To: Just My Opinion who wrote (52513 ) 10/6/1998 11:48:00 PM From: Just My Opinion Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 55532
biz.yahoo.com Officials ask online investors to help fight fraud WASHINGTON, Oct 6 (Reuters) - The new president of state securities regulators said on Tuesday he hoped online investors would help combat securities fraud in by reporting suspicious activity to their cyberspace neighbors and enforcement officials, in an effort similar to a neighborhood crime watch. ''I envision a kind of Internet Neighborhood Watch, where investors look out for themselves and their neighbors on the Net and alert regulators when they see or hear something suspicious,'' said Peter Hildreth, North American Securities Administrators Assn. Inc.'s (NASAA) new president. To make the fight against online fraud easier, NASAA said it will have a special electronic mail address for investors to report suspected Internet fraud at cyberfraud@nasaa.org. Complaints will be referred to appropriate state regulators and/or the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Association of Securities Dealers and Federal Trade Commission, Hildreth said. Unwary investors lose about $10 billion a year to investment fraud, according to NASAA estimates. This past summer the SEC created a new and specialized unit to fight securities fraud over the Internet. The SEC has already brought more than 30 cases involving Internet-related securities fraud. This November the state regulators will work with the Federal Trade Commission on Web surf days -- to monitor news groups, bulletin boards and chat rooms for potential fraud, Hildreth said at the annual NASAA conference in Nashville. Twenty-five state regulators have signed up to surf along with the FTC for web sites that look problematic. The data will be analyzed and appropriate action will be taken if required, a spokesman for NASAA said. The state regulators already have a cooperative relationship with NASD regulation, the SEC, FTC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as well as different stock exchanges, Hildreth said.