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A Book By A Certified Financial Planner Who Managed
$400 Million In Assets, Shows How You Can Combat Con
Artists Who Are Plotting To Steal Your Money

“This book is an important part of my investor’s library. I’ve always been persuaded that a motivated
client and an honest, intelligent advisor who puts their client’s interests first will net great results,
Francavilla’s admonishment to advisors and simple language for savers and investors clearly identifies
the behaviors necessary for financial success.” –Raymond “Chip” Mason, former chairman and CEO
of Legg Mason, Inc., and former chairman of the Securities Industry Association
“The Madoffs Among Us is an excellent book that will empower the reader to recruit and fully engage a
financial consultant for maximum effect. I highly recommend this book. You won’t be sorry you read
it.” –Patrick J. Socci, PhD, Former Dean, Frank G. Zaro School of Business, Hofstra University
Wealthy, smart and successful people get swindled every day, and it’s not always from petty thieves or
ex-cons, but from people they believe they can trust, including financial advisors, stock brokers, and
realtors. There are many steps one can take to help insulate against suffering financial ruin and they can
be found in an eye-opening book, The Madoffs Among Us: Combat The Scammers, Con Artists, and
Thieves Who are Plotting to Steal Your Money (Career Press), by William M. Francavilla, CFP.
Francavilla, CFP, is in a position to know about alarming real-life examples of fraud, as he provides
concrete measures one should take to minimize the possibility of being ripped off. The Certified
Financial Planner, ™ with over 30 years of successful experience in the financial services industry, has
managed over $400 million in investment assets. He retired from Legg Mason as senior vice president
and director of corporate wealth management. He brings a savvy, insider’s perspective that’s needed to
help others navigate through the landmines populated by the Bernie Madoffs, Charles Ponzis, and
Kenneth Lays among us.

Francavilla identifies:
 6 top scams perpetuated by con artists in America today.
 Why so many smart people fall prey to financial scams.
 7 financial concepts everyone needs to understand.
 3 types of financial advisors one must avoid.
 5 most important questions you should ask your financial advisor.
 How to avoid losing money to fraudsters and embezzlers the way Billy Joel, Sting, and Robert
DeNiro were ripped off millions of dollars.
 The tragedy of stealing from the elderly: how to protect your aging parents and loved ones.
 How women are specifically targeted by dishonest financial advisors.
 How inflation, deflation, and geopolitical events play a big role in how we protect our wealth.
 What to understand about your financial advisor’s credentials.
One of the most important features of The Madoffs Among Us is not only Francavilla’s cataloguing of
high-profile victims and hall of shame criminals as examples of what to avoid, but his clear outlining of
actionable steps one can employ to avoid the many deceitful practices of those that squeeze billions of
dollars from Americans each year.
“Even those equipped to uncover fraud because they have the advantage of attorneys and accountants can
fall victim to bad investments,” asserts Francavilla. “Fraud is more common than you realize.”
Indeed, Francavilla cites a study by FINRA Investor Education Foundation of 2013 that shows regulators
and law enforcement agencies receive over a million fraud complaints annually. But the FINRA study
estimates nearly 40 million incidents of fraud take place every year.
So what should we do to be on the alert for scammers? “Be suspicious of all offers,” says Francavilla.
“Stay informed and consult your closest friends and relatives if you have a concern about something.
Don’t let naivete, fear, or greed impulsively drive your actions.”
Older Americans are the most vulnerable – and often have the most to lose. Fake romances, bogus
charities, contractors who take huge deposits but do no work, and elder-care plans that don’t actually
provide services are among the chief culprits of money-sucking schemes. But the biggest one is linked to
making bad investments.
Francavilla strongly encourages individuals to locate a properly credentialed, informed, and experienced
financial advisor. He lays out the questions you should grill potential advisors with and explains why you
must avoid three types of advisors: the novice, the strongly opinionated, and the sales-oriented. He also
explains the different types of advisor designations that exist and where their skills., knowledge, and
loyalties lie.
He also provides financial literacy about things like cash reserves, mortgage-to-income ratios, budgets,
insurance and risk managements, debt, tax reduction, estate planning, and investing.
Many people abdicate their responsibility to participate in the investment process because they just don’t
know much about financial planning, and they rely upon an advisor. This book arms you with tangible
and simple actions to protect your wealth, no matter its size. From the very first chapter, you will
appreciate why good advisors are worth their weight in gold and bad advisors could cost you a fortune.
Contact Information: Media Connect
Brian Feinblum 212-583-2718 brian.feinblum@finnpartners.com

William M. Francavilla CFP

Biography

William M. Francavilla is a Certified Financial Planner™ with over three decades of experiences in the
financial services industries. He has worked as an investment advisor and professional trainer for several
Fortune 500 companies and retired from Legg Mason as senior vice president and director of corporate
wealth management.
His career included successful financial advisory with more than $400 million under personal
management.
Francavilla, CFP, who has been featured on CNBC, MarketWatch, NPR, and BizTalk Radio, is a
consultant to some of the most successful financial advisors and financial firms in the country. He speaks
and writes to help clients and advisors better understand how best to succeed.
He’s the author of The Madoffs Among Us: Combat the Scammers Con Artists, and Thieves Who are
Plotting to Steal Your Money (Career Press).
He earned a degree in Psychology from the University of Dayton. His post-graduate education took place
at the University of Virginia and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
He resides near Richmond, Virginia. For more information, please consult: www.billfrancavilla.com.

