About Us

How It Began

Investment Scam and Pig Butchering Victims

In December 2023 and early 2024, a group of investors were stunned as the market value of their stocks plummeted and then realized they had been scammed. These stocks were recommended by supposedly trusted advisors operating in WhatsApp investment groups posing as qualified experts. Desperate to know what happened and to find other victims, some connected on other social platforms to discover common factors on how they were scammed by these imposters. These fraudulent investment advisors were part of a massive global pump-and-dump scheme, which has subsequently been publicized in many places, including the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets. 

How did victims first get tricked into joining the fake investment groups?  Most responded to Facebook or Instagram ads featuring photos of famous investors like Cathie Wood, Ray Dalio, and Steven Cohen. The ads promised to provide stock trading tips that would lead to quick profits.  Upon clicking on the ads, victims were ushered into WhatsApp chat groups and conned into investing hundreds, thousands, and even millions in penny stocks.  The stocks were in questionable China-based companies traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ.

Aftermath of the Scam

In the aftermath of experiencing the stock losses, many of the victims contacted securities and other law enforcement agencies in Hong Kong and the U.S to catch the criminals. They also banded together to contact law firms to determine the course of action to recoup losses. However, these efforts have so far produced no tangible results. Frustrated with the limited actions of authorities across different jurisdictions, this website, investmentscams.org, was created to create more traction for action as follows:

• Publicize and alert the public of similar ongoing investment scams to warn others not to fall into the same traps.
• Aggregate information on victims in a larger group to better able obtain Congressional and Federal law enforcement support to catch the criminals.
• Affect change in legislation and regulations to hold organizations accountable for their actions.
• Attract interest from law firms to help victims recover losses.
• Share resources and information on recovery efforts.
• Provide a community for victims to share and support each other in their loss experience.