The survey, which questioned more than 200 known victims of investment fraud and 800 members of the public, found that most susceptible scam have an “unusually high degree of confidence” in unregulated investments.
They also tend to trade more actively than the general investor population.
The prone to investment scam victims also reported that they value wealth accumulation as a significant measure of success in life and acknowledged being open to unsolicited telephone and email sales pitches.
In terms of psychological mindset, more victims reported being willing to take risks, and described themselves as ideologically conservative.
Meanwhile, behavioural characteristics included making five or more investment decisions each year.
A higher percentage of victims were found to be of older age, male, married and military veterans.
“The decline in traditional pensions has prompted millions of relatively inexperienced Americans to take on the job of investing their own money in a fast-moving and complex market,” said Doug Shadel, lead researcher for the AARP Fraud Watch Network.
“Meanwhile, today’s sophisticated technology makes it significantly easier for scammers to reach large numbers of investors.”
