The Securities and Exchange Commission warned investors about the proliferation of “impersonation scams” which were defrauding the investment public of their hard-earned money.
It noted in an advisory posted on its website about increasing reports on impersonation scams which are entities that pose as legitimate and reputable financial institutions but are engaged in illegal investment activities.
“The public is advised to protect themselves from obvious investment scams by making sure that he or she has done enough research and has equipped themselves with enough information about the entity and their business,” the SEC said.
The corporate regulator also asked investors to always check if the company that was soliciting investments had prior registration with the commission and had secured secondary license to sell securities to the public.
“The mere fact that an entity has no secondary license granted by SEC make their investment taking activities illegal,” the SEC said. Jenniffer B. Austria
