losses of at least 200K, this is significant.
So sorry to hear this happened to you. You have the right attitude, you're young and will recover. Take your own advice, don't you be ashamed! We all do better when we learn/know better. Thanks for the good info.
Thank you for your honesty. We all can learn by your experience. Scammers work for years for a few minute of your time. There is no easy way to research everything in a short time.
I hired a contractor that wrecked the bricks on the front of my house while vibrating the driveway bed they told me it wasnt their fault and it would cost me $10 000 to fight it 😢 Turns out a buddies wife worked for a major strong corporate property lawyer .. one letter later they replaced my bricks crooks
You are a Good and Humble Gentleman Tyler. Thanks for opening up and sharing your experience about this unfortunate scam you found yourself in. DON'T listen to any of these comments that say "you should have known better" as I would suspect if more videos like this were available and viewed, less people would be scammed. You have now paid it forward to others and learned a valuable lesson and nothing to be ashamed of! Due to your integrity and tenacity, you will overcome this loss quickly and look back at it as just a small bump in the road that made you more laser focused on your goals. I speak from experience. I've done pretty well in life but you simply cannot win EVERY HAND! Thanks again for sharing and keep on being Tyler the Antenna Man!!!
The only private investment for retirement should be low fee Index funds through Vanguard or the like. There is no quick or guaranteed route to big returns.
With retirement funds I agree index funds are a great base investment. What I tell people (I am not a financial advisor ) is put 80% into long term index funds, and the other 20% if you want to play investor and invest in high yield but risky funds, stocks, and so forth, go ahead (or do 90-10).
4:17 "I couldnt have seen this thing coming" -- yes you could. You need to take responsibility. An investment with a guaranteed return of 30%, risk free, doesn't exist. That's most certainly a scam.
And another red flag when they guarantee a certain amount or percentage. The market can't be predicted so how are they able to say 15 to 20% guaranteed return? That is a big red flag to me.
While crypto currencies are currently a financial darling, take it from me stay the hell away from things like investment places promising great returns on crypto mining, if there was a market ripe for ponzi schemes it is crypto. The whole way they do mining is bizarre (it comes down to using a lot of computing power to solve complicated problems, if you solve the problem you get awarded bitcoin or whatever), and it is almost completely unregulated, and given that crypto by its very nature is anonymous, it is ripe for exploitation.
Tyler, the scam artists are counting on their victims to be ashamed and embarrassed to come forward. Thankfully, you had the guts to come forward and are helping many other potential victims before they get burned.
@@Cre80s My first response is "Naaamez! I want naaaamez!" (zombie voice)
At 6:00 "Anyone can become a victim to a Ponzi scheme". Anyone but not everyone, I've never ever invested into anything but my own small business. I just don't trust anyone out there but myself, simple as that.
Being that you have people like Barron and Eric Trump doing full on ponzi schemes with their crypto coins, it's not too surprising at this point
@@BillAnt Fair enough. I don't think I'd fall for one as I'm naturally suspicious an 10x that with money. I still have compassion for those who do, because it hurts the scammers and helps people, since it encourages people to educate each other by sharing their stories. The reason u probably doesn't trust people with investments is because you've seen and heard about people getting screwed and learned from that.
@@monkemode8128 - That's exactly right, I don't trust anyone with my money but myself. Sadly some people are just gullible.
20% returns are basically 100% scams unfortunately.
I have some lovely, magic beans, if you’re interested? 😉
It took guts and maturity to make this video. Kudos.
I agree, I didn't expect this, but it is useful to see how these things work.
Make sure you fill out a complaint at the SEC. Yes, they have your data. Do it anyway. Louder people get more results.
What more can the SEC do for him if he filed an individual complaint. They are already investigating the parties involved and are aware of the 2,100 investors who were scammed. When the initial SEC complaint was filed, it was discovered that Agridime-held cattle contracts required payment to investors of $123 million in principle, plus $24 million in guaranteed "profits", but the company had less than $1.5 million and insufficient operating revenues. People are losing a lot of money. It's sad.
