AARP Fraud Watch Network Campaign Survey Identifies Investment Fraud Targets
According to a recent AARP survey, investment fraud targets typically exhibit an unusually high degree of confidence in unregulated investments. They also tend to trade more actively than the general investor population.
Many of fraud victims reported that they view wealth accumulation as a significant measure of success in life and acknowledged being open to unsolicited telephone and email sales pitches, the organization said in a news release.
The AARP Fraud Watch Network has launched a campaign to warn consumers about the inclinations and activities common to investment fraud victims, in response to the survey’s results.
The majority of the fraud victims are married seniors, male and military victims.
Unlike most investors, those prone to becoming fraud victims reported valuing wealth accumulation as a measure of success in life, being open to sales pitches, being willing to take risks and describing themselves as ideologically conservative. They also said they frequently receive phone calls and emails from brokers, make five or more investment decisions a year, and respond to remote sales pitches by phone, email or TV commercials.
The survey of fraud victims involved 214 telephone interviews; 600 other interviews were conducted among other investors.
AARP’s survey report notes that economic forces have converged to make the current environment ideal for investment swindlers to practice their craft. The Fraud Watch Network survey, conducted in August and September 2016, included interviews with more than 200 known victims of investment fraud and 800 interviews with members of the general investing public.
AARP Fraud Watch Network Campaign offers these investor protection tips:
- Invest only with registered advisors and investments.
- Don’t make an investment decision based solely on a TV ad, a telemarketing call or an email.
- Put yourself on the Do Not Call list.
- Get a telephone call blocking system to screen out potential scammers.
- Limit the amount of personal information you give to salespersons until you verify their credentials.
- Don’t make an investment decision when you are under stress.
This information is brought to you by The White Law Group, and is publicly available. The White Law Group, LLC is a national securities fraud, securities arbitration, investor protection, and securities regulation/compliance law firm with offices in Chicago, Illinois and Franklin, Tennessee.
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