If It Sounds Too Good To Be True...

If It Sounds Too Good To Be True...
Mar. 21, 2018 8:37 AM ET 


Adam Hoffman, CFA
CFA, registered investment advisor, investment advisor, portfolio strategy
Peak Capital Research and Management

Summary

Investment fraud is still alive and well in the internet age.


There is no quick and easy way to get rich.


Stop. Think. Verify.  Three steps to prevent fraud.


Investor.gov:  Protect your investments.


FINRA.org: Investor alerts.


I wrote this article after speaking with a couple of prospective clients recently that either currently invested in a questionable scheme or were about to. So please pass this information on, if you give it to three friends, and then they give it to three friends... well, we know how that pyramid goes.



Even in modern times with the ability to search the internet and get information in seconds with a slow connection, investment schemes are still present.



Unfortunately, the advancement of technology has not been able to slow the innate desire of man to get richer, quicker. Financial frauds and scams have been present since the dawn of man.



I would posit that the first investment scheme involved investing in square wheels. As humans evolved from grunting, hunched-over Cro-Magnons to upright walking, cell phone-talking Home Sapiens so have the schemes and sales pitches. However, the underlying DNA of investment schemes has remained fundamentally unchanged from the Stone Age to the Internet Age:

• Phenomenal riches/return
  
• Short-time frame
  
• No or substantially little risk
  
• Emotional Pressure
  
  
  
  • “Everyone is doing it”
    
  • “Hurry or you will miss out”
    
  
  
  
• Hard or difficult to verify information
  

Even after man became illuminated after the enlightenment period, the Eiffel Tower was almost sold for a second time. Please do not be the third buyer and more importantly do not let a friend or family member become the owner of Champ de Mars, 5 Avenue Anatole France.
Most investment fraud and fraud in general can be prevented by taking three simple steps:

Stop. Think. Verify.

Stop

Most schemes are trying to get a commitment as quickly as possible so that there is no time for thinking or verification. “For a limited time,” “this won’t be available next week,” and “you don’t want to miss out” are some of the common phrases used to elicit a response from the Cro-Magnon thinking centers of our brains. Time is the enemy of a fraudulent scheme.


https://seekingalpha.com/article/4157999-sounds-good-true