British con artist sentenced in discount bonds scheme

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RIP-OFF ALERT: A British man named Robert (Rodney) Tringham stole $7 million from unsuspecting investors by pretending to be a renowned European banker with a method to make big money by purchasing discount bonds, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Tringham claimed he was buying bonds on sale using money from investors and later selling them at a profit and splitting the proceeds. He was such a smooth operator that in just 90 days he reeled in more than $7 million from a variety of people no questions asked. This took place 6 years ago!

He set up a phony front organization called First National Ban Corpation to execute this scam. People were impressed by his supposed credentials and worldly air, but he was just a con artist. Tringham used the money on his girlfriend, a mansion and a luxury vehicle. Now he’s just been sentenced to prison for 13 years.

More often than not, we let our guard down when someone seems so charming, so sophisticated and so wise that we think, “Hey, I’d be a fool to pass up this opportunity to invest with them!” Then after the fact, it’s too often more like, “What in the world was I thinking doing business with that person?!” If making money was as easy as Tringham told the people he ripped off it was, we’d all be doing it.

The reality is you don’t get a great return without a great deal of risk, even with legitimate opportunities. If you want safety, you have to accept a puny return on your money. Investing by its nature entails a risk of losing money, though it’s more likely that you’ll make money over time. Even the things on my investment guide could cause you to lose money.

Remember this: Whenever somebody promises they have a secret “can’t lose” strategy, here’s my guarantee, you are guaranteed to lose!  

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