Scam Alert #101

Promissory Predator in Georgia!

Beware of promissory notes.  According to the North American Securities Administrators Association. "In almost all cases, the only profits go to the promoters of these schemes, and investors are left holding the bag."

Promissory notes are number four on the list of top ten scams. Certain promissory notes can be good investments for corporate investors and sophisticated investors, but the promissory notes marketed broadly to the public often turn out to be bogus.

One woman in Georgia invested her life savings with a salesman who pitched fraudulent promissory notes that he said were guaranteed. He claimed her funds would help build hospitals and be used for other humanitarian purposes. By the time she became suspicious, the con artist had fled. Fortunately, in this case the State Investigator caught the crook who is now spending his time in jail.
 

Scam Alert #102

Beware of Phony Websites!

This scam alert deals with people who steal the identity of brokerage firms, create phony websites and direct all of the money to remote locations.  The best way to avoid this kind of fraud is to never respond to emails from people that you have not done business with before and to look up any company on the Securities Insurance Protection Corporation or SIPC's website:  www.sipc.org/. 

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Scam Alert #103

Coin Scam in New York!

Store in New York that sold 
rare coins at a 300-600% markup.

People were told that they had to keep adding these rare coins to their collections if they were to be a valuable set as an investment.  After several New Yorker's lost millions of dollars through this scam, 26 scammers were convicted.
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  State Securities Regulators have a long tradition of protecting investors through education, and many have established investor education programs within their agencies.

Scam Alert #104

Day Star Assembly
of God Church Scam in Alabama!

The members of the Day Star Assembly of God Church in Alabama were collectively scammed out of $2.5 million dollars of their hard earned money, when their pastor, Gary Dobson, encouraged them to invest in bonds and loans to pay so called developer Steve Cooper to build a new church facility with many amenities such as a restaurant and a hotel.


"Developer" Steve Cooper
Steve Cooper and 9 other co-conspirators spent the money living it up and did not build a new church. The pastor did not do a background check on Steve Cooper, if he had, he would have found out that Cooper had been convicted of 14 prior felonies, including one incident of stealing from a church.
Cooper got sentenced to 31 years in prison and the pastor got off scot-free.

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Scam Alert #105

DVD Vending Scam in Virginia!

In Harrisonburg, Virginia, store owner, Eric Garman, was faxed an offer to buy a DVD vending machine, complete with an inventory of DVD's.  Eric liked the idea of a side business and paid the company $32,000.  He received the machine and the DVD's, but the machine did not work.  When Eric called the company to help, their Customer Service department disappeared.  So make sure the deal is real before giving your hard-earned money to anybody! 

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Scam Alert #106

ABBA Funding in Texas

Sam Antoni and Leslie Whitecotton
Victims of ABBA

In San Antonio, Texas, 82 elderly investors got taken when they saw the advertisements and billboards for CD's that yielded 7% interest through a company called ABBA Funding.  In this ponzi scheme, Bradley J. Farley gave the investors a trust agreement to buy the CD's for them.  While he did actually buy the CD's, he used them as collateral to take out loans for himself.  The Bexar County District Attorney, Susan Reed, got wise to the scam.  Farley was indicted and tried.  He was convicted and sentenced to a prison term.  She also got the banks to refund 94% of the money to the investors.

As the Texas Securities Commissioner 
Denise Voigt Crawford says,
 
"Investigate before you invest!"


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