Colwell: You can take this deal to the bank

As a service to readers, I constantly check the internet for extraordinary deals that could be of interest, especially ones appealing to conspiracy theorists like the QAnon believers. They often offer suggestions to me.

A column with great response was the one where I found an internet deal to obtain four and a half ounces of mud to fight COVID and improve brain function for only $110 plus shipping.

Now, I’ve found another deal of similar value that’s especially appealing to those QAnon believers. It’s even promoted on a site by John F. Kennedy Jr., whose return to be vice president with a reinstated President Donald Trump has long been awaited by the faithful.

This deal involves Trump. Or so it’s said in appeals for investments by MAGA stalwarts who are convinced that Trump never lost and will be back in the White House after the 2024 election — if not sooner.

The deal: “Trump Bucks.”

You can buy these bucks for a price way more than a buck. But wait! Trump, back as president, will boost the value of this “currency” so high it will make the purchasers rich.

These Trump Bucks are gold in color, featuring a picture of the former (or still) president. Beautiful. Inspiring. Described as a valuable memento of the Trump presidency, no matter the resulting monetary value.

Monetary value?

Purchasers trying to deposit these bucks in a bank find they now have no value. Zilch. But wait! If you order now at zero value, think of the profit if Trump boosts the value to 100 times zero.

I discovered this interesting deal for Trump Bucks in stories by Forbes and NBC. They were critical. Of course. NBC now hoots that its “expose” closed the main sales sites. Despair not. Other sites remain.

Forbes reported that the Better Business Bureau give an “F” rating to companies in Colorado pushing the sales.

NBC cited stories of people like a 75-year-old grandmother in Alabama who invested $1,500 in Trump Bucks. She went to a Bank of America branch to deposit the “money.” A teller told her there was no cash value — she had been scammed.

“When we got there,” Grandma related, “ the lady tells me she’s seen dozens of people coming in to cash these checks and they have nothing to do with this.”

Other stories tell of tellers laughing at those who bought “fool’s gold” of no deposit value anywhere.

While Trump is pictured — that inspiring picture — and quoted in the sales pitch for Trump Bucks, he apparently was not involved in the sales. And despite suggestions by the sellers, he receives no portion of sales for his campaign.

Nobody, of course, ever would have suspected Trump of being involved in a scam.

The sales pitch did use appeals like those of Trump in claiming he didn’t really lose reelection in 2020.

Internet sites plugging Trump Bucks are designed to appeal especially to QAnon conspiracy believers. I found two sites offered by John F. Kennedy Jr. Decade after decade after death, he kept up with all that is happening.

QAnon true believers waited for days in cold and rain in Dallas in 2021 for the triumphant return of President Kennedy’s son. Some may still be waiting. But Kennedy wouldn’t appear, perhaps because of his death in that plane crash in 1999.

Many sites make a direct appeal to QAnon believers with references to “Q17.”

You know of course what that means. Trump is said to refer often to the number 17. It’s to direct messages to his QAnon followers. What? Think. What’s the 17th letter of the alphabet?

Well, I hope this column has been of service to readers. I constantly seek extraordinary deals that could be of interest. It could be miracle mud. Or Trump Bucks. Quite similar in value.

Jack Colwell is a columnist for The Tribune. Write to him in care of The Tribune or by email at jcolwell@comcast.net.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Trump Bucks are, shockingly, a scam