Everyone would like to be able to invest in a stock while the price is still low, but can be expected to rise dramatically.  This desire for the quick hit is used by scam artists in a scam called the “pump and dump.”  In this scam, you may receive an email or a fax, often apparently intended for someone else informing you of a company with a low cost stock that is about to have its price rise tremendously.  Other times the stock may be talked up in Internet chat rooms.  Most often these companies are small capitalization companies, often referred to as penny stock companies.  These stocks are often thinly traded.  Following the advice, from someone they don’t know, the victim buys the stock and, sure enough, the stock value promptly rises, but then without warning, the stock plummets in value and you are left with a poor investment.  This scam is created by criminals who buy the stock themselves at a low value and then influence others to buy the stock regardless of the fact that the stock would not be expected to rise in value were it not for the fact that the scammers misrepresent the stock to their victims and lure them into buying it.  Once the stock has shot up in value, the criminals, knowing that the emperor has no clothes, sell their stock, make a profit and leave the victims with worthless stock certificates.

TIP

Always consider the sources of any investment advice that you receive.  How reliable is the source?  What are their credentials?   What do they stand to gain?  Is it inside information that they are offering in violation of securities trading laws?  Remember Martha Stewart who went to jail for lying about involvement in insider trading.