Financial Industry Regulatory Authority

PP Blog Tag archives on references to "Financial Industry Regulatory Authority."

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Investment Scam Targeted Military Personnel At Fort Hood In Texas, SEC Says

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: Investment Scam Targeted Military Personnel At Fort Hood In Texas, SEC Says

URGENT >> BULLETIN >> MOVING: (Updated 9:05 a.m. EDT April 15 U.S.A.) An investment scam known as LB Stocks and Trades Advice LLC was targeted at military personnel at Fort Hood in Texas and perhaps other installations, the SEC has alleged. Charged in the scheme were the company and alleged operator Leroy Brown Jr., 32, […]

North American Securities Administrators Association Publishes Warning On HYIP Frauds: ‘Ponzi Schemes Sold By Unlicensed Individuals,’ International Group Says

North American Securities Administrators Association Publishes Warning On HYIP Frauds: 'Ponzi Schemes Sold By Unlicensed Individuals,' International Group Says

Don’t get fleeced by HYIP scammers and commission-based promoters who push such fraud schemes on the Internet, the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) says in a new warning. From the warning (italics added): Have you ever seen an ad on the Internet or a posting on a social media site promising too-good-to-be-true rates of […]

SEC: Penny-Stock Scammers Used ‘Intricate Web Of Offshore Corporations, Foreign Accounts, And Financial Institutions . . . In Canada, Nevis, Panama, Switzerland, And The Turks And Caicos Islands’

SEC: Penny-Stock Scammers Used 'Intricate Web Of Offshore Corporations, Foreign Accounts, And Financial Institutions . . . In Canada, Nevis, Panama, Switzerland, And The Turks And Caicos Islands'

Two Canadians have been charged by the SEC in an alleged pump-and-dump scheme that included a reverse merger between a “shell public company” and a startup, “blast emails” and a concerted hype campaign, the U.S. agency said. Named defendants are Bruce D. Strebinger, 38, of Vancouver, and Brent Howard Chapman, 38, who “is or has […]

UPDATE: ‘YouGetPaidFast’ Pitchman Said To Be Casting Net At Unemployment Office For Gifting-Program Leads; Meanwhile, Scheme Takes A Phil Piccolo-Like Turn By Pointing To Alexa Rankings As Supposed Proof Of Legitimacy

UPDATE: 'YouGetPaidFast' Pitchman Said To Be Casting Net At Unemployment Office For Gifting-Program Leads; Meanwhile, Scheme Takes A Phil Piccolo-Like Turn By Pointing To Alexa Rankings As Supposed Proof Of Legitimacy

YouGetPaidFast, a Texas-based “program” that plants the seed it has the blessing of the FBI, is benefiting from a pitchman who is handing out flyers at an “unemployment office,” according to a post from an apparent naysayer at the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum. The poster says his friend is the one handing out the flyers — […]

SEC And FINRA Say ‘Pump And Dump’ Spam Increasing Sharply; McAfee Says ‘Botnet-Creating Malware’ Was Being Sold Through Liberty Reserve

SEC And FINRA Say 'Pump And Dump' Spam Increasing Sharply; McAfee Says 'Botnet-Creating Malware' Was Being Sold Through Liberty Reserve

DISCLOSURE: The PP Blog uses McAfee security software. The Blog is not compensated for its use of the software. UPDATED 10:23 A.M. (JUNE 15, U.S.A.) The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) have issued an Investor Alert warning about a sharp increase in spam linked to “pump-and-dump” stock schemes. […]

YouTube Video Pitchmen For Profitable Sunrise Hit By Subpoenas From SEC

YouTube Video Pitchmen For Profitable Sunrise Hit By Subpoenas From SEC

EDITOR’S NOTE: Much remains murky about Profitable Sunrise, the alleged purveyor of five HYIP “plans,” including one bizarrely dubbed the “Long Haul” that purported to pay a preposterous 2.7 percent a day. The “Long Haul” payoff was dubbed the “Easter Gift.” Investors were told it would arrive April 1 — but it never materialized. One […]

