Who’s Watching Your Wallet?
The name Bernie Madoff will always be associated with greed, deception, and the infamous Ponzi scheme. There is a kind of collective disbelief and awe over its magnitude and the length of time that he was allowed to operate. Financial fraud is nothing new, and according to the Federal Trade Commission, complaints have risen 62% since 2008. No one is immune; the con artists are experts in manipulation, exploiting news headlines and even sacred events to find investors. They commonly infiltrate churches, organizations, and social groups, and create venues such as free educational dinner seminars as a means of networking and selling their wares.