The Supreme Court in 1964 ruled on the suppression of a French film that the state of Ohio had deemed obscene and therefore banned. The question was, did this French film rise to the level of pornography? Asked to define pornography, Justice Potter Stewart delivered what has become a famous statement:
“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [“hard-core pornography”], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it…”
“I know it when I see it.” This is also many people’s definition of evil, which has been on my mind over the past few weeks. Evil comes in myriad shapes and forms. Obviously, we have the war with Iran. I’m sure you have seen and read the same articles I have. Some say it is justified; some say that it isn’t. I will freely admit that I don’t know, and that there are unfortunately too many who should admit such, yet instead use whatever platform they have to preach uninformed opinions. The fact is that history will be the true judge of the wisdom of this action. But I think we can all agree that the regime in Iran – the world’s biggest sponsor of terrorism for the last 47 years and murderer of its own people just in the past few months – is evil.
This week I witnessed evil closer to home, and this we have more control over. One of our retired clients called me in a panic Monday evening: she was on the phone with someone who claimed to be with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The individual on the other end of the line was telling her that her Charles Schwab account had been tampered with, and that to secure it, she needed to transfer $200,000 immediately. She was on the other line with this gentleman when she called me, and I asked her to connect us. I will give this guy points for commitment to the scam, as he suggested to her that I could be the one who hacked her account. Fortunately, it was that comment that convinced our client that she was talking to a scam artist.
What kind of person preys on confusion to steal from retirees? Evil.
This kind of evil is easier to protect ourselves from. Know that no government official is going to call and demand that you immediately transfer funds. When in doubt, check it out; anything legitimate will allow you to follow up. Schwab offers the following five steps to help safeguard yourself from scams:
> Always verbally verify money movement instructions with the recipient and ask for supporting documentation.
> Perform your own due diligence. Research the recipient/product/person to validate the legitimacy of the request or search for scams/complaints associated with the other party.
> Use appropriate disbursement channels/methods to make payments. Avoid prepaid debit cards, gift cards, and digital currency.
> When you can, view goods in person, pay after services are completed, and send money only to people you’ve met in person.
> Use services that have purchase protection and/or an escrow service, especially for high-dollar transactions.
> (Source: https://www.schwab.com/schwabsafe/security-knowledge-center)
I would add to that list to always use your trusted adviser. Our client thought she had called Schwab to get her tax information, but the crooks on the other end of the phone pretended to be Schwab and told her she had to contact the FTC via a number they provided. We could have gotten her tax information for her, but she “didn’t want to bother us.” Of course I assured her that was ridiculous, that servicing her account is part of our job; she knows she can trust us, so please, always call us.
There is evil in this world. Some of it is big, far away, and out of our control. It is easy to get caught up in those stories when we too often miss the evil that is right in front of us, which is smaller in scale but nonetheless real, and more importantly, something we can actually help prevent.
Evil is hard to define, but I know it when I see it. We would have less of it in the world with a different regime in Iran and closer to home with fewer scam artists. At least that is my perspective.
Warm regards,
Chuck Osborne, CFA
