Dong Dingdong Dinged

[Pottapaug1938]

This morning, my wife and I listened to the Ric Edelman radio program. One of the callers was a guy whose buddy gave him a hot tip about how the Vietnamese dong was about to skyrocket in value; and so the guy plunked down $1,500 USD and bought a wad of dong. Five years later, he is wondering when he's going to be able to cash in, other than at the loss he would suffer if (IF!!!) he could get rid of the stuff.

Edelman politely asked him what evidence his buddy had for his assurance -- and of course, there was none. Edelman went on to politely advise people about the dangers of speculation -- which this was. It was NOT an "investment"; and he also talked about affinity fraud.

I wonder how many poor saps are sitting at home, counting their dinars, Zimdollars and dong, and wondering when their big payoff will come.

(Speaking of Zimdollars -- last year, or the year before, I bought a Zimbabwe 100 Trillion dollar note. It was among those taken in the burglary; and when I went on eBay to replace it, I noticed that the average price was north of 70 dollars. I guess that, if a sap bought his Zimdollars in 100 Trillion note increments, he may yet recover some of his FRNs....)

[TheNewSaint]

the guy plunked down $1,500 USD and bought a wad of dong. Five years later, he is wondering when he's going to be able to cash in, other than at the loss he would suffer if (IF!!!) he could get rid of the stuff.

$1,500 over five years? This guy got off light. Especially considering he was financially able to drop $1,500 on a whim in the first place. Many fraud victims lose a lot more than that, and can less afford it.

It's nice that he's learned, and is informing others about the scam, but it sounds like he's still smoking some hopium:

he is wondering when he's going to be able to cash in, other than at the loss he would suffer if (IF!!!) he could get rid of the stuff.

He's not. He needs to accept that his $1,500 isn't coming back, and to let it go. I hope the host told him this.

We talk a lot about how to avoid scams, but there also right and wrong ways to react after the bait has been swallowed. I got some great advice once, which was to treat the money lost as a valuable life lesson. For his $1,500, this guy got an inoculation against being taken for a lot more. Feeling like you got something out of it can ease the sting of monetary loss.

Or at least, don't spend any more time, money, or energy on it. Considering this guy was motivated to call a talk show about it, and still seeks to recoup his investment, I suspect a lot of his head space is occupied worrying about stupid Vietnamese currency. For the princely rent of $300 a year. This is Sunk Cost Fallacy in action.

[Chaos]

bought a wad of dong.

Johnny Wadd?