[pinkypanther]

SINGAPORE — The police have warned the public to be wary of stock market manipulation scams where victims are fooled into buying a listed company’s stock at artificially high prices.

In a statement on Wednesday (Aug 11), the police said such “pump and dump” schemes were resurfacing here, highlighting a recent spate of cases involving seven victims who had bought more than 49,000 shares in a United States-listed company based on the recommendations of a so-called expert.

Within two days, the share price plunged by almost 80 per cent, and the victims lost a total of more than US$1.07 million (S$1.45 million).

Fraudsters behind such schemes attempt to artificially inflate the market price of a stock by “spreading false positive news about the company, or creating an appearance of trading activity in order to induce others to buy the shares”, the police said.

The fraudsters would then sell their shares in the company while the price is high, before stopping the manipulation. The resulting price plunge causes losses for the victims.

In most instances, victims were approached by strangers offering stock recommendations on social media, or invited to join online chat groups on platforms such as WhatsApp and WeChat to discuss coordinated share purchases.

The victims were then persuaded to purchase shares listed on either the Hong Kong or US stock exchanges.

Read more at https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/po...pate-cases

[Stoki]

Scams are everywhere. These are the scums and will die a tragic death

[hansamu]

Swindlers, crooks, thieves plentiful during this difficult period.

Be very careful and alert.