Scammers posing as regulators, NASAA warns

By Doug Watt | August 2, 2005 | Last updated on August 2, 2005

2 min read

They endorse or approve any investment opportunity, stock, or company. Legitimate regulators are not in the business of promoting any deal, only enforcing securities laws and ensuring fair dealing.

They say that paying a fee to “release restricted shares” is anything other than an attempt to steal your savings. This is a common ploy, and a recent twist on age-old advance fee schemes.

Little or no information about the “regulator” appears in Internet search engines. Any legitimate regulator should generate hundreds of entries in any Internet search engine.

If you talk to other regulators, and they say they have “never heard of them,” you are most likely dealing with a fake regulator.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com

(08/02/05)

Doug Watt

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You cannot find references to them on any other regulatory websites. If you can’t find information about the “regulator” on the site of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (www.iosco.org) they probably are not a legitimate regulator.
They endorse or approve any investment opportunity, stock, or company. Legitimate regulators are not in the business of promoting any deal, only enforcing securities laws and ensuring fair dealing.
They say that paying a fee to “release restricted shares” is anything other than an attempt to steal your savings. This is a common ploy, and a recent twist on age-old advance fee schemes.
Little or no information about the “regulator” appears in Internet search engines. Any legitimate regulator should generate hundreds of entries in any Internet search engine.
If you talk to other regulators, and they say they have “never heard of them,” you are most likely dealing with a fake regulator.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com

(08/02/05)

(August 2, 2005) The latest investment fraud scheme involves phantom U.S. regulatory agencies targeting overseas investors, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).

NASAA chief Franklin Widmann identified a number of fake regulators in a recent press release, including The Regulatory Compliance Commission, The International Regulatory Commission, The International Compliance Commission, The International Shareholder Protection Division and The International Exchange Regulatory Commission.

Each of the phantom regulators had websites, as well as listed addresses phone numbers in the United States. But none have any relation to real regulatory agencies or organizations, Widmann warned.

“The U.S. securities markets are known around the world for being among the safest and most fair, due in no small part to the rigorous and efficient regulatory systems in place here. Con artists are trying to cash in on our good name abroad to lure unsuspecting investors into risky penny stocks and advance fee schemes,” he said.

Although the websites look legitimate, they are nothing more than “fancy window-dressing to lure investors into buying worthless securities from unlicensed stockbrokers,” Widmann added.

Cases involving phony regulators have been identified in five U.S. states. For example, in New Jersey, officials shut down a firm called Heritage Financial and froze the company’s assets, estimated at $2.5 million US. Victims were asked to pay thousands of dollars in up-front transaction fees to purchase stocks, but the buys were never completed.

When people questioned the legitimacy of Heritage Financial or the purchase offer, they were directed to call one of several regulatory agencies that the con artists fabricated and falsely portrayed as legitimate on websites, including the International Exchange Regulatory Commission, the International Securities Department, the Regulatory Compliance Commission, the Securities Protection Agency and the International Registry Corporation. All of the phone numbers provided by the defendants were linked to the same computer, NASAA said.

The agency has issued five warning signs to help investors identify phantom regulators:

You cannot find references to them on any other regulatory websites. If you can’t find information about the “regulator” on the site of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (www.iosco.org) they probably are not a legitimate regulator.
They endorse or approve any investment opportunity, stock, or company. Legitimate regulators are not in the business of promoting any deal, only enforcing securities laws and ensuring fair dealing.
They say that paying a fee to “release restricted shares” is anything other than an attempt to steal your savings. This is a common ploy, and a recent twist on age-old advance fee schemes.
Little or no information about the “regulator” appears in Internet search engines. Any legitimate regulator should generate hundreds of entries in any Internet search engine.
If you talk to other regulators, and they say they have “never heard of them,” you are most likely dealing with a fake regulator.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com

(08/02/05)

(August 2, 2005) The latest investment fraud scheme involves phantom U.S. regulatory agencies targeting overseas investors, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA).

NASAA chief Franklin Widmann identified a number of fake regulators in a recent press release, including The Regulatory Compliance Commission, The International Regulatory Commission, The International Compliance Commission, The International Shareholder Protection Division and The International Exchange Regulatory Commission.

Each of the phantom regulators had websites, as well as listed addresses phone numbers in the United States. But none have any relation to real regulatory agencies or organizations, Widmann warned.

“The U.S. securities markets are known around the world for being among the safest and most fair, due in no small part to the rigorous and efficient regulatory systems in place here. Con artists are trying to cash in on our good name abroad to lure unsuspecting investors into risky penny stocks and advance fee schemes,” he said.

Although the websites look legitimate, they are nothing more than “fancy window-dressing to lure investors into buying worthless securities from unlicensed stockbrokers,” Widmann added.

Cases involving phony regulators have been identified in five U.S. states. For example, in New Jersey, officials shut down a firm called Heritage Financial and froze the company’s assets, estimated at $2.5 million US. Victims were asked to pay thousands of dollars in up-front transaction fees to purchase stocks, but the buys were never completed.

When people questioned the legitimacy of Heritage Financial or the purchase offer, they were directed to call one of several regulatory agencies that the con artists fabricated and falsely portrayed as legitimate on websites, including the International Exchange Regulatory Commission, the International Securities Department, the Regulatory Compliance Commission, the Securities Protection Agency and the International Registry Corporation. All of the phone numbers provided by the defendants were linked to the same computer, NASAA said.

The agency has issued five warning signs to help investors identify phantom regulators:

You cannot find references to them on any other regulatory websites. If you can’t find information about the “regulator” on the site of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (www.iosco.org) they probably are not a legitimate regulator.
They endorse or approve any investment opportunity, stock, or company. Legitimate regulators are not in the business of promoting any deal, only enforcing securities laws and ensuring fair dealing.
They say that paying a fee to “release restricted shares” is anything other than an attempt to steal your savings. This is a common ploy, and a recent twist on age-old advance fee schemes.
Little or no information about the “regulator” appears in Internet search engines. Any legitimate regulator should generate hundreds of entries in any Internet search engine.
If you talk to other regulators, and they say they have “never heard of them,” you are most likely dealing with a fake regulator.

Filed by Doug Watt, Advisor.ca, doug.watt@advisor.rogers.com

(08/02/05)

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