What do you call it when someone works hard for many years to build a nest egg for retirement, only to see it get swept away in a cloud of financial fraud which should have been detected by regulators? I call it economic terrorism.

Victims of this kind of disaster are shocked into numbness as their lives are turned upside down and they move from what they thought was a financially secure position, to one of near-hopelessness.

For many, starting over is the only option, even at an advanced age. What's worse, they have to start over in a world shattered by economic failure. That is certainly not an encouraging picture.

For the average person trying to keep bread on the table and a roof over their head, these stories of billions being lost through unscrupulous mismanagement is hard to fathom.

Bernard Madoff, who recently confessed to orchestrating what has been described as the largest fraud scheme ever, could spend the rest of his life behind bars, and rightly so. But that is little consolation to those whose lives have been devastated.

One of the victims was a 90-year-old man who had his life savings ripped away in a flash. He was forced to return to work in order to meet his commitments – at 90. Over the years he had managed to save and invest about $700,000 all of which is now gone.

Where were the regulators? It could be argued that the Madoff scheme was so well crafted that it would only come to light when the bubble burst. By then it was too late for those who were hoping for a better tomorrow.

In light of this high financial criminality it has been reported that major investigations have been launched both in Britain, the United States and other parts of the world to examine more closely schemes that have a pyramid structure that is so carefully drafted, that it weaves its way around any potential legal loopholes until the bottom falls out.

There are countless schemes floating about around the world all aimed at getting innocent people to part with their dollars before realising that something is dreadfully wrong. By that time the operators have switched to a different scheme, leaving victims without any hope of recovering their money.

I recently had a phone call from someone who claimed he was from a solid financial institution operating in Canada, and he had an offer that would yield significant income with a small investment.

When I asked if his company was fully registered and approved by the Canadian authorities and if he could provide an address, he used foul language and hung up the phone.

Sadly many people in many countries are stripped of their savings by smooth talking criminals who know how to sound very legitimate.

In a world where corruption is found in almost every country major concerns continue to mount over financial institutions, and how they conduct their business.

The AIG situation appeared to be that proverbial straw with much of America as tempers rage over how top executives of that firm could be recipients of millions of dollars in bonuses, after a Government bailout with tax payers money to keep them from going under.

That was not only unacceptable but incomprehensible to many who felt deceived by the financial watchdogs who were mainly looking out for their own interest.

Of course not all executives were engaged in shady financial activities but when these things happen it is not uncommon to have people painting them all with the same brush, unfair as it maybe. Most of us are not financial experts and trying to make sense of millions, billions and trillions is out of the question.

However there are many questions yet to be clearly answered as to how such a stimulus package could have reached the hands of the AIG top officials who obviously knew there was nothing in the terms set in granite that would prevent them from snatching those bonuses setting off a nationwide reaction of fury.

How this will all pan out remains to be seen but for the average citizen trying to earn an honest living anywhere they can only hope some lesson will be learned from such ruthless greed in some business circles to avoid future dealings that can damage so many lives.