Investor Alerts and Bulletins

The SEC has recently experienced a significant uptick in tips, complaints, and referrals involving investment scams. The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy urges investors to be on high alert in order to protect themselves and others from becoming victims of investment fraud. Fraudsters use times of uncertainty and change, such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, to lure victims into investment scams. Below are tips to help you recognize and avoid frauds like Ponzi schemes, fake CD scams, bogus stock promotions, and community-based financial scams.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy (OIEA) wants to educate investors about investing in SPACs. You may have heard the term SPAC recently referred to in the financial or other news. 

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to help educate investors about investing in fractional shares. What are Fractional Shares? A fractional share is when you own less than one full share of a stock or other security.

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), the National Futures Association (NFA), and the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) are issuing this Investor Bulletin to highlight key messages from World Investor Week 2020, a global campaign to raise awareness about the importance of investor education and protection.  From October 5-11, 2020, investors, investment professionals, teachers, parents, researchers, and others are encouraged to make a special ef

After a natural disaster strikes, fraudsters may try to take advantage of individuals who want to help fund recovery efforts or who receive lump sum insurance payouts. Fraudsters may use recent natural disasters, including Hurricane Laura, Hurricane Sally, and the wildfires on the West Coast, to lure victims into investment scams. These scams can take many forms.   

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors information about closed-end funds that are traded on national securities exchanges. It is important to understand them and their risks before investing.  

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors information about business development companies, or BDCs, that are traded on national securities exchanges. It is important to understand them before investing.  

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to provide investors information about interval funds. Interval funds are legally classified as closed-end funds, a type of investment company, but they have some distinctive features that make them different from typical closed-end funds. Some important features of interval funds are:                                                              

The FBI Criminal Investigative Division and the Office of Investor Education and Advocacy of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) would like to warn consumers of a recent increase in fraudulent schemes targeting owners of timeshare properties in Mexico. These scams typically involve individuals alleging to be representatives of a brokerage firm, travel agency, title company, or escrow agent making unsolicited contact with owners of timeshare properties. 

The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy is issuing this Investor Bulletin to show investors how to use Investor.gov’s free and easy search tool to help you check out brokers and investment advisers.  Always research an investment professional—including confirming they are registered and whether they’ve had any disciplinary events—before deciding to work with them.