Do you have an income, a home or have a financial nest egg? Are you divorced or widowed and have received any kind of financial settlement or insurance payout? Are you looking for a new start in life or a financial investment opportunity? Are you a caring, conscientious, moral, or spiritual person or have an emotional void? If you answer yes to most of these questions, you meet the criteria to be a target for a predator or con artist. Especially in these times, financial predators are sharpening their tools to get at your funds.
What they are looking for:
The main thing that attracts a recession predator is your money and whatever you have that can translate into money. Even the stolen hoards of these predators have taken a hit in the markets, so they too will be looking to replenish what they have lost. Make no mistake, these people check you out well before they meet you. This is an actual, well established and corrupt business model with a beginning a middle and an end that can span anywhere from a few months to several years. These people know how much to take from you without triggering the judicial and tax system resources toward investigation and prosecution and you will never get your money back because these predators will make sure you will never have the resources to go after them.
How they target you:
If you are between the ages of 40 and 70 you could have the most to lose. If divorced, you may have received substantial assets, have felt wounded and unappreciated by your ex and are open to the sweet talk and affections generated by the predator. If widowed, you may be facing loneliness and the void of not having your partner around in your day to day routine. Because of the times during which you grew up, especially if you are a woman, you may have the self-image that you may be inexperienced or incapable of handling significant amounts of money. This is the perfect setting for the con and his cronies to arrive. A simple search of death notices, wills, divorce court records, land titles and church events is how the predator trolls for the next victim.
How they meet you:
Once they know your inheritance or divorce settlement, your address and other basic information, they can position themselves to accidentally meet you. The coincidental meeting can be at the home you are building or a renovation, a volunteer event, the supermarket, the hospital, a funeral, dance clubs or at a singles event at church. Predators are poised to be that most kind and helping hand of your dreams just happening to have all the time to dedicate to you.
How they take advantage of your good nature:
The predator presents him/herself as always being helpful, going beyond the call of duty to be that amazing caring and supportive knowledgeable person. They are determined to be your best friend, soul mate and are always reminding you that destiny brought you two together. They tell their sad tale, how things didn't work out for them and how they have been in the same boat. You build quality time together. The predator then starts to monopolize your relationships, slowly dividing you from your trusted friends and family, doing it so gradually and subtly that you never see it happening.
How they drag you into their net:
Suddenly the predator has an emergency. Whether it is automotive, a job loss, business difficulties, encumbered assets, apartment eviction, flood or fire, these are all things that they supposedly had no control of. They need help now and you are their best and only friend. They then use your moral conscience against you. Since they have helped you during your times of need, it is your turn to help them. The situation is crafted to make it look like it was all your idea to help. Paperwork, small IOU's are drafted and the first debts or loans are paid back. Then the loans get bigger and the trust and relationship card gets thrown in. You and the predator are now a couple deep in a romance. They convince you that paper is just meaningless and that you have a sacred bond of love and trust. You are now building a life together. The predator's friends and so-called business partners (who are all part of the game) can consist of a team of a lawyer an accountant and often some sort of psychological advisor, who the predator says they have known for many years. They include you in everything at first and all claiming to be looking out for your best interest, except that they just can't seem to get the contracts written up that show your ever growing investment. You now have no escape and they know it.
How they control the relationship:
You start to press for some written contracts just so that even you know where you stand. Suddenly the money becomes an issue and the predator team now creates staged events that show that the relationship just "isn't working". They are knowingly dividing your soul. You don't know which direction to go. You are trying to save your relationship as well as your finances. You still don't have your money back and they are continuing to use all your resources for their deals. It seems harder to get a rational conversation with the business partners who start to treat you like a mental patient, while they pretend to also have problems in dealing with the predator because of problems in your relationship. They continue play the good guy routine of "don't worry you will get your money back" while you still have nothing on paper. Then the predator tells you it's over, that they can't stand your bad attitude and that you don't have the same religious or spiritual connection. The predator complains about your constant harassment about money, that the "love" is gone and they are leaving and that it is your fault. Meanwhile the accountant and the lawyer have squirreled the money away. They give their predator/partner a well loaded credit and debit cards with instructions to withdraw only small amounts of cash so as not to attract attention (anywhere in the world) all of which, of course, you will never see.
