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Show trading ry lators. On that same day, the pilot's log showed he landed at 3:19 p.m. in Atlanta after a trans-Atlantic flight from Germany. “Pilots usually don't talk to their brokers when they're on fi- HUMBERTO CRUZ Ignorance and Greed Lead for World Interactive Gaming Corp. in New York unknowingly telephoned a state securities in- vestigator at the Texas State Se- curities Board. After an investigation, regulators froze $750,000 of the firm's’ assets. For the most , however, itors depend on investors to Buyers to Ruin come forth, It’s hard not to get di sometimes. Like every time I have to write about yet another alleged financial frand, and how many often the elderly, have lost their life savings in it. I mean, what is going to take for people to realize t if something sounds too good oF ee ‘Many these cases, when you In Florida, an administra’ complaint was filed against Royal Investmenis, City in Palm Beach County in April. Until January, the firm was known as PCM Securities But they do, and regulators esite -— often the vic- _ conned of an estimated $10 billion a year. “In this bull market, there has the Comptrolier in West Palm Beach, said in the complaint that suade them to buy stocks. ‘The first recommendation was usually to buy a stock listed on the New York Stock Exchange, Pam ssid. But soon after the in: vestor made thatfirst purchase, the broker would call agais, this been an exph of ‘boiler time using rooms,’ and investors are to tout a micro-cap stock without is ioner | tactics future prices, she said. ized.” If you think you have been a victim of fraud, or you want to check out a firm or salesperson, and president of “If the investors did not agree the North American Securities Association, a group of state regulators. to buy the stock, the brokers made the purchase without the ’ permission,” Pam said. der at phone banks all dry, pre- chases and called to cousplain, their calls were ignored, she said. National Association of Securities job is to “cold-call” investors — people they don't Penalties against the firm snd its brokers could Dealers, a self-regulatory group, at 1-800-289-9999. right out of the telephone or a previous “sucker” list and high-pressure them to invest in whatever it is they're promoting said. Unauthorized trading, Crawford said, is one of the big probJems in the sale of microcap Humberto Cruz lives in Coral Springs, Fla. Write him c/o Tribune Media Services, 435 N. regulators in 29 states brought up _ly filed a complaint to revoke the In a so-called boiler room, salt sit shoulder to shoulsales scripts in hand. Their | -] its risks, and guaran- Tipped off,” Crawford said. “We need people to come forward so we can use their experiences to prevent others from being victim- their names often drawn that day. Just in recent weeks, more than 100 enforcement actions boiler rooms. - Foreign- investments a way to profit And when investors received notification of the _aauthorized pur- of their licenses and fines, Pam stocks. Regulators in Utah recent: license of J.P. Turner & Co. ‘based on information from an in- fornia, were stamped at 2:54 p.m. and action against 18 firms they said were history by calling the Michigan Ave, Suite 1400, Chi. proce- @ Continued from E-1 She adds that phone companies are “certainly going to have to be “We primarily do it as a convenience for our customers so they can have their phone-related expenses on a single bill,’ Humphreysays. It also is a profit center for the company, the phone company makes moneyoff billing for third parties one.” solved. US WE: man Michael Frandsen. Grant, at the ional Consum. US WEST’s Humphreypoints to the company’s action concern- ing a “psychic” hotline as an ex ample At the same time, customers The hotline offered frequent callers the chance to buy a mem gavethe callers a discount on the cost of the 1-900 calls. phone companies such as US WEST, which last month joined with other regional bell operating companies to come up with a set bership for a small monthlyfee. she says. And the membership “We weregetting way too many complaints from people who say they hadnot signed up for a membership and were getting charged so we are no longer handling the billing for them,” Humphrey of voluntary guidelines to combat says the growing problem. The guidelines, drafted under the urging of the FCC, suggest: @ Customers be given the partof a screening process set up communication services provided by outside parties charged to their phonebills. @ Phone companies