@nissan_skyline volume accomplishes things. Go Google
My retired parents lost $80K to Bernie Madoff. They have recovered a lot of it back slowly over the years. It sort of dribbles back as more and more of Madoff's assets get discovered and liquidated. Then the proceeds are divided up and sent out to his victims.
❤
My great uncle lost his whole savings (family thinks it to be over 200k but nobody really knows) to Madoff. He was smart enough to have bought a few silver bars and a bunch of gold which he didnt lose and was enough to live the rest of his life (another 6 years after)
@@mattcolver1 Madoff is one peanut compared to the 2008 meltdown. The congressional inquiry report should be required reading.
Bernie victims were almost made whole. They got back about 91% of their invested money. They are probably one of the luckiest scam victims ever. Who gets back 91% from a ponzi scheme?
Thanks to patriotic President Joe Biden doing the right thing, Trump's dystopian dream to Make America Hate Again is over. This 78 year OLD disgraced convicted felon Top Secret Classified documents thief is the new Bernie Madoff. He knows he's going to lose the election, he knows he's going to prison for his multiple crimes, he knows he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison and he knows he's going to die in prison.
Antenna Man, this video shows you care about your subscribers in more ways than one. It's been a somewhat crazy year for you with the demonetizing by You Tube now this. Your video should be shown to more than just cord cutters to bring to the surface situations like this. Let's hope justice prevails
@@elmofeneken4364 I'll be showing it around.
20% return is the biggest red flag
Having helped my dad with cows I could have told anyone that any double digit return was a scam. Fuel to transport them and getting mineral blocks and hay during the winter for feed makes it impossible
It was their name for me
@@jtmg11 The next pyramid schemers will start with exactly that; a good story with a good name. Something about toddlers, or puppies, or the environment, or helping old folks. And ... a 20% return.
You're not too good at financial investments. My silver alone is up 20% YTD.
@@yourneighborhood
Silver is not a good investment. Up 20%? So what did you gain about 10 dollars? It has never held up over time. You would be better off with index funds since silver is of low value anyway.
Always ask yourself a question, if it's so profitable why isn't the big money gobbling it all up? People like me and you NEVER get the opportunity to get in on such good deals.
Absolutely! If an investment "opportunity" comes looking for you, RUN.
So true, that is reserved for Congress and their insider trading that we would be in prison for ala Martha Stewart.
Sorry for your headaches, Tyler. Lessons learned, Thanks for sharing. If I ever meet you, I never saw this video.
Nothing produces a 20% return. That's the most important thing to keep in mind.
Not true! Nancy Pelosi and Hillary Clinton have earned far higher returns on their investments.
You should have said "Nothing produces a guaranteed 20% return." There have been several years where the S&P has returned 20% and even 30%. These huge gains will be followed by a drop eventually but it definitely has happened more than once.
@@peteb5883 Yes, that is the point,if they claim 20% returns or guarantee it, it likely is a fraud. There is tremendous risk in high yields, it is how they make those returns. One of the biggest busts in financial history, Long Term Capital, was in a fund that thought they had the magic formula, investing across asset classes, had huge returns, then was sunk when Asian currencies suddenly went poof.
It is why when looking at funds look at the several year track record, it is a lot more legitimate an indication of how good they are.
Apple Amazon Nvidia NovoNordisk have entered the chat.
I've averaged 20% in the stock market over the last 5 years. It wont last forever, but i paid off alot of debt. Thank you capitalism.
I think your candor and willingness to share a bad personal experience with your community is invaluable. I don’t think there’s any dollar amount or other way to express how much someone like you. Who is seen by so many people every week is appreciated no matter what your topic of discussion. you’re willingness to share your learned lesson with your community is what your channel is all about. your next step going forward has to be right for you, as far as what anyone else thinks that’s in material because you got the message out and that’s all that counts as far as the TH-cam community is concerned. Great job as always on this and your previous and upcoming videos, you can go forward with the peace of mind that you’re going to have the support of your entire TH-cam channel community for years to come. Best wishes.