How they defend themselves:
The predator claims everything you handed to them was a gift, not a loan. They claim to the authorities that your issue is merely a lovers' quarrel and anything you do is out of spite, jealousy and/or mental instability. Depending on their greed factor, their risks and how much they intend to cover their tracks, these people may actually decide to sue you on bogus grounds, possibly claiming that they own your house due to having lived together for over the local time limits for common law relationships. This means you will have to come up with even more time and money (and stress) to defend yourself. It's the finger pointing routine, a tactic to distract the spotlight from them and to further demoralize you. They don't ever really want to take the chance of losing in court or settle anything. Even if there is a court settlement, there is a very good chance that the monies have already been forwarded to other jurisdictions which in turn requires more litigation to recoup those funds. Usually the predator team will delay repeatedly until receivership kicks in rather than apply for bankruptcy so the accountant in the team can maintain the "cleanliness" of his professional standing. As part of the stalling tactic, they will delay discovery for examinations repeatedly and alternatively use a lawyer or self-represent themselves in court thereby using the judicial system to drain you from anything else you have.
Keep your finances private and locked up:
Although many times it isn't always easy to keep things private, it isn't necessary or prudent to broadcast your entire life on the web, or blogs or other social circles. These predators make it their career to look to getting your money. Having your assets placed in long term investments or insurance products that remove them from easy access is one way of protecting your funds. Having monies paid out as annuities is another method. Find a licensed financial and/or insurance consultant who will really take the time to understand you and your situation and who has the intestinal fortitude and knowledge to help you protect yourself from getting drawn into anyone or anything that is ultimately not in your best interest.
Get a background check done:
You don't have to spend a fortune on this. You can hire someone or start to do some basic checking on your own. Running a basic check at the court house to see if this person and/or their associates have their names come up can be very enlightening. You can learn a lot about a person from how many times they are in court, who they took to court and who took them to court. Look for things like bankruptcies, receiverships, loan defaults, divorces, child support non-payments, restraining orders, assault, arson, stalking, fraud and other charges. It may reveal more about their stories to you than you wanted but it gives you valuable insight into their tales and what they are capable of. If this individual and their associates keep asking you for "business development", "marketing development" or "legal funds" and there is a pending or unresolved court case on the books, this is a definite red flag. Be sure to look into the business or corporate registration. If these folks have changed their corporation status and names coincidentally at the same times as the legal actions, you have another cross hair for the investigative scope. People like this cannot get "normal" financing for a reason so they prey on your emotion and good nature.
Understanding the "ponzi scheme":
The ponzi scheme or principle is the means by which these predators operate and facilitate the growth of their business. The predator and his team take the money from the first victim or victims and go through the scenarios discussed earlier. As monies are taken they are put into the multiple streams of outlays of cash which then circle around back to the predator's financial home tributary. As part of the planned demise of their company, corporate shares and assets are quickly dispersed and reassigned using the lawyer and the accountant. Among other things, this is known as receivership fraud. Once the predatory team feels that the dust has settled, the cycle begins all over again. The monies that are drawn out of this next victim are trickled back to the previous victim who is so demoralized that they are grateful to get anything they can. This then adds perceived legitimacy to the new victim of the scheme because the previous victim is then produced to proclaim that they did indeed get their money back. This further enables and supports (knowingly or unknowingly) the perpetrators of this scam.
Final thoughts:
The things a predator hates most are scrutiny, the truth and your friends and family. Predators usually have a track record of some kind. Do those background checks. Use the same things to evaluate them that they used to find you. Seek out and talk to the people the predator keeps ranting about. Predators usually say the same things about you once they find the next victim and will run a very aggressive and ugly smear campaign against you. To counter this onslaught you need the support of your friends and family more than ever. Together you can face down the predator and warn others of these individuals. Vera Saar is a strategist, career and asset management coach, education facilitator, project manager, engineer, visual artist and animator. Her interests extend to gardening, water ponds, martial arts, motorcycling, general well-being and ways to make our personal and world environment better.
Article Source: https://EzineArticles.com/expert/Vera_Saar/137092
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