In December 2008, a well-regarded member of the finance community, former NASDAQ chairman, huge charitable contributor, and pillar of New York society admitted to his sons the $65 billion he managed for hedge funds, charities, foundations, Hollywood stars, and myriad smaller investors was a fraud?a Ponzi scheme.

2008 and 2009 will be remembered for bear markets, a global credit crunch, and some of the largest investment scams ever. But these scams are nothing new?from Charles Ponzi to Robert Vesco to Bernard Madoff?they?ve been repeated throughout history, and there will certainly be more to come in the future. But the good news is fraudsters often follow the same basic playbook. Learn the playbook?and know how to ask the right questions?and financial fraud can be easy to detect and simple to avoid.

Some advisers start intending to embezzle. Others evolve to it?as Madoff claims. Either way, it?s structurally the same, and you can learn ways to identify both intended and possible future fraud. Throughout your investing life, you may be presented with opportunities that seem too good to be true. In How to Smell a Rat: The Five Signs of Financial Fraud, trusted financial expert Ken Fisher?provides you with an insider?s view on how to spot potential financial disasters before you commit your money to a scam.

Filled with in-depth insights and practical advice, this reliable resource takes an engaging look at recent and historic examples of fraudsters, how they operated, and how they could have been easily avoided. Fisher then shows you quick, identifiable features of potential financial frauds and arms you with questions to ask when assessing money managers.

With this newfound knowledge, you can learn to spot red flags, such as: