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The Securities and Exchange Commission’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) today unveiled its anti-fraud public service campaign, which warns investors about the devastating impact relationship investment scams can have on their financial future.
Relationship investment scams typically involve a “long con” in which scammers reach out online or through text messages, attempting to build trust through friendship or a romantic connection to convince someone to put money into phony investments. They are referred to by various names including romance scams, financial grooming scams, and “pig butchering” scams.
The SEC’s public service campaign features two animated videos ‒ ”Don’t Open the Door to Scammers” and “Let’s Talk About Relationship Investment Scams” ‒ and a resource page about how relationship investment scams work, what investors should look out for, and how investors can protect themselves and others.
Key takeaways for investors:
- Ignore messages from anyone they don’t know and consider blocking or deleting them.
- Be wary of unsolicited investment opportunities, no matter how much they trust the person.
- If they suspect they may be caught up in a scam, stop communication with the individuals immediately, and do not give them any more money.
- Report the scam to the SEC.
“Investor protection is a vital part of the SEC’s mission. These kinds of frauds can be devastating and cause investors to lose billions of dollars every year,” said Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda. “I encourage investors to utilize the resources on our investor education website, Investor.gov, to learn how to spot and avoid fraud to help protect their hard-earned money and life savings.”
“If you receive an email or text message from a person, number, or email address you don’t know or recognize, it’s a red flag of fraud — especially if the message is vaguely worded or appears aimed at someone else,” said Lori Schock, Director of the SEC’s OIEA. “Don’t respond. Instead, ignore, block or delete these senders from your phone or messaging app.”
In addition to the public service campaign videos and resources, there is an investing quiz, which focuses on these kinds of scams and a new article by Director Schock, entitled “Relationship Investment Scams – Starts With ‘Hello,’ But Could End With Saying ‘Goodbye’ to Your Money.”
