If You Smell A Securities Scam, Contact This Group - article from militarymoney.com

www.militarymoney.com/DebtHelp/deceptivepractices/tabid/75/itemId/2418/Default.aspx

If You Smell A Securities Scam, Contact This
Group
WASHINGTON -- A friend of mine, a woman
with some good sense, told me about a couple
who had been persuaded to buy dinars, the
Iraqi currency, as a great investment. I thought
she was joking and started laughing. But she
was serious.
Investing in foreign currency can be a legitimate
way to make money. But it's not for the average
investor. And certainly not appropriate for
unsophisticated investors.
Yet schemeslike this will snare a lot of people
looking for a winner in the weak market
conditions in the U.S. and abroad. Unsuitable
investment pitches and straight-out cons will
increase in weeks to come as stock markets
continue to wobble.
It is high season for opportunistic scams and
con artists who use news headlines to snare
their victims.
"There is one thing that investors can always
count on," says Karen Tyler, North Dakota
securities commissioner and president of the
North American Securities Administrators
Association (NASAA). "Financial predators and
ethically challenged salespeople will exploit the
headlines and use investor fear to make the next
sale or execute a fraud."
Crooks just wait for periods like this when
investors panic. Panicky people are easy
pickings for schemes that appear to be safe
alternatives to investing in a declining market for
equities.
"Wehave weakening economic conditions and
Wall Street's collective miscalculation of risk
driving stock market volatility, so it's
understandable that investors may begin to
second-guess their investment decisions," Tyler
said.
But don't let your desperation for better returns
cause you to fall for a fraud, warns NASAA,
whose membership consists of state securities
administrators.
Tylersaid the pitches will come from two types
of predators: typical fraudsters, and
unscrupulous registered and licensed financial
professionals trying to boost their commissions
or fees.
Take, for example, the Iraqi dinar scam. In this
con, promoters promise double-digit returns to
investors. The promoters tell people that
democracy in Iraq and the ensuing peace will
stimulate the economy and drive up the value
of the post-Saddam Hussein dinar. The Better
Business Bureau has seen a substantial increase
in complaints about the dinar scam from around
the world, with many of them from military
personnel and civilian contractors. The BBB said
people complained that they paid for the
currency but never received the money.
The Idaho Department of Finance, which shut
down one promoter selling Iraqi dinars, warns
that investments in foreign currencies �
particularly when it involves unstable countries
� are highly risky. How risky? Oh let's see:
volatile exchange rates, thin or nonexistent
markets, financial instability and opaque
government monetary policy, the possibility
that the currency you receive could be fake.
At a time like this, it is equally important for you
to question recommendations from registered
professionals. You should question advice to
change your investment strategy based solely
on current market conditions.
"An investment professional who has structured
a portfolio based on a thorough assessment of
an investor's financial profile is not going to
suggest changes driven by short-term volatility,"
Tyler said. "A recommendation to make changes
could just be a financial professional searching
for commission income."
NASAAis particularly concerned about people
who are nearing retirement or are already
retired. In their quest to preserve their income,
they could become easy victims.
"If a bad decision is made now, they may not
have time to recover," Tyler said.
So how can you protect yourself? At the very
least, follow these three simple tips:
Ask for everything in writing.
Hang up the telephone, delete the e-mail or
ignore the advertising if the investment is
pitched as being low risk with a high return. "It
is an impossible relationship," Tyler said. In
other words, a high-return, low-risk investment
is a low-down dirty lie.

Boy did I enjoy reading that. Got the warm and fuzzies from that one. Just what you want in your Egg Nog...

Go RI/RV..

Awesome Alchemist!!!! Now this is what we need to hear. A big dose of reality along with sandwedges eggnog!! I like mine with nutmeg. My eggnog that is not my reality.