(Photo by Nicolas Economou/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
NurPhoto via Getty Images
Scams have skyrocketed during the pandemic and won’t go away anytime soon.
Some fraud is perennial and uses the same hook every time: Get rich quickly and do no work to achieve instant wealth.
Often times, swindlers will have the gall to say their investments promise high returns with no risk.
“The most common telltale sign of an investment scam is an offer of guaranteed high returns with no risk. It is important for investors to understand what they are investing in and with whom they are investing,” said Melanie Senter Lubin, North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) President and Maryland Securities Commissioner. “Education and information are an investor’s best defense against investment fraud.”
These top threats to investors identified by NASAA were cited most often by state and provincial securities regulators:
- Investments tied to cryptocurrencies and digital assets,
- Fraud offerings related to promissory notes,
- Money scams offered through social media and internet investment offers and,
- Financial schemes connected to Self-Directed Individual Retirement Accounts.
“By far, NASAA’s securities regulators revealed that investments related to cryptocurrencies and digital assets is our top investor threat,” said Enforcement Section Committee Co-Chair Joseph P. Borg, Alabama Securities Commission…
