Can you spot a financial scam. The new Financial Fraud and Susceptibility survey bets you can’t. About 40% of the 2,400 people surveyed recently said they’d be enticed by a fully guaranteed investment, especially if it offered an annual return of 110%.
Really? Bernie Madoff’s guaranteed return rate was only 12%, and that was clearly unsustainable. But a guaranteed 110% return doesn’t seem like a red flag for 4 out of 10 people? No wonder 11% of the respondents said they’d been taken in a fraud scheme at some point. Most likely to be victims were the elderly and younger males with higher income and education.
Unfortunately, most of those people just chalked it up as a lesson learned and never took steps to alert authorities of the fraud. That leaves the perpetrators free to victimize someone else.
More information:
Financial Fraud and Susceptibility survey (PDF)