OSHER 568 - Financial Fraud in the Twenty-first Century: Investment Scams, Detection, and Prevention

In 2009, Bernie Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in federal prison after masterminding and carrying out one of the largest Ponzi schemes in history. Losses to investors from Madoff's fraud exceeded $60 billion and caused devastating residual effects beyond the financial cost. Each year, investors are defrauded out of millions of dollars in retirement assets and life savings by individuals that they have entrusted with their money. In this course, we will discuss how to detect red flags of financial frauds, including: romance schemes, affinity frauds, and securities fraud, and ways you can protect yourself from becoming a victim. We will examine some of the largest securities frauds in U.S. history, including frauds perpetrated in Utah. We will read two literary works to help guide our class discussions, "The Confidence Game" by Maria Konnikova, and "Why They Do It: Inside the Mind of the White-Collar Criminal" by Eugene Soltes. We will review real-life case scenarios investigated by the Utah Securities Division. Finally, you will obtain tools and resources to help you detect fraudulent schemes, and who to contact if you become an unfortunate victim of an investment scam.