Affinity fraud cases continue increase. Investors should be particularly careful when dealing with financial advisers with whom they share a common characteristic or interest. While that may sound counterintuitive, affinity fraud, which is based on such commonalities, has devastated many trusting investors. The affinity often involves something that has been an object of discrimination ? like race, ethnicity, nationality, religious beliefs, etc. When investors encounter a member of their group, they tend to drop our guard. That can be a mistake with devastating financial consequences.