This is part 4 of our ongoing “Scam Crow” series with the heart to help you stay away and avoid scams.
Scammers come and go for a variety of reasons where people often fall prey to their own emotion, which is greed. In fact , it is very easy to determine a scam. If you are very excited about an investment proposal, chances are it is likely a scam. The scammer always use one weapon to dis-arm you. They attack your feelings which will then overcome your logical thinking, regardless of your profile. What is an obvious scam to one person looks like a great opportunity to another and vice versa.
Con artists choose victims very carefully. They are only interested in those people who can be turned around to believe in them without question, who can be manipulated to believe in their illusions. They seek out the greedy ,the weak or people who don’t study their investments and most of all, the needy. No one is immune as enumerated.
1. Retired citizens . Scammers know senior citizens have money since they have retirement pay from their previous employment. They also know that the retirees need passive income that will supply their needs. Another factor is that older people tend to be less sharp in thinking. I remember a story of my colleague where a group of men tricked his mother -in-law into believing they are his friends and let them in. My colleague lost his laptop..
2. Politicians. Scammers know that politicians wield a lot of influence. A lot of people think that politicians are brainy people. If they learn that a certain senator invested in a company, they will no longer make due diligence in their investing decision. Most of the time, they have this herd (or heard) mentality and the “DAW” theory (sabi daw). Unfortunately, not all politicians are good with money matters. Allegedly, some corrupt politicians are only as good as the scammers, and yet they are also scammed. A perfect example is that of the Multitel scam where a number of high profile politicians were victimized.
3. Executives. The scammer’s easiest target is the person who believes he or she cannot be scammed. Majority of the executives act as if they know it all and oftentimes, when they realized that they were scammed, it is already too late. There is truth to the saying “Even the greatest commit mistakes”.
4. Working class. This is the biggest market oft the scamer. Because of the need to earn more, people become excited to the lure of money and their excitement is highly contagious.
5. Students. Students are the most gullible of all victims. Because they are not yet exposed to the realities of life, they are easy to believe the scammers to the the point that they seem to be hypnotized by the cult-like organization where they joined. I remember years ago having encountered young students where they were conditioned to believe they are entrepreneurs, where in reality, they unknowingly became scammers themselves. They encourage victims to leverage by borrowing to pay membership and were given products worth less than what they paid for.
The key to avoid becoming a victim is always be on guard and do not let your impulse get the better of you. If you are getting excited, ask your close friends for their advise .INVESTigate before INVESTing
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Edmund Lao is a Registered Financial Planner who has a passion to help Filipinos invest and right way and avoid being scammed. He is known by many as the “SCAMCROW” loved by investors feared by scammers. His passion is to save Filipinos from scams and teach them to invest properly in stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. He owns the website wealth-wonder-boy.blogspot.com.
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If you’d like to learn more how to invest in the stock market and learn how to make your money work hard for you. I’d like to invite you to our upcoming events
- February 7th Stock Smarts Cebu: Technical Analysis
- February 12th Technical Analysis: Chart Patterns and Oscillators (Evening Session)
- February 18th Stocks vs Forex
- February 26th Fundamental Analysis: How to pick good stocks and avoid bad ones (Evening Session)
- February 28th Money Management and Stock Smarts Thailand 2015
- March 6th Stock Smarts UAE: Firm Foundation – Day 1
- March 7th Stock Smarts UAE: Technical Analysis – Day 2
- March 8th Stock Smarts UAE: Pro – Day 3
- March 20th Stock Smarts Singapore 2015 (Basic) – Day 1
- March 21st Stock Smarts Singapore 2015 [Day 2] : Technical Analysis
- March 22nd Stock Smarts Singapore 2015 [New Topics] : Portfolio Mangement, Market Outlook and Fundamental Analysis
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