Aug 16, 2004 -- Fax scams
Do you have a fax machine? They seem like antiques to many people, but Clark still has one because occasionally he needs to receive faxes. Therefore, he sees all of the scams coming through and using up his toner and paper. He used to get vacation junk faxes, but now he gets the phony investment ripoffs. These scams give you tips on the “hottest investments,” and they target business owners in particular. What they do is buy into lightly-traded stock that is on one of the lesser known stock indexes. They buy tons of shares of this stock for a very low price, and then send out fliers by fax telling everyone to get involved. People foolishly buy shares without doing any research. Then, the stock starts rising and when it gets a little higher, the people who started the whole scam sell their shares and the whole set up collapses. The phony faxes are often called “pink sheets,” and often times the people who own the small, no-name businesses have no idea it is going on. The lesson is to learn about a company and not to take the word of someone hyping a great stock with blast faxes and e-mails. These people want to get you excited because you buy in and then you give them all of your money. Be smart and do the research yourself. Also, any stock not on a regular exchange is suspect.
