Tag Archives: SNPK

SNPK: A Company Visit Goes Horribly Wrong

The “night singer of shares” sold stock on the streets during the South Sea Bubble. Amsterdam, 1720.

I had told readers in previous posts about the pump and dump stock, SNPK (“Sunpeaks Ventures, Inc.) that eighteen months would pass before the stock hit the sub $0.01 level.

But when I saw this:

I was WRONG. SNPK may disappear altogether in a matter of weeks, so to complete this case study, I would visit company headquarters and find out the truth.

My visit to Sunpeak’s HQ: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AzzUjgPHOY.

What I saw gave me a shocked face: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srw3RdiIlrQ. Police cars and yellow crime-scene tape prevented further investigation. This brings the case to a close. Even a 96% drop from the high price of $2.00 a month ago is meaningless. This is an eventual, inevitable $0.00.

Video of a Victim of a Pump and Dump Scheme

2-minute video http://www.fraudcast.ca/docs/Pump_And_Dump_Fraud.php

Refresher Course on Stock Fraud

For those who wish to learn more about this seamy part of the securities market then you can read here:

Microcap stock fraud is a form of securities fraud involving stocks of “microcap” companies, generally defined in the United States as those with a market capitalization of under $250 million. Its prevalence has been estimated to run into the billions of dollars a year. Many microcap stocks are penny stocks, which trade at below $1 a share.

Microcap stock fraud generally takes place among stocks traded on the OTC Bulletin Board and the Pink Sheets Electronic Quotation Service, stocks which usually do not meet the requirements to be listed on the stock exchanges. Some fraud occurs among stocks traded on the NASDAQ Small Cap Market, now called the NASDAQ Capital Market.[4]

Microcap fraud encompasses several types of investor fraud:

  • Pump and dump schemes, involving use of false or misleading statements to hype stocks, which are “dumped” on the public at inflated prices. Such schemes involve telemarketing and Internet fraud.[5]
  • Chop stocks, which are stocks purchased for pennies and sold for dollars, providing both brokers and stock promoters massive profits. Brokers are often paid “under the table” undisclosed payoffs to sell such stocks.[6][7]
  • Dump and dilute schemes, where companies repeatedly issue shares for no reason other than taking investors’ money away. Companies using this kind of scheme tend to periodically reverse-split the stock.
  • Other unscrupulous brokerage practices, including “bait and switch,” unauthorized trading, and “no net sales” policies in which customers are prohibited or discouraged from selling stocks.[8]

Pump and dump scenarios

Pump and dump schemes tend to take place either on the Internet including e-mail spam campaigns or through telemarketing from “boiler room” brokerage houses (for example, see Boiler Room). Often the stock promoter will claim to have “inside” information about impending news. Newsletters that purport to offer unbiased recommendations then tout the company as a “hot” stock. Messages in chat rooms and email spam urge readers to buy the stock quickly.[1]

Unwitting investors then purchase the stock, creating high demand and raising the price. This seemingly “real” rise in prices can entice more people to believe the hype and to buy shares as well. When the people behind the scheme sell their shares and stop promoting the stock, the price plummets, and other investors are left holding stock that is worth significantly less than what they paid for it.

Fraudsters frequently use this ploy with small, thinly traded companies—known as “penny stocks,” generally traded over-the-counter (in the United States, this would mean markets such as the OTC Bulletin Board or the Pink Sheets), rather than markets such as the New York Stock Exchange or NASDAQ—because it is easier to manipulate a stock when there is little or no independent information available about the company.[2] The same principle applies in the United Kingdom, where target companies are typically small companies on the AIM or OFEX.

A more modern spin on this attack is known as hack, pump and dump.[3] In this form a person purchases penny stocks in advance and then uses compromised brokerage accounts to purchase large quantities of that stock. The net result is a price increase, which is often pushed further by day traders seeing a quick advance in a stock. The holder of the stock then sells his stock at a premium.[4]

During the dot-com era, when stock market fever was at its height and many people spent significant amounts of time on stock Internet message boards, a 15-year-old named Jonathan Lebed showed how easy it was to use the Internet to run a successful pump-and-dump. Lebed bought penny stocks and then promoted them on message boards, pointing at the price increase. When other investors bought the stock, Lebed sold his for a profit, leaving the other investors holding the bag. He came to the attention of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which filed a civil suit against him alleging security manipulation. As is commonly the case in SEC actions, Lebed settled the charges by paying a fraction of his total gains. He neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing, but promised not to manipulate securities in the future.[5]

