ON "SURE THINGS."

HOW TO LEARN THEIR REAL CHARACTER.

The cleverness and boldness with which the up-to-date investment swindler plies his craft are almost incredible. Wherever you find a fraudulent scheme you will find both of these elements present in some degree—but the comparative proportion of one to the other is generally determined by the element of time of operation.

For example, if the projectors of a scheme are old hands at the game and have established records of the wrong sort, then the idea of quick results is not only attractive, but often imperative. There are many "old offenders" in the profession of investment swindling who have been convicted and have "done time" in jails and penitentiaries, but have not yet learned to prefer straight to crooked finance.

Men of this character realize that a "quick getaway" is a cardinal essential of success; they must complete the transaction and get in the harvest before there is time for the public to wake up and do any investigating.

The length to which the bolder spirits in this class will go almost surpasses credibility. Here is an example, discovered by Detective Wooldridge of Chicago, of the tricks to which they will resort in order to create the impression of having the backing of men or institutions of strength and character:

Through introduction by social friends, the local representative of an investment scheme was able to open a checking account with a banking and trust company in a big city—a company of such high standing that it is very widely known outside of financial circles and among people of small means. Its endorsement was worth "ready money" to any enterprise, and the fact was keenly appreciated by the "fiscal agents" of the Brite & Fair Bonanza Company.

After the opening of his personal checking account the fiscal agent lost no time in cultivating the acquaintance of the trust officer of the banking institution, which did a very large business in the discharge of trusts. One day the depositor came to this officer and explained that he had a very simple little trust which he wished to have executed. Finding it necessary to leave the city for a few days, he wished to provide for the delivery of a sealed package, containing "valuable papers," to a man whose name and personal description was given. The person to call for the package would leave a certified check, in the amount of $1,000, which was to be placed to the credit of the "fiscal agent" of the Brite & Fair Bonanza Company, whose business connections were unknown to the trust officer of the banking and trust company.

All "Brite & Fair."

Weeks later the trust officer was astonished to receive from an old personal friend, who was knocking about in the west, a circular of the Brite & Fair Bonanza Company, in which the big trust company was designated as "trustee" for the "B. & F." stocks. As the friend who forwarded the circular knew something of the wildcat nature of the Brite & Fair enterprise, his comments on the folly of the bank's accepting such a "trust" had an edge on them.

When the matter was investigated it was found that the whole plot had been carefully concocted and worked up; that the circulars had been printed and put in directed envelopes ready for mailing in advance of the placing of the so-called "trust," and that when the trust officer of the solid financial institution had given his receipt for the "sealed package said to contain valuable papers," a telegram had been sent by the "fiscal agent" to "mail out trustee circulars." The man in this scheme, of course, believed that, as the circulars were being mailed out into a territory about a thousand miles from the city in which the banking and trust company was located, the trust officer who had been imposed upon would never hear of the misuse of his receipt for a "dummy" package which actually contained certificates of the mining company's stock.

Why did the men who worked this scheme to steal the moral support of the big trust company go to so great pains to get it? Because fake investment operators have found it profitable to take every precaution to give the color of legality to their acts, they have found it profitable to hire shrewd legal pilots to tell them just how far they may go in a given direction without running upon the reefs of the United States postoffice's "fraud order" or upon the rocks of a "conspiracy" prosecution.

Dodge Uncle Sam and Conspiracy Laws.

Take it in the incident above related: Had these men been prosecuted for falsely using the name of the trust company or for obtaining money by misrepresentation (the claim that the trust company was acting as trustee for the Brite & Fair securities), an able lawyer could have made out of the "trust" to transfer a package of unknown contents a very plausible defense. Again, the mining company was able to make valuable use of the trust company's receipt for the package by having fac similes of the receipt printed and distributed among solicitors for the stock who were canvassing persons not at all familiar with legal documents—and who, under the statements and arguments of the agent, would see in the receipt an acknowledgment that this great trust company and its millions were behind the securities of the Brite & Fair Company.

This brings us straight to the practical point in the matter. Never go into an investment until you first find out for yourself, by direct and first-hand investigation, what the "references" named in the literature or advertising matter of the company have to say about it, and how much the references themselves amount to.

Wildcats Give Good Reference.

Promoters of wildcat investment enterprises have used hundreds of names as references which they had not the shadow of right to use—calculating that persons credulous enough to be interested in the proposition would also be credulous enough to say, "These references will speak well enough for the enterprise, else their names would not be given out for this purpose," and to act without making any inquiries of them.

Again, some man of prominence and great faith may have been, at the start, a believer in the enterprise and willing to say, within certain limitations, that he believed the venture could be made a success if conducted according to certain plans and under given restrictions. This does not signify that he will continue to retain that confidence or that he is willing to be understood as giving the venture his unqualified endorsement, or to say to the public which respects his name and position:

"Come and share this enterprise with me; put your money into it, for it's a good thing."

Detective Wooldridge, who has examined many of these concerns, desires to place special emphasis upon the crafty use which these companies make of the names and services of reputable "trust" companies. He uses the word "services" because a trust company may execute a "trust" in connection with bonds, stocks, property or securities without really assuming any general financial or moral responsibility for those securities or without becoming a sponsor for them. In a word, the trust company may engage to act as an escrow agent to see that a certain technical transaction is completed, and nothing more. That means this: The trust company consents to hold the stakes between two parties, but without the slightest responsibility as to the value of those stakes or what may be done with them after the stipulations as to the conditions precedent to delivery have been fulfilled.

Because a trust company acts as the trustee of a certain bond issued there is no warrant for a prospective investor to feel that the resources of the trust company are in any sense behind these deeds as a guarantee of values.

Another word of caution: Whenever you see the name of an educator, a pastor or a popular politician, or any other leader having a hold on the sentiment of a community used in connection with an investment offering, look into it carefully and take no step until the person mentioned has been questioned directly by you.