The Canadian Securities Administrators (CSA) recently released a list of the five most common scams that trap investors across Canada. In these difficult economic times, many of these strategies take advantage of investor’s uncertainly about the markets and the economy.

1. Misleading Exempt Market Securities - Businesses often take advantage of private placements (securities sold under an exemption) because the sale of these securities can be limited to a small number of investors rather than being open to the public. These types of securities tend to involve a higher level of risk. However, scam artists may offer securities that promise guaranteed or unrealistic returns with little or no risk in order to illegally raise money. In general, these scam artists aren’t even registered to offer investment advice or securities transactions.
2. Energy Investments - Scam artists lure investors with the big rewards of investing in oil and gas reserves. They may use technical jargon or hype up a form of new energy to trick investors and make them forget about the high risks involved.
3. Gold and Precious Metals – Gold and other metals are marketed with the promise that they will never decrease in value. With the rising price of gold, it’s easy to be drawn into one of these scams. A scam artist may convince investors to buy into a closed mine so that they can get all their money back. They may also market coins or nuggets, claiming they have a superior return over other forms of gold.
4. Affinity Fraud -- We tend to trust those we know and share our interests, but scam artists play on this trust with affinity fraud. They market fraudulent investment schemes to members of a group or organization and rely on personal recommendations to spread the word about the supposed success of the investment. Before you make any investment decisions, you should carefully evaluate the merits of the plan for yourself rather than relying on recommendations or your relationship with the promoter.
5. FOREX Schemes – While trading foreign currencies can be a profitable investment, it requires sophisticated knowledge and resources that many investors simply don’t have. Scam artists will often use jargon and complicated schemes to confuse investors and convince them to make risky trades.
   While some schemes may sell securities, investors’ money never gets invested in the way that was promised.

To avoid schemes like these, you should always verify the merits of an investment opportunity and check the background of the person offering the investment. You can verity a firm’s registration online through the CSA’s National Registration Search.

Gina Holstead is a retired officer and manages the site Law Enforcement Training. Her site helps new law enforcement students pick the best program.

Technorati Tags: Investment and Securities Fraud

Accepting credit cards has a lot of benefits for a business: enhanced customer satisfaction, increased revenue and faster growth. However, fraud can quickly put an end to your company’s credit card processing and put your business in a difficult financial position.

Luckily, in 2004, American Express, MasterCard, Visa, Discover and JCB International joined forces to create a security council that would develop standards to improve security and reduce fraud. These standards encompassed the Data Security Standard, Payment Application Data Security Standard and PIN Transaction Security Requirements.

This article will focus on the council’s accomplishments and what the true benefits have been for both merchants and consumers.

Procedures for Maintaining, Supporting, Testing and Monitoring a Secure Network

One of the first changes that the PCI Council implemented was the Data Security Standards. These standards ensured that credit card data was secured and could not be accessed by hackers or thieves. These security measures involved the implementation of a proper firewall configuration and enforcement of security parameters related to password-protected information and account access.

The security network is constantly tested for liabilities and to identify opportunities to improve processes for efficiency and protection. At the same time, the network is constantly monitored for suspicious behavior that may lead to data being compromised. This issue will be explored in more detail later in the article.

Heightened Security for Consumer Credit Card Data

The PCI Council also developed safer methods of transmitting and storing credit card data. For example, anytime the data is wirelessly transferred across a network, it is now fully encrypted so it cannot be viewed or accessed by third parties. With the increase in website and server hackings by organized crime and other independent groups, online data can be extremely vulnerable if protocol is not followed.

More Data Flow Control

Credit card information can no longer be easily accessed by businesses. They only have access to the data on a need-to-know basis. This prevents part-time or other non-management employees from accessing sensitive data that may be used against the merchant or consumer. Users who do have access to the data are tracked through the system with their unique ID number and may be flagged for fraudulent behavior.

All of the above mentioned accomplishments are great in theory but the true accomplishments lie with the benefits provided directly to merchants. The following are some of the major consequences of the new procedures, improved security and data control that affect the everyday consumer.

Improved Trust Results in More Business for Merchants

If consumers can trust merchants to safeguard their credit card information, then it will result in repeat purchases and more business. This holds especially true for e-commerce businesses where the credit card is not present during the transaction. Online business is extremely competitive so every opportunity needs to be exploited. Furthermore, reputation management is a difficult task for small and medium sized businesses, so it shouldn’t be made harder with compromised credit card data.

Protection from Fines

If a merchant is not PCI DSS compliant and their credit card data is breached, they may be fined, be required to pay investigators to identify the source of the breach or pay for credit cards that need replacement. However, by being compliant, merchants can eliminate the risk of credit card fraud and put the onus back on the credit card companies. To put it in perspective, 77% of merchants in the hospitality industry believe they are PCI compliant and may be in for a surprise if there is breach!

Writer Bio:
Alexander Galasso is the Social Media Manager at Pivotal Payments, a merchant service provider that facilitates small and medium sized businesses with accepting debit and credit cards. You can follow Pivotal Payments on Twitter and Facebook for the latest industry news.

Fraud happens. It is a common, undeniable fact. It doesn’t take a psychology degree to know that everyone is vulnerable, despite their age, background, nationality, and race, because those committing the crime are looking for easy money, no matter the target. Some people are more vulnerable to fraud than others, but nobody is exempt.

Those who practice precaution are the least likely to be a victim of fraud. However, to practice proper precaution of fraud, you must first know what it is. Fraud is any criminal intention to steal or to deceive. Not all people who commit fraud are long-time criminals, however. In fact, 85% of people convicted of fraud had never been convicted or charged with any sort of crime related to fraud.

How can you stop yourself from being a victim of fraud? Even though fraud is everywhere, protecting yourself can be fairly easy. Be aware of your surroundings when you give out any sort of credit card information, leery even when a friend asks you for information related to your bank account. 80% of frauds found in one study were convicted by people who worked in customer service, management on the upper or executive level, a sales executive, or an accounting executive.

Basic Fraud Safety Tips

1. Never e-mail your credit card information to anyone. The most popular scam is the “Nigerian prince” - a prince from a foreign country has recently had a family member die, and his trust fund will be tied up through the end of next year. Don’t feel bad, though. This relative will have been one that you have never heard of, and their name may as well have been Mr. Scam. They will generally ask you for your bank account information to give you a “large deposit.” Don’t fall for this scam; they just want your bank account information. You’ll never see your deposit.

2. Be wary of Internet websites that need your social security number. Giving out your social security number can give criminals a wealth of information.

3. When paying online, use a website like PayPal or AlertPay when possible, and avoid vendors who don’t provide them as an option. These websites allow you to protect your credit card information while still paying the consumer.

There are many different scams online. It's so easy to be a victim of a scam, and so very expensive, too. In fact, the average scam amount is about $100,000. Be alert and monitor the information you give out on the Internet. Be wary of what information you save on your computer. When you pay in person, don't pay with a checkbook. Pay with a credit card, debit card, or cash. This will help you prevent yourself from being the victim of a scam or fraud.

Allison Gamble for psychologydegree.net.