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08-08-2010, 05:55 AM
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#1
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chattanooga
Posts: 3,877
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American Greed on CNBC
Anybody else watch this program ?
I am simply amazed at how supposedly smart people are duped out of their hard earned money and savings by promises of excessive returns on their investments.
Greed has to be one of the major obstacles to FIRE for some people.
__________________
Earning money is an action, saving money is a behavior, growing money takes a well diversified portfolio and the discipline to ignore market swings.
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08-08-2010, 06:02 AM
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#2
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 22,971
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Didn't watch the show, but it doesn't surprise me. It seems to me that Greed and its evil cousin Fear are responsible for most of our financial missteps.
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Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
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08-08-2010, 07:39 AM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 6,681
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I watch this show often. Some of the segments are based on fraud (i.e. ID theft, mortgage fraud), as the victims (individuals or banks) did not do anything to try to get excessive returns, just sell their house or make a loan.
__________________
Retired in late 2008 at age 45. Cashed in company stock, bought a lot of shares in a big bond fund and am living nicely off its dividends. IRA, SS, and a pension await me at age 60 and later. No kids, no debts.
"I want my money working for me instead of me working for my money!"
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08-08-2010, 08:50 AM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chattanooga
Posts: 3,877
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The program last night was about some offshore bank in Granada offering CDs paying a 250% annual return. They had a fancy brochure and said funds were insured by the IDIC (International Deposit Insurance Corp) of which there is none. Basically it was nothing more than a big Ponzi scheme that sucked a lot of so called smart people in for thousands of dollars.
__________________
Earning money is an action, saving money is a behavior, growing money takes a well diversified portfolio and the discipline to ignore market swings.
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08-08-2010, 09:56 AM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Minneapolis
Posts: 4,455
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frayne
The program last night was about some offshore bank in Granada offering CDs paying a 250% annual return.
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Sold - let me in.
__________________
May we live in peace and harmony and be free from all human sufferings.
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08-08-2010, 10:11 AM
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#6
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 1,563
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Can you watch it anywhere online?
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08-08-2010, 10:23 AM
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#7
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Northern IL
Posts: 26,819
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Quote:
Originally Posted by frayne
The program last night was about some offshore bank in Granada offering CDs paying a 250% annual return.
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That isn't greed - that is stupidity, or maybe just ignorance.
Wait - are you talking about the greed of the people seeking these returns, or the greed of the people offering the scam? I see them both as 'greedy'. You can't cheat an honest man?
Quote:
Originally Posted by frayne
Greed has to be one of the major obstacles to FIRE for some people.
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And maybe the major pathway also? I wonder if the scammers will retire early (maybe to a prison)?
-ERD50
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08-08-2010, 10:48 AM
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#8
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chattanooga
Posts: 3,877
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See case 2,
Conned in the Caribbean
News Headlines
__________________
Earning money is an action, saving money is a behavior, growing money takes a well diversified portfolio and the discipline to ignore market swings.
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08-08-2010, 06:29 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Oct 2006
Posts: 7,733
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I watch it pretty often. I try to take careful notes as I plot how to make my next fortune. Ponzi scheme seem so old fashion that I am looking for a more 21st century scam.
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08-08-2010, 07:32 PM
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#10
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 43
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I find offering to manage my coworkers retirement and taxable investment accounts for a small portion of there assets is a pretty good return for me. I get my money now and they are stuck with my bad investment choices until they decide otherwise.
Actually they keep asking me if I would manage their accounts and I tell them my plans are working for me but may not work for you and to due their own due diligence.
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08-08-2010, 08:51 PM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Hong Kong
Posts: 1,688
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Quote:
Originally Posted by clifp
I watch it pretty often. I try to take careful notes as I plot how to make my next fortune. Ponzi scheme seem so old fashion that I am looking for a more 21st century scam.
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No need to spend too much time on devising your scam. Ponzi's scheme has stood the test of time - it certainly worked for Madoff.
My favorite investment scam of all time goes back to the South Sea Bubble when a group of "creative" individuals raised money: For carrying on an undertaking of great advantage; but nobody to know what it is.
And people actually put money into it: History House: The South Sea Bubble
__________________
Budgeting is a skill practised by people who are bad at politics.
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08-09-2010, 04:55 AM
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#12
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Administrator
Join Date: Apr 2006
Posts: 22,971
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Quote:
Originally Posted by traineeinvestor
No need to spend too much time on devising your scam. Ponzi's scheme has stood the test of time - it certainly worked for Madoff.
My favorite investment scam of all time goes back to the South Sea Bubble when a group of "creative" individuals raised money: For carrying on an undertaking of great advantage; but nobody to know what it is.
And people actually put money into it: History House: The South Sea Bubble
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And, yet, somehow we never get any smarter.
Special-purpose acquisition company - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Living an analog life in the Digital Age.
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08-09-2010, 07:21 AM
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#13
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2007
Posts: 344
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I recall contemplating some Iceland CD's.
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08-09-2010, 07:47 AM
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#14
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Rio Grande Valley
Posts: 38,001
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It's a really good program! I have been amazed how many of the scams are have a religious front or tap into religious organizations to find their victims. These, also, are usually offering unreasonable returns.
Audrey
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Retired since summer 1999.
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08-09-2010, 08:38 AM
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#15
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: St. Louis
Posts: 1,563
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08-10-2010, 01:15 PM
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#16
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Pacific latitude 20/49
Posts: 7,677
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One thing that they all share is an overtone of
- too good to be true
- you are privileged to be offered this
- act now
I think it all started with the sale of swampland in southern Florida in the 60s. Then it branched out into timeshares.
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For the fun of it...Keith
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08-10-2010, 01:39 PM
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#17
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: Chattanooga
Posts: 3,877
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kcowan
One thing that they all share is an overtone of
- too good to be true
- you are privileged to be offered this
- act now
I think it all started with the sale of swampland in southern Florida in the 60s. Then it branched out into timeshares.
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Three red flags that people just love to bite on, over and over and over again.
__________________
Earning money is an action, saving money is a behavior, growing money takes a well diversified portfolio and the discipline to ignore market swings.
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08-16-2010, 10:48 PM
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#18
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: VA
Posts: 923
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I have this show set on my DVR....some interesting stories, makes you wonder how dumb some people really are though.
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08-21-2010, 11:40 PM
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#19
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jun 2007
Posts: 316
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Had a talk with friends about this show recently. General consensus was that if we were to pull a scam, that the easiest to be duped tended to be church congregations. No judgement on religious folk in particular, but somehow attaching your scam to religion allows it to "fly under the radar" in a lot of cases. As evidenced by the show, investors just seem less likely to examine it closely.
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08-22-2010, 02:56 AM
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#20
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: Palma de Mallorca
Posts: 1,419
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Grizz
Had a talk with friends about this show recently. General consensus was that if we were to pull a scam, that the easiest to be duped tended to be church congregations. No judgement on religious folk in particular, but somehow attaching your scam to religion allows it to "fly under the radar" in a lot of cases. As evidenced by the show, investors just seem less likely to examine it closely.
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I don't think this is surprising at all.
A member of a religious congregation is pretty much by definition demonstrating, in public, that they believe in something which sounds amazing, promises an extraordinary reward, and for which no concrete, first-hand, would-hold-up-in-a-court-of-law, physical evidence is available. (I'm trying not be disrespectful here; my BiL who is very mainstream religious tells me that he is happy to accept the above definition, but it may not be to everyone's taste.)
If I were going to scam people, those folks would be first on my target list.
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