Enron

As late as April 2001, before the company’s collapse, Enron executives participated in an elaborate scheme of pump-and-dump[6] in addition to other illegal practices that fooled even the most experienced analysts on Wall Street. Studies of the anonymous messages posted on the Yahoo board dedicated to Enron revealed predictive messages that the company was basically a house of cards, and that investors should bail out while the stock was good.[7] Enron had falsely reported profits which inflated the stock price, and then covered the real numbers by using questionable accounting practices. 29 Enron executives sold overvalued stock for more than a billion dollars before the company went bankrupt.[8]

Park Financial Group

In April 2007, the SEC brought charges against Park Financial Group as a result of an investigation into a pump and dump scheme during 2002-2003 of the Pink Sheet listed stock of Spear & Jackson Inc.[9]

Pump and dump spam

Pump and dump stock scams are prevalent in spam, accounting for about 15% of spam e-mail messages. A survey of 75,000 unsolicited emails sent between January 2004 and July 2005 concluded that spammers could make a return of 6% by using this method, while recipients who act on the spam message typically lose 5% of their investment within two days.[10] A study by Böhme and Holz[11] shows a similar effect. Stocks targeted by spam are almost always “penny stocks“, selling for less than $5 per share, not traded on major exchanges, are thinly traded, and are difficult or impossible to sell short. Spammers acquire stock before sending the messages, and sell the day the message is sent.[12]

Chop stocks

A chop stock is an equity, usually trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, OTC Bulletin Board or Pink Sheets listing services, that is purchased at pennies per share and sold by unscrupulous stock brokers to unsuspecting retail customers at several dollars per share.[9][10]

This practice differs from a pump and dump in that the brokerages make money, in addition to hyping the stock, by marketing a security they purchase at a deep discount. In this practice, the brokerage firm generally acquires the block of stock by purchasing a large block of the securities (usually from a large shareholder who is not affiliated with the underlying company) at a negotiated price that is well below the current market price (generally 40% to 50% below the then-current quoted offer/ask price) or it acquires the stock as payment for a consulting agreement.[11]

The subject stocks usually have little or no liquidity prior to the block purchase. After the block is purchased, the firm’s participating brokers will sell the stock to their brokerage customers at the then-current quoted offer/ask price, to the often victimized investors who are generally unaware of this practice. This large difference, or “spread” between the then-current quoted offer/ask price and the deeply discounted price the block of stock was purchased is almost always shared with the stockbroker at the firm who solicited the trade. For this reason, there is a large benefit and an inherent conflict of interest for the firm and the broker to sell these “proprietary products”.

Because the firm is technically “at risk” on the block of stock (if the price of the stock drops below the price at which the block was purchased, the firm will be at a loss on the stock) and stock is usually sold at or even slightly below the then-current prevailing market price offer/ask, the practice is still legal in the United States. In fact, it is not required that this profit spread be disclosed to the client, since it is not technically a “commission”. When a brokerage house sells such stock from its own inventory, a client will receive a trade confirmation stating the transaction was done as “Riskless Principal” or “Markup”, which in fact, just like commissions, is also revenue to the firm, and such a practice is often subject to abuse. Only the amount of fees charged over and above the offer/ask are commissions, and must be disclosed. But even though it is still legal, it is frowned upon by the Securities Exchange Commission, and they are using other laws and methods of attack to indirectly thwart the practice.

Organized crime involvement

Microcap fraud has been a major source of income for organized crime.[12] Mob figures from each of the Five Families of the New York mafia, as well as the New Jersey mob, have become involved in stock scams.

Mafia involvement in 1990s stock swindles was first explored by investigative reporter Gary Weiss in a December 1996 Business Week article.[13] Weiss later explored the Mafia’s Wall Street scams in a book.[14]

Organized crime elements were believed to have been short-selling chop stocks in the late 1990s.[15]

SNPK has ANOTHER bad week, KIWI and Polaroid/Kodak Case Studies; Mastery

Another blood bath for “shareholders”

The saga continues as the scam/promotion unwinds inevitably. The fascinating aspect of this study is how the boom bust cycle of SNPK looks similar to the

NASDAQ’s boom/bust cycle of 1993 to 2002.

