Canadian Securities Administrators begins investment scam campaign
By Adnews Staff
Canadian Securities Administrators has begun an awareness campaign intended to educate consumers about the risk of fraudulent online investment offers. The campaign consists of online advertisements and social media activities that direct viewers to a website and video for fictitious company BlueHedge Investments. Visitors to the site are redirected to an educational website containing information about ways to recognize, avoid and report investment scams. "Our enforcement teams across the country have firsthand knowledge of how unscrupulous promoters are turning to the Internet to market their fraudulent investment opportunities and the threat these online investment scams pose to Canadian investors," said Bill Rice, chair of the Canadian Securities Administrators. "Canadian securities regulators felt it was important to tackle these tactics head on and educate potential investors in the same spaces where fraudsters solicit their victims. The red flags we highlight in the campaign are based on techniques that we have observed tech-savvy fraudsters commonly use when soliciting victims online. Our objective is to reach these potential investors and arm them with information to avoid investment fraud so they don't become a victim of these cyber scams."