Book Description From the Inside Flap We have all heard stories of people turning their money over to fraudsters in hopes of making some quick cash. How many times have you rolled your eyes upon hearing about someone falling for the ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam or the latest version of the classic ‘Pyramid’ scheme? You may think that you would never be so gullible, but the truth is we all make mistakes with our finances. You may never get roped into a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme, but it’s likely that, at some point, you may be tempted by the promise of easy money. Maybe the prospect of improved health or a new romance may tempt you. Fraudsters, con artists, and charlatans are everywhere—and they know just how to draw you in. They prey on fear, greed, vulnerability, and desperation. And many of them are extremely successful, right up until the time they get caught. Don’t Fall for It: A Short History of Financial Scams explores some of the most sensational frauds and fraudsters in history. The goal of this book is twofold: to entertain and educate you about the world of financial scams and, more importantly, to help you make better decisions and avoid making harmful financial mistakes. Most business and finance books claim to provide the secret to success, but don’t mention the importance of avoiding failures. There is much more to learn from frauds, hucksters, and scams because they show you what not to do. This engaging book examines the most scandalous instances of financial fraud and shows you some of the individuals who got away with it for years. Each chapter examines different frauds, perpetrators, or victims of scams. These engrossing, real-life stories include discussions of how these frauds were carried out and insights on spotting the six warning signs of fraud before you become a victim. Fraud can happen anywhere, to anyone. It’s easy to think of fraud victims as unsophisticated and easy to fool, yet some of the biggest frauds in history were perpetrated against wealthy, business-savvy individuals. Financial fraud is never going to disappear. For as long as money exists, there will be people trying to cheat you out of it. Don’t Fall for It will help you avoid being one of their victims. Read more From the Back Cover LEARN FINANCIAL AND BUSINESS LESSONS FROM SOME OF THE BIGGEST FRAUDS IN HISTORY Don’t Fall for It explores some of the biggest financial frauds and most successful charlatans, scammers, and hucksters of all-time. These real-life stories include anecdotes about how these frauds were carried out and discussions of what can be learned from them. Sharing lessons that apply to business, money management, and investing, this compelling book answers questions such as: Why do even the most intelligent among us fall for financial scams? What makes fraudsters successful? Why is it often harder to stay rich than to get rich? History is full of sensational financial frauds and scams. Enron was forced to declare bankruptcy after allegations of massive accounting fraud, wiping out $78 billion in stock market value. Bernie Madoff, the largest individual fraudster in history, built a $65 billion Ponzi scheme that ultimately resulted in him being sentenced to a 150-year prison term. It doesn’t matter if you are a farmer looking for a miracle cure or a Hollywood superstar looking to turn a quick profit―no one is immune from getting deceived when money is involved. Read more About the Author BEN CARLSON is the Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritholtz Wealth Management. He has spent his career helping various nonprofit, institutional, and high-net-worth clients plan and invest their money wisely. Ben is the creator of a popular financial blog and podcast and is the author of several books including A Wealth of Common Sense: Why Simplicity Trumps Complexity in Any Investment Plan and Organizational Alpha: How to Add Value in Institutional Asset Management. Read more Customers Review: A really interesting, fun-to-read and difficult to put down book that provides profiles of some of the biggest financial scams in history, here and abroad — from multiple perspectives – that of the scammers, of the scammed, of psychologists, of economists. I agree that the book is pricey, but I also felt it was worth the price of an evening lecture in terms of wisdom gained. I once conversed with a group of women gathering to share experience and wisdom. The topic was the worst financial decision you ever made. I have a feeling that had we read this book as teenagers, many of those pitfalls would have been avoided — everything from timeshares to dating services to self-improvement schemes — average amounts lost were $5K – $20K plus. This book would be good for everything from a graduation gift to a gift for some of those successful friends you might have you do not have a sound financial background or for your family members or best friend. This book also saves you from reading some long, dry book about stocks and the economy. And finally, it is just an engaging and practical book. I know I did not waste my time or money on it.