Note the rise from 1992, then accelerated rise in 1998 to mid-2000 that reached a crescendo and then the collapse in price in 2000/2002–leading to the slow decline as frustrated and stubborn investors throw in the towel. But in the case of SNPK, since it is a promote, there will be no rebirth–just a quote of $0 bid and $.000001 offer by next year.

NASDAQ

Case Studies

This week has been hectic as you can see from this video of my research team at work:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pblj3JHF-Jo.

My next posts on Monday or Tuesday will be on the analysis of our two cases studies in Competition Demystified (Chapters 12 and 13)

Anyone want a crack first?

Chapter 12: Fear of Not Flying: Kiwi Enters the Airline Industry

  1. Describe Kiwi’s entry strategy and explain why it was initially successful. Where did they go wrong and why?
  2. What is the evidence that there were no existing barriers to entry in the airline industry in the 1980s?

Kiwi Airlines CS

Chapter 13: No Instant Gratification: Kodak Takes on Polaroid.

  1. Detail Polaroid’s competitive advantages in the instant photography market.
  2. What were Polaroid’s responses to Kodak’s launch into the instant photography market?
  3. Was there an alternative approach for Kodak that might have been more successful?
  4. If you were running Kodak in the 1970s, what strategy would you have followed—given all the benefits of hindsight?

Kodak vs Polaroid CS

Mastery

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpDdaC1_UGg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyRZMj8mkm4&feature=related

What can you apply to the world of investing?

Have a Great Weekend!

NOT a Good Week for Pump and Dump-SNPK

We last discussed the scam, illusion and/or fantasy of SNPK http://wp.me/p1PgpH-E7 and our first mention of this impending disaster was on March 13, 2012:http://wp.me/p1PgpH-E7

Whoops! Not a Good Week for SNPK

Expect to see SNPK trading BELOW (sub 5 cents) at the levels of this other Pump and Dump, NSTR, within the next 12 months. Anybody want to take the other side of that bet?


This post was to keep you abreast as a warning and learning exercise–you don’t have to flush your hard-earned cash away to know that the above “company” exists solely to fleece “shareholders.” How many innocents are saying, “What the F! #$%& happened?” I am sure the SEC will start their “investigation” a year or two after the fleecing. Oh well….

You can learn more about how Pump and Dumps work here: http://www.pennystockresearch.com/snpk-rsrs-ewsi-pump-and-dump-alerts-april-27-2012/

This week we’re exposing these three popular Pump & Dumps: Sunpeaks Ventures (SNPK), Regency Resources (RSRS), and E-Waste Systems (EWSI).

On Pump and Dump Friday, we identify a few of the potentially “bogus” promotions going on in penny stocks today.

If you don’t know how these schemes work, be sure to check out the free report.

Without further ado, here are today’s “disasters waiting to happen”:

Sunpeaks Ventures (SNPK)

For the second week in a row, I have to say “I told you so!”

It’s like shooting fish in a barrel.  The pumpers telegraph their moves so plainly it’s scary!   Last week I told you to watch out for a dead cat bounce and then shares would take another dive…Well they have! 

Have a great weekend and thanks for the generous contributions on advising a reader about transitioning/learning to become a value investor.

Back again on Monday with case study analysis on Kiwi Airlines from Competition Demystified.

Case Study Update on SNPK: How the Scam Works and Who is Behind the Promotion

In the last post on SNPK (SunPeak Ventures) http://wp.me/p1PgpH-z5 we discussed toxic convertibles (“Death Spiral Converts”). Since then, the price has doubled as the email blasts and press releases pour forth, “MASSIVE upmove, ROCKET price rise, TO THE MOON, Next Price targe, $5!” I am missing out on  SPECTACULAR gains!!!  When I went to do my typical company visit, all I found was a P.O. Box on Long Island.

For a more detailed analysis of how the scam works: http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=73392869#

In a nutshell, various promoters receive “free” stock and then sell on the price rise as the fools rush in.

