276The Stock Investment Elite Wealth Group 1

The FMA warns about investment advice group chats targeting New Zealand investors with ‘pump-and-dump’ schemes. Scammers purchase large volumes of low-value shares in overseas companies. They then persuade investors to purchase low-priced shares in overseas company, artificially inflating the share price. The scammers then sell their holdings at a profit. When the share price collapses, investors are left bearing significant losses.

After a victim suffers a loss, the scammers often claim, falsely, that the victim is entitled to compensation or reimbursement. The scammers use these claims to harvest personal information and further payments from the victims.