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Forget the simple plaintext email of stock symbols and Buy Now messages. Some scammers have turned to video to promote their pump and dump schemes.
It must be legitimate if it's on video, right? Criminals would like you to think so when touting stocks they have bought for pennies, and hope you will buy and make them a profit.
Security vendor Symantec said these scam artists have embraced video file formats to promote stock symbols. Security researcher Jitender Sarda showed two examples, one shilling for a uranium stock, another for an oil and gas opportunity.
The only opportunity, of course, is to part with your money for a stock that will plummet when the criminals take their profits. They want to convince you this chance is as legitimate as it can be, as Sarda noted about the videos:
Penny stock spammers have also used legitimate video commercials (TV and online media commercials) and clippings of professional financial news reports or programs. Often there are conversations between the host and the guest star "professional financial analyst," discussing the company's strategies and financial prospects.
The online video streaming is about 30 seconds long with very crisp and clear sound and the video quality is very impressive. The video looks like a legitimate TV or online media commercial used by the company for advertisement.
People should view videos of penny stocks the same way they do any other such promotions that slip into their inboxes, as yet another attempt to separate fools from their money.
About
the Author:
David Utter is a business and technology writer for SecurityProNews and WebProNews.
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