An organisation of state securities regulators, whose goal is to protect investors from fraud, said it had been the victim of an attempted Internet scam.The North American Securities Administrators Association told the operator of a Website which represented the "State Securities Commission" to cease operations and to shut the site down on Wednesday, according to Reuters.. The site was using content from NASAAs Web site, possibly for unlawful purposes, Washington-based NASAA said in a statement.The mock site, which appeared to be offline by late Wednesday, is one of several fake regulator Websites that have surfaced in recent years, said Jack Herstein, NASAAs president."We are concerned that con artists are attempting to cash in on our reputation for effective investor protection to lure others into an illicit scheme," Herstein said in a statement.There are no legitimate state securities regulatory agencies affiliated with the "State Securities Commission" Website, said Herstein, who also heads Nebraskas banking and finance department.A review of the SSC Website by Reuters earlier on Wednesday revealed similarities to NASAAs site. For example, it featured modified versions of NASAA news releases, including the announcement about the fraudsters.But there was at least one stark differencethe fake site urged investors who had suffered unjustified market losses to file "claims." Clicking on the link led to a series of tax and other forms that asked for personal information.A person who answered the phone at the number posted on the SSC Website told Reuters, "What we do is classified. We dont entertain any public inquiries.""If you dont have a special agent to advise you, were not authorised to give out any information," he said. The site was not functional by Wednesday evening.The so-called "special agent" reference could suggest a two-step operation in which con artists make cold-calls to find victims and direct them to call the number on the Web site, according to NASAA spokesman Bob Webster.The person who answers may ask victims to name the "special agent" who referred them. That enables con artists to ensure that callers are pre-screened by someone in their operationwhich helps conceal the fraudsters from the general public."We really have no way of knowing what these folks may be up to, but its clear from looking at the Web site that its not what it says it is," Webster said. He confirmed on Thursday that the site was shut down.Bogus Websites represent a very small but "treacherous" segment of the Internet, said Andrew Stoltmann, a Chicago-based securities lawyer who represents investors.Most of the operations are based overseas where con artists often try to evade the reach of United States laws, Stoltmann said. "Theyre out to scam investors and are effective to the people who buy into it," Stoltmann said.
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