12/09/2005
The Better Business Bureau warns investors to beware of bogus investment-related "regulatory" Web sites being used by scam artists to lend legitimacy to their ploys. Some operate through fake Internet pages set up to look like the official Web sites of regulatory agencies and compliance commissions and others contact their victims through the mail or by phone. In each case, the investor is led to believe that they are dealing with a legitimate domestic or international regulator who is vouching for a particular investment business, stock or broker.
Names of imitation "regulators" that have been reported to the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) include the Regulatory Compliance Commission, the International Regulatory Commission, the International Compliance Commission, the International Shareholder Protection Division and the International Exchange Regulatory Commission. None of these so-called agencies had any relation to real regulatory agencies or organizations.
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