Securities regulators are taking notice of websites with Ebola in the name and telling investors to be aware of scams and fraudulent sales pitches. They cite 1,200 domains being registered with the word Ebola in the url, that number is way low, there have been many more registered in .com and .net. Over 6,000 in the last two months alone.
The Augusta Free Press covered the story:
An analysis of Internet domain names by state and Canadian securities regulators found nearly 1,200 domains with “Ebola” in their name have been registered with top-level domains, such as .com, .net, and .org since April 2014. About 1,000 of those registrations have occurred since July, as awareness of the crisis spread. Of these sites, 184 were identified by the North American Securities Administrators Association’s (NASAA) Internet Fraud Investigations project group as suspicious. NASAA, of which the SCC’s Securities Division is a member, is an international organization devoted to investor protection.
Whether an investment is pitched via email, social media, crowdfunding websites, or telemarketers, Thomas reminds investors to use common sense. “Pie in the sky promises of quick wealth with little or no risk generally are red flags signaling potential fraud,” he said.
Read the full story on the Augusta Free Press