Investment Scams

In these scams, a fraudster tries to sell you on a popular "investment" in which you can make a whole bunch of money with little effort.  They'll try to convince you to invest in things like cryptocurrency, real estate, coins or metals.  Later on, the investment is not what they promised, or they never purchased the investment at all.

Protecting Yourself

Watch out for these warning signs of an investment scam:

• Fraudsters promise you’ll make big money guaranteed.  It's usually too good to be true.
• They claim the investment comes with little risk for you.  All investments have some risk, and you could lose money if it goes bad.
• They provide little information about the investment to hide the fact that it's fraudulent.  Research it or the "investor" online to get more information.  You can find out by going to investor.gov.
• They'll show you a "secret way" to make money.
• They'll pressure you into making the investment now so that you can't question it.

If You Become a Victim

If you suspect you have been scammed:

• Cutoff all communication with the fraudster immediately.
• Collect all information related to the investment, including emails, phone calls, account statements where you sent the money from, and anything the fraudster sent you about the investment.
• File a complaint with the following agencies.
  • For investment companies, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) at www.finra.org/fileatip.
  • For investors, the SEC at (800) SEC-0330 or www.sec.gov/submit-tip-or-complaint.
  • For online scams, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) at www.ic3.gov.
  • In general, with the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
  • Your local police department
• Monitor your accounts and make sure the fraudster doesn't try to take any money from you.

Watch this Yahoo Finance video about how fraudsters use Instagram to promote "Get Rick Quick" schemes using fraudulent investments: