True Crime: Adam's Investment Scam

Investment scams often entice their victims with elaborate promises to get rich quick. Individuals who are desperate for financial security are easily targeted and tricked by these schemes. Most are left in financial ruin when what they thought was a legitimate investment ends in empty promises and empty bank accounts.

While the name of the victim has been changed, and he wasn't a SAFE member, this victim's encounter is commonly seen by law enforcement and financial institutions across the nation. This is Adam's story.

Adam received a glossy brochure promoting the benefits of investing in the sporting industry using gambling software. There were plenty of facts and figures showing high returns and photos of people enjoying the high life at glamorous sporting events. The software is designed to predict wins and losses of particular sporting events so that investors can make regular bets based on 'industry knowledge'. All he had to do was buy the software, outlay $20,000 and follow the program.

'The initial trading account cost $20,000 but I only made about $2,000, well short of the promised returns. I rang the helpline and was then offered the opportunity to upgrade to a better program for another $25,000. I argued that the first program hadn’t made anywhere near the promised $20,000, so why would I invest another $25,000?'

'She argued that with the new program I could be making up to $5,000 a month, but I wasn't convinced.'

'After several days of badgering, I submitted to the upgrade. Over time, I kept losing money in my betting account and I had to top it up for them to keep betting.'

After many more calls to the helpline, they would no longer return Adam's phone calls.

'But then I was contacted by Johnny, who rang and said if I could invest more funds to bring it up to $70,000, the company would invest $30,000 to make it $100,000 for the corporate package. I hesitated a bit but was persuaded to do it. I ended up investing the full $100,000 to which I was then informed that I needed to add $25,000 for the betting or investment fund to work.'

‘I argued that nothing was said about another fund. He said well you need to do it or you lose the $100,000.’

Adam reluctantly sent the $25,000. A week later he was informed that he needed to pay another $10,000 as he hadn’t fully paid for an earlier upgrade.

'Again I argued that the system didn’t deliver what they said it would do. They said that if I didn’t pay, the system wouldn’t work properly. I paid it, only to be told that I need to pay a hefty fee to release my funds. I didn’t pay and was told "bad luck you lose it all"'.

Adam eventually realized that the scammers would just keep asking for more money, and the returns were never going to eventuate.

* Always do your research and seek professional advice and guided reviews before making any investments. If you receive an offer similar to Adam's, don’t be enticed by reports of past performance or graphs showing high returns. Just hang up, press delete, and ignore the offer.