6/11/18 Report - Swindlers and Bamboozlers: Treasure Hunters and Scams.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

I ran across an interesting article in True West Magazine.  In one article on swindlers and bamboozlers I read the following.

Salting is best loosely defined as increasing the value of a worthless mine with a fraudulent intent to enrich it in a manner contrary to the laws of nature.

There were a number of ways to do this. A shotgun was a handy instrument when it came to salting a worthless mine. One of the qualities of gold is that it’s malleable. The rascal simply removed the shot from the shell and substituted gold dust. Then he blasted the walls, impregnating with gold.

Another clever trick was filling his smoking pipe with gold dust then casually emptying the contents right before the unsuspecting eyes of the prospective buyer.

And if the clever buyer wanted to look beyond the surface walls the seller would oblige but in anticipation of such a request he’d prepared headsticks of his dynamite with gold dust. Light the fuse and the inner rock would be impregnated right before the buyers eyes.

But my favorite was the deceptive method using bichloride of gold. You see, when gold is chemically treated it becomes a liquid. It was commonly used for medicinal purposes in the treatment of alcoholism and kidney ailments and when taken internally it passes through the body exiting liquid fluid with high assay values. The scalawag could salt his mine by peeing on the rocks anywhere the spirit moved him.

See https://truewestmagazine.com/swindlers-bamboozlers/ for more of that article.

Now that is interesting enough - at least I thought so - but human nature hasn't changed and salting and other forms of deception are still practiced today.

Maybe you've heard of salted shipwrecks designed to lure investors, but fraud can be carried out in many ways.

DelawareOnline reported on one complicated scheme involving a fake treasure map and altered emeralds.

( https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2014/10/08/wilmington-attorney-law-firm-sued-fraud/16949099/ )

Here is another scam.

The 44-year-old Palm Beach Gardens man would lend $190,000 and get it back in four months with 10 percent interest. If the borrower defaulted, he’d get collateral worth 150 percent of his investment: $285,000 worth of shipwreck treasure.

The venture was a fraud, he alleges, with each detail more bizarre than the previous — involving a self-anointed doctor of theology, a faked Time magazine cover, a psychic that located the ship, a chest of lesser jewels that experts said couldn’t have come from Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes’ stash, and a business headquarters dubbed “the treasure room” inside the defunct Ambrosia pizza parlor on South Dixie Highway..

And the link for more about that.

https://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/local/lawsuit-treasure-hunters-scammed-out-190-000/NBvw6xIUrJ2Tp92XXN22KN/


Sometimes deception might be no big deal, and sometimes the intent might even be generous.  I remember one instance when I wanted to learn about hunting fossils and paid a fee to go to a good fossil site with an expert and his partner.  I was digging and using a sifter.  After a short while, a good sized shark tooth showed up in my sifter.  I'm sure it was slipped there by the expert, and I think a little earlier I heard him say to his partner who was digging off to the side, "Let them have this one."

I found a lot of fossils that day myself and had no complaints, but I'm sure he slipped that one into the sifter when I wasn't looking.  Maybe he wanted to make sure I had a good time or would go with them again.  It really had no effect, and it might have even been a generous move.

But the thing that started me off on this today is of another sort.  TV provides a bigger tent than Barnum ever had, and the pressure is on to make sure there is something of interest for the viewers.  A string of fruitless hunts will quickly lose viewers, and, for a TV show that is death.

I watched a show last Friday that featured a few Florida "treasure hunters," most of whom I know and respect - but also one I know who is not trustworthy.  I caught him in too many lies.   It was no surprise that his spot on the TV show was the only one that actually produced on-camera finds.

Not too long ago I was asked by a TV station to take them on a hunt.  I told them the truth.  I told them that considering the current beach conditions, the chances of finding anything very exciting was very slim and it wouldn't be a good time to do it.

I've seen TV shows where I'm sure they planted things.  It is especially easy on a beach.  It is even easier in the water.  Just toss out a coin and watch it disappear or drop an item and walk over it.

On the TV show I was watching last Friday, I caught an item being tossed out into the murky water while the host was working with his detector.   It was done quickly and it was hard to see, but if you run it back a few times, you can clearly see the trick.

Other cases simply involve misrepresentation of finds, sometimes where they came from, time period or the value.  It is easy enough to make a mistake like that, but when you see the same person doing the same type of thing over and over, pretty soon you have to wonder about their honesty.

You can't believe everything you see on TV.  You know that, but there is usually a motive and a pattern of behavior that will tip you off. 

TV is a demanding and rewarding medium. There are plenty of people who will take advantage of the opportunities, even when it means being deceptive.  There are total fakes and then there are little things done just to build a reputation or spice up a program.

Treasure hunting too often gets a bad rap.  It isn't made any better by individuals or programs that do not maintain the highest standards of integrity.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net