The Securities and Exchange Commission announced Oct. 5 that it issued a joint investor bulletin with other U.S. financial regulators as part of World Investor Week. The bulletin urges investors to be resilient as economic conditions change and to watch for rising relationship investment scams and impersonation scams.
The SEC coordinated the U.S. effort with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, the National Futures Association and the North American Securities Administrators Association. World Investor Week is an effort led by the International Organization of Securities Commissions, and this year is its tenth anniversary.
SEC Chairman Paul Atkins urged investors to use the agency's Investor.gov site, which offers free investor education and planning tools, and to stay alert for scams. The release does not describe individual scam cases or give loss figures.
The practical step in the announcement is to check resources before sending money to someone you met online or to someone claiming to represent a firm. Investor.gov is the site the SEC points people to for that kind of verification.