Investing
Investor Education and Advocacy Website
This website from the Securities and Exchange Commission provides a variety of tools to address the problems and questions investors may face and to help them invest wisely and avoid fraud.
No Free Lunch
Learn the do’s and don’ts of free lunch investment seminars. Help make these seminars safer for all investors by becoming a Free Lunch Monitor. Visit www.aarp.org/nofreelunch.
Scams and Swindles: An Educational Guide to Avoiding Investment Fraud
This guide from the National Futures Association describes common characteristics of investment scams and outlines steps individuals can take to avoid them.
Don’t Become a Victim of Investment Fraud
In this webcast, NFA President and CEO Dan Roth discusses the common characteristics of an investment scam, different types of investment swindles, and what investors can do to help protect themselves from investment fraud.
Firm and Individual Background Checks
Investors can conduct background checks on firms or individuals by utilizing NFA’s Background Affiliation Status Information Center (BASIC). BASIC contains CFTC registration and NFA membership information as well as futures-related regulatory and non-regulatory actions about particular firms or individuals.
Investor Best Practices
These best practices for investors include guidelines for trading your own account, having someone manage your account, participating in a commodity pool and opening a futures trading account.
Check Out Potential Brokers and Investment Advisers:
Recent high-profile breaches of trust by financial professionals are strong reminders of the need to check the background of financial professionals before you trust them with your money. State securities regulators should be the first call for any investor seeking detailed background information about their stockbroker or investment adviser. And the time to make that call is before you turn over any money. State securities regulators offer investors extensive employment, disciplinary and registration information about their stockbroker or investment adviser. As an investor, you can request a public report of background information on any stockbroker, brokerage firm, investment adviser and investment adviser firm.
NASAA Investor Alert on Ponzi Schemes:
A Ponzi scheme is a house-of-cards swindle in which high returns are paid to initial investors out of the funds of later investors, who end up losing all or most of their money to the promoter. Ponzi schemes have ranged from well-known national cases to local cases. What every investor should know is that Ponzi schemes are not too difficult to detect if you know the warning signs. A few simple actions can help investors sidestep the potentially devastating impact of a classic Ponzi scheme.
Fraud: An Inside Look Video
Former scam artist Jim Vitale gives consumers a candid look at the scams behind bogus business opportunities. The video also includes tips from the FTC for avoiding and reporting these scams.
The Bottom Line about Multi-level Marketing
The FTC warns that not many multilevel marketing plans are legitimate and that some are actually pyramid schemes in which most participants lose money. This guide helps consumers understand how to approach multi-level marketing plans with research, business sense and a healthy level of skepticism.
Your Investments: Consumer facts
Visit this FDIC webpage for facts about investments that are not deposits and are not insured by the FDIC.