Posted on 12/06/2012 5:42:50 AM PST by JoeProBono
Sometimes the worst drivers just never ask for directions. If they were truly lost, they’d never admit it. Sound familiar? The same principle often applies to financial fraud victims.
They’re often just plain overconfident and won’t admit their lack of knowledge. According to the fine “Squared Away” blog of the Financial Security Project at Boston College and researchers from DePaul University in Chicago, “The seniors who are most confident of their knowledge about money and investments are also the most likely to fall victim to fraud.”
Citing the DePaul study, the Center infers that the rising incidence of elder financial fraud may be due to a dangerous combination of cognitive decline and ignorance among those being targeted: “The Chicago researchers focused on seniors who have not acquired actual dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. Rather, they examined whether fraud could be linked to the cognitive decline that is a natural part of aging.
First, they inserted a fraud question into surveys that are conducted annually by the Rush Memory and Aging Project, which questions the elderly about the gamut of their health, neurological, physical and mental developments. “In the past year, were you a victim of financial fraud or have you been told you were a victim of financial fraud?” they asked the Rush Project’s participants. The researchers then made the link between those who said “yes” and whether they were overconfident of their knowledge about money and investing.
Overconfidence in the past has been associated with making poor financial decisions. For example, high-income men tend to be victimized by fraud due to their confidence in their investment knowledge. Overconfidence in this study was measured in a two-barreled financial literacy survey of 664 seniors.....
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
Not to be disparaging towards ‘Greeks’
BUT
The statement ‘Beware of Greeks bearing gifts comes to mind’.
Same vein, different subject:
‘Beware of Greeks wearing tennis shoes’.
Either way, if it seems to good to be true, it probably isn’t.
Have to go now, my friend in Nigeria is on hold on the other line, something to do with some inheritance of a son of mine I never had????
Of course there is absolutely NOTHING to be concerned about when something addressed to ‘UNDISCLOSED RECIPIENTS’ shows up in your email box, then feign surprise when the guy didn’t have 500mill for you if you moved 10 bill for him.
I used to tell people about answering a cell phone in a car...(My first ‘mobile phone’ cost $3000 +- and around .50 per minute if OFF the cradle) treat the phone ringing while in your car the same way you would if you were in/on the ‘john’ and phone rings in other room...you (most normally) wait till your ‘business’ is completed, then tend to the phone.
Same way with email...if snail mail comes addressed to ‘occupant’ you may look at it but don’t take it ‘seriously’ when it involves cash transactions etc.
In a Confidence Game, the thief takes advantage of the victim’s beliefs, characteristics and emotions such as greed, arrogance, fear, compassion and naïveté. A mugger merely sticks a gun in your face and demands your money. The thief in a Confidence Game is much more subtle. His/her goals are the same, though. They intend to steal from the victim.
Here are the players in a Confidence, or Con, Game.
THE GRIFTER - This is the boss. This is the person running The Con. He/she is the brains of the operation.
SHILLS - These are the assistants to The Grifter. A Shill is used to distract the victim or to encourage the victim to participate in The Con. Shills can be young or old, male or female, attractive or plain. They can look like anyone.
THE MARK - This is the victim. The person The Grifter and Shills are running The Con on. Also known as THE SUCKER.
Bernie Madoff was a Grifter. He conned people out of billions of dollars. That is the beauty of a Con. If you stick a gun in someone’s face, you get what money there is on their person. In a Con Game, you can steal a lot more money. In many instances, the Mark is so embarrassed by being so easily manipulated, that the police are not notified. The Con may have caused the Mark to believe that he/she was partipating in something illegal so they fail to notify the police for fear they will also be arrested.
Sounds a lot like most of us sinners.
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