This isn't directed at you Taz. I'm just tagging this onto the
last message. I know a number of threads where this has occurred.
Phony question and answer posts. We've also had various
unscrupulous IR's outed. If you read back on a couple of the
diamond threads it becomes obvious what the pumpers and dumpers
were up to.
Tues, Dec 22nd
Securities watchdogs join forces to study Internet scams
STEVE MERTL
VANCOUVER (CP) - Boiler-room stock hucksters and bar-room shills
have moved into cyberspace to exploit the Internet's growing importance as
an investment tool. Results of an international survey released Monday by
the U.S. Federal Trade Commission indicates the Internet is a wide-open
arena for scam artists who prey on unsophisticated, often greedy investors
looking to get rich quick.
"It is a perfect vehicle for touting stock," said Brian Butler of the Ontario
Securities Commission enforcement unit.
The volume of Internet investing is growing. While there are no figures, it's
estimated some 80 million people now are on-line worldwide. A private
study estimated that by 2002, there would be 14 million Internet trading
accounts worth $700 billion US.
"I've been advised that after pornography, investor advice is the
second-largest area of interest on the Internet," Butler said in a telephone
interview from Toronto.
The Ontario commission and its B.C. counterpart were the two Canadian
participants in Surf Day, a one-day survey of dubious financial Web sites
and Usenet discussion groups on Nov. 12.
The unusual effort - it's only been done once before - also involved
securities regulators from 30 states, two U.S. federal agencies and two U.S.
associations of securities dealers.
Investigators logged on to the Net and typed in favoured phrases such as
"guaranteed return," and "government approved." They found more than
400 questionable sites, marking many of them for further review.
B.C. and Ontario regulators looked into sites touting precious metals or
gemstones, the latter a favourite among telemarketing fraud artists but now
moving onto the Internet.
In a linked survey, the North American Securities Administrators
Association analysed 1,000 unsolicited e-mail messages passed on by
suspicious investors.
An analysis of eight of the stocks promoted in the e-mail found none had
reached predicted price levels and six were trading below their
recommended purchase prices.
Projections were so bullish, the association found, that stock prices would
have had to quadruple to meet price targets. The stocks fluctuated more
than 20 per cent in a single day.
Surf Day was important to help open the lines of communication between
jurisdictions because cyber-trading transcends borders, said Dennis Pauley
of the B.C. Securities Commission's enforcement division.
There's lots of useful investor information on the Internet, but the truth is
often hard to verify.
Unscrupulous cyber thieves hide in the Net's electronic anonymity. One
shady promoter can create buzz about a stock in a chat group without the
help of paid shills.
"We know of examples where, on chat groups let's say, a stock is touted
and you'll see comments by eight or nine different individuals about the
stock," said Butler.
"When it's researched, it's actually one person just using eight or nine
different addresses to tout the same stock."
It's easy for scam artists to go after people who've jettisoned professional
advisers and begun managing their own investments on-line from home.
"People invest for, I think, two main reasons - fear and greed," said Butler.
"What I've seen on the Internet, they (scam artists) play to those two
things."
The B.C. commission shut down one Vancouver-based operation last
spring that used a pirated web site to bilk investors out of millions of dollars
in dubious stock trades and fees.
The operators were banned from trading for 10 years but no criminal
charges were laid.
But regulators say educated investors are the best defence. Investors should
know the sources of information, the identities of stock promoters and
ensure electronic trading is done through locally registered brokers.
Those who want to play the market in cyberspace should view it like a trip
to the casino, not as a way to build a retirement nest egg, said Pauley.
"It certainly doesn't appear to be a lot more productive than gambling," he
said.
"I think that's your play money, that's your risk capital. You certainly don't
want to bet the farm on it."
© The Canadian Press, 1998
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