As another financial adviser is jailed today, it is another example of how friendships can be established very easily and when untrustworthy people are blessed with that kind of talent, they can cause harm.
The victims are often portrayed as bewildered and docile, like elderly golden retrievers. This panders to our own innate vanity that we (that is me and you) are not like that. We're much more savvy - aren't we?
Good sales people will tease, prod and fish for a personal connection through open questions and compliments about your clothing, your kids, your job, the weather, the All Blacks - you name it. If some form of personal connection is made, you are far more likely to buy. All of which is pretty harmless.
It gets dangerous when that talent is ramped up to the next level. Mere salesmanship then veers into deeply personal areas. Like a Coronation Street baddie, they connect with the recently bereaved or establish a friendship at a particularly vulnerable time. Others will hang around church and use faith and spirituality to establish a bond that no mere mortal can put asunder (or something).
Literally anyone can be taken in when someone strikes a chord, establishes a rapport and presses the right buttons. We move to another league if they make us laugh or we actually fall in love with them. Even if this was an Authorised Financial Adviser and his Disclosure Document said "I cannot be trusted! Run away!" - it may well be far too late by then.
These people are so good that even when they are behind bars - some of their victims will wish them well and maintain that the criminal is a good person. This form of Stockholm Syndrome kicks in purely because no-one likes to have their heart broken.
My practical advice would be to make a an agreement, or even a pact, with your best (real) friend. Talk about these cases. Promise to be brutally honest when you think there's someone creepy hanging around. It is very, very, hard for the victim to judge this on their own behalf. Some of these crooks will work on a "prospect" for many months and sidle into the social circle by stealth.
By talking about it now you can help keep yourself, and your real friends, aware. And increasing awareness helps keep you safe.
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