NSSC Blog: Before You Invest

Boiler Rooms and Oil & Gas scams

We close out Fraud Prevention Month with two investment scams that are both a pack of lies.

Boiler Rooms are another scam that movies and television shows like to highlight quite often. Obviously the move Boiler Room is about it, as is the more recent Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese film The Wolf of Wall Street.

Offshore Investment & Pension/Retirement Scams

No one likes paying taxes. Scam artists know this and often try to use it to pull off a scam. However, just because someone says they can save you taxes on your investments doesn’t mean they can, nor does it mean they can do so legally. Enter offshore investment and pension/retirement scams. 

Offshore investments scams promise a high rate of return for an investment in an offshore market. They’ll also throw in the caveat that an offshore investment is a great – and legal - way to avoid taxes.

Question of the week: Are investment seminars scams?

The honest answer to this question is maybe. It all depends on the seminar you are attending. Is this an educational seminar, or a seminar where a product is being pitched and sold? Investment seminars, or free lunches, are a common and relatively easy way for salespeople to promote and sell investments. However, the investments are not always right for those who attend the seminars.

March is Fraud Prevention Month!

March is Fraud Prevention Month so for the entire month we’ll be publishing special posts on investment fraud. Along with our usual Question of the week posts that come out every Wednesday, we’ll be upping the ante with Fraud Friday. Every Friday throughout March we’ll publish a post on investment fraud. We’ll be talking about various scams, of which Nova Scotians need to be mindful, includng affinity fraud, forex scams and binary options.

Question of the week: What are the warning signs of investment fraud?

March is Fraud Prevention Month and throughout the month we’ll be focusing on fraud. Today’s question is all about how you can spot investment fraud and scams and avoid losing your money.

Unfortunately, there are many fraudsters out there looking to take advantage of people looking for the next get-rich-quick investment to earn them big money. Knowing the warning signs of fraud will help you tell the difference between what fake and what’s real. Here are a few of the warning signs to look for…

Pages