Investors will be challenged with increasingly complex and confusing array of investment frauds in 2004, says the North American Securities Administrators Association.

In releasing its annual list of the Top 10 schemes, scams and scandals facing investors in the coming year, NASAA said scams involving mutual fund practices, senior investment fraud, and variable annuities are new to the list this year.

“Investors face a complex maze of scams, schemes and scandals,” said Ralph Lambiase, NASAA’s president and director of the Connecticut division of securities. “Our fight against fraud never stops because each year con artists discover new ways to fleece the public. Sadly, many of the age-old scams still work to cheat victims of their hard-earned savings as well. It pays to remember that if an investment opportunity sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”

The list, based on a survey of state securities enforcement officials, is ranked according to the order of prevalence and seriousness as identified by regulators: ponzi schemes, senior investment fraud, promissory notes, unscrupulous broker/dealer representatives, affinity fraud, insurance agent securities fraud, prime bank/high-yield investment schemes, Internet fraud, mutual fund business practices, and variable annuities.

Lambiase also announced that Washington-based NASAA has created an interactive fraud centre on its Web site. The centre features details of NASAA’s Top 10 scams, schemes and scandals; tips on how to detect con artists and avoid becoming a victim; an investor “bill of rights”; instructions on how to file an investment-related complaint; and contact information for each state securities regulator. “Education and awareness are an investor’s best defense against fraud,” Lambiase said.