Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

The SEC and Fake Investment Sites

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the save-a-buck-or-two dept.

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."

6 of 453 comments (clear)

  1. old news by devleopard · · Score: 2, Offtopic

    I submitted this on Monday (I mentioned it on my website) I was logged in, not anonymous. So much for logged in users taking precedence over anonymous users :-)

    --
    The best thing about a boolean is even if you are wrong, you are only off by a bit.
  2. Re:why it's important for a computer geek by _typo · · Score: 2, Offtopic
    Maybe if they'd do this with spam, they could put a dent in it by rounding up all the morons who fall for it

    We need to round up all the sysadmins who setup mail servers as open relays. The morons that believe the stuff that comes in spam are less important.

    --

    Pedro Côrte-Real.

  3. I quit submitting stories long ago by FreeUser · · Score: 3, Offtopic

    I submitted this on Monday (I mentioned it on my website) I was logged in, not anonymous. So much for logged in users taking precedence over anonymous users :-)

    I quit submitting stories to slashdot years ago, when similar things would happen. The submission process is straightforward enough, but the editorial process is about as transparent as crude oil on a moonless night. Who knows why stories get rejected one day, resubmitted and accepted another, with the latecommer getting the credit. Who knows why a site which purports to be pro free software/open source/whatever dumps stories of technical interest in favor of promotions ... excuse me ... reviews of media releases (DVDs) and movies that encourage free software enthusiasts to go out and put money in the pockets of an industry bent on hamstringing the internet and legislating free software (and the tools to make it) out of existence.

    I gave up trying to figure this out years ago, and now content myself to just reading whatever interesting stuff happens to make it through the filter, and posting an occasional diatribe or two.

    I recommend anyone discontent with this sort of thing to do the same. It will entail much less frustration and heartache for you, and if enough people do it perhaps the editors will take the hint and become more fair in how they select stories and attribute them. In the meantime, life is too short, so don't let this sort of irritation get to you.

    --
    The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
    1. Re:I quit submitting stories long ago by mliu · · Score: 2, Offtopic

      Yes, what you say is all true, and the day when I realized this was also the day that I stopped submitting stories. This whole 'gotta-catch-the-attention-of-the-editor' thing is really pathetic considering that we're doing them a favor by submitting, not the other way around. I used to submit stories because I wanted to help make Slashdot a better place. It's clear that they've got more than enough help already considering the way they will ignore good submissions simply because they don't like the write up with them (It's not like they could add their own write-up anyways or anything).

      So I guess the thing really is, I could give a damn whether or not they post my stupid submission or not. But when I have found something that I know will be of genuine interest to the rest of the geek audience out there on Slashdot, and I thoughtfully take the time out of my day to send the URL the way of the Slashdot editors, the last thing I need is to be treated like they're doing me a favor should they choose to take the time to read my submission and post it.....

  4. Re:Random Walks by sudama · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    It's just a 1x1 gif from the Xtreme tracker service.

    Boo!

    --
    -- Adam
  5. www.fool.com by dcocos · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The weekly e-mail from the Motley Fool website states they've decided to make the majority of good information on their site only available to paying customers for 20 some dollars a year. My first piece of "Foolish" (free of charge) investing advice is save yourself more than $20 a year by getting info from other web sources.