How can I protect my elderly parents from "cold calling" investment fraud?

 

A:

As the economy continues to be rocky, more and more scammers are targeting the retirement funds and life's savings of seniors. One way they do this is through unsolicited phone calls touting supposedly "low-risk, high-return" investment opportunities, and they often try to entice investors into rolling their existing retirement accounts into the opportunity. Many times, the calls become increasingly harassing in hopes of wearing your parents down and getting them to agree to an investment scam. 

Here are a few things you can do to help your parents protect themselves from senior investment fraud:

• Help them add their phone number to the National Do Not Call registry at donotcall.gov. 
• Report any harassing investment calls to FINRA, the SEC, the FTC, or your state regulators. 
• Talk about how to say "no," and remind your parents that they can ask to be put on an individual company's do not call list. 
• Ask your parents to get any potential investment offers in writing, and make a plan to review the documents together before any money changes hands. 

If you need more information about protecting parents from investment fraud, speak with one of our qualified investment fraud attorneys, and request a FREE copy of our book Five Signs of Investment Fraud ...And What to Do if it's Happened to You.