Be Wary Of Senior Investment Fraud

If you are one of these people who have at some point in the past received an invitation for a gourmet meal as long as you go to an investment seminar, you'll know from experience that things don't turn out quite like how you expected. If you haven't experienced this then you should understand that if you went to one of these you'd end up being conned out of thousands by investing is a so-called guaranteed investment.

Investment Frauds At Large

Did you know that the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) carried out a survey and found that roughly half of all the complaints made to the state securities regulators were about senior investment frauds. It's something that has really become a bigger issue in only the last few years because as recently as 2005, only 28% of the frauds involved seniors.

Unfortunately there are so many scams in the financial industry and the way that these scammers present themselves is so professional. No wonder so many people fall for it. The elderly can end up losing their life savings because of it. Be careful, as there are so many different techniques that these scammer use to lure you in. They can do so by phone, mail, email and even by knocking on your door.

Don't Be Too Trusting

Often the problem is that seniors are too trusting or don't want to appear rude. They are also looking for ways to make their money work more efficiently for them, especially with interest rates being so low. Then of course, if someone appears professional, then an elderly person will naturally believe that they are professional.

Don't Live In Fear

These scammers know how to sell their "investments." They use fear to get them to sign up and tell people that they ought to be careful of running out of money and ending up being a financial burden on their families. Also, frequently seniors are living on their own with no real family of friends living nearby. Therefore they don't know who to ask for advice in terms of deciding whether a company is legit or fraudulent.

If you are a senior or are looking to protect the interests of a senior, you need to be very careful of anyone claiming guaranteed profits, no risk and a high return on investment. The old adage of "if it sounds too good to be true it usually is" imprinted in your mind.

Are They Registered?

If there is a company you want to invest with then you should make sure they are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). If you discover that they aren't registered then don't touch them with a barge pole.

Don't just check out the company, you should also check out the individual you are conversing with. They need to be licensed with SEC of the state.

Not only do you have to do the above, you should also find out if they have any kind of track record. You can easily discover if there have been any complaints filed via the regulators.

Remember, it's not just the elderly who are targeted by scammers. Any one of us can become their next target so important to be wary and make sure you do your homework. It's simply not worth all the heartache of finding out you've become a victim of fraud.