Never trust anything that promises a return like that.
Better yet don't trust anyone for any amount. If you have money tor burn, at least go with large institutions like the stock market which is heavily regulated While there are pump and dumps, that's usually not the case with large companies like Apple, Microsoft, Google etc.
@@BillAntthis is the best advice. Approach anything financial with a high degree of skepticism. Doubly so if they promise high yields
Agreed. The one thing in this video I disagree with is when he says that nobody could have seen this coming. Yes, they could. It was easy to see coming if you researched the industry itself, and saw how Agridime's promised returns were so far out of line with legitimate returns in the industry. Beyond that, their simplified explanation of how the promised returns would be generated, was beyond amateurish. They literally did not account for one penny of the expense of raising and finishing the cattle. They simply said, "The cattle cost X and we sell them for Y, therefore the profit is Y-X."
I have used the Vanguard S&P 500 Index fund for years. Chugs along at 11%.
Large cap index funds are the way to go
That's a good return BTW.
@@markrobinson9956Agreed.
Indeed, index funds are great. Of course you have the occasional down year, a few that are deep. But if you can handle them and keep in the game Index funds are great.
Yup saw 24% last year
I think one of the red flags is a promised return on a commodity. Prices fluctuate so there is no way to guarantee a 15% - 20% return
Honestly a 10%-20% return on anything is a big red flag
@@KyleBTech Antenna Man is now looking for something with a 30% to 40% return so he can recover from this loss. Anybody got any hot tips for him?
@AdrianBoyko The safest way to double your money is to fold it in half and put back in your pocket. Mark Twain i think.
@AdrianBoyko ummm, he could sell advice on which external antenna to buy...oh wait...
@AdrianBoyko vanguard ETF "VGT" is the closet thing to guarantee 20% returns without selling drugs
Sorry to hear this, but 20% return would be a red flag for me.
exactly! im out. this is like bernie madoff
Tops for me 8% any more and I turn and get away.
@@STONE69_ I'm setting up a Ponzi scheme now. I'll make sure to limit my claims to 8%!!!
I see alot of people making a 20% return as a red flag, but it's actually possible in the stock market. Will it last forever, certainly not but over the last 5 years it was very much possible to average 20% because I did.
@@thedude5040
The stock market is a Ponzi scheme.
It hurts very much to hear how you were scammed. A year and a half ago we also were scammed the pain is still felt.
Why were you scammed? Did greed overtake your sense of reason?
I had an employer go bankrupt owing me over 5k. Never saw a cent
Same thing down here in Lake Charles La. Air craft company brought in by the Governor ! Left some employees missing a month in wages ! 🤮
@@KirbyBWebb Republican prot ct corporate masters at all costs
I had an employer miss payroll and then immediately fall apart. I never got my back wages, and the company owner died a few years later.
@@tpl608 all polititions are corrupt after a few years in DC.. even if they are democrat.. or republican
Shut up @@tpl608
My father got sucked into one of these schemes in the 1990s. Lost his life savings. The company went bankrupt and my dad got no restitution. Karma caught up with the principals of this terrible company, though... One of the instigators ended up being "life-ended" by his own wife! And the other one died in prison. Sorry you are going through this, and it takes real bravery to discuss this publicly. Thanks for all you do for cord-cutters everywhere!
Life ended?
What evil sorcery is this?
Did she pull the plug on his life support?
Did she arrest his heart with a 9 inch steak knife?
Yourube flags comments. They will remove your comments for certain words.
@@RED-cy7ig Ahh , of course and depending on who says what as it seems that it isn't evenly censored at times.
He means murder
I'm 75 years old. Welcome to the world that has made me a MAJOR cynic! During my years, as I reflect, the LARGEST losses I've endured, all came back to one common denominator, MY GREED!!
Thanks!
Respect. Must be tough to admit something publicly. Best of luck to you in the future. Lesson learned: be weary of anyone who promises a specific return.
