Lost money trading so went to managed forex and lost it all. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-...l?hootPostID=cd67ad9c5c29851b3c8d6fc4e76b1285
Wow, I can't believe how extensive that fraud was. It blows my mind how there are people on this earth that put so much planning and work into stealing from others. If they'd put that same amount of effort into a legitimate business idea, they'd probably be even more successful and most importantly, woudn't have to constantly be looking over their shoulders for the rest of their lives.
How is that an elaborate or extensive scam? There are so many red flags from the outset I believe those who invested were bottomless greedy and/or incredibly stupid: Bank accounts in Cyprus, Poland: Big fat red flag for a company that claims to be international and soliciting UK and US clients. Offices within Regus: Red flag. Promises of way outsized returns: Red flag. Principal protected: BIG BIG red flat. First time cash withdrawal is denied or delayed for WHATEVER reason: Red flag. Baron, you honestly call this an evasive scam? Truth is there are a lot of stupid and greedy people in this world and they eat whatever is put in front of them. There is a reason the Zuckerbergs count their pennies when they go shopping. Those who earned their wealth honestly understand that such promised as in this scam are just what they are, empty promises. Losers average losers is all I can say.
I'm not saying that the investors weren't greedy or stupid. I'm just saying that the person behind it all clearly went to great lengths from the very beginning such as hiring paid actors for 54 bullshit testimonials, setting up lots of anonymous shell companies, creating foreign accounts to divert the money to, etc. all for the purpose of lying to people to ultimately steal their money. I've seen many investment scams over the years where the creators of those scams didn't put near as much as effort in as the guy in the story above did.
Well sure, you can't just order chemicals on Amazon and open a meth lab. It takes a little more brains to make illicit money. But I think this scam is nothing compared to how Madoff ran his scheme for such long time.
Madoff "delivered" consistent returns a bit above 10pc per year. He had his SEC registered investment company, a real NYC address. He banked with JPM NYC. He satisfied all withdrawal requests until the last day. And, I personally believe that Madoff did not start out with the intent to run a Ponzi scheme. Maybe early on, he really had some kind of hedged buy-write strategy that was successful, with limited competition. Then he had a bad month, and made the fateful decision to tide it over with shadow accounting and "get out even" next month. That got him on the slippery slope, and the discrepancy between reality and fiction got bigger and bigger. A bit like with Nick Leeson, Jerome Kerviel and the UBS guy. This here was an intentional fraud from the beginning, but also - looking at it objectively - completely obvious. I'd rather compare it to nigerian scammers, with much more sophistication no doubt.
What a scam. I am glad that I have never sent money to a company directly. I always use a forex broker and give power of attorney to money manager. Never will I send money to a company but rather send to a regulated broker. I know for a fact, it is so easy for company to shut shop and run away with my money. Been scammed a few times in 2005 to 2006 by failed traders claiming they make 5% a month with no months losses. Little did I know they will be opening big number of lots and holding onto losers for my account to receive margin call. I have learnt in my time that there should be losses in a few months. If not, and there are 8 profitable months in a row, believe it or not, chances are, most of the time, the account will get busted all in one month. After 2006, I learnt a lesson and happy with my forex money manager group that trade my account. There have been around 2 to 5 losing months during the year, which at least sounds right. Made quite a lot of money thanks to them. Compounded returns is amazing when you see it for yourself.