Everybody wants to get rich.
This is why people still fall for investment scams despite all the warnings, news, and obviousness.
Case in point: Neri Naig-Miranda, an actress turned influencer-entrepreneur, was recently arrested in the middle of a conference because she was allegedly involved in an investment scam.
What are Investment Scams
When you hear promises of high returns, guaranteed profits, and low-risk opportunities, these are clear markings of an investment scam. Scammers exploit people’s desire to grow their wealth, often leaving them with significant financial losses.
Types of Investment Scams
There are three types of investment scams you hear of in the Philippines.
First, is the Ponzi Schemes which use money from new investors to pay returns to earlier investors. There’s a central individual who manipulates all the investment. This schemer controls the flow of funds who promise investors returns from supposed “investments” that don’t exist. Early investors are paid off from the money of later investors. The scheme collapses when there are no new investors.
Second, there is the Pyramid Schemes where scammers recruit more and more participants to sustain payouts, with no real investment product. Those recruited to make payments in turn recruit others, creating a self-sustaining pyramid only up to the point where the number of recruits cannot sustain the structure which collapses. This is a decentralized scheme where people at the top of the pyramid get handsome payouts while those at the bottom are left with losses and to deal with the anger of those they recruited.
Third, Fake Cryptocurrency or Forex Trading exploits the growing interest in digital assets and foreign exchange markets. These schemes often lure victims with promises of high returns, low risk, and innovative technology, but instead, the scammers steal the victims’ money using fake trading platforms. Once enough people invest in the platform, the scammer vanishes.
Investment scams leave a trail of wrecked lives, destroyed relationships, incarceration, loss of savings, debts, and even suicides and murders. Even countries can experience civil unrest and economic turmoil due to investment scams. Research Albania.
Signs of Investment Scams
- The one clear sign of an investment scam is the promise of outrageously high returns. Remember, anything too good to be true is too good to be true. Immediately stopped engaging.
- Another red flag is pressure tactics. Urging you to invest before the opportunity is gone. If online, you will see posts about high earnings from fake accounts. These are all designed to play into people’s fear of missing out and pressure you into investing. Just get out and leave.
- Lack of transparency. You are hit with a smokescreen of jargon, the product is often too generic or not that good, there is secrecy on the owners, and the venue is usually temporary like a rented space.
Engaging with scammers is not advised. But one question to ask, if you must, is to verify their SEC permit for soliciting investments. Leave your cash or checkbook at home. If you’re really that interested, then just store it in the shopping cart of your mind, think about it for seven days, and talk to a financial advisor, or a legal professional.
If you have already invested in such a scheme, quickly seek legal advice for recovering your funds. You will also need emotional support for dealing with the aftermath so go to your pastor, psychiatrist, or counselor. They will tell you what to do before sharing your ordeal with your loved ones. Victims who didn’t have emotional support have gone insane or depressed.
Conclusion
Always be vigilant and skeptical when you hear about financial opportunities. Read up and watch the news. Be extra protective about your savings. Postpone and avoid panic investing by thinking about it for several days and talking to an expert.
You may also help others by sharing this blog to spread awareness.
