The Trinidad and Tobago Securities and Exchange Commission has issued its seventh public alert on the continued rise of investment scams, particularly schemes promoted through social media and digital messaging applications. It urged investors to verify that entities and promoters are registered with the commission before transferring funds, warning that investments with unregistered entities could result in the loss of the entire amount invested. Fraudsters are increasingly impersonating financial institutions, professionals, regulators and public officials through fake profiles, advertisements, credentials and artificial intelligence generated content. Other tactics include promises of implausibly high or guaranteed returns, pressure to deposit money into personal accounts, fabricated investment platforms showing false profits and demands for advance withdrawal fees. The alert also highlights recovery scams targeting previous victims, requests for sensitive personal data and efforts to move communications to private messaging applications or route funds through third party transfer services.

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