News release
14 July 2006
Warning – Share Scams Using Fake Regulators
The Securities Commission warns about a new version of unsolicited investment offers from overseas.
The scam uses faxes and e-mails to target people with offers of share deals. The investment offer is meant to get
victims to send money before the “services” are delivered. To prove their authenticity these “brokers” often refer
people to fake regulators’ websites.
These websites use .gov.us in their addresses. All United States federal websites have websites addresses ending with
.gov. A website ending with .gov.us is likely to be a fake agency.
“If you don’t know the source of an e-mail or fax it is best to destroy or ignore it,” says Director of Enforcement,
Norman Miller. “We again warn people against taking up share offers made in unsolicited approaches from overseas.”
An investor alert on the new investment scam released by the United States National Association of Securities Dealers is
attached.
More information on share scams and fake regulators can be found on the Commission’s website at
http://www.sec-com.govt.nz/invest/scam-alerts.shtml.
ENDS
See... NASD release (PDF)