Submitted by nsscadmin on
Fraud Prevention Month may have just ended, but protecting yourself from investment fraud should be a year-round focus. Fraudsters and scam artists are constantly looking for investors with money to steal every day. On today, the most foolish of all days, don’t let a fraudster fool you into handing over your hard-earned-money to an investment scam.
One way fraudsters try to steal your information, and your money, is by posing as someone from your financial institution, investment firm, or trading platform. Recently, a well-known investment platform shared a short list of things they will never ask their clients for by email, text, or phone. If you’re contacted by someone from your investment platform or firm and they do one or more of these things, remember there’s a good chance it could be a scam:
· Ask for your password, two-factor authentication code, or credit/debit card PIN.
· Request specific information or money from you.
· Recommend specifics stocks or other securities, or crypto assets for you to purchase.
· Ask you to transfer funds by wire transfer, e-transfer, or by converting funds to crypto assets to send to an online wallet.
· Asks you to keep the matter confidential from family and law enforcement for security purposes.
If someone contacts you claiming to be with the investment platform or firm you use and they ask for any of this information, you should immediately cease the communication. Do not continue with the caller. Do not reply to the text or email or click on any links in the email. Independently find legitimate contact information for your platform or firm and contact them directly to ask questions about what you were just asked about. If a fraudster was impersonating the platform or firm, the real platform or firm will be able to tell you. It’s better to hang up or disengage from a real person and apologize for it later, than to give your information or money to a fraudster.
Be skeptical. Be Cautious. Be Aware.