"Hello! Are you interested in passive income?" How not to get to scammers

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Passive income is income that does not depend on daily activities. Surely there is not a person who would not like to periodically receive some kind of interest on deposits, rent payments or dividends.

Today we will touch on the topic of passive income, but will not offer the 10 most common ways to generate passive income. What will we talk about then? Intrigued?

Don't you have your money bags ready yet? Then we're coming to you!

Phone call. Unknown number. A pleasant woman's voice.

- Hello. Are you interested in passive income?

Fraud on And then, in the same pleasant voice, the girl makes me a tempting offer. the opportunity to receive a passive income of 30% per month. And the temptation of the offer lies in the fact that I don't have to do anything. I just need to bring my money to the company "ABB Capital", and then the company's employees - professional analysts and traders with three hundred years of experience in all kinds of financial markets - will take care of it. All I have to do is make a monthly profit.

"So that's great!" - you will say. And I would agree with that, but let me remind readers of my favorite saying: "The devil is in the details. It is the details that I (and now, I hope, you) are very interested in.

I google the name of the company and see that the company is an investment bank, part of the ABB group of companies. But we are not, so to speak, in the clouds either. My question is "And what organization regulates your company's activities?" puzzles the girl. After searching for an answer, which took her some time, she invites the senior manager to the phone, who will answer all my questions.

The senior manager answers in a confident voice that they are regulated by the Russian Federation. Curious...

In exactly the same confident voice I tell the senior manager that I have not given my consent to any advertising calls, and therefore, on what grounds, in fact, are they calling me? I receive an inarticulate answer that they have publicly available information about me as a trader and so on.

After a few more questions from me, the senior manager's enthusiasm waned. Having realized that for their company I was an unpromising customer, the conversation was over.

And now, dear connoisseurs, a question. Who called?

Wolves in sheep's clothing

To be honest, this is not the first call of this type. I get them periodically. Surely many traders have also encountered them. Experienced traders understand who calls them and why from the first word.

And for those who are not yet aware, know - these are the real scammers, trying to get your money under the guise of investment or trading.

Their scheme is simple: you are offered to deposit money into a trading account at their company, and then you can try to trade on it yourself or entrust the management of your money to "supertraders and analysts", which the whole Wall Street is afraid of. The events then unfold as follows:

If you try to trade on your own, sooner or later you will lose your account and remain in the "fool for yourself" position.
If your account is "reliably" managed, then again, sooner or later, you get a call from the company and are told that "force majeure has occurred in the market. This is the first time our analysts and traders have ever seen such a situation. Unfortunately, there is a loss on your account which exceeds the amount of your funds". All in all, you still owe the company.
Alternatively, you may be asked to deposit an "insignificant amount" because the situation is about to rise and the loss will be covered with a 1000% profit.

And if before the names of these companies did not say anything even to the knowledgeable person, but now these scammers skillfully disguise themselves as a real fairly large and well-known companies.

Insider from a "senior manager"

Fraud on One day I ran into one of the "senior managers" of such a company at a friendly get-together. He turned out to be a nice guy, although what he does disgusts me.

So, according to him, One manager calls about 5 thousand people a monthAnd about 10-15 people agree to such a tempting offer.

A newly minted future millionaire is prepared for about a month. They draw beautiful figures of profit on his account, and then offer to contribute more money. Well, why not? Look, you are doing just fine. If you add to your account at least 10 thousand dollars more, you will receive at least 3 thousand dollars a month.

Life is a fairy tale, isn't it? And at the mention of the amount, they will definitely say "at least," emphasizing that $10,000 for their company is just some pocket change against the backdrop of their big profits.

In such companies there is a concept of "close the client.". That is, your account is being deliberately drained. Well, why wouldn't they? No one really traded anything, and it is easy to draw a report with either a profit or a loss. After such "sinking" the client is offered to refill the account. If the client does get something in his head, and he refuses, or, moreover, begins to present the company with some claims, then such a person is simply ignored. That's it, the client is closed.

How did they get my phone number?

This is quite a logical question. Now remember, when you started your acquaintance with trading, how many times and on which trading sites you left your phone number. Do you remember? Neither do I. And the data has not gone anywhere.

Here's a screenshot from a Google search engine for example:

Fraud on

That is, in principle, anyone can buy a base of numbers for about 200 thousand for only a few hundred dollars.

What is the right way to talk to a "senior manager"?

If you receive a call with this or a similar offer, first of all. You should treat every word with a great deal of skepticism, unless you hung up on them at the beginning of the conversation.

If you have realized that you are simply being "tricked" for money, you can simply, as young people say, make fun of it and have fun playing the naive simpleton. If you don't have the time or inclination to do so, forget all tolerance. Very often such people play on your trustworthiness and politeness. Demand that they never call you again. And yes, you can feel free to express yourself - it will only do you good. Otherwise, if you politely try to bring them out in the open, as in the case I cited above, you will be talked to as if you owe them something.

When answering another such call, remember this article. I hope it will save many beginning traders and investors from rash steps and large financial losses.

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