It was a bit tough. I didn't exactly want to make this video but figured to do so in hopes that it prevents others from falling victim to a similar scheme.
@@AntennaManI got lucky and got out on the early side of something similar.
It wasn't exactly a ponzi scheme, but they were selling a product they didn't have and skimming off more than just profits.
I got my order, but people who were just a couple of months behind just lost all their money. This was not a cheap product.
Glad you made it out with something!
It's OK to kick yourself hard enough to remember the pain, but then you have to forgive yourself and move on with life.
In an unrelated incident I found out how little I could trust family or friends in hard times. That was not a fun lesson.
I hope you don't have to learn it, but from your intro it sounds like you are bracing for that impact.
Remember, Jesus loves you, even if no one else does.
@@AntennaMan
Brush it off, you have many years to set yourself up.
@@AntennaMan You only lost $10K, this is like one month rent in the US. Be happy you did not lose a million.
Thanks for your honesty. One of the reasons I subscribed. I only use the antenna for TV. I'm in the middle of the Duluth to twin cities markets
Re: “I only use the antenna for TV”. What are the other uses for a TV antenna?
@@johnpoldo8817 FM RADIO
I used to work for American Business Financial Services in Philadelphia specializing in Sub Prime loans. They sold Junk Bonds to retirees and went belly up. They advertised in newspapers in Kansas City and other far away places. Investors didn't visit Philadelphia to do Due Diligence. Their rates were 5% higher than normal and the Fed's caught them doing improper activities. They had to have FIRE Sales for their Loan Portfolios, so no longer were institutional banks ready to buy their mortgages.
Was not a ponzi scheme, but the top executives knew they only had a 6 month life expectancy. We even got stock for a Christmas bonus that could not be cashed in for 6 months. Worthless!
My mother had some money tied up with ABFS. The final payout came like 15 years after the sh1t hit the fan with them. Nowhere near “made whole”.
@@stevebabiak6997 , ABFS stiffed paying the GA title fee of $6.50 per loan. I made the Journal entry into the account, but there were no entries made to Pay GA to clear the account.
Thanks so very much for setting aside the regular topic of TV antennas to address this issue that I'm so sorry you've had to go through. Hopefully this issue will be resolved and you'll be able to get everything back that you lost.
This video should serve as a warning to always watch very carefully what people do with their money when it comes to investing. Listen to what happened to the Antenna Man here and let this be a lesson not to fall victim to atrocious schemes like this one.
I wish you the best and for a full recovery from this appalling thing that was done to you.
People need to save for retirement. It's great Tyler is planning that far ahead
It's a sick system that a young person should have to worry about retirement during the best years of their life the system needs to be completely overhauled
@@dampergoldenrod4156 Really saving should be started in your 20's most young people spend, spend, spend and try starting in late 30 or early 40 when saving or investing leaves little time for mistakes.
It's good you made the video. I just heard a story yesterday of a bunch of people who trusted a guy who bought about 130 houses and they were all supposed to make money from this... then all 130 got foreclosed on. They lost every cent. Those people you show look like normal people. Yuk. The most I ever lost on a scam was $400 from someone sending a phony email from a friend whom I loved. If she wanted $400 she could have it.
Very humble to admit your mistakes and share them to help others from not being scammed. 👍
Takes a big man to go public with this. You are helping others. Kudos to you.
Antennaman, thank you for having the balls to talk about this here, and thanks for your good and honest work. Like you said you will recover fine, and who knows maybe even fully. Do not let this waste of humans ruin your life. To some extent the whole financial system is a humungous pyramid scheme. Precisely the work you do is to try to cut one of the hundreds of cords that keep us being puppets of all kinds of corporations.
Thank you Tyler for coming forward and sharing this. It can be embarrassing, and one can desire to keeping it hidden, but by coming forward and sharing, you help others avoiding being victimized as well.
