Don't Fall Victim to Free Lunch Investment Seminar Scams

Are you in this group?

During these seminars, people are sometimes lured into investing in unsuitable or even fraudulent products. To protect investors, AARP and the North American Securities Administrators Association launched the Free Lunch Monitor Program. We are asking for your help in making you and others wiser and safer investors. Armed with knowledge and tools, Free Lunch Monitors are empowered to help make the marketplace safer for all investors.

There really is no such thing as a free lunch.

Four out of five investors age 60 and over received at least one invitation to a free lunch seminar in the past three years – and three out of five received six or more.

The goals of these lunches are to recruit clients and sell investment products which may be unsuitable for them.

A 2007 examination of free lunch seminars by the SEC and other regulators found that half featured exaggerated or misleading advertising claims and 13% appeared to be fraudulent and were referred for possible disciplinary action.

How to get involved

If you decide to attend a seminar, just visit www.aarp.org/nofreelunch, print the "What to Listen For" checklist, and report any suspicious activity by sending your completed checklist to us at the address on the website. We will then share that information with the Pennsylvania Securities Commission for possible enforcement action

Share with others

Visit www.aarp.org/nofreelunch to print the checklist, learn powerful investor protection tips, and get involved. Share this information with family and friends so they too can be more prudent investors. Don't let lunch at one of these seminars be one of the costliest meals you've ever had!