Preying on Trust
Salt Lake Tribune 28Jul99 L8
Preying on Trust

This article reports on an immigration scheme in which a Utahn allegedly used his Brazilian roots and membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to cheat temporary foreign residents of the United States out of money by promising them permanent status. Although the fraud was perpetrated nationwide, almost one-fourth of the victims were from Utah and nearly a quarter of the $4 million plus allegedly came from Utah residents.

The article notes that trust is a major issue especially among groups having commonalities such as a shared religion. While trust is a positive value, it also puts unsuspecting victims at the mercy of those who seem to hold similar values, but really are only concerned for themselves and their own enrichment. In the end, the only hope that the author holds out is for us to be trusting, but remember that if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is--trust or no trust...