My father got sucked into this kind of thing in the 1960s. It wasnt a Ponzi scheme, it was just a poorly run enterprise that sucked the cash out of the company for the benefit of the founders and then went bankrupt. I learned my lesson from that.
The same thing happened to my dad in the 1960's. I think it was some sort of real estate investment scam, where the same piece of (almost worthless) land was 'sold' multiple times to a number of investors with promises they'd make big bucks with some supposed proposed development that would be built on it. Occasionally some people would get a little dividend that was simply money skimmed from new investors. Fortunately, my dad didn't invest more than he could afford to loose, so although he never really got his money back, at least he didn't go broke in the process. . and, as in your case, he turned it into a valuable leaning lesson for me.
What is the difference between a Ponzi scheme and just a poorly run business with a mass of bad luck?
@@a9ball1 Intention and technique. Ponzi was a scammer selling vegetable oil. He'd show investors full tanks of oil today and a different full ones the next day but there was only one batch of oil instead of many - he just kept moving it around. He intended to rip people off, much the same as Enron, Madoff, and others.
@@a9ball1 The Ponzi scheme is fraudulently misrepresenting their venture to entice you to make investments. The poorly run business isn't deceiving you by pretending they've made all sorts of money they haven't, they just suck at running a business.
@@cohort6159 so, just simple fraud -- or an innocent stupid failure.
That was very generous of you to share your story. The world is a better place for having people like you in it.
Thanks for the kind words!
Hi Tyler! Sorry that happened to you. Thanks for sharing. My wife and I really like you. You're a good guy!
It's very cool that you shared this with us. You didn't have to do it. We really appreciate how candid you are. It makes your reviews all the more credible! Thanks for all you do!
Tyler sorry to hear about your misfortune. I hope that you recover from the incident and continue to bring informative cord cutting videos. I wish you well and much success.
I really appreciate the antenna you recommended me from your consultant service - it’s been 2 years and I can tell you helped me find the right stuff.
Seeing that ”Our Team” was 100% family would make me suspicious.
I’m sorry that this happened to you, but I really respect you for making the video and sharing your story with us.
Sorry that happened. I enjoy your channel and hope it continues to be successful.
You're very likable for being so open and transparent. Enjoy all the support you're reading.
That's good advice on how to avoid a Ponzi scheme. I haven't gotten suckered into a Ponzi scheme before, but I've been scammed and I've had things of mine that were stolen. It's never a good feeling, and you are not alone.
It's sad that there are people out there who have no regrets for taking people's hard earned money. Thank you for posting this because even if it looks legit, it may not be. Hope everything works out in the end.
You are very fortunate in that you're young and only gave them 25 percent of your money! Hang in there and keep doing what you do. Always enjoy your content
Much respect to you for making this video. All the best...
I must say you have skill in acknowledging you fell victim for such a scheme and able to directly share your experience to help others not fall for such schemes.
I admire your candor and willingness to share a painful experience that you had, and I appreciate what you are doing to inform your subscribers. Thank you Antenna Man!!!!
Always a scammer waiting to steal someone's money.
We are all part of a ponzi scheme. SS taxes. Why do you think the age of retirement was set at average life span age?
Greed drives people to fall for their scams.
Thank you, for sharing your vulnerable side; most people would not want to tell any one that they have made a bad misstate! I'm proud of you for sharing so others won't become a victim! Thank you for being brave and sharing!
That really sucks. I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. I'll make sure to watch everything twice going forward so you get more ad revenue ☺️
I admire you immensely for putting your self out there to help others. Well done, my friend and best of luck to you. 💞
Sorry to hear. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.
Thank you for sharing something like this. People try to save face when things like this happen. It's good to share these things to boost awareness for these scams and help people not feel stupid.
I’m sorry that happened to you, but it’s good that you’re telling us about it.
I'm glad you have the courage to make this video and share your story, hopefully it will make us more vigilant in the future
The picture they show on their website are dairy cattle, not beef cattle! See it at 1:50.
Your attitude is so refreshing to see, just complete honesty
If it sounds too good to be true, It a scam. They pray on greedy people.
