Podcast Center
Video Center
Webcasts
Resource Center
Events
May 16, 2012 at 04:09 PM
The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) issued an Investor Alert Wednesday warning investors about stock scams related to nutraceutical companies that sell fortified foods, energy drinks and “natural” medicines.
The alert, Nutraceutical Stock Scams—Don’t Supplement Your Portfolio With These Companies, warns investors that “con artists behind nutraceutical stock scams may try to lure in investors with optimistic and potentially false and misleading information that in turn creates unwarranted demand for shares of small, thinly traded companies that often have little or no history of financial success.”
The con artists behind these “pump and dump” scams, the alert says, can then sell off their shares, leaving investors with worthless stock.
Like many investment scams, pitches for nutraceutical stocks may arrive in a variety of ways—from cold calls to e-mail, tweets, blogs or message board posts, the alert warns.
