12.2.2 Who is vulnerable to fraud

Recent Canadian studies on investing and mass marketing fraud found that:

• Canadians under 30 and middle-income earners are most likely to be defrauded
• victims in the 50 to 59 age range experience the greatest dollar loss, losing more than $6 million
• victims with university degrees and incomes over $100,000 are just as likely to be victimized as those with less than high school education and incomes under $30,000
• those most likely to invest in a fraudulent investment are over-confident about their ability to make investment decisions, are frequent traders (trading weekly), are more likely than the average investor to take risks, are highly educated, and believe that most people can be trusted and that if you do not act immediately you may miss a good opportunity.