I would like to focus on the ever-increasing realm of cyber attack and scamming that is going on, via cell phone, computers, emails and texts.
We all need to be aware that these scams are out there and how we can best avoid them. One that I would like to highlight today is based on crypto currency.
We as a business have never advised clients to use crypto currency for a variety of reasons. This “asset” can be faceless and there is no authority that you can deal with if you lose money or get scammed.
Our primary goal as advisers is to work with Morningstar and our industry fund managers to offer our clients a solid selection of assets. One of the more powerful thoughts I have held too in my 15 years in this industry is that if the fund managers felt that assets like crypto currency was a good asset, they would have it in their portfolios. At the end of the day each fund manager is competing in an environment where they are judged according to their peers and benchmarks. It is in their interest to invest in the best assets to get the best outcome.
These teams are incredibly well-staffed and very well resourced. I firmly believe that they have a better handle on asset selection than the average adviser and average man on the road.
If it were a case that some fund managers have adopted this and others not, I would understand, but when no fund managers adopt the asset at all, one needs to step back and acknowledge this.
At Resolute Wealth we have your best interests at heart, and we are working hard with fund managers and Morningstar to create portfolios that balance growth and risk. It is your trust in us and our process that enables the portfolios to unlock value as time goes by.
Faceless crime, borderless crime:
In the July 15 Twitter attack, hackers hijacked accounts belonging to Barack Obama, Elon Musk, Joe Biden and Jeff Bezos and asked their followers to send Bitcoins to their crypto wallet with a promise to double the amount. In a matter of hours, the hackers had accrued more than $100,000.
But before compromising those accounts, the hackers targeted the Twitter accounts of popular cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Coinbase Inc., Gemini Trust Company LLC and Binance Holdings Ltd. In this case, the attackers tweeted a link to a website dubbed “CryptoForHealth,” which also promised to double donations made to a crypto wallet.
In a separate incident In June, cybersecurity blog BleepingComputer reported three YouTube accounts were hijacked to run a crypto giveaway scam, this time live streaming an interview with Tesla Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk next to fake information about the scam. In this instance, the perpetrator raked in more than $150,000.
The point to these situations is that the perpetrators, to my knowledge, have not been found. The online and encrypted nature of these currencies make it hard to track the money and so often these crimes go unpunished.
The money can flow from here to anywhere in the world very quickly. Nobody on the other end of the world can help you, neither can the police.
Remain focused and build solid wealth over time:
My encouragement to you would be to remain focused on the financial plan that you have with your adviser. In times when returns have been a bit behind and the economy has slowed, some may be tempted to pursue other avenues of growth. My advice to you would be to be careful and to know fully what the risk and rewards are of your investment.
We would always like the opportunity to advise you and to guide you towards the goal that we have taken responsibility for.
