The Madoff Hustle

Everyone believes that they will never fall for a scam but as human beings are we not the most vulnerable when in times of need? This is the opportunities scammers look for, to prey on the people that are naïve. This is how Madoff id responsible for probably one of the biggest financial scams to the point where it is actually very difficult to estimate how much money has actually been stolen. His scam worked because he had incredible social skills, hence he would meet people to make them comfortable with him investing their money. Impressions are everything and he portrayed himself as a nice and honest individual. The sales pitch was a return on their investment at low risk. The reason why the whole scheme did not work was because it became too much too handle. When people asked for their money back during credit crunch they were assured that the money was safe a week before he came out as a fraud. To be able to lie to these people he provided counterfeit documents that looked incredibly real.  The regularly of these added to the trust that people had for him. The business was ran by his family and a few extended family members therefore were they aware of his scheme, or were they just happy to tag along without asking many questions? In the end a confession from Madoff to his sons where he revealed everything, surprisingly his sons turned him in. Even though this scammer scheme was a appealing offer is it fair for people to put all their money into one single investment? Diversification by having multiple investment reduces risks and should be the approach taken.  An investment in multiple companies would be the right play by these people instead of relying solely on one single investment of Madoff.