5 tips you never heard before about how to protect yourself from being ripped off. Today we discuss an article written by the Financial Times about fraud in financial ads and how regulations are not where they need to be. So we need ways to protect our clients.

Need A Financial Advisor?

Schedule a no obligation free consultation: www.abrwealthmanagement.com/consultation

Watch this Episode on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/vcFPnmIzLXQ

Subscribe to Financial Advisors Say The Darndest Things Podcast:

Apple Podcast:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/financial-advisors-say-the-darndest-things/id1546970147

Spotify:

https://open.spotify.com/show/0nkiUkwoJalvgFhZnsIbkk

Google Podcast:

https://podcasts.google.com/search/financial%20advisors%20say

Find us on LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/company/abrwm

If you are not a member of our Facebook Group click below to join:

www.facebook.com/groups/abrwm

Today we are going to talk about the 5 ways to know if an online investment add is too good to be true. We all know, where there is money, there is fraud. We are finding an up tick in fraudulent ads that are nothing but scams. And this is causing a forever increasing distrust of the financial industry. The unfortunate part is that we rely on technology so much already. We are using it to order our food, we are using it to do our shopping, and yes, we are even using it to do our banking.

In a recent article written by the FINANCIAL TIMES they reference Andrew Bailey who says that consumers are at much greater risk than from offline media because of weaker regulation. And I would have to agree. Anyone with a microphone, $5 and a Facebook account can run an ad claiming to be a finance professional.

As an advisor, I am bombarded with these ads from my clients from these self proclaimed financial gurus. So I put together some things to consider, to figure out if it is fact or fiction.

1) Don’t run to the comment section- We love to read reviews. But in the cyber world, reviews can be written by bots, and sometimes the purchase of the service is not even verified. It is a good place to start, but don’t let reviews determine if you are going to give your money away.

2) Information shouldn’t cost you money- An introductory conversation shouldn’t cost you money. I wish I could put a verbal asterisks after this. Because there are two schools of thoughts. Either you give free consultations because you don’t have any clients, or you charge because you have too many clients and don’t want to waste your time. Both of these approaches hold some merit. That’s why it is good to look for a combination. A short free consultation. When you are offered long consultations with no time limit that should be a red flag. And if they are charging you to introduce yourself and ask a few questions directly, that may not be the relationship you want, either...