Before submitting any personal information to an organization claiming to be a securities regulator, investors need to investigate further, the Ontario Securities Commission warns.
The OSC has identified a number of Web sites that gather personal information, under the pretense that they represent international securities regulators or government agencies.
The securities regulator says these sites may collect information about investment habits in order to lure investors into fraudulent investment schemes.
The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) recently announced that several “phantom regulators”, including U.S.-based operations that target investors worldwide, have been brought to the attention of U.S. securities regulators.
In some of these cases, criminals were using the “phantom regulators” to endorse fraudulent investment opportunities.
According to the OSC, some signs that a regulator may be a “phantom”:
- There are no references to the organization on any other regulatory websites and legitimate regulators have never heard of them.
- They endorse, or promote any particular investment opportunity – a legitimate regulator would not do this.
- They claim that paying a fee to “release restricted shares” is not an attempt to steal your savings. This is a common ploy, and a recent twist on age-old advance fee schemes.