Glad you are sharing. It can feel real shameful, but by sharing, you are making it more normal so that other people can share and allow everyone to be more aware of these illegal scams. ❤
Well it just goes to show, no one is safe in this day and age.
Didn't used to be this way. Sure, there were people that tried to take your money, but they were in the minority and easy to spot.
“In this day and age”…sounds like you never studied history. Investments have always had elements of risk and danger since markets began. Scammers scammed people pretty much the same ways as they did over 100 years ago. The first known Ponzi scheme took place before it’s namesake Charles Ponzi was even born.
@@drivebywire9962
It’s always been this way! Since the beginning of time!
Again, anybody who has any sense of historical context knows that today is no different than 120 years ago, 100 years ago, 50 years ago, 5 year ago and 5 minutes ago. It didn’t magically get dangerous to invest today.
People have aways tried to scam people out of money since money was invented.
What you said sounds incredibly unsophisticated.
If you've ever paid credit card interest, then you fell victim to a scheme.
The leading voice in exposing tech support scams got scammed out of his TH-cam channel temporarily. If he can get scammed despite being the leading figure in exposing scams, anyone can.
I am so sorry this happened to you. Why is it that bad people always take advantage of good people like yourself. You are here to help complete strangers, as you have helped me when I cut the cord, and it makes me so angry that people like that take advantage of good people such as yourself. Thanks for all of your antenna help!
Thanks for the warning!
Yes,indeed.It can really happens to anyone.
The other red flag, is investing in the animal itself, and not the company.
I remember a similar scam with shipping containers. You would buy a container, and through out its lifetime take 25% of its profits. At the end of its life time you could have it delivered to where ever you wanted. They sold the same containers to hundreds of people.
Thank you for raising awareness.
Hope you and your funds are safe.
I'm sorry this happened to you . Thanks for sharing so that others might benefit. I hope it all works out in the end.
You are a good man. I will always support you.
Sorry to hear this happened. I hope you are able to recover your money.
Thank you for posting this. It take guts, but you are doing a real public service.
That sucks I'm sorry to hear that. Hope you are able to get your money back.
Hey , it happens to the best of us , I'm glad that you got a lawyer and I hope you get your money back, You do make good informative and educational videos , keep up the good work . Thanks for the heads up .
You're exactly right. No shame in falling victim to something like this. These people are professionals and make a career out of defrauding. They're experts at it. Most of us are average Joe's who just try to do the right thing. This video will help out tons of people. Keep up the good work, Tyler!!
Tks for this post, good luck. I cut the cord downtown and getting 35 channels with a small and elegant G.E. Antenna.
"Anyone can become a victim" of a ponzi scheme. Not really... people smart enough to not funnel their money into an investment they don't understand and people who are rightfully skeptical of larger-than-life returns like 20% guaranteed per year wouldn't fall for anything remotely resembling this.
Anyway, good on you for coming forward and getting the word out, it was the right thing to do.
Thank you for posting this Tyler
Makes me sick to hear this. I was a victim of a shale oil scam investment that cost me half my life savings about 25 years ago. I never recovered.
I'm really sorry to hear that.
@@AntennaMan Right, makes your tiny 10K loss completely insignificant. You are young, earn more and stop crying over spilt peanuts.
Thank you for sharing this. This will be invaluable to people who are not aware of ponzi schemes.
Just because you fell for it, doesn't mean you had no way of knowing.
Thanks for sharing this, Tyler, I’m sure you helped a lot of people
Tyler - I say this with only kindness. If someone promises you 15-20% annual returns on a passive investment you should be very suspicious. If that kind of return was as safe as portrayed, no one would buy certificates of deposits, bonds or even stocks.
any millionaire would JUMP on that if it were legit
He only lost 10K. This is my lunch money. And like 1 month rent in California. This whole video is a crybaby, talk to me when you have losses of at least 200K, this is significant.
@@ZelenoJabko how do you know he only lost $10k
@@fkm512 watch the video again, very carefully
@@ZelenoJabko Haha 200K. Sorry to hear you're poor.
