More stock scams
So I looked into my Gmail spam folder and found thousands of goodies. I hadn’t previously seen them, since the ones Gmail filters out never even make it to Thunderbird (which also has its own spam filter). The stock spams I showed you the other day were all good enough to make it through at least one layer of spam filter. Not so for these gems.
First up on the list we have someone spamming the stock Physicians Adult Daycare, Inc. (PHYA / PHYA.PK). I received dozens of these, all from different randomized sender names and spoofed email addresses. All of the messages looked pretty similar to this one:
The hottest pick this year!
It just doesn’t get any better than this. Booming sector, tightly held, with
an incredible PR blitz starting up. Not only that, but the company is set to
release some smashing news.Physicians Adult Daycare, Inc.
Symbol: PHYA
Current Price: $1.90 (+18% Friday!)
Short-Term Projected Price: $4.25
Long-Term Target Price: $10.20As the population ages, the economic value in the US market for adult
daycare is projected to grow nearly 600%. Globally the potential market
is a staggering $45 billion.PHYA is already hitting it big in the sector. With solid acquisitions,
expert management, and a red hot sector, PHYA is looking at record
earnings.Check your favorite news source. Check your Level 2 market data. You
will see that this one is set for an explosion.With the huge publicity that is on the way THIS is where you want to be.
Make sure you get in early on December, 18th. Win big with PHYA!
I’ve received a lot of these over a period of just a few days, so you know someone is really trying to push this stock. How’s it doing in reality? Pretty good, actually! It was holding pretty steady at around $1.50 until the middle of December, at which point it shot up and it’s now currently at $2.20 (with no sign of stopping its advance yet). If you had bought in when you first received the spam and sold it now, you’d have made a good bit of money. It hasn’t started to decline just yet, so I’ll have to wait and see just how much people who hold onto this stock for too long will lose.
Next up on the spam list is a spam email for Apparel Manufacturing Associates, Inc. (APPM.PK). This stock was trading at between six and nine cents for a long while and then shot up to over $0.20 just today, a day after the spam went out. It’ll take awhile to get some long-term perspective on this one, but if you have a day trader-oriented investing service that can execute trades in minutes, you could’ve benefited from catching this one early. Note that this spam email is disguised to look like it comes from the company itself.
Market Movers and Shakers
Fw: ATTENTION - Is it a Micro-Cap Bonanza?
Special Situation Report
—————————————————-Investor Notice
Apparel Manufacturing Associates, Inc.
The Bull Alert
Symbol OTC : APPM
Current Price : $0.06dont wait to make a move
Huge news expected out on APPM, get in before the wire,
We’re taking it all the way to $1.00Small Investments to Small Fortunes?
Watch it like a hawk and get in before the rush
nows the time to build a good position
About the Company
We are a multifaceted management/development company
concentrating on the world of Fashion and Music.
Our affiliates and partners offer 4 decades of experience
and recognized success in their respective fields.
With offices in New York City, Miami and Zurich, we are
in touch with the pulse of the “fashion forward”.—————————————————-
Special Situations Overcome the Market
nows the time to build a position
The Investor Communique’
That’s it for now, but don’t worry, I have lots more spams where these came from. I should be coming up with another installment shortly.
January 23rd, 2007 at 19:39
This sounds awfully fraudulent. Are the authorities even looking for these scammers?
January 23rd, 2007 at 21:01
The authorities are trying, but it’s nearly impossible. The emails are totally untraceable; they all have forged sender info, and even if you could track it back to the originating machine, that ends up being a zombie computer that’s part of a botnet. I suppose the only way they could really trace these people is to get detailed information on everyone who has bought significant shares of the stock before it is touted in spam emails. But then again, remember, the stock market is international, and they could easily be operating out of a haven somewhere, virtually untouchable.