office of Investor Education and Advocacy

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  SEC: Oil and Gas Private Securities Fraud on the Rise

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  May 6, 2013

  The SEC is warning investors that working with an advisor doesn’t guarantee they won’t be scammed in private oil and gas offerings.

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  Hedge Fund Managers Charged With Ripping Off Investors, Including a Retired Teacher

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  October 3, 2012

  The SEC charged one manager with stealing more than $500,000 from a retired schoolteacher who thought she was investing her retirement savings in a hedge fund.

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  SEC Warns on Rise of Affinity Fraud

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  September 26, 2012

  Fraudsters who carry out affinity scams frequently are (or pretend to be) members of the group they are trying to defraud.

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  Investors Lack Basic Financial Literacy Skills: SEC Study

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  August 30, 2012

  Retail investors—particularly minorities and the elderly—fail to understand concepts such as compound interest, inflation or the differences between stocks and bonds, according to a just-released study by the SEC and the Library of Congress.

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  SEC’s Top 6 Tips to Help Seniors Avoid Social Media Fraud

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  May 4, 2012

  The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy issued an Investor Bulletin to provide seniors who use social media with safety tips to help them avoid investment fraud.

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  SEC Issues Risk Alert on BDs’ Due-Diligence Duties for Municipal Securities

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  March 19, 2012

  Citing a lack of due diligence by broker-dealers, the SEC on Monday issued a Risk Alert on compliance measures to help BDs fulfill their due-diligence duties when underwriting offerings of municipal securities.

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  SEC’s Rominger: Agency Studying Mutual Fund Shareholder Reports, Financial Literacy

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  November 3, 2011

  The SEC's study on financial literacy will help SEC in rulemaking on point of sale disclosures of an investment product or service, Rominger says

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  Beware of Fraud in Self-Directed IRAs: SEC, NASAA

  By Melanie Waddell, AdvisorOne  |  September 23, 2011

  The SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy and NASAA issued an Investor Alert warning investors of the potential risks associated with investing through self-directed IRAs.