Here’s a piece of advice young investors should internalize early – like right now. Are you ready? You can not, will not, shall not get rich quick. If someone approaches you with a line about how they can take your pitiful CD money earning 4% and turn it into a 75% virtual money machine, you should be all over that, right? No! Not only “No!” but “Hell no!” If you think that kind of guaranteed return is legitimate, you need to seriously check where your head is at, because it must be some kind of crazy place.
Why does a line like that appeal to young investors? Easy. Because it feeds a very natural human trait called greed; the desire to make something from nothing and do it quick, then head to the beach for the rest of their life. Adults in the 18-25 age group are often especially susceptible to these come-on lines from fraudsters at the very point in their financial development when they should be holding onto what they’ve got with both hands.
Read the following example from YoungMoney.com:
A defendant in Florida, headed an investment fraud business which took in money from more than 1,500 victims throughout the United States and Canada. In 2006, the defendant pled guilty to failing to file a federal income tax return and various mail and wire fraud charges.
The perpetrator and another individual formed Pacific Achievements International (PAI) and used PAI to solicit investment funds, primarily through the internet. Based upon various false promises, investors transferred more than $13 million into PAI bank accounts in Oregon, Washington and Florida.
Individuals were led to believe that for every $5,859 invested, they would see a return of $9,720 within three weeks; and they could earn more than $1 million per month thereafter. As with most investment fraud cases such as this, the perpetrators used a ponzi scheme. They took money from late investors to pay early investors so that it appeared that PAI was successful.
The defendant and another PAI promoter diverted more than $2 million from investors to fund their lavish lifestyle. For his crimes, the defendant was sentenced to six years in prison and ordered to pay over $8.7 million in restitution to the victims.
And this kind of stuff happens every day. Don’t be one of the young investors who falls for this kind of scheme. Stay alert, stay real, and stay in control of your money.
The Young Wealth Team
Flickr / anonymous9000
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