ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses what can be known about the investor-victims from federal documents. It also discusses some of the qualities that contributed to turning investors into victims. The perpetrators have many ways of contacting and recruiting their investor-victims. One method of contacting potential victims is to host events with free lunch while perpetrators hawk their program. In many cases the perpetrators begin with their family, friends, acquaintances, and social networks, such as religious affiliations. In some cases, they have targeted specific ethnic communities through language- based media, newspapers, and radio. Many investor-victims are suckered in with the promise of exorbitant interest rates. When a Ponzi perpetrator promises their victims outrageous profits, such as 100 percent or 3,000 percent, the victims must know on some level that it is not feasible. Ponzi schemes are based on trust. In order for the fraud to take place the perpetrators must persuade the victims to trust them.