SNPK was set up from day one to put shares that cost next-to-nothing into the hands of undisclosed insiders using Panamanian based business entities with hired officers as a front so that these insiders could dump their shares during a paid promotion and make out with millions of dollars in profits.
These Panamanian based business entities have extremely strong links to Eric Van Nguyen’s promotional companies leaving this poster very confident that Eric Van Nguyen and others close to him may really control the shares being held in the name of the anonymous Panamanian based entities.

Awesomepennystocks only wants you to buy SNPK shares so  those Panamanian based entities can sell their shares.  The company started spewing press releases at the same time as the paid promotion started. The company is involved in helping with the insider enrichment scheme.  SNPK sold those shares for pennies to those Panamanian based entities then forward split those shares 45:1 to increase the profits made from the selling of those shares.

The plan is to haul in profits while illegally manipulating the stock through promotional spam and wash trading, eventually leaving a bunch of gullible impressionable bag holders in their wake.  The recently confirmed involvement of the regulators asking questions is probably going to hurt APS’s plans to enact their insider enrichment scheme.  Awesomepennystocks is trying to put a positive spin on things and keep investors from selling their stock before the Panamanian based entities can finish unloading theirs. See below:

Habana Investments got 350,000 shares for $1,750 ($.005/share) which after the forward split became 15,750,000 shares ($.00011/share)

CHP Investments got 350,000 shares for $1,750 ($.005/share) which after the forward split became 15,750,000 shares ($.00011/share)

Verna Thompson got 350,000 shares for $1,750 ($.005/share) which after the forward split became 15,750,000 shares ($.00011/share)
When the original SNPK shell was first set up 8 entities were given 350,000 shares of SNPK for $1,750.

What will happen?

How can this happen? Who will stop this? The price promotion/scam stops when there are no more fools left to sell to then the price will collapse “mysteriously.”

Will the SEC or Attorney General step in to “save” investors from themselves? No, the government is too busy preparing to fence-in its citizens from escaping. Go here:http://www.truthistreason.net/senate-bill-1813-owe-taxes-your-passport-and-travel-is-denied  What is next?  If you owe a parking ticket, then without due process, your passport–after you are stripped searched–will be revoked. If only we had a constitution that was respected. The Sheeple won’t act.

I will continue to report on the on-going saga of SNPK. Who needs entertainment while this unfolds. Like a horror film; you don’t know the precise ending–just that the scene will end badly.

SNPK Follow-up on Toxic “Death Spiral Convert” Convertible

It is a fraud to borrow what we are unable to pay.–Publilius Syrus

SNPK Discussion

Yesterday I posted the case study and quiz question here: http://wp.me/p1PgpH-z5 and financial information was posted here: SNPK’s Financials: http://www.scribd.com/doc/85185922/SNPK-Financials

Readers are too astute to be asked whether a company like SNPK is worthy of their time as a potential investment. The company is an obvious promotion.

However, while taking 30 seconds–not a second more–to scan the financials, I saw a debt instrument that I thought had been banned back in the 1990s–a toxic convertible on pages 6 and 7 of the 100+ pages PDF on SNPK. There it was lurking quietly.

If you see a company like SNPK that is cash flow negative, you know to focus on the sources of financing because, without outside funding, this “firm” is defunct.  The amount of debt and the terms are what you immediately focus on.  Several readers pointed out all the other horrors like insider control, other debt, Panamanian shareholder, Nevada corporation, and who might the CEO be since this is a one-man show (a former broker at FBR). The company has no competitive advantages and about $95,000 in assets (not including liabilities).  The convertible note and other debt is what is funding this “company.”

Prize Awarded to all contestants

Anyone who answered will receive an email prize from me this afternoon. Good effort.

Since the wording of my test question may have been poor, I have taken on a new job in penance:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jF-CkMpQtlY&feature=related as a Village Idiot.

….OK, back to SNPK

The firm was created as a reverse merger into a shell company:

Through a Share Exchange Agreement

Control

On February 13, 2012, Sunpeaks Ventures, Inc., a Nevada corporation  entered into that certain Share Exchange Agreement (the “Share Exchange Agreement”) with Healthcare Distribution Specialists LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, (“HDS”), Mackie Barch, the managing member of HDS, who presently owns 100% of the issued and outstanding membership interests in HDS, and Scott Beaudette, the majority shareholder of the Company. Pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Share Exchange Agreement, HDS shall exchange 100% of the outstanding membership interests in HDS in exchange for: (i) two hundred million (200,000,000) newly-issued restricted shares of the Company’s common stock, par value $0.001 per share and (ii) three million (3,000,000) newly-issued restricted shares of the Company’s Class A Preferred Stock, par value $0.001 per share. The exchange will result in HDS becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company.

