The finale of HBO Max document “Telemarketers” dropped on Sunday, and it seemed to reveal how Congress, the FTC and America’s largest police unions are allowing a massive national scam to continue … because they make money from it.
“Telemarketers” is a three-part documentary series following the unlikely duo of Sam Lipman-Stern and Patrick J. Pespas as they uncover a series of national telemarketing schemes making millions — possibly billions — of dollars off people who sound like they just don’t have that much to give.
The series is part-guerilla, part-Michael Moore. The first episodes chronicle Stern and Pespas’ former lives as telemarketers for a company called the Civic Development Group. The company “raised money” for everything from police unions to cancer charities … except less than 10 percent of that money went to actual unions and charities. And hardly any of that money made it to the people these organizations claimed to support. (RELATED: Step Aside ‘Tiger King,’ HBO’s Newest Doc ‘Telemarketers’ Will Become A Cult Phenomenon)
In Sunday’s third and final episode, the duo learn that telemarketing scams have bled into Political Action Committees (PACs), as well as continuing to raise money for police unions and charities. I don’t want to give too much away, as you really need to watch this series to appreciate the magnitude of what these two men managed to uncover.
What I will tell you is that, while Lipman-Stern and Pespas didn’t manage to change the status quo in Washington, D.C., or elsewhere, they did a superb job of educating Americans on how to avoid getting caught up in these schemes. And they painted a beautiful picture of the corrupting influence of power.
Also, I am so glad Patrick is still alive. Good for you, dude!