Be Wary of Pressure to Transfer Funds From Your Brokerage Account
Scammers often seek out older investors, typically by phone or email, impersonating trusted authorities.
Overview
Have you been asked to move money out of an investment account by someone you don't know? Is someone telling you what to say to your financial institutions? Be wary: These are signs of investment fraud.
Recently, FINRA has seen an increase in fraud schemes in which scammers target investors--particularly older investors--and manipulate them into transferring funds from their brokerage and other financial accounts, ultimately stealing their money. These schemes typically involve social engineering tactics, such as impersonating authority figures or raising fake emergency scenarios, that encourage investors to move funds to external accounts or use them to purchase assets that are eventually sent to the scammers.
Details
FINRA's fraud investigations have uncovered schemes in which investors lost thousands--and sometimes even millions--of dollars in a matter of weeks. Here's information you need to help recognize these scams and protect yourself.
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.