If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is

Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme has made him a household name. He swindled hundreds of people of their life savings and pocketed the money as his own. Although, I wish I could say this is an isolated case, it’s not. Last week in Lompoc, another fraud came to light with Michael Lee Wilson as the mastermind. He got trusting souls to invest in Wilson’s Pacific Coast Mortgage company, even in this unfavorable market, by inducing them to make “short” term loans to him with shaky real estate as collateral. He defrauded his investors of $14 Million dollars, most of who consisted of the elderly. So we come back to the question, why do people keep falling for this? I feel there are a lot of different reasons, some people may have extra capital they wish to make profits on, others may be in need of larger savings then they have and so, are trying to make extra money, however, what I feel it comes down to is greed. I think we commonly associate greed with young wall street types but this feeling is universal, it doesn’t change from young to old. The only difference is that in their old age and desperation, the elderly may be more trusting and gullible to schemes. However, what we all have to remember is that if it sounds to good, then it probably is.

Brantingham, Barney. "Where'd the $14 Million Go?" Santa Barbara Independent. February 3, 2011.