The Reality Check
Last week, a Dubai-based investor avoided a $2M “green energy” scam with one question. No background check. No forensic accounting. Just sixty seconds of conversation.
78% of ultra-wealthy investors faced fraud attempts in 2024 (Global Wealth Security Report). If you’re in the wealth creation game, you’re a target. Scammers aren’t amateurs - they tailor their pitch to your ambitions, your business model, even your vocabulary.
You don’t need a lie detector. You need a question that forces them to drop the act -fast.
Why Scammers Get Past “Normal” Vetting
- They’ve rehearsed the success story until it’s muscle memory.
- They mirror your confidence and your language.
- They show up with a polished biography that reads like a LinkedIn highlight reel.
Conventional checks confirm what they want you to see. This question cuts into what they can’t fake.
The 60-Second Question
Ask: “Walk me through your worst professional failure - and what it cost you.”
Why It Works:
- Legitimate operators have scar tissue. They’ll name numbers, mistakes, and lessons that still sting. Example: “We lost $500K in Mexico due to customs naivety - now we triple-verify every shipment.”
- Frauds can’t live in that territory. They’ll dodge, sugarcoat, or invent “failures” that sound like disguised wins.
Key Tell: Hesitation or evasion. Real experience doesn’t need a script.
Listen not just to the words, but to:
- How quickly they answer.
- Whether they own the mistake or pass the blame.
- How much detail they can recall without checking notes.
What to Look For in the Answer
When they answer, you’re not just fact-checking - you’re stress-testing their reality.
Specificity - Real operators talk in precise terms. You’ll hear actual dates, deal sizes, and the names of people involved. The timeline makes sense without mental gymnastics. If they drift into fuzzy “around that time” statements, treat it as a caution flag.
Ownership - The credible ones will take the hit themselves. You’ll hear “I” more than “we” when describing responsibility. They won’t need to hide behind a board, a partner, or “circumstances beyond control.”
Learning curve - Look for an identifiable shift in how they operate after the failure. Real operators will explain exactly what changed in their systems, team, or decision-making. Frauds will speak in generic “we just moved forward” language that offers no actual insight.
Consistency - Cross-reference the story with what you already know. Dates align? Locations match prior claims? If this “failure” doesn’t fit the rest of their history, you’ve just caught a fracture in the façade.
Advanced Variations
- Follow with: “What would you do differently now?” or “How did your team respond?”
- Ask them to retell the story backwards - a trick that breaks rehearsed scripts.
- For teams, ask each member separately and compare versions.
Tactical Deployment (When & How)
Use it when:
- Vetting potential JV partners over drinks.
- Screening “exclusive” pitch decks.
- Hiring senior execs.
- Choosing advisors or consultants.
- Running remote due diligence calls (hesitation is a tell).
Pro Tip: Close with, “How did that change your approach?” - a fraudster will have no real pivot point to share.
Expert Backup (Behavioural Science Angle)
Fraudsters avoid cognitive dissonance - it’s mentally painful to reconcile a false persona with a real failure. Authentic leaders integrate mistakes into their identity.
Stanford Psych Lab research on high-stakes negotiations confirms: the more authentic the subject, the more willing they are to discuss past losses in detail.
Your Next Move
Before your next deal, commit this question to memory. Don’t announce it as a “test.” Drop it naturally, then watch their eyes, their pauses, their comfort level.
Trust the discomfort. It’s usually telling you more than their CV.
Bonus: Send us your best one-question vetting tool - we may feature it in an upcoming edition.
Brand Alignment
Sovereign wealth isn’t just capital - it’s the discernment to protect it.
PS: Our team vetted three emerging-market deals this month using this exact framework. Only one passed.