Monday October 12 10:10 AM EDT
New E-Mail Address To Report Net Securities Scams
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Investors can report suspected financial scams on the
Internet to a new e-mail address created by the North American Securities
Administrators Association, the state securities group said.
Cyberfraud+nasaa.org will act as a neighborhood watch program where investors ''look
out for themselves and their neighbors on the Net and alert regulators when they see
something suspicious,'' Peter Hildreth, president of NASAA and director of New
Hampshire's securities regulation, said.
He said regulators needed the assistance of investors to help them root out suspected
online scams, given the size and growth of the Internet.
''Regulators can't do it alone. It's like expecting one precinct house to patrol all of New
York City. It simply can't be done,'' Hildreth said.
In recent months state securities regulators have brought actions against suspected
Internet fraud, including online casinos, pyramid schemes and supposed investments in
''soon-to- be-produced'' motion pictures.
And Internet sites, news groups, chat rooms and e-mail messages are increasingly being
used to pitch cheap stocks known as microcaps -- a major concern of regulators at
various levels, NASAA said.
When sending a complaint, investors should include the state in which they live as well
as information about the suspected scam, it said.
Hildreth said that when NASAA gets the e-mail messages it will pass them on to the
proper authorities, including state regulators and the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
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