Perhaps believing "Once a sucker, always a sucker," a shady group has created a website to scam the victims of Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme: The Securities Investor Protection Corporation says it is trying to shut down the "International Securities Investor Protection Corporation," which uses elements from the SIPC website, including its logo and site design. SIPC President Stephen Harbeck said, "We know from information provided to us by individuals that this bogus group is already attempting to obtain funds and confidential financial information from investors in the U.S."
What kind of confidential information? Why, just a copy of their latest brokerage account statement, please! The fake site even has a "donate" button, which the real SIPC doesn't have. (The fake site is I-SIPC.com.) Further, the ISIPC claims to be based in Switzerland but the site is registered in...wait for it...Nigeria.
Apparently a real Madoff investor saw the site and let the SIPC know. And right now, there's a debate about how much the SIPC should give to victims of the Madoff scam.
