Talk:Matthew Lesko/Archives/2012

Known For
The "Known For" section of the sidebar lists currently lists "Free Money" Books, while I think he's much better known for wearing question mark suits and dancing on TV. This action may be in the service of his books, but it's not the books people recognize. 71.168.195.202 (talk) 18:15, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Poorly sourced accusation
The following accusatory statement cites a broken link as its support:

In an interview to Washington Post in July 2007, Lesko admitted having plagiarized his books from government guides to grants and loans: "His business model is simple: 'I get stuff for free and I sell it for as much as I can get.'"[5]

Poorly sourced information on living persons should be removed immediately. It might be an inaccurate characterization even if there were a source. Compilation and re-publication of freely available government information is probably not best described as plagiarism. Tdreid (talk) 20:34, 5 September 2009 (UTC)

Worthy?
The subject is worth having an article, but this isn't it. RickK 05:02, Apr 25, 2005 (UTC)

well then maybe you should work on one? i dunno.

ohh even i was able to edit it and make it better. ba-ZING!

I like him!!!!!!
He is a very funny person. He's the best television commercial personality I ever saw. He is one of the best clowns on the world. HUMOR SELLS!!!!!

I agree his commercails are like japanese ones

love it! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 116.50.225.89 (talk) 18:54, 2 September 2009 (UTC)

Must run in the family
I went to college with his son. He is one of the most interesting people I have ever met. I also saw his wife driving around town a few times, you can tell by the question marks on the vehicle. Never met Matt, but judging by his son, he must be an interesting guy.

This Article Needs to Be Updated
Dear Wikipedia,

I want this article to be enlarged. This article needs more information. It seems like that it won't have changes. Please, update this article or it will be like this forever.

Sincerely, Wikipedia reader from Indiana

Addendum from another editor: His son Morgan lives in San Francisco, and has for some time, for one example. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.255.193.125 (talk) 02:44, 1 November 2010 (UTC)

Resources
I found some resources that can be integrated into the article, this is more of a self-reminder to integrate them myself:, , , , , ,.

I think the positive stuff about his real life personality are interesting. Take a read of the blacktable.com interview and the washington city paper article. Also check out his blog (he responds personally on it), the stuff regarding the consumer protection board's report on him and his response to them.

Nathan J. Yoder 16:07, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

I met the guy
I met Matthew Lesko at a movie theater once. He was wearing his trademark suit and orange shoes. Nice guy, he enjoyed watching Hidalgo.
 * I live down the street from him. I'ma go ask him for money for college this weekend.  =D --HubHikari 17:56, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

Lexis-Nexis search
I have removed the following text from the article because it is original research, using a dynamic indexing service rather than a published reliable source:
 * As of May 2, 2006, a Lexis-Nexis search of newspapers over all dates returns only two articles written by "Matthew Lesko"; both were published by the Cleveland Plain Dealer in 1996. Had Lesko written a column for the New York Times, his name would have appeard [sic] on such a search, refuting his claim to have worked as a columnist for that paper.

We currently have cited evidence from the New York Times itself that Lesko wrote a column, albeit not as direct or specific as we would like. The above text, added by User:65.213.77.129, certainly raises questions. Does Lexis-Nexis guarantee that it has indexed all such material in all papers, especially NYT? How else might this omission be explained? Do we have a title for the supposed column? We could use some direct data on this. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 20:48, 2 May 2006 (UTC)

I've used paid search services like Lexis Nexis and no, they do not include all published material. In a few cases, I know that an article appeared in the NYT because I'm looking at the clipping, and it doesn't show up (and not on Times Select, either). It's quite possible that his column isn't indexed for those companies.Gloriamarie 17:31, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Books used at Harvard
His most recent commercial claims his books are used at Harvard University. Anyone know if this is true?

The Harvard University Library catalog shows that they own two of his books, both were published in the 1980's though. --Lavishluau (talk) 08:57, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Dead?
Right now, the article lists him as having died on November 17th, and refers to him as past tense. Anyone know anything about this? LLBBooks 17:02, 18 November 2006 (UTC)


 * Someone also listed him as dead at the November 17 article, I can't find anything to support that he has died.-- DP   4  62090  17:01, 19 November 2006 (UTC)


 * I saw it scroll by on the scroll at the bottom of the screen on MSNBC that he had died. I think that it is true. Why has it been taken down that he died. 17:02, 27 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Because we need a source that says he's dead before we report it. I rather doubt there is such a source. - Nunh-huh 19:40, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

That was me. I randomed, found this article, and saw he was dead. I hadn't heard anything about it, so I did some Google and Google news digging and found nothing. But that was two days ago. Consequentially 03:59, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

I saw him filming a commercial yesterday, so he's not dead. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 65.207.126.170 (talk) 3 December 2006
 * Perhaps, then, the article should be returned to present tense...? — Mustang_DVS (talk|contribs) 04:22, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

