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The multibillion-dollar Madoff mess proves one thing: Even the most sophisticated of investors are susceptible to fraud. It also proves that relying on highly paid financial advisers or the Securities and Exchange Commission won't protect you from getting ripped off.

Madoff's alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme had the appearance of being a legitimate operation. Until recently, Madoff was paying dividends, sending out monthly statements and fulfilling withdrawal requests. It wasn't until early December when he admitted to having requests from clients for approximately $7 billion in redemptions that the Ponzi scheme started to collapse. Madoff simply didn't have the funds to meet those obligations. The jig was up.

In the case of Madoff, investors turned a blind eye to due diligence that could have been done. "Sometimes the bigger someone is, the less vetting people do," says fraud expert S. Gregory Hays, managing principal, Hays Financial Consulting. "Investors sometimes assume that someone else did their homework." And in the case of Madoff's scheme, the multitude of seemingly sophisticated investors and accomplished business people--from Mortimer Zuckerman to HSBC (nyse: HBC - news - people ) and Groupo Santander--no doubt lent credibility as Madoff expanded his ponzi.

For most investors the best way to keep a Ponzi out of your portfolio is to follow the common sense rule of "if something sounds too good to be true, it probably is." It also is best to ask lots of questions and beware of any potential investment or adviser that is overly secretive in terms of explaining investment strategy.

In Pictures: 10 Fraud Red Flags

In the case of Madoff, it was difficult to rely on publicly available information to discover that a fraud might have been taking place, since little was available. "There were no lawsuits or claims that he was defrauding people," says Kenneth S. Springer, former special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation who is now a certified fraud examiner and president and founder of New York-based Corporate Resolutions.

The one red flag that might have raised suspicions was the fact that Madoff used a tiny accounting firm in New City, N.Y., Friehling &

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Horowitz, to do his accounting. "Someone who claims to have billions in assets under management would normally use a bigger accounting firm like Ernst & Young, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte Touche or Grant Thornton," says Springer.

Of course the best way to discover a sophisticated scheme would be to hire someone to do on-site financial due diligence. Sometimes, large, institutional investors are even allowed to do surprise audits. "You would want to look at the trading and see what kind of transparency was there to see where the money was really being invested, too," says Springer. "Had people done that, many wouldn't have been satisfied with what they would have found out, and they would have walked away." Investors could have also hired an investigator to examine and interview the prime broker and administrators, he adds.

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Ministry of Finance allows NWF to invest half its portfolio in domestic funds.

Until the end of October, Russia's National Wealth Fund was invested solely in high-grade foreign government debt instruments. On Oct. 21, the Ministry of Finance released new guidelines on how the $76.4 billion fund should be invested, and allowed the NWF to invest up to half of its portfolio in domestic shares and investment funds.

New management. The changes signify a fundamental shift in the fund's investment strategy and underscore the priority the Kremlin places on bolstering domestic share prices, which have fallen by over 75% since May. While it is still unclear what the exact portfolio allocation of the NWF will be, investments into Russian securities have already begun:

-At the end of October, the NWF invested some $730 million into Russian equities.

--A further $180 million were invested in Russian corporate debt securities.

--The investments were made via state-controlled Vneshekombank (VEB), which currently acts as the NWF's agent in its domestic investments.

--It has not yet been revealed which companies the NWF invested in.

VEB representatives have also announced that the NWF has a further $5.5 billion on hand to invest in Russian shares. This corresponds to some 5% of the total market capitalization of the Russian equity market, meaning the NWF is in a position to significantly affect Russian share prices.

Samsung Omnia, Motorola Hint on tap

November 25 2008 - 1:56 pm ET | Phil Carson | RCR Wireless News

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Carriers are putting the finishing touches on their portfolios this week as the traditionally hottest shopping day of the year draws close. That’s Black Friday, this Friday.

The new Samsung Omnia touchscreen smartphone will land at Verizon Wireless on Wednesday at $250, after a $70 mail-in rebate, with a two-year service contract.

The Omnia runs Windows Mobile 6.1, offers a virtual QWERTY keypad and customizable user interface. The device includes the Opera 9.5 mobile browser, a 5-megapixel camera, messaging options, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and access to Verizon’s data services.

Verizon Wireless also has added the $350 HTC Touch Pro device to its arsenal (it launched earlier this month at Sprint Nextel Corp. for $300) at a price point at the very high-end of most carrier-based portfolios.

Not to be outdone, AT&T Mobility has discounted two messaging devices to spark consumer interest. The Samsung Propel and Pantech Matrix, typically $80 apiece, can both be had in a two-for-one deal.

Motorola Inc. announced the launch of its Hint device, a “social messaging slider” with a QWERTY keyboard, which will go through Alltel Communications L.L.C. for $100 after a mail-in rebate, starting Nov. 28.

Meanwhile, Verizon Wireless’ BlackBerry Storm is so popular at $200 — or supplies so limited — that the carrier’s Web site announced “limited availability” for the device, promising customers that new online orders will ship by Dec. 8. Stores on the East Coast are also sold out of the device, according to news reports.