This is more a collection of quickly dashed-off blog posts than a real book. The writing is poor, and the research is Wikipedia quality, at best. Moreover, these aren’t even all financial scam in any meaningful sense. For example, while people do charge money for sham medical procedures, selling snake oil is hardly a financial scam unless the term is stretched to includeanything that involves money, at which point it is so broad as to be meaningless. I do hope somebody picks up where this author left off, writes in more depth, and hires a proper editor.
Enjoyable read. Very well written. Lots of interesting stories about scam artists and their victims. I highly recommend this book!
Great book for friends family and n00bwhales
I have been following Ben Carlson’s financial blog for six months and found it to be very informative and well- written. That’s how I found out about his new book. The author’s writing style is breezy and interesting. His focus on a cast of unscrupulous characters using anecdotes, stories and data for each incident makes them come alive.Instead of focusing the book on the more recent fraudsters and scammers, the author decided to devote separate chapters to different types of frauds or scams, mostly from older times. While on the surface is may be appealing to those with a historical bent, I found the chapter content choices to be too varied or too familiar for my appetite.While the many stories provided were noteworthy, a handful are well-known and don’t need repeating here like the South Sea Company and Charles Ponzi’s schemes. I found the recounting of Joe Granville’s antics and impact on the stock market fascinating, as I am a stock market junkie with a 60 year interest in the markets.The ability to avoid financial scams is an essential ability for readers of all ages, especially in light of the wide availability of personal information on the Internet for a price, and the ability of criminals to exploit vulnerable intelligent individuals using this information. Therefore, any book covering those events is worthwhile from any reader’s standpoint as a learning experience to avoid a financial disaster.No doubt that Carlson spent a great deal of time scouring the Internet and viewing articles about the overall subject matter, as well as sourcing information from many relevant books. A number of books were from the 1970s or 1980s, and a few were from the 18th and 19th centuries. Clearly, the total of 178 notes at the end of all chapters providing the material references is impressive and useful for reader follow-up.There are wide swaths of unsavory characters that have succeeded in swindling vast fortunes from many individuals over the centuries. The most pertinent scams to me not mentioned in the book are the corporate ones such as ZZZZ Best (1987), Tyco (2002), Wordcom (2002), and Health South (2003). Stock swindler Bernard Madoff (2008) was covered in the book, while Enron was briefly mentioned in a few paragraphs. A more focused book, such as strictly focusing on the stock market or Internet-related swindles and scams would have provided investors and potential readers with a more useful and more recent education on what to look out for going forward.More recently, the internet has allowed fraudsters to extract millions of dollars from unsuspecting individuals with scams for supposed lottery winnings, large bequests from an unknown parties in a foreign countries; email, social media and text phishing cons; incessant phone calls from the tricksters posing as IRS agents or law enforcement individuals; vacation rental properties that don’t really exist; and crypto-currency scams, among many others. Coverage of these would have been more beneficial to readers than more historical ones that no longer apply in today’s interconnected world. I realize that the author had much more material than that presented in the book, and that he could have written a number of sequels with different subject matter. It would have been more enjoyable to read about the more current frauds and scams as the first book in a series, than the mix of stories provided.The concluding chapter on “Six Signs of Financial Fraud” was very useful for stock market investors. Similar chapters on the more current frauds with advice on how to avoid them would have made this a 5-star review.Overall, Carlson provides a valuable look at the history of scams over the centuries and provides readers with the perspective and guidance they need to be aware of how easily they can be separated from their money. However, focusing on the more current scams and frauds would provide more value.
Don’t fall for it
This is a fun read. As a cop who loves investigating white collar crime, one of my favorite games is playing “where’s the scam?” This book has several I haven’t heard of and I enjoyed learning about some variations on scams I’ve investigated. I think it’s worth learning about these as I’ve had the experience of hearing a story that the mark thinks is unique, but fits an established pattern.Whether you love a good financial magic story or “wow, that mark was stupid” story, this is worth the price of a kindle book.
Fun book – it’s a quick read with great stories and Ben’s trademark wit. Does not require you to be a financial expert, anyone would enjoy. It’s like a funny version of American Greed. Highly recommended. |
10 reviews