I’ve seen rerun after rerun of a CNBC special on Madoff’s now-famous Ponzi scheme. Gannon, senior vice president of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, if, maybe, people somehow would be much more skeptical, much less likely to be scammed now that we all have heard about Madoff’s alleged $50 billion fraud — over and over again. He said FINRA asked a similar question to a group of seniors to gauge the impact of the widespread publicity about the Madoff scandal. One way some working people lost their retirement savings was after they attended financial seminars that targeted early retirees who had worked at the same plant or company. Because some past frauds have been so devastating to investors, FINRA will review seminar materials for human resource managers or company executives who are considering allowing a broker or planner to give a financial seminar at the factory or office. Investors can be even more vulnerable now given all the buyout programs in the auto industry and elsewhere, the job cuts, the market meltdown that reduced retirement savings dramatically. read more

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