That’s something, right? Obviously, the US-regulator SEC has got the full picture of the global ICO scam tsunami. And the regulators go new and unusual routes to teach and warn investors.
Teach and Warn
The securities regulators created a fake “Howey Coin” which is offered via the fake ICO website www.howeycoins.com. The campaign’s intention is to show investors some of the ways a scammy ICO site can look when it actually is a scam. When a potential investor clicks “Buy Coins Now,” she is taken to an SEC site that includes information on red flags to watch for when looking at investment opportunities that look too good to be true:
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ICO – Howeycoins
If you responded to an investment offer like this, you could have been scammed – HoweyCoins are completely fake!
Welcome to Investor.gov, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s site designed for individual investors. We’ve recently seen fraudsters pretending to be involved in blockchain technology, initial coin offerings, and crypto-currencies – when really they are simply operating scams designed to take investors’ hard-earned money. We created the bogus HoweyCoins.com site as an educational tool to alert investors to possible fraud involving digital assets like crypto-currencies and coin offerings.
It’s a great idea, actually. Unfortunately, most ICO or Crypto-MLM ventures are either scams, fraudulent schemes or “let’s try it” projects. Maybe SEC’s Howey Coin creates a higher degree of awareness among potential crypto-investors.
ICO fraudsters typically guarantee extremely high returns. The truth is, however, that every investment carries some degree of risk, which is reflected in the rate of return you can expect to receive. High returns entail high risks, possibly including a total loss on the investments.
Fraud is underreported
The SEC not only targets US fraudsters but plans to act globally. The SEC has already filed a number of fraud cases against operators of initial coin offerings. In total, the agency alleges $600 million has been raised in fraudulent schemes.
“Remember, too, fraud is underreported,” said Lori Schock, director of the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy. “State securities regulators also bring cases, and international regulators get involved when it involves [an entity] based overseas.”
We could not agree more. There are so many scammers and fraudsters out there in a global crypto-market hidding in offshore destinations and less-developed jurisdictions, e need to fight them as those bad actors threaten the development of a sustainable crypto-market. And yes, fraud is definitely underreported but FinTelegram does its best to change that. On a global scale and together with our reader and whistleblower community.
