Bogus Web site targets Madoff victims

This post comes from partner site ConsumerAffairs.com.

Scammers apparently targeted victims of Bernie Madoff with a phony Web site that mimicked the Web site of the Securities Investor Protection Corp., the SIPC said.

The so-called “International Securities Investor Protection Corporation” solicited Madoff victims to submit claims, which could result in phishing or other identify theft problems, according to the SIPC. 

• Bing: Where are Madoff victims now?

One section of the Web site included a supposed testimonial from a Madoff victim who claimed to have received funds from the organization. A link from the home page led to a photo of a huge stack of cash and the group’s claim that it collaborated with Interpol to recover $1.3 billion in Madoff money from a hideout in Malaysia.

The phony Web site is no longer available.

"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.,” SIPC president Stephen Harbeck said after the Web site was discovered. “SIPC wants to be as clear as possible that Madoff victims and other investors should not share any personal financial information via this Web site or rely upon it as an information source. We intend to use every available means to shut down this illicit operation.”

The SIPC is responsible for maintaining a special reserve fund mandated by Congress to protect customers of insolvent brokerage firms.

Related reading at ConsumerAffairs.com:

• Warnings about new video chat Web site
• Classmates sued over content-sharing arrangement
• High hospital occupancy rate linked to high death rate