Benwa: I doubt it
I'm sure by the time someone emails fraudbureau.com a bunch of people have already posted it all over the message boards. Here's a great article about fraud from fool.com It talks about using message boards to alert others to the fraud.
fool.com
Uh-oh, I Got Scammed
By Jay Perlman (TMF Jay)
February 23, 2000
You decided to buy that stock your broker said couldn't miss, and it's still trading at $0.05 six months later -- and your broker assured you it would be at $20 by now. Or maybe you liquidated a certificate of deposit to purchase a limited partnership interest in a company that said it was going to invent a time machine. The promoter guaranteed you a 30% return per month, but you haven't seen a check for six months and the promoter won't return any of your calls.
You're thinking, "How could I have fallen for this?" A lot of people, after realizing they may have been scammed, are so embarrassed that they simply swallow their losses, chalk the whole thing up to a learning experience, and move on. Sometimes, the whole experience has been so distasteful, they're simply turned off from ever investing again.
This is not the approach we suggest. If it gives you any solace, you're probably not the only one who got scammed. If everyone simply swept their mistakes under the rug, the scam could continue and more people could get defrauded. More importantly, if you don't complain, the likelihood of you getting your money back decreases. So complain often and complain loud.
You can always register your protest the old-fashioned way -- phone calls and letter-writing campaigns, followed by more phone calls and more letters. Will something get done? Maybe. But, you may get discouraged when phone calls don't get returned and letters don't get answered. You may feel that you're the only one complaining, and you may give up. Don't fear -- there are effective ways to complain.
While the Internet is a quick, easy, and efficient way for fraudsters to target investors, the Internet is an equally effective way for aggrieved investors to seek justice. One of the most impressive characteristics about the Internet is the "vigilante" attitude toward securities fraud. For the most part, people want to keep the cyber-streets free of crime and set up their own "neighborhood watch" programs. There are websites, newsgroups, chatrooms, and bulletin boards devoted to exposing securities fraud. Visit these websites, send e-mails, post on message boards, and discuss the problem in chatrooms. Organize campaigns among defrauded investors and complain en masse. The more people that complain, the more the problem gets noticed, and that's what you want.
Now that you've got this army of defrauded investors, where do you send your complaints?
The SEC maintains an online complaint center that receives between 200 and 300 complaints per day about securities fraud, all of which are read and analyzed. You can e-mail the complaint center at enforcement@sec.gov or contact them by fax at (202) 942-9637.
Through the North American Securities Administrators Association website, you can link to state securities regulators and their e-mail addressees.
You can submit complaints about brokers to the National Association of Securities Dealers, or contact their public disclosure hotline at (800) 289-9999.
Other resources include the National Fraud Information Center and state and local law enforcement agencies.
Finally, in the past year, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has devoted an increasing amount of resources to fighting securities fraud. Visit the FBI's website at www.fbi.gov and contact the field office in your area. Additionally, in the next several months, the FBI, along with the National White Collar Crime Center, will unveil a program allowing aggrieved investors to submit complaints via e-mail to a central repository where they will be analyzed and sent to the proper law enforcement and/or regulatory agencies.
When you make an investment decision, you don't expect to be a victim of fraud. However, if you suspect you've been scammed, don't be embarrassed to the point where you simply sweep the whole thing under the rug. There is no way you'll get your money back, nor is there any way to ensure that con artists are prosecuted for scamming people unless you speak up. So, if you do get scammed, fight back! It's easy to do and it's the right thing to do. |
