Who Can You Trust? (Part 3)

As I said in Part 1, trading/finance is an industry rife with liars, cheaters, and fraudsters. Don’t believe me? Look back at every blog post I have categorized under “optionScam.com.” The the nonprofit organization Fraud Aid is an excellent source of relevant information and today I want to quote more highlights from their website for the sake of raising awareness:

      “…con artists look for ways to manipulate strengths
      and weaknesses. They will either paint a picture of
      wealth and ease, or increase your darkest fears, or
      a combination of both.

      In order to do this, a con artist will:

          play on your sympathies;

          instill in you a sense of security in
          dealing with him or her;

          separate you from your friends and
          family by placing extreme secrecy on
          all facets of the deal;

          convince you to depend only on the
          scammer and to believe only in the
          scammer; convince you that your
          friends and family, banks and law
          enforcement, are all lying and that
          only the scammer is telling the truth;

          and distract you from what is really
          going on using lies laced with enough
          truth to make the matter believable.

      Their goal is to make you completely dependent
      on them.

      Part of instilling complete dependency is to make
      you feel that your world may not be safe without
      their guidance. Once you realize that none of the
      promises are forthcoming as you expected, the
      con artist uses that dependency as a threat. He or
      she will yank the leash they have wrapped around
      your survival instincts, using either subtle
      scare tactics or outright threats of physical
      harm to you and your family.

      The first step is for the con artist to determine
      your personality profile and identify your needs.
      He or she might zero in on your pride, your ego,
      your fears, your dreams, visions of riches,
      religious conviction, an illness, or your desire
      to get a special deal, or a combination of
      several traits. Whatever works best for the
      given situation.”

I will finish up with Fraud Aid in the next post.