'Safe SEC': SEC Demonstrates Dangers of Casual Investing

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) perpetrated a hoax last week in an effort to highlight the dangers of casual investing. The SEC issued a fake press release about a company called McWortle Enterprises. The release pointed to a Web site that looked quite legitimate http://www.mcwhortle.com. When users clicked on a page to bid on shares, a page came up with the headline "If you responded to an investment idea like this . . . You could get scammed!" http://news.com.com/2100-1023-823578.html

With online payment service PayPal about to go public, auction users should be extremely careful about fake Web sites and emails that look like they come from companies or investment firms. Be very careful before ever entering personal information into a Web site. See how another hoax attempted to fool people into giving personal information in an "identity theft" scam - this fraud masqueraded as an order confirmation from online auctioneer Ebay. http://www.computeruser.com/news/02/01/27/news5.html