curtkurren
united kingdom
As we warn on the Scambusters home page, crooks have unleashed a tidal wave of scams to cash in on the BP oil leak.
In this issue, we identify the range of tricks, from investment scams and phony jobs, to bogus fund-raising and financial support.
We also have genuine contact details related to the oil leak and additional guidance to avoid these disaster scams.
However, we encourage you to take a look at this week's most popular articles from our other sites:
Whatever the final outcome of the BP oil leak, there's no doubt that disaster scam tricks related to the incident will, like the clean-up, run for many years.
In fact the cleanup, rather than the oil leak, is the main source of scams that add to the woes surrounding this catastrophe.
This criminal activity spreads the impact of the BP oil leak well beyond the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, tricking investors and would-be workers and helpers out of their money.
Let's take a look at the main disaster scams linked to the oil leak.
BP Oil Leak Investment Scams
Within weeks of the BP oil leak, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (Finra) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) suspended trading in several companies that claimed to be working with BP on a clean-up solution.
They issued a warning about "pump and dump" schemes (though not necessarily related to these firms) that drive up a company's stock price before it collapses when claims fail to materialize.
Read more about pump and dump schemes in this earlier Scambusters issue, Investing Safely.
John Gannon, Finra's investor education chief, was quoted in the Wall Street Journal as saying that investors "need to be careful because those companies may not have the technology or ability to do what they are touting they can do, and may be making claims like having contracts with BP or the Environmental Protection Agency that investors need to be careful about trusting."
Investment scam warning signs that should put you on the alert include:
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