Money Scams and Tricks Target Baby Boomers

As if the prospect of $4 gasoline, communicating with the Social Security Administration and droves of American jobs being outsourced overseas wasn’t enough, Baby Boomers must not seriously guard their nest eggs from get rich quick schemes that abound.

The Chicago Tribune focuses on such scoundrels, giving particular attention to a gentlemen that “pied pippered” nearly $50 million from 500 seniors looking to pad their retirements.

Experts say the Baby Boomer generation, the first to include retirees with large sums of money in 401(k) retirement plans and IRAs, will attract a swarm of schemers willing to use trickery and high-pressure tactics to sell bad investments, and in some cases, simply commit fraud.

Authorities say they want to gear up to prevent scams aimed at older people.

“It’s one of my highest priorities,” said Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, who was in Chicago on Friday to speak at a conference titled the Senior Investor Protection Symposium.

There is a spectrum to the deceit. At one end, there is what Cox describes as the “free lunch seminars,” ostensibly meetings offering free food and advice on estate or financial planning. Actually, they represent a technique for finding older people with assets, potential victims for dubious investments. Full Story:

Written by charles dennis on May 21st, 2007 with comments disabled.
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