should ver- cessive. ify their customers in fact have ordered the service. Customers should be able to get unauthorized charges automatically removed from their bilis. f@ Phone companies should screen the advertisements of the companies for which they bill to make sure they are not deceptive. Susan Grant, vice president for public policy at the National Consumers League in Washington, D.C., says the guidelines are only a first step. Since they are voluntary and the local telephone companies get to pick and choose which ones they will follow, Grant says consumers in some parts of the country could receive better protec- tion than those in other areas of our work with the customer to for fraud.” To hear US WESTtell it, the company is an industry leader in cracking down on cramming local phone company for the problem, when in fact another company is responsible for placing the unauthorized charge on thebill. whoget crammed often blame the brought to part ofthe solution since they are the ones being used as conduits Humphrey saysthat action was by US WESTin early 1997 to identify companies that might be cramming and take action if com. plaints were determinedto be exLast year, according to Hum- phrey, US WESTstoppedbilling for two services after consumer complaints mounted. And so far this year, the phone company has canceled billing for 14 services becauseof possible cramming. One of those companies was targeted for action by the Utah Public Service Commission. “We were getting a lot of complaints about them and called up US WESTto ask them to stopbilling for them,” says PSC Commis- sioner Stephen Mecham. “We found out US WEST had stopped billing for them the day before.” Local phone companies such as problem is immedia ers League, says companies local telephone “obviously do sell some of the same kind of optional phoneservices crammers offer But she added that concerns over unauthorized charges by the regional bell operating companies are not the kind of complaints we are hearing about.” It is cramming by third-party that is the problem providers Mecham saystheissue of cram- mingis so new thePSC is just be- ginning to look at possible solu tions. ‘We're hoping will not see any big increases in the problem from here,” hesays. Last month. the PSC received about 50 complaints concerning cramming and ‘‘slamming,” whichrefers to a consumer's long- distance service being switched to another company without permission. Humphreysaysit is relatively easy for customersto identify services coming from other companies that are billed by US WEST. “We putall charges from those outside companies on a separate page with the name, logo and tele. phone number of the company that provided the service.” she says. As the cramming threat grows, states such as Texas, New York and Alabamaarestarting to fine violators. Last week, New Jersey became US WESTalso can be said to be oneofthe first to sue crammers. And last month, the Federal Trade Commission sued two com- involved in cramming when they charge for unauthorized services panies for cramming. Onecase involved a dating service that of- on their own bills. fered a toll-free number. The “Basically, cramming is any charge for an unauthorized ser- bills at a cost of $4 a minute. calls later showed up on phone the nation: And the hoops consumers have to jumpthroughto get their prob- cago, IL 60611. Send e-mail lem taken care of could be differ- messages to: HCrur5040@aol- ent depending upon where they com. live. Tickets for the disputed trades 2:55 p.m. Eastern time the day Coa aE a ea) PLO wel AU Ree Kol NOL at eRe SCAR In 24 hours, we can prepare and fle ail documents necessary to incorporate your Or organize your business as a limited fability company. Call for Q free Inilial consultation. 236-1104 The Low Office of Thomas £ Nelson, A Profesional 265 Feat SID South, She 207, Sa ct Qty, Uich Batt VBA AMERICAN BSRESS Governor Leavitt declares August 9-15 as Utah Truck Driver Appreciation Week. BUR cele a MiNTa LomeaeLe] Deseret News online editions. LOR RMT On LeOM LaPeer ee is Remember, If you gotit, a truck driver broughtit! ra bal GMC REAL ESTATE SEMINARS D.W. 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Limited. director of market regulation for had all agreed to adopt um Newest Scam To Hit Consumers Still, it is a sensitive issue for moved from Boca Raton to Greenacres Meean hs Go eaeCoe the U.S. Securities and Exchange many are stocks. look at them, yon wonder how anybody could fall for them,” said Robert L.D. Colby, deputy ing Cramming Me OravacmeaN |