Investment Frauds Target Church Members

Affinity fraud-- investment schemes aimed at defrauding members of a particular church-- is on the rise. An AP article yesterday set out examples of church members being bilked out of millions of dollars. A typical approach is for a fraudster to first make a generous donation to the church, pulling in an implicit endorsement from the minister. Church members may be further enticed by the suggestion that they donate part of their investment earnings to the church. The SEC last year issued an Investor Alert warning about these kinds of schemes.