>Background: Older adults lose billions of dollars to financial fraud each year, and investment scams are the most costly. The purpose of this study is to identify older adults’ specific attitudes towards risky investing, values about wealth accumulation, and experience of negative life events that may increase their risk of victimization. >Methods: Data are from an AARP telephone survey of 700 victims who were independently verified by the FBI and state securities regulators to have lost money to investment fraud. Scams included investments in precious metals, oil and gas exploration, commodities online trading, and multilevel marketing schemes. Victims were compared to a random sample from the general investor population, matched by age, race/ethnicity, and sex. >Findings: Compared to non-victims, we predicted that investment fraud victims would have more positive attitudes toward risky investment opportunities, would be more open to investment solicitations, and be more likely to have experienced negative life events prior to making the investment. We found that victimization is associated with ongoing housing, relationship, and financial trouble (OR=1.26, p=0.021). Victims differed from non-victims in their values toward wealth accumulation, greater interest in risky investment opportunities, and willingness to trust investment advice from friends and family. >Implications: This is the first study to investigate the attitudes, behaviors, and negative life experiences of confirmed victims of investment fraud and assess how they differ from non-victims. Victims demonstrated significantly poorer awareness of common investment fraud persuasion messages, suggesting that more education about investing safely is needed in the older population.
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