I just sat there looking at the screen not believing what I was seeing. The firm this guy was from was being accused of various acts of fraud and were now being sued by their investors for massive amounts of money. Now he was coming for me in hopes of luring me into their game. I wanted nothing to do with these guys and tried thinking of ways I could get out of the meeting.
I considered the idea of calling the guy and telling him to turn around or to just bail before he makes it to the college. But those thoughts didn't sit well with me because he may still attempt to contact me afterwords. I also considered the idea of calling my parants for help, but they had no clue about the meeting and I didn't want to worry them. I started to feel a slight panic, until an idea popped into my head.
I printed out two articles regarding the lawsuit and started highlighting the parts that I felt were important. I than stuffed them into my back pack and waited outside for the guy to arrive. I was nervouse about what I was going to do because I had no idea how he would react. After waiting a few minutes more on a bench, the guy arrived dressed up in a suit and carrying a briefcase. "This is it" I thought "game on".
I walked up to him and politely welcomed him to the college. We than walked into the college cafeteria and sat down. He opened up his briefcase and started pitching his sale to me. He started by telling me about all the different ways that their firm is able to help their clients and how they can assist me. He also started naming off the investments that they suggest to their customers and how "safe" they are. A lot of what he claimed was actualy a load of crap, but I didn't say anything because I didn't want to start an argument.
He than started talking about what investments he would go about putting my money into. This did not sit well with me because I felt he was acting like I had already agreed to participat. He than wanted to start asking questions about my personal life. I felt that he was going in for the kill, so I decided to beat him to it. It was at this point that I decided to play my trump card.
"Before we go any further" I said "there is one question I have been dying to ask you". "What's that?" he asked. I unzipped my backpack and took out the articles. After dropping them on the table in front of him I said "What's this all about with you being sued by your investors?" I'd love to know what he was thinking after I pulled that move. He picked the papers off the table and started reading them.
When done he started claiming that the lawsuit was frivolous and was the result of an unhappy investor. After saying a few more things that he felt would put him in a better light, he tried to get back to our original conversation. I decided to end it right than and there. "Look" I said "I apreciate your time, but I'm not interested." I thanked him for his time and we walked out of the building.
Later that night, I decided to do more research about the firm out of my own curiousity. I found out that these guys mostly target senior citizens and occasionaly unsophisticated investors. Believe me when I tell you that these guys put alot of people in bad shape. One of the worst stories I read about was regarding an elderly woman who had invested a large percentage of her money with them. After becomeing ill, she wasn't able to withdraw her money to pay for her bills. Eventualy, she died and as far as I know, her children are still fighting to get their mothers money back. If these people had just checked online, I'm sure they could have found out about the trap they were walking into. Thankfully, I looked before leaping. I haven't heard from anyone at that firm since our last meeting.
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