Fuel Additive Pill Scammers Feast on Firepower International's Corpse
You may remember Firepower International. It made one of the many fuel-additive pills which claim to improve gas mileage and the condition of your vehicle's engine. Like all such products, it was a swizz: additive pills don't do anything worthwhile, with the claimed scientific evidence turning to vapor when checked out. What made Firepower special was its stunning success in Australia, where politicians, investors, and even a sports team were shafted before Firepower's brass vanished with all their money.
Just as the Aussies have woken up and started sharpening their pitchforks, I receive the following awesome email, from a fuel additive hawker trying to ride Firepower's coat-tails to success! Breathtaking, sure, but it's a sharp reminder of how such things work: If you think that the spectacularly public exposé of a scam stops the scam, you don't know the first thing about scams.
From: alex@xxxxxx
Subject: Rob, regarding your internet critique
Date: July 20, 2008 6:43:34 PM EDT
To: beschizza@gmail.com
Hi Rob,
I just read your critique on the Firepower pill. Although you may be at least partially correct regarding this product, you shouldn´t miss the forest for the trees. Basically, it seems that if there were a product that would improve engine efficiency with resulting greater power, greater gas mileage, longer engine life, and most important greatly reduced contamination, you'd consider it a worthwhile investment.I looked into firepower because of a lead from Athens where I am engaged currently in opening my network marketing business with another TRUE product and probably the inspiration of this apparent Hong Kong knock-off pill called Firepower. The company from the USA that I am representing is Fuel Freedom International and the product is the MPG-CAP. I am somewhat skeptical of Firepower because nowhere does it mention what it's made of. Our product is EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) approved with REAL tests and information to back it. I along with a whole list of my distributors, clients, techies, mechanics, and chemists can attest to why we are involved with this product and resulting opportunity. And unlike Firepower, our business opportunity is truly international as it's all via internet and distributor sponsored websites. A mere 400,000 distributors WORLDWIDE are not all wrong. If such a "real" product would interest you, just visit my website www.fuerzagas.myffi.biz and select "our products" and then "MPG-CAP". It's a two page read that puts a tremendous oil busting product in a nutshell clear enough to understand... of course there's a lot more going on, but this should suffice. There is much more information for you to get wise on this product and opportunity. And just in case you think I'm kidding about the global opportunity, I'm prospecting you from Ecuador. Where are you? Incidentally, the navy here has already tested some boats on MPG and they are more than satisfied by the results. Apparently,the Admiral may soon become a distributor.
No need to answer this mail unless you're interested in knowing more, but I hope you will come on board with this great opportunity still in a fledgling stage but about to take off.
Alexander XXXXX
the latest
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Where's my checkbook?
GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU!
Hey,great mileage.
Not from the pills, from the set of stones on that boy.
And it's great to see Alex Karras has been keeping himself busy since Blazing Saddles.
"Mongo no longer mere pawn in great game of life."
C'mon, Beschizza... Please tell us you responded to this with some appropriately cutting humor, and dragged some more hilarious bullshit out of this guy (whoever he is).
Oooh....if The Admiral likes it, there's no telling how far this could go!
Jake, not at all! I just asked what evidence he had to demonstrate that his additive pill was for realz, bla bla bla. No reply.
this is the new 419eaters
I just got a very sincere sounding reply, with the usual triple-play of claims: anecdotal support, ferrocene, and everyone-else-is-a-knockoff-of-ours.
I've asked the "BUT SCIENCE!" question, but that never works anyway. I feel rude, because my inclination is to think such folks generally guided by wishful thinking, rather than the desire to defraud people.
But a dispassionate look at it all almost always posts to the latter. And that makes me irritated.
"my inclination is to think such folks generally guided by wishful thinking, rather than the desire to defraud people."
Alas, my feelings usually run the same way. I feel sorry for those who send out, and then have to try to defend such products/claims. But in the end, I just want to tell them to go out and get a real job.
There's a report on this on ABC (Australia) on RIGHT NOW!
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/content/2008/s2306960.htm
Those Aussies fall for all sorts of scams. Recently an acquaintance told me how I could pay off my mortgage in half the time by "timing" my mortgage payments using a proprietary (of course) $3500 software program. She claimed it was all the rage in Australia.
Rage is the right word; a number of people complained and the Australian government did a study and determined that, as a program to remind you to make extra principle payments, (the only real way to accelerate your mortgage)it worked, though a simple jot in your calendar would work just as well (and cost $3500 less).
So many people are Fox Mulders -they just want to believe; and, of course, there are plenty of others perfectly willing to tell them what to believe.
As a Terry Pratchett said in one of his books:
"The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it".
Regarding the mortgage software, it's the first I've ever heard of it and I'm an Australian. But it wouldn't surprise me, the world is full of people who are so desperate to believe something.
Just read the adds in the back of women's periodicals (here in Australia the common one's are New Idea, Womans Weekly, etc) so jammed packed full of aura readers, clairvoyants, etc... enough to make you sick!
I often wonder if the X-Files is directly responsible for the increase in people believing in UFO's and conspiracy theories, to me there seems to be an increase, maybe it's just because of what our generation watched on TV while growing up! I worry about the current young generation, what with some of the supernatural detective based shows on TV!
Makes these fuel pills seem quite plausible!
James @ Brisbane, Australia
Would any of you try a fuel additive if there were science behind it?