Testimonials

“Bill Francavilla’s new book is concurrently an easy read, and a comprehensive one. It could stand
simply as a rock-solid primer on money management and investing. However, it’s so much more than
that! In my 40 years of policing, I’ve encountered too many victims of crimes, many of which are aptly
described in Bill’s book. The reader will be able to avoid most of the risks from scam and fraud artists
when armed with Bill’s advice and can eschew “too good to be true” opportunities by easily recognizing
them through the many examples given. It costs far less to avoid being a victim than to recover from
being a victim, and this book is a great inoculation against fraud and deliberate financial
mismanagement.”
–Richard W. Myers, Executive Director, Major Cities Police Chiefs Association
“In Bill’s book he encourages the investor to be alert, take an active role in decisions and supplies easy to
understand financial concepts. I especially enjoyed the comfortable way he alerts the investor to fraud.
This is a message that must be broadcast and repeated to all investors and investment professionals.”
–James W. Brinkley, Former President and CEO, Legg Mason Wood Walker, Inc.
This book provides effective steps that all investors should utilize to ensure that they are working with an
honest, caring and effective financial professional.”
–Timothy Scheve, President and CEO Janney Montgomery Scott
“There is a lot of experience and wisdom wrapped up in these pages. As I read it I couldn’t help but think
of a related Warren Buffet quote. ‘When you sit down at a poker table and you don’t know who the patsy
is, you are the patsy.’ And another from Ronald Reagan, ‘Trust, but verify.’
–Michael Whittaker, Former Senior Vice President, TCW Investment Management
Well-intentioned financial professionals and seasoned and novice investors will find this book
fascinating.”
–Gerri Leder, President, LederMark Communications & Coaching
“This book is a wonderful read and highly informative. The author has done a great job of helping people
keep those wayward and dangerous emotions in check when making financial decisions.”
–Kathleen Hebbeler, PhD, Behavioral Research psychologist
“Imagine explaining to the board of directors, staff, and clients of your nonprofit their reserves or
endowment have disappeared. Anyone with experience in raising resources for nonprofits can testify to
the hard work and perseverance needed to cultivate and properly steward resources. Bill has vast
experience as a compassionate and diligent nonprofit volunteer leader who understands not-for-profit
entities are not immune to the Maddoffs among us. Bill’s book should be a recommended read for all
executive directors and a prerequisite for board leadership at all levels. Bill’s life of servant leadership
makes him the perfect person to deliver this message.”
–Steven S. Kast (34 years in non-profit), President and CEO United Way of the Virginia Peninsula

Don’t Be A Victim to the Next Madoff!

by William W. Francavilla, CFP
Author of The Madoffs Among Us

Here are a few actions you could consider taking on your behalf or perhaps on behalf of a loved one:
1. Note that scammers have the greatest degree of success with older Americans who live alone or
are otherwise isolated form family and friends. As the percentage of people considered senior (65
and older) grows, so does the market for the bad guys. If you are an older American and would
like a further safeguard, enlist a family member or trusted advisor or attorney who will assist in
making decisions. Perhaps a financial advisor, attorney or good friend would qualify and agree.
2. Get off the phone grid! Sign up for the National Do Not Call Registry (donotcall.gov or 888-382-
1222); it may not prevent all calls coming in from crooks, but it will certainly cut down on the
number of calls you might otherwise receive unsolicited.
3. Make certain you know your contractor. Each state has a contractor-licensing bureau, and a
simple call can verify the contractor’s license. Also, make sure they have proper insurance and
bonding, Never pay in full up front.
4. In some cases, take the power of attorney prerogative over all of one’s finances and pay his bills
and settled all his legal matters. Another measure of protection for elders might include setting
up oversight to his or her accounts by asking that duplicate monthly statements be mailed to your
attention. Additionally, one could establish a limited account on behalf of a loved open whereby
they would have their own account but the total accessible would be limited to a certain dollar
amount, say $500. All expenditures could be paid from an account that you were cosignatory.
(Make certain you use the primary owner’s Social Security number for tax purposes.)
5. Lastly, simply check in with your parents, grandparents, friends, or loved ones. And sometimes
even arrive unannounced. Of course you’ll want to see if they are taking required medications
and their general physical health, but the pop-in visit may reveal issues that are unknown to you.
Who’s visited recently, do they have any new “friends,” and so forth? It’s a loving courtesy.
Can we deduce that the variables that influence our poor decisions include naiveté, subtlety, fear, greed,
age (and accompanying decrease of mental acuity), and other factors too modest to consider? Yes, and
the intelligent person can greatly minimize the possibilities of fraud by being ever mindful of these
variables and ever vigilant.
So if we are truly prepared to make a commitment to minimizing the probability of losing money, it’s
incumbent upon us to address the three controllables: naivete, fear, and greed. Fortunately, all three can
be addressed with the one thing that gives each of us power: knowledge.
Does it take effort on our part? I’m afraid so, but by equipping ourselves with the right question, the right
information, and the right measure of apprehension or skepticism, we can absolutely reduce the chance of
fraud to an exponential extent.

