There are so many signs that concerns investment frauds and we have to be familiar with all of them in order to spot and differentiate a fraudulent opportunity from a genuine one.
Do you have the ability to differentiate an investment fraud opportunity when you see one? This article points out different investment fraud signs that can be spotted.
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How to spot Investment Scam
1.Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)
FOMO and investing should not be mentioned in the same sentence. Fraudsters convince people to purchase investments by trying to make these opportunities sound ambiguous and very lucrative.
They could also tell you that there are few slots left and how well you should make use of the opportunity.
They could also lay claims of how their family and friends also have benefited from the investments and all of that. Also, these people have stationed themselves even on social media trying to convince youths on various investment opportunities and also making them fear missing out on the opportunity.
Social media controls what information and investment opportunities we consume and are open to. Apparently, due to integrated algorithms, social media has been designed to bring out information based on what you’ve previously browsed and other interests you’ve shown online.
When social media investing opportunities go viral, they would most times be shown on our feeds. These investment schemes are always very volatile and their strategies are usually sophisticated and people may think they are missing out and would want to invest.
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Social media also gives us chances to connect with people easily and find people who have same interests as us.
Fraudsters also see that you really want to invest and then sees that as an opportunity to put out investment schemes and introduces FOMO.
These types of tactics makes you really susceptible to investment frauds. Try your best to not sound anxious or desperate when you are making your researches and asking questions about investment plans online so they do not use FOMO to make you rush into hasty decisions.
2. Gaining Trust of Your Community
When we are with people we trust, we tend to be less suspicious and more comfortable and fraudsters manipulate our natural tendency to trust people that are our family and friends.
Fraudsters can fix themselves in your community or religious groups and work towards the aim of gaining trust of the community and becoming a valued member, before pitching their fraudulent investment opportunities.
Another strategy is being close to a person or a group of persons and they persuade them to tell their family, friends, loved ones and co-workers.
When this happens, they don’t only defraud the original investors, but sadly even the loved ones he/she dragged into investment.
If you’ve been given an investment opportunity by someone who you do not trust, try taking necessary steps to make sure the opportunity is genuine. One of the steps to take is by talking to an investment professional for independent advice.
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3. High-Return/No risk Guaranteed
Offering investments with high return and little or no risk is one of the fraudulent ways these scammers use in luring people to invest in their schemes.
Every good investment comes with high risks and no guaranteed return. So, if an offer feels too good to be true, then its best forfeited because hardly anything but tears becomes the high return of such investment opportunity.
The likes of Ponzi schemes have proven this to be the truth and many persons were horribly scammed of their millions and so many attempted suicides due to this act.
Nothing good comes easy and that’s what everyone should bear in mind before trying to invest in something which the returns are high and there is not even a single risk taken, and the process looks too easy.
Investment involves documentation and accountability from whosoever you are investing with. Don’t fall into a trap.
4. Pressure to Buy
Pressure is what everyone will feel whenever you are at the receiving end of a pushy pitch of a sales person. They only try to push you to buy their product they are aggressively marketing to you and there may be a lot more to lose financially.
Fraudsters will pressure you extensively in order to try and rush you into investing in their opportunities. They say there is no time to waste and you have to sign now to get the deal or miss out on their so-called big opportunity.
There is no need to feel pressured about investing because there will always be opportunities for you to invest. Try to look into the investment, make a research before you go ahead investing.
5. Questions Not Answered:
Fraudsters are very smart and they play with ignorance to how investment works. They’ll often do this by dodging your questions, and giving you answers that would confuse you the more and tell you things filled with jargon.
Make sure to do your research before committing to any investment. Try to gather every necessary information possible about investing on a particular scheme before forging ahead.
Also listen to your instincts very clearly and trust them during your research. This will help you make the perfect decisions you want to make. If you are confused about the investment, or your questions are not being answered in clear terms by the person who is persuading you to invest, do yourself a favor and walk away from such offers.
Tools that can be used to Research an Investment scheme.
- Perform a Google search
- Are they registered?
- To review financial statements, check registration, and find registered investment advisors.
- Check the BCSC’s Disciplined List and the CSA’s Disciplined List for any sort of misconduct from any individual and even the company you want to invest in.
- Use the Investment Caution on Scamwatch.cc to search for investment schemes that are not registered.
In conclusion, it is your duty to report to the necessary authorities if you have any investment scheme that you were introduced to and you suspect that they may not be legit.
Do not let so many persons fall for an untrue scheme, let us watch out for each other and save people from investing wrongly.
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