By: Jack WaymirecloseAuthor: Jack Waymire Name: Jack Waymire
Email: jack@paladinregistry.com
Site: http://paladinregistry.com
About: Jack writes for the InvestorWatchdog website and Worth magazine. He worked in the financial services industry from 1976 to 2004. For twenty of those years he was the president of a Registered Investment Advisory firm and a Broker/Dealer. Jack is the author of Who's Watching Your Money? The 17 Paladin Principles for Selecting a Financial Advisor and is a co-founder of PaladinRegistry.com.See Authors Posts (87) | September 22, 2009 | Investor Information

Organized crime and other criminals are behind many of the most elaborate scams that separate people from their money. In fact, I bet a lot of criminals gloat about how easy it is to gain control of assets because most investors do not know to protect themselves from criminals who fraudulently claim to be financial advisors.

Following are a couple of ways to protect yourself from all but the most sophisticated frauds.

All investment advisors have CRD (Central Registry Depository) numbers that identify them in the FINRA system. Use the number to look them up on the FINRA website to make sure they are real and review their compliance records. You can use the same number to check them out with your state’s securities commissioner.

Ask them for the name of their broker/dealer, the name of their supervisor, and the name of their compliance officer. Use the Internet to check-out their broker/dealer, check the broker/dealer in the FINRA system, and talk to supervisor and broker/dealer.

Watch-out for identity theft. A criminal could steal the name and CRD number of an actual advisor. If this happens, checking with FINRA, the supervisor, and the compliance officer won’t help because you could be talking about two different people. Your best solution for this delimma is to meet the advisor in the broker/dealer’s office and ask the supervisor and compliance officer to be in attendance. Second, look for content on the Internet about the advisor that includes a photograph. Ideally, the photograph appears on the website on an independent third party. These may be your best bets for making sure the advisor is real.