OEA settles 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle fraud for $600K
Online Education Academy (OEA) has reached a settlement pertaining to alleged 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle fraud.
OEA settlement with the FTC will see the company pay $600,000 in monetary judgement.
To satisfy judgement, OEA will clear out three bank accounts. The remainder of the $600,000 judgement is then suspended.
One of OEA’s bank accounts holds $10,000. The balance of the two other accounts is not disclosed.
The injunction prohibits OEA from
- having anything to do with business coaching programs or investment opportunities;
- making misrepresentations or unsubstantiated claims;
- using acquired 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle customer information in any manner.
OEA is also bound to a compliance order, requiring it keep the FTC updated with current business information for twenty years.
OEA was run by Mark Schwartz and was part of 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle’s fraudulent opportunity.
Shortly after the FTC’s complaint was filed, OEA advised the court it had suspended business and intended to dissolve.
Pending settlements with the remaining defendants, a trial has been scheduled for July 2020.
I was blown away when I received a robocall on my DNC-listed cell touting 8 Figure Dream Lifestyle.
He gave me his real name and address and sounded like he was part of a cult. He was adamant that “everything Alex Dee said [had] come true.”
I could not believe that anyone could be gullible enough to fall for such a classic and blatant scam.
Alex Dee and Jerry Maurer tried very hard to recruit me. I finally had enough after Maurer told me that his “shareholders” had received 25M in commissions and I shut him down simply by reminding him that only post-IPO Corporations have shareholders (even “partners,” e.g. Professional Corporation,” would have been better) and asked him which index he and the “Corporations” BOD had listed the company. Silence.
It’s really unbelievable. I am so disappointed that the FTC piddled out by clearing 3 measly bank accounts and called it a day.
These people, especially Dee, should have been locked up years ago. The Court needs to understand that their behavior is a blend of psychopathology, learned helplessness, desperation (ruined records = no earning potentials), and likely addiction to some degree.
Liken it to gambling, that component is nothing but dopamine and, in their case, adrenaline that feels like an ego boost when they score. I am an educated Professional with some graduate level business education as part of a broader degree but I would have caught on with less than a High School education and with a business education topping out at personal money management and income tax skills.
I would conclude that some victims are simply gullible. I watched a YouTube where two financially devastated victims (a couple) complained that robocall recipients left rude voicemails and actually played a woman’s angry voicemail that included her name and telephone number.
This strata of victims is the most vulnerable and likely most profitable to the criminals who ran the scam. However, I’ve also read testimonials from intelligent victims and I am in no way attacking their intelligence, nor more gullible victims, by saying they missed the obvious; the most gullible may lack the tools to spot scams and it’s important to look at the big picture to deduce that most were likely desperate to some degree and this factor broke the camel’s back when it came to making a decision.
It is truly a shame but the greater evil is the FTC’s wimpy-ass settlement.
Disclaimer: I am not a victim of this scam and am not involved in the prosecution of this case. I am simply someone who finds the psychology of the scammers and the nature of these scams fascinating.
My only concrete personal stake in this case is my sincere empathy for the victims.