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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Targets Spam Scam
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently suspended trading in 35 small companies because of a fraudulent email spam campaign. Millions of spam email messages touting various stocks are distributed every week, and these spam campaigns sometimes have a dramatic effect on share prices and trading volumes (for example, emails falsely claiming a major discovery or a new product launch can cause unwary investors to buy shares). They can also net their perpetrators millions of dollars.
The SEC is acting aggressively to combat such spam campaigns, and has initiated a program code-named “Operation Spamalot” to try to stop the practice. The recent trading suspensions are part of that campaign. As well as targeting spammers, the SEC is also trying to educate share purchasers by getting across the simple point that you should not purchase stock based only on a tip in an email from someone you do not know.
For additional information, visit:
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/08032007/323/targets-mass-e-mail-stock-scam.html