NCJ Number
211682
Date Published
2004
Length
0 pages
Annotation
Intended as a tool for crime prevention education, this DVD dramatizes the operation and investigation by postal inspectors of an investment scam; a commentator suggests principles for avoiding such scams.
Abstract
While visiting her father, a postal inspector notices that he has received mail about stock investments through a company about which her office has received a number of complaints. She knows the company is not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the businesses they tout for investments are not familiar with the company that is supposedly trading in their stock. This suggests that investors' money is being held and manipulated by the company as a scam that ultimately results in the victims losing all their money. Initial impressive returns on investments are nothing more than the reshuffling of money from other victims to entice even more investment, all of which is lost over the long term into pockets of the scammers. Since the inspector's father was persuaded to send for the investment information by a neighbor who was exulting in the first impressive return on his investment, the inspector goes to the neighbor and informs him about the danger of the investment. He is finally persuaded by the inspector to call the company and attempt to withdraw his investment. The neighbor records the call to the head of the company, as the scammer persuades the neighbor to invest even more money in a failing company. Subsequently, a team of postal inspectors raids the office of the fraudulent company. The commentator advises viewers not to rush into accepting "high profit, low risk" offers through the mail or by phone; and all information should be in writing before an investment is seriously considered. Appropriate government consumer agencies should then be contacted for information regarding particular companies and investments.