Investor Alert Feed

Following the Crowd: Investing and Social Media

No matter where you get your trading insights, and whether you are following a recommendation to buy stocks, bonds, options or something else, know this: where there is opportunity, there is also risk. Here are 10 tips.

Stock Up on Information Before Buying Stock

If you view market volatility as an opportunity to purchase more stock at a favorable price, make sure you look beyond the ticker symbol to confirm you are buying the right company. Many companies have similar names.

It Pays to Pay Attention to Your Brokerage Account Statements

One of the best ways you can protect your investment portfolio is to monitor your holdings and activity. You should make it a habit to review online or paper account statements and trade confirmations on a regular basis. You should review your statement as soon as you receive it to confirm it correctly reflects your investment decisions and any actions you made or authorized during the time the statement covers.

Beware of Stock Fraud in the Wake of Hurricanes

Financial fraud routinely follows on the heels of disaster. Hurricanes and their aftermath are no exception. We are issuing this Alert to warn investors that investment scams may come your way touting stocks and other investments with the promise of huge gains in the wake of major hurricanes.

Social Sentiment Investing Tools—Think Twice Before Trading Based on Social Media

FINRA and the SEC’s Office of Investor Education and Advocacy are issuing this Investor Alert to inform investors about social sentiment investing tools and highlight their risks. This Alert provides tips to consider before using tools that analyze or aggregate information from social media sources to make investment decisions or attempt to predict changes in the stock market’s direction or in the price of a security.

Broker Imposter Scams: Remember To Ask And Check

FINRA is aware of a recent scheme that involved an unregistered individual impersonating a registered investment professional to lure in potential investors. This scammer created a fake version of a public FINRA BrokerCheck® report of a legitimate broker—picking an experienced broker with a spotless regulatory record.

Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs)—What to Know Now and Time-Tested Tips for Investors

FINRA is issuing this alert to inform investors that investments in digital assets, such as ICO tokens and cryptocurrencies, can involve significant uncertainty, as well as risks that are different from more conventional assets like stocks or bonds.

Advance-Fee Frauds Keep Dropping the FINRA Name—Don’t Fall for “Regulator” Imposter Ploys

Fraudsters continue to impersonate FINRA executives, offering bogus investment "guarantees" to investors as part of an advance-fee scam. Read more about the lengths these fraudsters go to in creating a false sense of security.

It Pays to Understand Your Brokerage Account Statements and Trade Confirmations

FINRA is re-issuing this alert to remind investors about the key elements of their brokerage account statements and trade confirmations and to provide tips that can help avoid problems.

Know Before You Share: Be Mindful of Data Aggregation Risks

If putting all your financial information online and in one place sounds like a good idea, there are many companies—often called data aggregators—ready to help you organize your financial life. However, before you share your account information and other sensitive financial details with data aggregators, it pays to know how these services operate, and how to protect yourself from potential privacy and security risks.