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Education key to protection from investment scams.

Article Excerpt
Over the past several years, Mississippi has unfortunately been home to some particularly heinous and well-publicized investment seams. Perhaps the best-known was a "ponzi scheme," a kind investment-pyramid seam, in 2004 uncovered after an investigation by multiple state and federal entities, The perpetrators, who included a Jackson securities dealer, pleaded guilty to money laundering in connection with the seam that took more than 40 investors for $10.2 million.

And, the fallout did not end there. The fraudulent funds were deposited in AmSouth Bank. In October 2004, AmSouth Bancorporation was ordered to forfeit $40 million for not reporting the suspicious financial activity.

Though the case is two years old now, investment seams continue to prey on the uninformed. And, the scammers are constantly fine-tuning their cons. The North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) recently released its "Unlucky Thirteen," the top investment traps in 2006. It includes some "oldies" as well as new rip-offs.

"Investors face an increasingly complex maze of seams and rip-offs," said Mississippi Secretary of State Eric Clark, whose office (SOS) is charged with policing the state's investment community. "Every year, con artists discover new ways to fleece the public. Sadly, many of the age-old seams still work to cheat victims of their hard-earned savings, as well."

However, there is good news. While the con artists and unscrupulous...

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