DON'T BECOME A VICTIM OF FRAUD

Seniors are especially at risk for falling for fraudulent schemes. Here is a reprint from the Senior Real Estate Specialist website. We all need to take heed and beware of scammers:

The NASD Investor Education Foundation, in cooperation with WISE Senior Services and AARP Foundation, released a study, Off the Hook Again: Understanding Why the Elderly Are Victimized by Economic Fraud Crimes, looking at why some elderly investors are more susceptible to investment fraud than others. Con artists use multiple tactics in their pitches, and the report suggests a key deterrent to investor fraud would be increasing awareness of how criminals trick victims and to report fraud to law enforcement. Help Senior clients by telling them to be on the lookout for common strategies.

Among them are the phantom fixation (dangling the prospect of wealth and riches); scarcity (making products offered seem rare to increase their value); source credibility (claiming to be from a known legitimate business); comparison (juxtaposing a more expensive price with the offered price); friendship (appearing to be the victim's friend); commitment (victim makes a commitment early on, then con uses it against them); and profiling (identifying the victim's psychological hot buttons through extensive questioning). See the study at www.nasdfoundation.org/WISE_Investor_Fraud_Study_Final_Report.pdf
(From SRES newsletter August 2006)