Paid-off and Private Market Value

Additionally, pursuant to the Share Exchange Agreement, Mr. Beaudette shall cancel two hundred million (200,000,000) shares of the Company’s common stock that he currently owns (He was paid on his $5,000 loan to the company–so we have a private market transaction giving a $5,000 worth to the 200 million shares). Perhaps current market value of $100 million plus might be unsustainable?

As you scanned for notes to all the debt outstanding you found: Toxic Convertible on pages 6 and 7.

ITEM 02 UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY   SECURITIES.

On March 1, 2012, Sunpeaks Ventures, Inc. (“we” or the “Company”) issued a 10% convertible note in with an original principal amount of $200,000 (the “Note”) to an investor. The Note provides for an interest rate of ten percent (10%) and matures on March 1, 2014. The Note is convertible into shares of our common stock, par value $0.001, based on a conversion price that is equal to a twenty percent (20%) discount to the average market price over a ten (10) day period immediately prior to the conversion date.

The issuance of the Note was offered and sold in reliance upon exemptions from registration pursuant to Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

The convertible note is being “secured” by the stock market fantasy currently being perpetuated on gullible “investors” and/or stock traders. Who is buying during those 100 million share trading days? If you are unclear why the above is so toxic, then read the document provided in the link below.

Toxic Convertible (“death Spiral Converts”)

Used by companies that are in such bad shape, that there is no other way to get financing. This instrument is similar to a convertible bond, but convertible at a discount to the share price at issuance and for a fixed dollar amount rather than a specific number of shares. The further the stock falls, the more shares you get. Popular in the mid to late 1990s. Also known as death spiral convertibles or floorless convertibles.

Death Spiral

A loan that investors give to a publicly-traded company in exchange for convertible bonds. The convertible bonds give the investor a right to buy shares in the company at a low, agreed-upon price. However, issuing these bonds creates more shares outstanding when they are converted, which results in a drop in the share price. The low share price encourages more bondholders to convert their bonds to equity, which causes a further drop in price and the process continues. Because of this disadvantage, companies only engage in death spirals if they badly need cash.

Below is a definitive report on the horror of Toxic Convertibles (34 pages)http://www.law.emory.edu/fileadmin/journals/elj/54/54.1/Nayini.pdf

Of course, you would have noticed another loan, an unsecured promissory note. But the $200,000 (more than twice the reported assets of the “firm”) was all you needed to know. The shareholders will be left holding the bag. This is a $0 in a year or two.

Let’s clean off the slime and grime and return to work.

Case Study, Test, and Prize on SPNK–A Fantasy, Scam, or Fraud? Cheer Up and Look on the Bright Side of Life!

If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.–Steven Wright

SPNK: Can you Find the ticking bomb?

Anyone who specifically points out in the documents (see link below) where there is guaranteed devastation for the common shareholders will receive an A+ and an email prize.

If someone has posted a reply in the comments section, try not to read it, and think through the case on your own. Why are we in the world of Penny stocks, pump and dump stock schemes and Mafia-controlled companies–far, far away from our cherished franchises like IBM. Colgate, and Stryker?  Sometimes if you invert, you can learn more about financial statements and human nature.

Skim through the 115 pages and focus on the critical areas. Tomorrow evening I will post my analysis of this document.  The goal is to get you to pick out the danger areas. Obviously, this company has little financial value based on its assets and operations, but what is particularly lethal to any shareholder?

Good luck!

SNPK’s Financials:http://www.scribd.com/doc/85185922/SNPK-Financials

Guess how stocks like SNPK are sold:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zakyg3thfY

http://www.pennystockresearch.com/nsrs-csoc-pump-and-dump-alerts-february-1-2012/

I just received an email alert:

Dear valued subscribers,

SNPK closed at 70 cents today. Getting one step closer to multi dollar territories. We are absolutely confident of the massive potential this pick holds.

If it can just reproduce a fraction of the gains our last pick experienced it would still hit multi dollar levels.

Tomorrow may be one of the last opportunities our members will have to buy SNPK under a dollar.

