How to spot scammers posing as stock brokers...
Scamsters as stock brokers on the Web...
Scammers are now posing as stock brokers with authentic-looking websites that include the name and logo of a well-known brokerage firm, but the site is at a different Web address (URL).
These con artist 'stock brokers' use the firm's reputation to get clients, either by phone, email or via other forms of Internet marketing.
However, after the unsuspecting investors wire funds to open their accounts, they discover that their cash -- and the stock brokers -- are long gone.
Another variation on this scam: phony stock broker offers to buy a hard-to-sell security at a great price, but the shareholder is asked to make a 'good faith' deposit prior to the sale.
Before you get involved with any online or email-based stock brokers, check them out first through the North American Securities Administrators Association. You can call them at 202-737-0900, or find them online (click on 'Find Regulator' on the left nav bar):
==> http://www.nasaa.org
This article on phony stock brokers was originally published in Internet ScamBusters issue #76. Click on the link to see the articles on topics other than con artists posing as stock brokers in this issue.
