News Stop: Beware of Pyramid like Investment Shams in Singapore

An article “Pyramid-like investment scam hits S’pore” penned by Chow Penn Nee, TodayOnline, 24 Jan 2007 talks about some recent investment shams that hit Singapore. One important piece of information which we want to propagate is a list compiled by Monetary Authority of Singapore MAS) called the MAS Investor Alert List (IAL), which gives a detail list of companies that may be conducting activities not regulated by the MAS. We provide some excerpts of the article about how these fake shams crawled their way into Singapore. So be warned. If MLM is not enough, these investment shams are even worse.

From Today article, here are some excerpts which may help you to be wary of investment shams like the SwissCash or Swiss Mutual Fund.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has confirmed that Swiss Cash or Swiss Mutual Fund is included in the MAS’ Investor Alert List (IAL). This is a list of companies or individuals that may be conducting activities not regulated by the MAS.

(The list can be found here)

By giving Singaporean investors the false impression that they are operating in Singapore or by sometimes using names similar to entities regulated by the MAS, these companies are able to attract Singapore consumers, the MAS’ website said.

Consumers who deal with firms that are not regulated by the MAS will not get recourse to compensation if they lose money on their investments, the central bank said…….
……

It added that the promotion of the fund seems to work via agents on a multi-level marketing or MLM system, which appears to closely resemble a pyramid scheme.

We painted the words “MLM” bold for you so that young entrepreneurs don’t get themselves into silly shams like these. It is important to note who may provide financial services in Singapore. From the MAS site, it is noted that “Persons providing financial services in Singapore are required to be licensed, exempt or otherwise regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to carry out activities regulated under the relevant laws administered by MAS.

The names of regulated persons in respect of the provision of financial services under the various Acts administered by MAS are listed on MAS’ website in the Financial Institutions Directory.”

If you are an investor, please be careful. Honestly speaking, to make a living, there are at least million ways better than joining some stupid MLM scheme. So be warned.

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