As the familiar adage goes, the higher the risk, the higher the reward. Of course, when it comes to investment strategies, risk is often one characteristic around which you can make informed decisions to mitigate or embrace, depending on your level of risk tolerance.
Yet there is one investment risk – the risk of fraud – which at first glance seems uniquely difficult to mitigate. Fortunately, there are indeed several steps investors can take to protect their hard earned investment dollars from fraud.
In the United States, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) each offer investor resources for reducing the risk of investment fraud.