Stay Away From That "Free Lunch" Seminar. It's Likely to Give You Serious Indigestion.

I have called attention in earlier posts to fraudulent and misleading sales tactics used to exploit older Americans.This blog will continue to provide ongoing consumer alerts on these deceptive practices, which are becoming an epidemic. They not only result in the financial exploitation of elders, but they create distrust among millions of Americans that discourages them from meeting with well qualified, honest and experienced financial professionals to take important planning steps.

Earlier I reported on what Investment News has called "the Easily Credentialed” That publication reported that, “State securities regulators have begun to view easy-to-get "certified senior adviser" and various "senior specialist" designations with alarm.”

The head of the Wisconsin Division of Securities is quoted as saying “People may use the designation "to create a false level of comfort among seniors by implying a certain level of training on issues important to the elderly," and the "alphabet soup of letters after their names" can be deceptive, she said in a press release.

In todays Boston Globe an article in the business section points the spotlight on another notorious practice- the "Senior Seminar" to lure in elders with the promise of a "Free Lunch"Regulators target fraud against older investors.

By Bloomberg News | September 11, 2007

The globe reports that US regulators are "...stepping up efforts to rein in securities fraud involving seniors,(they) found that more than a third of "free lunch" seminars aimed at older Americans focused on unsuitable or fraudulent investments.

The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and state regulators said in a report released yesterday 50 percent of the 110 securities firms investigated made exaggerated claims at the meetings, including promises of adding $100,000 to participants' net worth.

Twenty-three percent of the firms offered inappropriate advice, and 13 percent may have committed fraud, the regulators said.

"The stakes for our investor-protection mission couldn't be higher," SEC chairman Christopher Cox said yesterday at a meeting of federal and state regulators to discuss ways to protect the elderly from fraud. "If we fail, millions of more seniors will be at risk of falling victim to scam artists."

To read the full article click here
http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2007/09/11/regulators_target_fraud_against_older_investors?mode=PF