Slashdot Mirror
The SEC and Fake Investment Sites
An anonymous reader sent in: "Our web-based challenge for the day: find the SEC's fake investment sites! The SEC claims to have seeded the web with fake investment sites in order to teach naive web users and investors about the dangers of believing all you read and investing without research. These sites have telltale signs of online investment fraud, and if people manage to overlook or ignore those issues and attempt to invest money, informs them that they have made an unwise decision. The SEC says that these sites are intended to encourage wise investing decisions, or in more casual terms, to attempt to slap fools upside the head with a cluestick before they lose their money in a real scam. It's an interesting use of the web by a government-related agency."
Sweet.
What a cool way to teach the less-informed among us not to trust everything just because it's on the web. Now, if we could get websites out there that ask for personal info to do the same, ie:
Enter your credit card info here:
XXXXXX-XXXXX-XXXXXX
No Idiot, this site is about my dog skippy, there is no need for you to hand this over. Now get off the web and find a clue. (Hint: your 10 year old child is more web-savvy than you)
Sent from your iPad.
http://www.enron.com/corp/
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
Shouldn't be too hard to find.
Registrant:
SEC (MCWHORTLE-DOM)
6432 GENERAL GREEN WAY
ALEXANDRIA, VA 22312
US
Domain Name: MCWHORTLE.COM
Administrative Contact, Billing Contact:
SEC (VMGSFHPWCO) webmaster@mcwhortle.com
SEC
6432 GENERAL GREEN WAY
ALEXANDRIA, VA 22312
US
202 824 5151 fax: 202 504 2477
Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.
I can picture the site now: Todays' hot stock pick- Buy 1 get one free for ENRON shares.
SEC Computers Catch Fire After During Hacker Attack
By Joe Snuffy
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, January 30, 2002; 2:45 P.M.
The SEC headquarters was evacuated today after a form of the denial of service hacking attack, commonly known as "slashdotting" caused their servers to halt and catch fire. The FBI refuses to confirm that it may be seeking one Rob "Commander Taco" Malda for questioning in this terrorist attack on America's financial structure.
Best Slashdot Co
Design a website with "telltale signs of online investment fraud" and watch how many idiots still try to invest thru it. Then have a warning about how they could have been scammed, but they are lucky Big Brother was looking out for them, and it's not real. Then use the info they gave you to drain their bank accounts, and send an email to them, From: SEC, saying so long, and thanks for all the fish.
If they even comprehend what happened, they will blame the government, since we all know it's full of crooks anyway.
Enron Investor Relations
I Heart Sorting Networks
Pre-IPO Investment Oversubscribed!
McWhortle Enterprises has had to stop accepting investors for Stage 1 of its Pre-IPO investment after the program was over-subscribed by nearly 200%. Because of the enormous demand, we will, for a very limited time, accept new investors into this program.
Darn it, I was all ready to sign up, but I guess the rest of the slashdot community got to it before me.
Funny, Bush didn't mention the increased funding for the War on Stupidity last night...
found one!
Imagine getting paid by the SEC to make up stuff about a non-existent company. Where do I sign up?
Well, if happiness is bliss, and bliss is ignorance, and ignorance is a form of stupidity, then it follows that the Declaration of Independence guarantees your right to be an idiot.
Who are you to stand in the way of freedom?
Do you have Linux and a DotPal? Click here now!
"http://www.lovecalculator.com This site is a fraud! Don't use it! You'll only become disenchanted! The only person that everyone---I mean EVERYONE---has a 100% chance with is Kevin Bacon. Yeah, I know...RUN!"
SEC must be stooping pretty low!
If you've never been modded as "flamebait" or "troll," you've never tried to argue a minority viewpoint here!
Hmm, if there are enough in the air for this imaginary device to detect, then wouldn't I be breathing them in?
Yes, but surface leptins are not hazardous even when inhaled (at least at typical doses). You need to inhale at least one entire bactirium or virus to get infected. The McWhortle leptinate detector thus detects the harmful materials before they can harm you.
Send $10 for a prospectus, or $100 for a distributor's kit, to:
McWhortle Industries
c/o I. P. Daily
123 Easy Street
Anytown USA 33333
Ooh, a sarcasm detector. Oh, that's a real useful invention.
Come on, if Slashdotters decided energy policy it would be based on the original "Napster" business model. Come to think of it, perhaps that wasn't that different from what Enron did.
I smell cover-up, we are running a deficit, the SEC is putting up fraudulent web sites. I suspect they will take the users money and balance the budget.
TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken
TastesLikeHerringFlavoredChicken
:) actually it would seem that the SEC is the gullible one in this. I bet some young MLM super marketdroid made a mint on selling this idea to the SEC and telling them that they need to pay himto help them setup this system...
scam of the century for whomever came up with this idea and got paid for it!
.
This site was created by the SEC, FTC, NASD, with a little help from their friends, the Whitehouse.
The agencies and groups, except one, created the site because of an increase in investment scams. But the Bush Administration has invoked executive privaledge to keep its reasons for helping to create the site secret.
The site shows some of the telltale signs of online investment fraud. Promises of fast and high profits, with little or no risk, are classic red flags of fraud. And one obvious tip off was that they claimed to be a broadband provider who's 'business model is working.'
Does it strike anyone besides me as just a wee bit wrong to have an FTC Commissioner named Mr. Swindle?