The Washington Post and Bloomberg published Bob Carden’s story about how smart people get sucked into investment scams. The story is titled, “Investment fraud isn’t relegated to Wall Street: Beware the Ponzi schemer next door.”
Carden produced the video “Tricks of the Trade: Outsmarting Investment Fraud.” Editor John Warnock assembled the package, which shows some of the things FINRA and AARP are doing to educate the public about the plague of fraud schemes and how to avoid them.
Read the story here.
And make sure you set aside some time to watch Carden’s pointed video (below), which is running on New Hampshire Public Television and elsewhere. The video shows footage of actual scammers talking about how they plied their trade and includes audio of scammers making pitches, including rude ones. You’ll learn about the buttons they push, the manipulation tactics they employ and how people who would seem to know better get duped.
The video features commentary from psychologist Robert Cialdini, commentary from fraud victims, commentary from fraud perpetrators and commentary from fraud-busters, including Joe Borg of the Alabama Securities Commission.
Borg, among other things, is famous for prosecuting the case against Greater Ministries International, a colossal Ponzi scheme that traded on faith and operated from Florida.
Among the many interesting things in the video is footage from the old Candid Camera TV show in which passersby were persuaded the entire state of Delaware was “closed.”
Watch the full episode. See more Making Sense New England.