Overview
The victim expects to profit from another investment that is not a security, commodity, or cryptocurrency.
How It Works
Examples of these scams include film production investment scams, property or real estate investment scams, rare objects investment scams (stamps, coins, artwork, wine, etc).
These items are either non-existent, not worth what the victim invests, or are fronts for Ponzi schemes or other fraudulent schemes.
Related Articles
Related Crime Schemes
A particular instance of this scam may embed one or more of these related schemes.
Bait and switch: A bait and switch is a scheme that makes a promise of one item but delivers a different, lesser-valued item.
Ponzi scheme: A ponzi scheme is a type of investment fraud in which the scammer (or "Ponzi") pays "dividends" to initial investors using the funds of subsequent investors.
Pump-and-Dump: A pump and dump scheme is a type of investment fraud in which promoters falsely hype up a new or obscure stock so that new investors will rush to buy it, thus inflating the price (the "pump"), at which point the scammer sells their portion of the stock at these high prices (the "dump"), leaving the other investors with a worthless stock.
Victim Targeting Context
The scammer may use one or more of the following techniques to reach the victim.
Targeted Conversational Approach: Victims may be targeted due to statements they have made on social media that the scammer thinks make the victim a good target, or through communities they frequent including investment forums.
Social Engineering: Psychological Manipulations
The scammer may use one or more of these psychological techniques to accomplish the scam.
Celebrity: The scammer claims a celebrity endorsement in order to increase trust or interest from the victim.
Easy Money: The scammer promises easy money or makes appeals designed to leverage victim's greed.
Secret Knowledge: The scammer implies that the scheme is based on secret or hidden knowledge or tricks that only the scammer knows.
Social Engineering: Impersonation Techniques
The scammer may impersonate one or more of the following groups as part of the scam.
Banking / Finance: The scammer impersonates a banking official or financial institution.
Business or NonProfit: The scammer impersonates a business or nonprofit.
Catfishing: The scammer creates a fictitious online profile or persona.
Celebrity: The scammer impersonates a celebrity.