DANNY DE HEK
Scammers rely on silence. We make noise.
Welcome to the Avengers Anti-Fraud Alliance, led by Danny de Hek, a New Zealand investigative journalist whose work exposing scams, Ponzi schemes, MLMs and financial fraud has been featured by The New York Times, Bloomberg, The Guardian, ABC Australia, RNZ and others.
This podcast takes you inside real investigations.
We follow the money, identify the people behind fraudulent operations, examine corporate records, court documents, blockchain transactions, marketing material, leaked communications and digital evidence — then put what we find into the public record.
Some investigations begin with a victim contacting me. Others start with an anonymous tip, a suspicious Zoom meeting, a cryptocurrency wallet, a court filing, or an Avenger somewhere in the world saying: “Danny, you need to look at this.”
The Avengers Anti-Fraud Alliance brings together researchers, whistleblowers, victims and ordinary people who are tired of watching scammers operate without scrutiny.
Patreon helps fund that work and gives supporters a closer look behind the investigations — including updates, evidence, developing stories and material that doesn't always fit into a YouTube video.
I don't accept payment to remove investigations. I don't sell reputation management. And when someone I investigate disagrees with my reporting, I give them the opportunity to respond.
The objective is simple:
Investigate. Analyse. Expose. Protect.
If you're a victim, whistleblower or you've discovered something that deserves investigating, get in touch.
Scams thrive in darkness. The Avengers turn on the lights.
DANNY DE HEK
The Price of a Promise
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
[INTRO — SPOKEN / DISTORTED]
You sold them the dream.
Domes in the mountains.
Money every month.
Contracts on the table.
But when the dream disappeared...
We followed the paperwork.
[VERSE 1]
Forty percent when the money came in,
Before a single guest could even check in.
Contracts signed and promises made,
Six figures down for a future prepaid.
Salesmen talking, closing the deal,
Pictures made the whole thing look real.
Domes in the distance, paradise sold,
Then the payments stopped and the story got old.
[PRE-CHORUS]
One side says, “I didn't know.”
One says, “I only made the sale.”
But somebody took the money...
And somebody failed.
[CHORUS]
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
Show me where it went!
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
Every dollar, every cent!
You can blame the weather,
You can blame the plan,
But a signed contract
Still bears your hand!
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
No more stories, no disguise.
When the paperwork starts talking...
THE TRUTH DOESN'T NEED AN ALIBI!
[VERSE 2]
Then PhoneSales opened up the files,
CRM records stretching for miles.
Names and contracts, leads on the screen,
Deals appearing where they shouldn't have been.
They confronted Devon face-to-face,
Pulled up the contracts, case by case.
Three hundred thousand — search it again,
Where was the payment? Where had it been?
Then came the words caught on the call:
“Anything that comes through, I just sign it...”
No checking the contracts.
No answers at all.
[BREAKDOWN]
YOU SIGNED IT!
THEY PAID IT!
YOU PROMISED!
THEY WAITED!
Build the dome!
Pay the return!
Give the refund!
HOW MANY TIMES
CAN THE SAME MONEY BURN?
[VERSE 3]
Then Lorenzo stepped into the light,
Said he was fooled, said he wants to make it right.
Hundreds of thousands in commissions received,
While the people he sold to still feel deceived.
He says when his contract finally ends,
He'll be more willing to make amends.
Three grand a month, but equity instead,
While victims remember every promise they read.
I won't call him guilty for somebody else's crime,
But accountability doesn't disappear with time.
If you sold the dream,
If you took the pay...
What do you owe
When the dream falls away?
[CHORUS]
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
Show me where it went!
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
Every dollar, every cent!
You can blame the permits,
The contractors and rain,
But none of those excuses
Make the victims whole again!
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
Put the evidence before our eyes.
Because when the bank records start talking...
THE TRUTH DOESN'T NEED AN ALIBI!
[BRIDGE — SLOW, MENACING]
And now...
Another resort.
Another cabin.
Another investment pitch.
Three hundred thousand dollars in.
“Up to $1.2 million write-off.”
Monthly cash flow.
Contractual payments.
A target IRR.
Lorenzo says he learned from Global Glamping.
So this time...
We'll be watching from the beginning.
[BUILD]
I'm not calling it fraud.
I'm not calling it a scam.
I'm asking the question
Before the money changes hands.
Show the structure.
Show the permits.
Show the books.
Show the plan.
Because we've already seen
What happens...
WHEN NOBODY CHECKS THE MAN!
[FINAL BREAKDOWN — HALF TIME]
FORTY PERCENT!
Who got paid?
THREE HUNDRED GRAND!
Where was it made?
SIGNED CONTRACTS!
Promises due!
MISSING ANSWERS!
We're coming for the truth!
No more—
WAIT!
No more—
EXCUSES!
No more—
PROMISES!
Just...
SHOW.
US.
THE.
MONEY.
[FINAL CHORUS]
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
From the salesman to the top!
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
Until the questions stop!
For every family
Still waiting to be paid,
For every promise
That somebody made!
FOLLOW THE MONEY!
Contracts don't forget the lies—
And when the evidence starts talking...
THE TRUTH DOESN'T NEED AN ALIBI!
[OUTRO — SPOKEN]
Money was paid.
Contracts were signed.
Obligations were created.
Some were never fulfilled.
So don't give me another story.
Give me the records.
The Avengers Anti-Fraud Alliance is a community supporting independent investigations into scams, Ponzi schemes, MLMs, crypto fraud and the people behind them.
Led by New Zealand investigative journalist Danny de Hek, the Avengers help uncover information, connect victims, analyse evidence and expose schemes that deserve public scrutiny.
We investigate. We expose. We protect.
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DANNY DE HEK
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