Some useful considerations to protect yourself from cons and fraud

Those of you who have been victims of a con in Italy will most certainly have realised that Italian law can do little to punish cons and fraud and it actually seems to be prepared to favour con-men rather than punish them.

First of all, issuing bad cheques, an offence which was already punished in a ridiculously lenient manner in the past, is no longer a criminal offence.

Bills of exchange, by their very nature, are easily adaptable to the virtuosity of con-men, they do not give any guarantees regarding the identity of the person who signs them, so much so that the protest bulletins of the Chamber of Commerce are full of bad debts with “illegible signature” or “unknown at this address”.

Not to mention the crime of fraud, which is difficult to prove both due to the astute nature of the criminals who operate in this sector and due to the thousands of loopholes that the law itself offers such criminals, to cover their true intentions.

I have never known of a con man who spent more than one week in jail for the crimes he was found guilty of.

It seems to be a veritable farce, to the detriment of the victims of fraud. It is however very important to prevent fraud, avoiding con-men, rather than hoping that Justice will prevail after having been the victim of such a crime.

Let’s take a look at a few rules to bear in mind in order to avoid falling into the trap of a con-man:

- Don’t trust bargains that seem too good to be true and beware of very high deposits to be paid.

- Beware of people who give you a sum of money but fail to count it or even discuss the price, beware of people who sign cheques or bills of exchange too readily
- Beware of gaudy ostentation of wealth, remember that wealth is not a synonym of honesty or generosity
- Even with your oldest clients, beware of orders for merchandise that are tenfold the amounts ordered previously, especially when accompanied by requests for more flexible payment terms
- Beware of information requested via the bank. If a bank has a client with outstanding credit, it will be more likely to favour that client with letters of credit so that increasing his activity he might be able to pay off his credit with that bank itself.
- Beware of managing directors of large companies who are elderly, without any specific, extensive experience in the field, (once over 65 years of age it is quite unlikely that they will be sent to jail and a “figure head” who is over seventy years of age is safer as such a person does not need to fear being sent to jail), or beware of managing directors who seem too young, if they are not “daddy’s boys’ or young prodigies (it is easier to elude a young person regarding a promising career, giving him or her administrative duties that are only for show).
- Beware of companies whose managing directors are external to the company and absent from the company, and who do not conduct the activity but delegate it to “managers” without supervising them directly.
If your “suspect” client asks you to visit him or her on appointment, find an excuse to go to visit them unannounced, especially at the beginning or the end of the day. You might find an invisible office.
- Never conclude any transaction hurriedly, either if it is proposed to you hurriedly or within normal terms
- When dealing with large commercial operations or business, have several trusted and experienced professionals examine the situation first, ensuring that such professionals have no part in the deal (therefore that they are objective in their judgement).
- Always gather accurate information on those whom you are doing business with and update such information on a periodical basis, especially when beginning new deals.

Remember that can men have the ability to play with people’s emotions, in fact, the illusion of closing an advantageous deal and the emotion that comes with it makes victims of such fraud quite vulnerable.

Logical thinking, prudence and a good dose of pessimism are essential ingredients if you want to avoid unpleasant surprises.

Published on: 28 Jul 2004