Now, Boat-Sharking For ‘Biwako Bank Limited’: Promos Appear On Facebook Site For Profitable Sunrise And Claim Enterprise Is ‘Japan’s Strongest Bank’

Now, Boat-Sharking For 'Biwako Bank Limited': Promos Appear On Facebook Site For Profitable Sunrise And Claim Enterprise Is 'Japan's Strongest Bank'

Biwako Bank Limited caught our attention yesterday after a boat-shark appeared on a Facebook Profitable Sunrise site to promote it while making this claim: “**THIS IS NOT AN HYIP , THIS IS A BANK**” The claim is at odds with a claim on the MoneyMakerGroup Ponzi forum that Biwako has a “GoldCoders’ HYIP Manager License.” […]

On The High Seas Of Facebook, The Search For New HYIP Blood In The Water Intensifies After ‘Profitable Sunrise’ Goes Missing

On The High Seas Of Facebook, The Search For New HYIP Blood In The Water Intensifies After 'Profitable Sunrise' Goes Missing

“HYIPs use an array of websites and social media — including YouTube, Twitter and Facebook — to lure investors, fabricating a ‘buzz’ and creating the illusion of social consensus, which is a common persuasion tactic fraudsters use to suggest that ‘everyone is investing in HYIPs, so they must be legitimate.’” — The Financial Industry Regulatory […]

BULLETIN: SEC Says Boston Church Scammed By Fraudster While Dual Probes Were Under Way; Federal Judge Freezes Assets Of Arnett L. Waters; A.L. Waters Capital LLC And Moneta Management LLC Also Charged

BULLETIN: SEC Says Boston Church Scammed By Fraudster While Dual Probes Were Under Way; Federal Judge Freezes Assets Of Arnett L. Waters; A.L. Waters Capital LLC And Moneta Management LLC Also Charged

BULLETIN: Arnett Lanse Waters, 62, of Milton, Mass., was “permanently barred” on March 9 “from association with any” Financial Industry Regulatory Authority member for failing to provide testimony” in a FINRA probe, the SEC said. This ban occurred after Waters — in 1993 — was “censured and barred for two years by the New York […]

UPDATE: JSS Tripler 2 And Associated Scams Get More Bizarre By The Day: After Purported Bout With Dengue Fever, ‘Dave’ Purportedly Gets Married; Cashouts Now Reportedly Delayed Due To Wedding And Script Glitch — As Members Encouraged To Carry Out Blog-Posting ‘Tasks’

UPDATE: JSS Tripler 2 And Associated Scams Get More Bizarre By The Day: After Purported Bout With Dengue Fever, 'Dave' Purportedly Gets Married; Cashouts Now Reportedly Delayed Due To Wedding And Script Glitch -- As Members Encouraged To Carry Out Blog-Posting 'Tasks'

This will be a familiar refrain to many readers of the PP Blog: In July 2010, the Blog reported that the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) had launched a public-awareness campaign about HYIP fraud. FINRA called the HYIP sphere a “bizarre substratum of the Internet.” Just a month earlier — in June 2010 — the […]

BULLETIN: CFTC Moves Against Alleged Texas Forex Fraudster Christopher B. Cornett; Agency Says Huckster Is Convicted Felon Once Banned By NASD; 5 International Law-Enforcement Agencies Assisted In Probe

BULLETIN: CFTC Moves Against Alleged Texas Forex Fraudster Christopher B. Cornett; Agency Says Huckster Is Convicted Felon Once Banned By NASD; 5 International Law-Enforcement Agencies Assisted In Probe

BULLETIN: The CFTC has gone to federal court in Texas, alleging that Christopher B. Cornett of the town of Buda was operating a Forex- pool fraud and misappropriation scheme that gathered more than $14 million in phases between June 2008 and October 2011. Cornett has been charged civilly with fraud, which allegedly operated through entities […]