What is an example of affinity fraud?
What is an example of affinity fraud?
Affinity fraud leverages and exploits the inherent trust within the group. For example, a fraudster may target a specific religious congregation. In this instance, the leader becomes an unwitting pawn in the fraudulent scheme.
What is affinity fraud in mortgage?
Affinity fraud refers to investment scams that prey upon members of identifiable groups, such as religious or ethnic communities, the elderly, or professional groups. The fraudsters who promote affinity scams frequently are – or pretend to be – members of the group.
How do I report affinity fraud?
Report Potential Affinity Fraud to the SEC If you suspect that a so-called investment opportunity may be an affinity fraud – or think that you may have lost money in an affinity fraud – contact the SEC Complaint Center (www.sec.gov/complaint/select.shtml).
How can Affinity fraud be prevented?
How To Avoid Affinity Fraud
- Check out everything – no matter how trustworthy the person seems who brings the investment opportunity to your attention.
- Do not fall for investments that promise spectacular profits or “guaranteed” returns.
- Be skeptical of any investment opportunity that is not in writing.
What kind of investment fraud is affinity fraud?
What Is Affinity Fraud? Affinity fraud is a type of investment fraud in which a con artist targets members of an identifiable group based on things such as race, age, religion, etc. The fraudster either is or pretends to be, a member of the group. Often the fraudster promotes a Ponzi or pyramid scheme.
Why is there so much affinity fraud in Utah?
Pugsely suggests a number of factors explain the high rates of affinity fraud in Utah, including members of the LDS Church (also known as Mormons) tending to be overly trusting of those who are or present themselves as members of the church’s leadership and thus failing to conduct standard due diligence for investments.
Where does Adam from affinity fraud come from?
Adam received his master’s in economics from The New School for Social Research and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in sociology. He is a CFA charterholder as well as holding FINRA Series 7 & 63 licenses. He currently researches and teaches at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. What Is Affinity Fraud?
What to do if you are victim of affinity fraud?
And because victims of affinity fraud typically call their local police departments to report these crimes, there is also an effort to train local law enforcement personnel on how to identify white-collar fraud, what evidence to collect, and the proper state and federal agencies to report it to for further investigation.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97BgTj9ueAw