During the COVID-19 crisis, reports of fraud increased, where financial scams are among the main causes of fraud against Colombians who invest in South Florida.

Revista Enfoque | August 12th, 2020

(This article has been translated from Spanish)

The growing social uncertainty added to the economic instability that has affected stock markets around the world has set a trend in Latin America, where investors are redirecting their capital and betting on assets and business opportunities in the U.S. which they consider safer to guard against the crisis.

Among those Latin American countries that have increased their investments in the U.S., Colombian investors stand out mainly, where only in real estate, they invested more than nine hundred and fifty-seven million dollars during the last year. However, this trend has also attracted the attention of scammers, who try to take advantage of the fear and uncertainty investors are facing in the midst of the pandemic, hence, in just three months, they have registered around $ 20,000,000,000 of pesos in losses related to scams and fraud, according to the United States Federal Trade Commission.

 “Among frauds that are occurring the most, we have seen that financial fraud has skyrocketed and is becoming one of the main methods of robbing Colombians from South Florida. Common factors the majority of cases share is that a person trusts the other party and gives their money without consulting with a specialist and is later scammed. Generally, there are no contracts or documents, or if there are, they are minimal ”, says Maia Aron, lawyer at Mark Migdal & Hayden specialist in commercial litigation and financial fraud, who for more than 14 years has advised Latin American victims of this type of fraud.

Most common types of financial crimes

Identity Theft: Through malicious software, scammers trick victims into allowing them access to invade their computers and seize sensitive information such as credit card numbers or bank accounts to make unscrupulous purchases or expenses in their name.

Investment Fraud: investments or securities are sold with false or misleading information. Ex: Ponzi scheme or pyramids.

Mortgage and credit fraud: fraudsters take advantage of the fact that they have your data to create a mortgage or credit or offer the victim to significantly reduce their debts, obviously after paying an amount that they camouflage in preliminary studies.

Mass marketing fraud: Victims are attracted with unsolicited phone calls or emails, they also offer fake checks, charities, raffles, or lotteries, among others.

Faced with this reality, attorney Aron provided a series of recommendations to avoid being a victim of fraud, some warning signs and what to do in cases where someone has already been scammed.