Have you or someone you know fallen for an investment scam?
Investing is an important process that helps you reach retirement goals and stay on track financially. When an individual encounters an investment scam, he or she loses money and risks complications within their personal financial goals. By learning how to recognize such investment and trading scams, you can protect your finances and stay on track of your investments and reach true financial goals.
When looking into a new investment opportunity, think of the following as a checks and balances:
Poor Credentials
One of the most popular ways investor crooks can steal your money is by providing fake credentials and degrees. Unlike Farnsfield Research, which goes through a rigorous 8-step certification process for every alternative investment strategy, investment crooks can make a fake business look legitimate through invalid credentials and degrees that don’t exist.
Take the time to research credentials listed by each investment company and the professionals in the company before assuming it’s a legitimate business to work with. If a credential does exist and is valid, it’s important to then look into a specific individual at the business, like the financial professional. Any legitimate financial professional must register with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, or FINRA, as well as the SEC and any local authorities. Research the company, as well as the financial professional, before committing to an investment to prevent a financial loss.
Guarantying Unlikely Returns
Stealing your money often takes the form of a guarantee or an unrealistically high average return. Although it is possible for a company like Farnsfield Research to obtain reasonable gains and even high gains in a particular year, the average returns remain realistic over time. Look into the average returns for the investment and look back on a portfolio with several years of returns. In particular, pay attention to the way a company performed during a recession or a down market.
Any crooks offering a guaranteed return of an unrealistically high rate are not offering legitimate investment services. Investment professionals cannot guarantee returns, as investments are risks and can change at any moment without notice. Real investment professionals can only offer averages based on historical performance, current research into the market, and economic factors that historically impact investment growth.
Limited or No Information
At Farnsfield Research, we provide in-depth information about the investment strategies we recommend to clients. We also educate our clients about the reasons why we choose to invest in specific strategies and the 8-step certification process that we use to select investment strategies with a full due diligence report.
Investor crooks do the opposite. They attempt to avoid the topic of due diligence by claiming they work with a large number of clients or individuals without providing a clear reason for an investment. Be wary of any investment professional who does not or cannot explain the reasons for an investment.
Limited Time – Act NOW
Any investment professional who claims that an investment is only available for a limited time is committing a trading scam. Legitimate investments do not expire after a set amount of time. If someone claims that you must hurry to invest or you will lose the opportunity with them is selling a fake investment, especially when it relates to stocks, bonds or alternative portfolios.
A legitimate investment company or investment professional uses multiple tools to identify the best investment options based on the historical data, current market conditions, and the economic factors that impact a portfolio. Real investment professionals educate their clients and explain the reasons for their investment decisions. By working with Farnsfield Research, you are working with real professionals who use an 8-step certification process before investing your money and always explain the reasons for their investment decisions so that you can feel confident that you are working with skilled financial professionals.
Want to see Farnsfield Research’s 8-Step Certification? Contact [email protected] to get their 8-step certification and learn how to avoid falling for investment scams.