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> - Investing money in a friend's company - this was the most painful as it was perpetuated by our family members who lived here for a while that we trusted I

> - Investing money in a friend's company - this was the most painful as it was perpetuated by our family members who lived here for a while that we trusted I don't know your parents' experience, of course, but this method of losing money is one of the most popular for everyone. I once saw an expert who provides finanical education to new professional atheletes (known for being bankrupt soon after retirement despite millions in income). Loans to family/friends' businesses was top of their list of no-no's. On the other hand, many successful businesses have started that way. Many more legitimate but failed efforts also have begun that way. Not everyone has access to VC capital, personal wealth, or a bank loan.

throwup238 3y ago
> On the other hand, many successful businesses have started that way. It's called the triple F round: friends, family, and fools.
brolumir 3y ago
Yeah, I should've been more clear: it wasn't really investing in a friends company. I agree it can be a source of funding when other sources aren't available, but in this case it was a total scam - the company was specifically designed to accept money and fold.
- pessimizer 3y ago
  Affinity fraud.
- adrianmsmith 3y ago
  It's really a bitter pill to swallow that there exist people who would do this to their friends.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    Or family members. MLMs and social media influencers are a plague.
Daub 3y ago
Here in Singapore there was a plague of such cases when China opened up. The main victims were ethnic Chinese Singaporeans being screwed over by long lost family members in China.
- delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
  It's only getting worse[1]. There's so many tele-scammers from China nowadays and old Singaporean Chinese are ripe for the pickings. The usual ones I hear over the phone are MOH, IRAS, or SingPost, or some other authority impersonation. [1]: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/record-scam-cases-singapore-2023-total-amount-lost-scammers-fell-050322349.html https://sg.news.yahoo.com/record-scam-cases-singapore-2023-t...

throwup238 3y ago

> On the other hand, many successful businesses have started that way. It's called the triple F round: friends, family, and fools.

brolumir 3y ago

Yeah, I should've been more clear: it wasn't really investing in a friends company. I agree it can be a source of funding when other sources aren't available, but in this case it was a total scam - the company was specifically designed to accept money and fold.

pessimizer 3y ago
Affinity fraud.
adrianmsmith 3y ago
It's really a bitter pill to swallow that there exist people who would do this to their friends.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  Or family members. MLMs and social media influencers are a plague.

Daub 3y ago

Here in Singapore there was a plague of such cases when China opened up. The main victims were ethnic Chinese Singaporeans being screwed over by long lost family members in China.

delta_p_delta_x 3y ago
It's only getting worse[1]. There's so many tele-scammers from China nowadays and old Singaporean Chinese are ripe for the pickings. The usual ones I hear over the phone are MOH, IRAS, or SingPost, or some other authority impersonation. [1]: https://sg.news.yahoo.com/record-scam-cases-singapore-2023-total-amount-lost-scammers-fell-050322349.html https://sg.news.yahoo.com/record-scam-cases-singapore-2023-t...