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From very sophisticated syndicates threatening entire banking system to small time con artists who convince moms and dads to participate in get-rich-quick schemes - greed is often the cause. Money and greed drive nearly all financial frauds. Money! We would all like to make more money. People throughout time have fallen for it. Whenever we find money, we will find fraud. The more the money, the greater the likelihood. You could be one of millions of people who are victims of investment frauds each year. Investment fraud generally happens to people who think it could never happen to them. Investment scams are not always as obvious as the warning signs alerting you to the danger. Fraudsters rely on the fact that an investor is unfamiliar with fraudulent practices. Features such as no risk and high return, guaranteed returns plus high yields are among the gimmicks used that can easily overwhelm any average investor. We frequently read about many reports in the media about financial scandals or frauds which involve millions or even billions of dollars. There are frauds being committed over the internet. There are also cases of fraudulent offerings and market manipulation. There are well-organized syndicates which organize private investment seminars and engage in unlicensed selling activities and promise unusually high returns. There are pyramid schemes designed to take advantage of vulnerable investors. A pyramid scheme typically involves a large number of people. They then mushroom exponentially into unmanageable proportions that it is usually doomed to fail at the end of the day. Such schemes are supposed to be very successful. It rides on the back of new money to make every investor happy by promising very high returns. It allows investors to withdraw at any time and at the same time still be able to receive yields from their investments. One such classic pyramid scheme which caused a banking crisis was in one of the Middle East countries back in 1983. The banks offered their shares for sale, promising investors that the price of the shares would only go up. The banks use depositors' money, their capital, their profits and money that they borrowed abroad to keep this unhealthy promise. Everyone knew what was going on and everyone was involved.