[imageframe lightbox=”no” style_type=”none” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” borderradius=”0″ stylecolor=”” align=”none” link=”” linktarget=”_self” animation_type=”0″ animation_direction=”down” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””] [/imageframe][fusion_text]

Google All So-Called Financial Experts

[/fusion_text][fusion_text]A client forwarded me an email last week that originally came from a so-called expert on investing in gold. One of the fun games I like to play when I get emails like this is to Google the investment firm publishing the results. This time I didn’t even need to get to the results. I started typing “Blah Blah Investments” and when I hit the spacebar after investments, Google politely suggested that my next word be “scam.” With another minute of research I found that this company had 133 customer complaints with the Better Business Bureau alleging improper billing and other sleazy marketing practices. Needless to say I wasn’t dealing with Charles Schwab or JP Morgan.

It’s important to do a quick Google search on random investment advice that gets sent your way. The internet has made it really easy for anyone to put together a fancy looking email and instantaneously send it out to the masses. Google, while not perfect, is a good first screen to weed out the bad apples. From there you can move on to the merits of the investment advice. I did go back through the investment thesis by the way. It was risky and flawed, at best.

Of course the name of the firm isn’t really “Blah Blah Investments.” I did not want to inadvertently give these scammers any free publicity or better search results by referring to them by name. Better luck next time, gold guy.[/fusion_text][separator style_type=”single” top_margin=”” bottom_margin=”” sep_color=”” icon=”” width=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]

Legal Disclaimer: These posts do not constitute an offer or recommendation to buy or sell any securities or instruments or to participate in any particular investment or trading strategy. They are for informational purposes only. ASA gathers its data from sources it considers reliable. However, ASA makes no express or implied warranties regarding the accuracy of this information or any opinions expressed by the author and may update or change them without prior notification.

[/fusion_text]