Boiler room victims not stupid or greedy

afwone

patientperson wrote: »

My single bit of advice is 'do not be polite .. terminate the call .. just hang up'. They may come back again .. different name and so forth .. just hang up and do not engage in conversation with these scam merchants.

That is good advice, but not always easy for a polite person to do! However, I have recently found a technique for getting them to hang up very quickly.

For the past few months I have somehow got onto a Suckers List for these boiler room scams. They phone me on my work number and generally begin by telling me that they would like to send me a brochure on investment (more often than not 'alternative investments'). They are themselves polite and personable, and ask about my investments so that they can send me the most appropriate material. Difficult to take offence, and they are persistent.

They represent companies that have websites giving addresses in the City (seems easy enough to hire a forwarding address there). Some of of these companies are registered - and a bit of a give away when their address is recorded as a modest house in the Midlands.

Now I ask immediately for the company's name and google it. Sometimes it doesnt come up and they will then give another name they trade under. This then leads to the phoney website and sometimes a web forum where victims describe the losses they have incurred. When I start to share this information, it is interesting how quickly the character of the polite person on the other end of the line can change!

patientperson

afwone wrote: »

That is good advice, but not always easy for a polite person to do! However, I have recently found a technique for getting them to hang up very quickly.

Afwone. Pleased your system works for you. You are quite correct highlighting politeness which is exploited by the scammers. As for google .. okay if you are online or use a smart phone but otherwise it is just another cold nuisance call.

Wilkins

Thanks for the replies everyone. I suppose my feeling is that, issues of mental capacity aside, I do find it difficult to see how there is not an element of greed or stupidity involved. The Guardian writer makes the point that the victims are usually already investors. In my view they should be aware of prevailing rates of return/risk and not hark back to previous eras.

For years, there has been such a lot of media attention about the dangers of cold calling (and not only boiler room scams), I find to difficult to see how anyone can think it rational to suppose that genuine investment opportunities arise this way.

afwone

patientperson wrote: »

Afwone. Pleased your system works for you. You are quite correct highlighting politeness which is exploited by the scammers. As for google .. okay if you are online or use a smart phone but otherwise it is just another cold nuisance call.

Getting these calls while in front of my pc at work does make it easier to do a little quick research. My name and phone number has been just a few months on a suckers list used by boiler room scammers, and I still have the interest to do so. I expect I shall tire of it.

For most people the best policy will be to do as you suggest. Just be rude and hang up - even on a polite, seemingly helpful person who has not caused any harm (as yet). Not everyone will manage that, and vulnerable people will continue to put their trust in these fraudsters.

Those of us who know their telephone numbers, company names and websites, etc. could probably do more to help close down these operations, but I am not sure how.

Wilkins

afwone wrote: »

Just be rude and hang up - even on a polite, seemingly helpful person who has not caused any harm (as yet).

Actually, I don't think you need to be rude. I have two techniques depending upon the tone of the caller. If it appears possible for it to be a genuine (albeit, irritating) cold call, I just immediately say "No thankyou, bye" in as cheery a voice as I can muster (i.e., Jehovah's Witness technique). If it seems like a scammer I say "Sorry, just hold for a second" and then leave the line open for a good while. They don't seem to hang on or phone back.

FatherAbraham

Glen_Clark wrote: »

Sorry, but how can any sensible person believe a stranger is going to cold call them to sell them a good investment?

I was effectively cold-called (via advertizing) to buy shares in an investment which looked good.

After a couple of weeks, I sold my Royal Mail shares for 550p each, having paid 330p for them. This was an annualized return of some enormous figure, over 4000%

People whose only exposure to investing is this kind of situation find it hard to discriminate, and are unaware of what normal investment returns are.

Colleagues who wouldn't buy at 330p in the privatization ("too risky, and £750 is a lot of money!") later asked me in incredulous tones why on earth I was selling at 550p ("but they've gone up so much!").

Those people will die in poverty.

Warmest regards,
FA

IronWolf

That article is ridiculous. Saying that they made so much money in the past through sheer luck basically (housing, demutualisations, privatisations), that now they expect better returns so are more prone to boiler rooms.

Oh how my heart bleeds for them....

talexuser

I think the great "pull" of these scams is the impression that they have some kind of insider info that the rest of the market does not have, which is specifically designed and targeted to appeal to greed.

Unfortunately the more banking and other financial scandals are in the news the general impression is that the whole system works on secret whispers across chinese walls and untrammeled greed, which may actually be helping the scammers!

JohnRo

"Lust and greed are more gullible than innocence."

afwone

There are different perspectives here on what constitutes greed. Should someone trying to get a good deal be dismissed as greedy? Isn't getting a good deal what this forum is about ?

My experience of speaking with boiler room scammers is that they are not out to sell you a get-rich-quick investment. It is in their interests to tie you into a long term arrangement. It is better for them that you don't find out you have been duped till some time afterwards.

Practitioners of these scams can come across as educated, well-spoken people. They are skilled in the trickery employed by established companies in the investment business - which many of us have already succumbed to. These are not the usual low-grade cold callers.

They will introduce themselves initially by saying that you have contacted their company for information, or that their company has sent you material that they are following up on. They will take time to gain your trust, and will not try to close a deal in the first or even second phonecall. And the bigger the fish the more time they will spend on reeling you in.