- If he had died, I think his website might have been updated by now. As it is right now 12/03/2006, it is still selling information about government programs. This info is also available free from the government:  nobody

Well, it's August 10, 2007, 11:41 AM EDT, and I think I passed him in a hallway about an hour ago. If it was him, he was apparently alive and well. 140.147.160.78 15:42, 10 August 2007 (UTC)Stephen Kosciesza

Still alive on Friday, October 9, 2009. I saw him at a play in Rosslyn, Virginia. 71.241.228.243 (talk) 14:19, 11 October 2009 (UTC)Stephen Kosciesza

Sitting in a Starbucks next to him in College Park, MD -- he's alive, active, and well. Although he seems a little stressed out! March 3, 2011. 64.134.102.48 (talk) 16:05, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Arrest?
Can anyone cite a source for his arrest on January 2nd, as this article claims? I see nothing searching on FOX News, CNN, and Yahoo. I think this may be a lie. Spman

Where's the image?!
Everybody knows Lesko as "the question mark suit guy", and yet there's no picture of him nor his trademark suit? For shame! I'm not going to go ahead and add an image, for fear of doing it wrong, but there are plenty of images easily accessible via Google Image Search. Warriorness 04:23, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

The problem is not finding an image; it's getting one that is not under copyright.Gloriamarie 17:33, 10 April 2007 (UTC)


 * Not one that is not under copyright; just one that can be released with an appropriate license. I found a good image, contacted the owner, and obtained permission to have it released. Voila. Rpresser (talk) 18:39, 7 December 2007 (UTC)

Gang
There really is a gang! the descriptions were accurate (although I wrote the article with rather fluorescent adjectives, because of the gang's qualities. I have seen them.)

It must be true!
I've thought about it for quite some time, and I now firmly believe that it is true. Matthew Lesko is the Riddler! —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 69.140.104.110 (talk) 02:24, 2 May 2007 (UTC).

Circular reference
I've got a problem with the seniors journal reference. It does contain the quoted text, however it also contains the text as having already existed on wikipedia. An article which contains the text but also quotes the text as having existed on wikipedia before the article is created is a headache. Checking the history this text did indeed exist before the source was even created. As the site that even seems to have posted it doesn't exist anymore (searching the name returns that article as one of the top hits). I'm going to remove the quote.--Crossmr (talk) 01:20, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

Homophobia
Should any mention be made of his support for Prop 8 in California and his alleged dislike for homosexuals? This was seemingly a backlash he had after being asked for years if he was gay. OddibeKerfeld (talk) 20:50, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

This Article is Neutral and Fair
You can't slander someone with the facts, even if they tend to be unflattering. As far as I can tell, the article is accurate. Anything more positively written would constitute a bias.Landroo (talk) 18:28, 24 July 2009 (UTC)

Minicooper
It is true.

http://nutgraf.net/2009/05/03/an-interview-with-matthew-lesko-who-did-not-get-me-free-money-from-the-government/

Do a google image search for it. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Root Beers (talk • contribs) 09:04, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

FRAUD!!!
I recently was contacted by a Mathew Lesko Government Grant personnel, which I never applied for, and have never even heard of the guy but they called and gave me very little information. With each question I asked the more the "gentleman" on the other line got more and more aggravated. He just kept pushing the fact that he needed a $4.95 application fee and my Visa card information. Of course this made me suspicious so I got online and saw all the reviews claiming it was a way to just take your money. So I called the number that they reached me on and asked politely to take me off their contact list, that I was not interested, and what did I get, they hung up on me lol. Well, I figured they hung up on me but because I was on my cell phone I also figured it could have been a dropped call so I called them again, waited for a minute when I hear the phone pick up and hang up on me again. Making sure one more time it wasn't my phone, I called for a third time and needless to say there was no answer. So my good people if this FRAUD tries to call you and tries to convince you to give them your credit card info DONT DO IT!!!! I hate people like this... bc the ones that could use a grant, the people that might actually be in a financial funk are the ones this prick preys on.... Mathew Lesko you should be ashamed of your self, claiming to help people when all your doing is stealing from the poor to make your self richer!! You disgust me!!!! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.6.107.232 (talk) 00:02, 15 July 2011 (UTC) Hello! Are you actually claiming that the caller you had problems with was tha actual Matthew Lesko and not an imposter con artist trying to bilk you by taking advantage of his name recognition? While reading your complaint, I was reminded of having received a similiar call some time ago and thanks to my caller ID, I knew it wasn't actually him calling me, but someone using his identity. Either way, you should report your incident to the proper authorities in your area. Happy Holidays! LeoStarDragon1 (talk) 05:03, 7 December 2011 (UTC)