The Arizona Corporation Commission is alerting investors to be cautious about companies promising to recover lost investment funds and bring the perpetrators to “justice.”
Many of these self-proclaimed asset recovery companies advertise that they can provide legal assistance, but employ high-pressure sales tactics to get fraud victims to pay for services to assist them in recovering money lost in a scam. The victim may receive several phone calls and written notices from a representative of a recovery company, stating that for a small upfront fee the company can gather information and assist the individual in filing a complaint on behalf of the investor in the hopes of retrieving lost investment dollars.
In reality, the recovery company conducts a cursory internet search, gathering information that is readily available to the public then it may send a demand letter to the perpetrator and a boilerplate complaint to a state or federal regulator. Unfortunately, what ends up happening is that the individual is victimized for the second time since most defrauded investors rarely recover any money, and if any funds are recovered, it is only a fraction of the original investment.
At no charge to them, victims of investment fraud can file a complaint with the Commission’s Securities Division, which is the state agency that enforces Arizona’s securities and investment management laws. Contact the Investigator on Duty directly by telephone at 602-542-0662 or toll-free in Arizona, 1-866-VERIFY-9 (837-4399) and by email, securitiesdiv@azcc.gov. The Securities Division’s investor education website also has helpful information at www.azinvestor.gov.