Over the last two weeks, we shared several messages that covered frauds and some articles that the U.S. dollar may fall some more. I never stated that some of the greatest frauds ever perpetrated are by governments diluting the value of the currencies. Despite the fact this is true, I did not point out this fact. My goal was to review fraud protection ideas.

Yet an interesting event took place that revealed some important facts about human nature. Understanding the way we are can help us understand ourselves and markets and learn fraud protection ideas so we can invest better.

A number of readers wrote and indicated that they were quite angry because I was writing about the falling U.S. dollar and suggested that it is somehow unethical to make a profit from the greenback’s collapse. They got this from fraud protection ideas?

This reminded me of two fascinating fraud protection ideas phenomenon that take place when dealing with fraud that if we can understand can make us better investors.

First of Two Fraud Protection Ideas

The first fascinating fraud phenomenon is that investors refuse to believe frauds when unveiled.

I first discovered this with my first scam encounter over 30 years ago while working and living in Hong Kong. A commodity trader in town allegedly had a way to scam the Japanese commodity trading firm he worked for. Purportedly the quotes arrived in Hong Kong minutes before Tokyo and the time gap could be taken advantage of. The guy approached one of my clients and promised to make 15% to 20% per month if he would be an accomplice.

The client sought my advice. I investigated and discovered that the deal was a fraud. The commodity dealer had tricked investors all over town. If the client opened the account, the trader would lose the entire deposit via churning and fees. What could the client do, go to the police and tell them he was ripped off while trying to defraud a commodities firm?

I called the client and told him the whole story and explained exactly how the con artist worked. Thought that was enough. Later I learned that the client invested $10,000 anyway and lost it in exactly the way I had warned him. To add insult to injury the client then put up another $10,000 (the con artist told him they could recover the first $10,000). He lost that too!

This has happened again and again. Clients contact me, ask me about a fraud. I unveil it, tell them what to watch out for and then learn later that they made the investment (and lost their money) anyhow.

Second of Two Fraud Protection Ideas

Here is the second fascinating fraud phenomenon.

Often when someone uncovers a fraud, the investor gets mad at the person who unveils the fraud and not the guy who is stealing from them!

In the Hong Kong example above, finally the Hong Kong Fraud Squad investigated and the con artist fled town. My client was angry at me and the police. “If everyone had left the guy alone, he would have worked it all out”, was his refrain.

So those of you who are upset about the declining U.S. dollar, I am sorry, but do not shoot the messenger when you hear fraud protection ideas.

Since the late 60s I have been helping my clients learn about international investing and business as part of my main goal to share global ideas with my readers that make their lives better. Sharing fraud protection ideas is part of this help.

I am not a politician and try to avoid getting into political arenas (which today would alienate about half my readers whatever I said). A great deal of the U.S. dollar problems are essentially political and can only be resolved at the ballot box.

Yet I know that the problem cannot be resolved politically until a great majority of our nation is more aware that our personal day-to-day lifestyles are the threads that weave the political problems. We make our politicians.

Thus my website also includes hundreds of philosophical messages about what we can do to make our lives more sensible, productive, balanced, debt free, healthy and such and in the process make society better despite fraud at the highest levels of our society.

Just three of the hundreds of these messages are at

The Root of Inspired Investing or
International Investing Made EZ or
Sunday’s Lesson from a Wild Duck

Merri and I hope that by living in a transparent, ethical, healthy, balanced, debt free, productive way we set some sort of positive example and hope that our messages have some common sense that makes some small positive difference.

Fraud Protection Ideas Resolution

How to resolve the falling U.S. dollar problem? I do not know. Unfortunately it is a heck of a lot easier to see a problem and to see its consequences (such as debt and deficit leading to a falling dollar) than it is to see a solution for a huge dollar problem.

I feel it is my responsibility to share my experiences on how, not just to profit, but to survive loss from the terrible consequences we face from the enormous U.S. debt.

By the way Barry Minkow in his book about fraud “Cleaning Up” explains why people get mad when scams are unveiled, why they ignore warnings about fraud and why the U.S. debt will most likely continue to grow.

He wrote about himself when he was creating his huge fraud: “I had fallen into the supreme falsehood of fraud perpetration: fraud is a means to an end and never an end in itself. I told myself that lies to the banks, investors, and auditors were not really wrong as long as I had a plan that would ultimately pay everyone back. As long as no one got hurt there was no crime.”

Minkow believes that most fraud perpetrators believe that they have a cure which will eventually recover the losses.

He writes: “The first irony of course is the irony of the cure and the lies that we (fraud perpetrators) tell ourselves. The second irony of fraud is that the very greed that we perpetrators count on our marks (potential investors) possessing to drive them to invest and blind their objectivity is the same greed that blinds we perpetrators and makes us feel invulnerable to detection. Greed is the one-size-fits all blindfold that both perpetrators and investors wear in tandem. Though neither will admit it.”

There is some wisdom in those quotes, and I do not see any final resolutions to the problems of greed coming along soon.

The danger of the U.S. dollar is nothing new. I wrote about the dangers of denying this in my first book over 20 years ago. The big danger is not the dollar but the denial. See GaryScott.com to read what I wrote about this those two decades ago.

Until next message, look ahead. If you do so without denial, you’ll be surprised. You really can see sometimes what is happening ahead.

You can learn more about Barry Minkow at  Frauddiscovery.net

Gary

Join Merri and me at our next seminar in Quito where we will talk about developing wildlife preserve in Ecuador. Details are at Garyscott.com

Now here is a question about government fraud.

A bold nattily designed government website Whitehouse.gov proclaims:

“I’ve also ordered the Secretary of State to develop a new initiative to help developing countries stop illegal logging, a practice that destroys biodiversity and releases millions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.”

-President George W. Bush, Global Climate Change remarks, February 14, 2002.”

Government Fraud Exposure?

The March 16, 2005, BBC headline says:

“The UK wants G8 nations to ensure all timber bought by its official bodies comes from legal sources. Roger Harrabin reports.

A US plan to block a G8 initiative to stop illegal logging has been revealed in a memo leaked to the BBC’s Newsnight programme.”

To read the entire story on this go to Success Guidelines Best Of The Web Select BBC in the fifth column down titled International Newspapers Latest News in Video and Audio.

My question. Is this government fraud? I would love to hear your answer at gary@successguidelines.com

Join Merri and me at our next seminar in Quito where we will talk about developing wildlife preserve in Ecuador. Details are at GaryScott.com

Gary & Merri Scott hike to isolated virgin forest in
Llangantis with ayurvedic physician Dr. Jay Glaser