The company announced this morning that its product, Clotamin, will be sold in about 70 different Discount Drug Mart locations around Ohio. This is on top of the product being available in 9 different states already, and being just picked up by Dakota Drug Inc. for distribution.

Those of you who did buy SNPK a few days ago and are holding are already up a lot.

Those of you who didn’t buy it yet are definitely considering to place an order first thing in the morning.

Do you remember how much our last pick soared? If you had just put $1,000 at our initial alert and and liquidated into near multi dollar levels you could’ve pulled more than $20,000 within 2 months. Not a bad ROI when the S&P returns around 8% a year on avg.

If you invest in anything with 8% return such as the S&P that same $1,000 will take you 40 years to turn into $20,000. As we just mentioned our last pick could have potentially created 40 years’ value in just weeks. Then you could possibly do it all over again with our next pick after it (which in this case is SNPK).

It is already up almost double since our initial alert 4 short days ago. That same gain would take 9 years to produce with the S&P.

The company is in negotiations with a major NBA star to support their products. Let’s stay tuned as this is important information!

SNPK has been steadily climbing every day! Our members couldn’t be happier!

http://www.zdnetasia.com/stock-pump-and-dump-spam-makes-comeback-62301948.htm

Stock pump-and-dump spam makes comeback

                By , ZDNet Asia on September 6, 2011News of the global debt crisis is driving pump-and-dump stock scams in volatile markets, enabling spammers to make profits by artificially “pumping” up stock prices so as to sell cheaply purchased stocks, note a new report by Symantec.Released Monday, the Symantec August 2011 Intelligence Reportrevealed that spammers are seeking to reap from fluctuations in the turbulent financial markets, by sending large amounts of spam related to certain “pink sheets” stocks, in an attempt to “pump” the value of these stocks before “dumping” them at a profit.”Pink sheets” are typically over-the-counter stocks of companies that are not required to submit financial statements to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.”With the world still reeling from the recession, the stock markets are now in turmoil from the increasingly global credit crisis and the specter of a ‘double dip recession’, whereby the [world] economy is expected to again tank after a brief rally,” said Samir Patil, a security researcher at Symantec, in a blog post.According to Paul Wood, senior intelligence analyst at Symantec’s cloud business, scammers can make “substantial profits in a matter of days” with well-executed pump-and-dump spam campaigns. “In the current turbulent environment, many people may be convinced to invest in stocks that scammers claim will benefit from the market turbulence,” he pointed out in a statement.

In a typical pump-and-dump stock scam, spammers promote certain stocks to inflate the price as much as possible so they may then be sold before their valuation crashes back to reality, said Symantec. The spam for these scams tries to convince the prospective investor that the cheap or penny stock is actually worth more than its valuation, or that it will soon skyrocket.

However, most of these claims are misleading or false, the vendor warned in its report.

In a successful campaign, the influx of spam will artificially drive the stock’s price to a point where scammers decide to sell their shares. This usually coincides with them ending the spam campaign, which could reduce interest in the stock, helping to drive the valuation back to its original low price, which could also be exploited in the market.

Most of the pump-and-dump spam originate from the United States and China, while a percentage is being generated from other countries in Asia. The majority of the attacks target North American users, Symantec revealed.

The report also noted a deluge of penny stock spam promoting Resource Exchange of America Corp (RXAC.PK) stocks whereby messages were full of irrelevant line breaks and spaces between words.

The e-mail headers contained broken words such as “Stocks” and “money” with poorly translated non sequiturs throughout the message such as “United States still an AAA country, Obama says?!”.

Other examples of e-mail subjects include “Stocks Ready to Bounce?”, “There is a MASSIVE PROMOTION underway NOW!” and “Been right on the money”.

In order to avoid falling prey to e-mail scams such as pump-and-dump scams, users should create a spam filter, never respond to spam and get multiple e-mail addresses for multiple purposes, Stephanie Boo, regional director for Symantec’s cloud business, advised.

“The Internet world is a borderless one. Today’s volume and sophistication of threat activities have increased substantially and cybercriminals continue to be motivated by financial gains,” she said in an e-mail. “Pump-and-dump scams are just one of the many tactics that cybercriminals leverage to attack consumers and enterprises alike.”

Cheer up and look at the bright side of life

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2Wx230gYJw&feature=related