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Microcap & Penny Stocks : DCI Telecommunications - DCTC Today -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Colin Cody who wrote (16152)	5/6/1999 10:26:00 AM
From: Ken Salaets	Respond to of 19331

Colin, you took the words right out of my...er...fingers. ggg eom. Ken

To: Colin Cody who wrote (16152)	5/6/1999 11:12:00 AM
From: Toni Wheeler	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 19331

Timely article found and borrowed from another thread: <<<A StockHouse Investor Protection Special Report: 9 Red Flags that Identify Online Message Board Scammers Miami, FL, May 4 /SHfn/ -- The continued explosive growth of online message boards often victimize the novice investor. Notorious posters cloaked in the anonymity of a chat forum can easily deceive many first-time visitors to message boards. The StockHouse.com ® RapidResponse ™ team has identified 9 Red Flags that may help prevent being misled. Who is the name behind the message your are reading? In many cases, you will never know. Dishonest posters can fool even the "respectable" message boards. One leading message board claims their $50 registration fee eliminates such dirty tricks, but many stock manipulators get around this by sending in $50 money orders, instead of surrendering their credit card numbers. The checklist below offers some of the ways you can spot manipulative posters. The list is more of a rating system than absolute con-artist detection list. The greater the number of violations by a poster, the more likely he or she is promoting the stock for some ulterior motive. One or more violations do not necessarily mean the poster is a stock promoter, but continued violations over many stocks may identify someone as such a person. StockHouse has introduced a "VOICE YOUR OPINION" module, found in the username's profile. You can help the RapidResponse ™ team in separating the illicit posters from the honest investor by commenting on such imposters. Just click on the User Name. When the profile appears, click the "Voice Your Opinion" line and type in your message. By the way, not all fraudulent posters are bullish - some post to drive shares in the stock lower either with a vendetta or to profit by shortselling. THE RED FLAG CHECKLIST 1. Someone who hyper-posts on only one stock. During the promotional run of that stock, he may be posting between 8 and 20 messages daily (sometimes more). He will promote for only so long until he has exercised the stock options that he has been paid to promote the stock or until his cash contract with the company expires. 2. Someone who uses multiple identities. This is hard to detect. Generally, the poster will run with one identity until he has become despised on the message boards. Then, he will register again with a new identity. If one carefully studies such an individual, it will be found that he posts repeatedly about the same set of stocks, or just one stock. He will post during the same time each day or night. His messages will commonly be the same length. His writing style will be similar and he will use the same phrases or key words in his messages. Often, this is the hired promoter. He is paid to post on message boards throughout the Internet, either in cash or stock options. 3. Someone who repeatedly attacks or belittles others on a stock's message boards. This goes beyond the simple heated debate with one or two members who disagree with him. If you carefully read his messages, this promoter will sound like he is fighting for his life --with nearly everyone who challenges him. This might be the CEO or investor relations employee for the company or it could also be a hired promoter. 4. Someone who emerges as the stock's moderator, or even the leader of the discussion group or that stock. This person is different from someone who has a genuine fundamental understanding of the company and who is also helpful. A promoter/leader will diligently answer to virtually every negative comment made on "his" message board. He will also cheerlead every positive comment and constantly make an appearance on the message board to "show" he is still the boss. Again, a paid promoter. 5. Look for the poster, with a short history in their member profile, who suddenly shows up during a stock runup, and appears to know "all about" the company. This person is different from the excited investor, who just bought shares in the company and is enthusiastic about it. The impostering poster hints at "inside information" and quickly name-drops some connection to a company insider or employee. While the "excited" investor may rave about something an investor relations employee told him, the imposter hints at important, but as of yet unannounced, development(s) that may impact the stock price. 6. Someone who is nearly always the first to respond to company developments. Occasionally, someone else will beat him to it. Otherwise, he's first or a close second almost every time. Paid promoters are paid to be on their toes. Commonly, he will positively spin the news, to soften the blow of less than good news or to make good news appear better than it actually is. 7. Someone who continuously hints at upcoming company developments, unreleased company news, unannounced contracts and forecasts discoveries in natural resource exploration stocks. Where did he get his information? Usually, he is the one who starts the rumor and might often state that he heard it from someone else. Yes, he did - a company insider. This is where the old cliché (Buy on the rumor; sell on the news) comes from: the company insider who leaked the news. Paid promoter or company insider or long-term and trusted follower, who is also a significant shareholder. 8. Someone who hypes the company during the runup and then "changes" his mind and begins attacking the company, the company insiders and the project. This individual is different from the enthused investor who realized he was just scammed. That person is less controlled in his emotions, which is evident in what they write in their postings. The hypester carefully controls his statements, both up the chart and back down. On the way up, he may help the stock move higher by adding to the cheerleading, so that he can build a substantial short position. Once he changes his mind, it stays changed, though. The "excited" investor is confused and sounds it, when you read his messages. The latter hasn't the slightest doubts about his position on the company. 9. Someone who goes out of their way to find bad news about the company and makes a "case" out of it. These individuals might include ex-friends, ex-family (divorced) and ex-employees, including ex-promoters. Such people don't just post a single negative item. They either take one negative and make it look like "the sky is falling" or they continuously bring it up. That an individual makes frequent appearances to vent their spleen is the clue, which gives them away. Disgruntled investors usually move on and don't want to be reminded of their bad investment. One way to cross-check the message board postings to determine if there is an escaped fraudulent manipulator at large is to compare his posts against the company news releases. The fraudulent companies generally amplify their slightest achievements and play down their failures. Companies with a history of failures - running a company into the ground, never achieving anything of merit and diluting their market value through the repeated issuance of new shares via private placements or secondary offerings - tend to hire the most egregious and unscrupulous promoters. The above 9 Red Flags are by no means a complete list of warnings signs and should only be used as guidelines to protect yourself from fraudulent messages and posters. >>>