| Question #9: How can I protect myself
from online investment frauds, schemes and deceptions? The explosion
of the Internet has created new opportunities and new dangers for investors. If you're an
online investment victim, the chances of getting your money back are slim. Even in cases
where government agencies recover money, the consumer usually gets back less than 10 cents
on the dollar. The best defense is to thoroughly investigate an online investment before
you put your money down.
For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission's new cyberforce just
announced the filing of 23 enforcement actions against 44 individuals. These Internet
investment fraudsters are accused of authoring the spams, online newsletters, message
board postings and Web sites that unlawfully touted more than 235 Microcap companies.
The creators of the Internet touts purported to provide unbiased opinions in
their recommendations, but failed to disclose that they had received in total more than
$6.3 million and nearly two million shares of cheap insider stock and options in exchange
for touting services. In some instances, the fraudsters sold their stock or exercised
their options immediately following their recommendations, a deceptive practice commonly
referred to as "scalping." The scalped online investors didn't recover any of
their investment dollars and a $4,000 fine was levied on 23 of the fraudsters.
For more information about bogus stock research and analysis reports check out
the Stock Detective at www.stockdetective.com. |
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