Selected Excerpts

The Deception Duo
The reader will learn to recognize the dangerous intersection where the subtlety of the perpetrator and the
naiveté of the consumer meet. Money is lost when the twin towers of deception – subtlety and naiveté –
collide. My hope is that when one reaches this intersection, they simply stop, enjoy an a-ha moment, and
thank me for warning them.

Beware!
When one considers that over 650,000 advisors help manage more than $30 trillion and that 56 percent of
Americans seek professional advisors, we better well be vigilant.
There are not hundreds of examples of people being defrauded. There are hundreds of thousands of
ordinary Americans being conned and scammed each and every year. It’s not only professional athletes
and performers who are too busy earning lots of money to pay attention. It’s you and me as well. Most
Americans outside the financial industry are busy earning income and taking care of their families. They
hire trusted advisors to help them grow their assets in the hope of retiring comfortably, bequeathing assets
to heirs or charities, or simply funding education for children.
It is incumbent upon each and every person to be vigilant and participate to the extent they can in the
financial process.
So are there constants? Are there warning signs? Are there measures that we can take to minimize the
probability of being scammed?
Pay Attention — Or Pay Dearly
Investors should hire problem-solvers and not sales-people. When the advisor focuses on providing you
with a solution to your stated problem (for example, retirement planning, funding education, making sure
you are properly insured against risk, minimizing taxes, ensuring tax advantaged bequeathing of estate
assets), you’re in good company. On the other hand, when you find yourself at a free luncheon or dinner
at which an advisor has a single product designed to solve all your or an unknown broker with a deal you
can’t ignore, watch out. Here is where you ask your two questions: Do I know enough about the
investment, and do I know enough about the advisor? If you can’t answer yes to both questions, step
back.
Greed & Fear
Therein lies the dilemma. Greed and fear rule our buying and selling habits with an iron hand. Why else
would perfectly logical people be willing to buy into a raging bull stock market only to sell the same
securities and companies when the market falls? It’s the same company at $20 per share as it was when
we bought it at $30, only now its truly on sale. Logic dictates that we should be buying more shares the
same way we shop coupons and deals for items we need at the grocery or clothing store. And yet fear
introduces such fierce emotion that we can’t deny giving in, and we sell. Greed is likewise as powerful.
Run, Don’t Walk

There are two conversations that you need to be especially wary of. The first is the advisor who
recognizes that an investor has ample wealth and asks the client for a personal loan. It may seem innocent
enough, but it is never appropriate. In fact, this is against the law and industry standards, and is
specifically identified as an infraction unless it is fully disclosed, it is wrong. I don’t care the reason.
The second conversation to be avoided is the one that asks you to consider an investment that is
unregistered. In other words, the advisor’s firm does not represent the investment. It might be a private
equity opportunity in which someone is trying to raise capital to fund a real estate venture or invention
that will revolutionize the market. Of course, it’s perfectly legal to invest as you see fit, but the implied
or tacit approval from a registered representative is highly inappropriate and is against all firms’ policies.

Three Things To Watch For
The three faceless Madoffs – inflation, deflation, and geopolitical events – are conditions that can take
place without fanfare, and because most of us are naïve and because these conditions can be subtle, we
succumb. We are talking about the virtual value of capital – money. Though investments and the cash
we have in the bank have a daily relative value typically assigned to markets or other currencies, it’s
important to think of money in terms of being an asset. Cash is indeed an asset, but what the cash can
purchase is subject to how much the cash is actually worth.
Our three faceless robbers of wealth bring a new dimension to our discussion of protecting your wealth,
family, and well-being. Nonetheless they must be considered even though they may be outliers.

Gold’s Rule
Gold is not a good investment. It doesn’t pay a dividend, doesn’t earn money like a corporation, and so
floats in value principally because of inflation, deflation, and geopolitical variables. Gold is an excellent
hedge and in times of need can be extremely important to own. Together with other commodities like
silver, food, and water sources, as well as precious jewels or collectibles, it should be considered as an
auxiliary to an otherwise-balanced investment portfolio.
Many financial advisors agree that perhaps 5 to 10 percent of a family’s investable assets should be in
gold or one of its sister commodities. Each person has to consider just how much is enough. I have
always thought it a good idea to own a little and to own the coins or bullion. Again, gold is not a good
investment but is the best hedge against our faceless adversaries.

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