Senior Fraud - How to Combat Investment Fraud aimed at Seniors
On the day, July 17th, 2006, that comments were closed for the FTC's new rule aimed at preventing business opportunity fraud, the SEC held a meeting outlining the steps that they were taking to combat investment fraud aimed at seniors.
""Today's older Americans are living longer and healthier, and therefore investing more, than any previous generation. That trend toward longevity is expected to continue. As a result, older Americans will be more vulnerable to financial fraud than ever before," Chairman Cox said. "Those who would rob older Americans of their retirement nest eggs steal more than hopes and dreams - they erode the trust on which our entire financial system and economy depend. That makes protecting seniors an urgent priority."
There is a webcast available. Dr. Anthony Pratkanis is a speaker, which makes the webcast both entertaining and worthwile. Although I think the inclusion of both Doug Shadel and Anthony Pratkanis illustrates that the SEC is taking seriously the science of compliance, there is a complete disconnect between the other panelists who continue to treat the problem of fraud as simply one of providing more information to rational decision makers. As shown over and over again, especially by Dr. Cialdini, more information provided to an individual who has made even the slighest commitment to a scheme will trigger an irrational decision.
No amount of education is going to change this fact about human nature. But I suppose it is useful to waste your breath venting against this eventuality by proposing "more education".
Face it, most of us shouldn't be investing or trying to pick winners. Just go to Joel Greenblatt's site, invest using his formula, lower overall volatility and do the investing nation a favour.
Technorati Tags: business opportunity fraud, financial fraud, investment fraud, retirement nest eggs, anthony pratkanis, doug shadel, senior fraud
