Ponzi scheme

Geneen Roth and her husband Matt were ripped off by Bernie Madoff -- victims of his now-notorious Ponzi scheme. Her first reactions when she found out were panic, terror, self-blame and rage. But her struggle to deal with the financial catastrophe led her to see another side of life.

Chad Parks is on a six-week cross-country road trip to shoot a documentary about Americans' soured retirement dreams. And if there are any solutions to the looming crisis, he hopes his crew and their vintage VW Vanagon will find them.

With so many pundits fretting about Social Security's possible collapse in 2036, it's hard to be optimistic about the entitlement program's future. But one insurance expert thinks that giving retirees a bit more flexibility could save the entire system.

Social Security's trust fund is in the long, slow process of collapsing because it won't have enough funds to pay its promised benefits. Sound like a Ponzi scheme? Perhaps, but at least this "scheme" is one in which you can come out ahead -- especially if you start preparing now.

The woes Social Security faces have generated plenty of worried talk lately, but even if nothing changes, it'll be solvent until 2036. But Medicare, the other major government program that retirees rely on, is on course for financial disaster years sooner. That program, of course, is Medicare, and the funding situation for the portion of its benefits that retirees receive looks even scarier than Social Security's prospects right now.

An Iranian-American businessman who hosted a popular Persian language radio show called Economy Today has been indicted on charges that he robbed investors of $20 million in a Ponzi scheme than ran for six years.

Kris Humphries may be mourning the death of his brief marriage to Kim Kardashian, but that may not be the only thing he has lost recently. It appears he may have been the victim of financial fraud, losing perhaps several hundred thousand dollars. Let his case be a warning to you: Here's what to watch out for.

Taking a cue from more high-end swindlers, a slew of violent gangs, including the Bloods, the Crips and the Latin Kings are branching out into mortgage fraud, identity theft, check counterfeiting and bank fraud, among other crimes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued the estate of money manager Joel David Salinas, the president of J. David Financial who died last month, and Brian Bjork, chief investment officer of Select Asset Management, for allegedly selling $50 million of fake bonds.

A California con artist whose Ponzi scheme guaranteed quick returns on the resale of office equipment was sentenced Monday to nine years in federal prison for bilking dozens of victims nationwide out of more than $8 million. Peter Jerald Frommer, 35, of Santa Barbara, was sentenced by a U.S....