In January of this year, two couples, let’s call them the Jensons for good measure, contacted us to investigate a fraud issue for them. The Jensons loved to invest in enticing opportunities and this time, they had invested $100,000 in a software venture. The only problem was now they could not get a hold of the owners of the venture. After having realized this may have been a con, the Jensons decided to hire a fraud investigator from Santoni Investigations to help them with this issue.

Fraud Investigator Catches Con ArtistFraud Investigation: Who Con Artists Target

Those who commit fraud can target anyone, but their common targets are people who live alone, especially women or young couples.  They also target elderly people who are without any support from their family. Such people are their easy prey, as they very easily get convinced about their schemes and they do not see the crooked plans ticking in the con artist’s mind. Targets that smell a suspicious deal going on should immediately contact a fraud investigator to help them with their decision making.

How Con Artists Commit Fraud

Con artists commit fraud so naturally that their action seems almost genuine. They are most often pathological liars that find no fault in lying outright to people that trust them. Con artists use your sympathy as their main tool. Then they use other emotional devices in their armory to get your trust. They further try to make you feel that you are secure with them and will somehow convince you that they are right. Con artists have a charm that draws you in because they know how to use their emotional tools to keep your attention. If you consult your relatives or friends and they try to show you the real picture con artists will negate what they say and create a rosy picture of themselves in front of you. Always remember that their primary goal is to make you dependent on them. Slowly and steadily they will use this dependency for their own benefit.

Common Types of Fraud

The most common frauds done by con artists involve financial scams, religious scams, medical scams, insurance scams etc. In a financial scam, the conman will tell you that you should not talk to a banker or any other person with financial knowledge, as they fear that the banker will tell you the truth about the con and the plan will fall through. In a medical scam the doctors will hide the actual problem you have and will not tell you the easy cures available and in doing so will try to prescribe you the most costly procedure which may not actually be required, but through which he can fatten up his wallet. In religious scams the conman acts like a religious man and will tell you that he has powers which can heal you or can give you the desired object or service you want. In insurance scams, the conman can do as much as murder a person for life insurance money. The list of the fraudsters and what they will do can go on and on.

How to Save Yourself From Fraud

To avoid fraud, you can follow the below points to stay away from the con artists:

  • Never ever give any cash to any strangers. Even if the person is a person you know after a few meetings. Unless you have absolute proof that a company you are hiring is not a fraud, don’t trust them with your money.
  • The con man has a tendency to easily convince you to become part of their scheme, if you are not convinced don’t take part in their proposal. They will try to rush you into making a decision, don’t ever rush and use your own thinking to decide.
  • Try to avoid talking to strangers about money, never disclose how much money you have, especially while travelling in public transport, because that’s where the con artists try to find their prey.
  • You might receive many emails about winning the lottery or getting inheritance money. Don’t fall into such traps.

What the Jensons do About the Fraud?

As we have seen earlier the Jensons have lost a vast fortune to a financial scam.  They were told that the software venture was the next big thing and that the money they invest would double up in no time. The conman had earned their trust and sold them to the idea of getting extremely wealthy in a short time so long as they invest now. Wanting quick money they invested their savings of $100,000 without consulting their financial advisor or attorney. Now they were at a loss. The Jensons found Santoni Investigations who immediately registered their complaint with the right associations, and started their case. Santoni Investigations was able to gather up enough evidence to convict the criminal, and the help the Jensons file a lawsuit against him to get their money back. Yet another case solved successfully by Santoni Investigations.

**Names have been changed to protect clients