So sorry this happened to you. I’ll keep watching your great channel.
Praying everything is good with your savings!! Thank for heads up Antenna Man!!
So sorry to hear this happened to you. You have the right attitude, you're young and will recover. Take your own advice, don't you be ashamed! We all do better when we learn/know better. Thanks for the good info.
You are a stand up guy!!!
Came close to falling for one as friends tried to pull me into one unknown to them; like you said, was impossible to tell. Thanks for sharing.
Keep this clip Tyler, we should all learn a valuable lesson about how to avoid being ripped off 😞.
Thanks for sharing your experience - it will help many people.
Sorry to hear that Tyler.😊
Thank you for your honesty. We all can learn by your experience. Scammers work for years for a few minute of your time. There is no easy way to research everything in a short time.
You kid, are the salt of the Earth! God Bless!👐🙏🧡❤🙏
Thank you, Antenna Man.
I hired a contractor that wrecked the bricks on the front of my house while vibrating the driveway bed they told me it wasnt their fault and it would cost me $10 000 to fight it 😢
Turns out a buddies wife worked for a major strong corporate property lawyer .. one letter later they replaced my bricks crooks
You are a Good and Humble Gentleman Tyler. Thanks for opening up and sharing your experience about this unfortunate scam you found yourself in. DON'T listen to any of these comments that say "you should have known better" as I would suspect if more videos like this were available and viewed, less people would be scammed. You have now paid it forward to others and learned a valuable lesson and nothing to be ashamed of! Due to your integrity and tenacity, you will overcome this loss quickly and look back at it as just a small bump in the road that made you more laser focused on your goals. I speak from experience. I've done pretty well in life but you simply cannot win EVERY HAND! Thanks again for sharing and keep on being Tyler the Antenna Man!!!
The only private investment for retirement should be low fee Index funds through Vanguard or the like. There is no quick or guaranteed route to big returns.
Okay,am in Vanguard.I liked it better when John Bogle ran it.Still legimate.Just that it is a brokerage account now,after he died.
With retirement funds I agree index funds are a great base investment. What I tell people (I am not a financial advisor ) is put 80% into long term index funds, and the other 20% if you want to play investor and invest in high yield but risky funds, stocks, and so forth, go ahead (or do 90-10).
Glad to hear you're speaking out about this. Too many people are ashamed and don't tell others and then others fall in the same scam
4:17 "I couldnt have seen this thing coming" -- yes you could. You need to take responsibility. An investment with a guaranteed return of 30%, risk free, doesn't exist. That's most certainly a scam.
15 to 20, not 30. Did you listen this bad in school as well?
@@ZelenoJabko Look up the news article, it says up to 30%.
Yes, it's obvious. Thinking that he couldn't have seen it coming means he still didn't learn his lesson...
Sorry to hear of this and also thanks for sharing.
Sorry to hear that happened. I think Willie Nelson way back got into the ag industry and got scammed and led to him owing millions in taxes.
Thank you for sharing! Hang in there!
Old saying; If a deal sounds to good to be "TRUE", It probably is.
And another red flag when they guarantee a certain amount or percentage. The market can't be predicted so how are they able to say 15 to 20% guaranteed return? That is a big red flag to me.
Thank you for this info. I'm sorry for your loss. God sees all and is in control.
I see ads on TV to invest in bitcoin mining. I bet they are also a ponzi scheme.
While crypto currencies are currently a financial darling, take it from me stay the hell away from things like investment places promising great returns on crypto mining, if there was a market ripe for ponzi schemes it is crypto. The whole way they do mining is bizarre (it comes down to using a lot of computing power to solve complicated problems, if you solve the problem you get awarded bitcoin or whatever), and it is almost completely unregulated, and given that crypto by its very nature is anonymous, it is ripe for exploitation.
bitcoin is a scam
Hope you get your money back! Your a great person dont let it get to you! Its not your fault! Thanks for educating us!