British Columbia Securities Commission breaks fraud awareness campaign
By Adnews Staff
The British Columbia Securities Commission has begun the first phase of a three-year television, radio and print advertising campaign intended to educate residents of the province about the risk of investment fraud. This phase is aimed primarily at the province's Chinese and South Asian communities. The campaign includes television commercials in Mandarin, Cantonese and Punjabi, as well as radio ads in Punjabi, Hindi, Urdu, Cantonese and Mandarin, along with print ads. Over the next year, the commission will expand the campaign across the province and add information to its InvestRight consumer website. "Our goal is for people to recognize the signs of investment fraud and to protect themselves and their families from becoming victims of fraud," said commission chair Brenda Leong. "We did some research three years ago with Chinese-speaking British Columbians. We learned that almost one-third relied on investment information from friends and family, making them vulnerable to potential fraudulent investment schemes aimed at groups with tight-knit relationships. By educating people on how to avoid investment fraud, our 'Be Fraud Aware' campaign will help empower British Columbians to protect their dreams. We are also urging people to report to the BCSC information about possible investment frauds to help us shut down these schemes."