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WASHINGTON — The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s Office of Customer Education and Outreach today announced its participation in World Investor Week, a global effort to emphasize the importance of investor education and protection. During the week, Oct. 6-12, the CFTC will warn the public about current scam trends and red flags through social media and webinars.
In keeping with the World Investor Week themes of scam prevention, digital finance, and artificial intelligence, the webinars will focus on relationship investment and government imposter scams, two trending scams that use AI and social, dating, or messaging platforms, and other technological means to convince victims to deplete their bank accounts and send cryptocurrency or other assets to criminals.
More details about the presentations along with registration information are available here.
Two Trending Scams
In relationship investment scams, referred to as “pig butchering” by the criminals, fraudsters develop a relationship of trust with the victim after meeting through wrong number texts, dating apps, or social media platforms. Next, the criminals show off their lavish lifestyle and convince victims to “invest” in crypto, forex, and precious metals through fraudulent trading platforms that report astronomical but fictitious returns. The criminals then disappear along with the victim’s money.
In government imposter scams, criminals pretend to be federal officials to convince Americans their bank and/or brokerage accounts are compromised. The victims are told they need to buy gold bars to give to couriers for “safekeeping.” In reality, the criminals are just stealing the victims’ hard-earned savings.
Additional resources are available at cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect/.
“Fraudsters are using sophisticated techniques to steal Americans’ hard-earned money,” said OCEO Acting Director Jorge Herrada. “When investment scams conclude, victims are left bankrupt. The CFTC is working to change this by warning Americans about scams and teaching them tools to protect themselves.”
The International Organization of Securities Commissions organizes World Investor Week. Other participating U.S. regulators include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the National Futures Association, and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
About the Office of Customer Education and Outreach
OCEO is dedicated to helping customers protect themselves from fraud or violations of the Commodity Exchange Act through the research and development of effective financial education materials and initiatives. OCEO engages in outreach and education to retail investors, traders, and industry organizations. The office also frequently partners with federal and state regulators as well as consumer protection groups. The CFTC’s full repository of customer education materials can be found at cftc.gov/LearnAndProtect/.
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