Am i involved in an investment Fraud???

Question

Malaysian buyer, Swiss investment comp, to be invest on US company

I had made a phone agreement initially with an invest officer incharge to put USD 2220 at buying 2000 company's shares, but due to doubts of getting in global fraud, i rejected the offer later but the officer told that it will have legal consequences since the previous phone conversations were recorded.

Questions:

1. Will i get sue due to the refusal of investing?

2. I tried to get more information from the officer of both his company and the company to be invested (both in phone converstions and email details), but instead he denied it saying that the phone is being monitored & can't sent me further details through email but simple email noting just 2 web addresses: sir-suisse.com & companieswestgroupinc.com-------are they suppose to make the details requested confidential?

Please kindly reply, i really need professional advice on how to deal with it, ASAP. I haven't complete the transaction yet.

Thx...

Answer 1

Did you sign a written account agreement with this brokerage house?  I didn't think so.  If you don't have an account, then the salesman can't accept any orders from you.

You're not going to be sued.  This is a scam.

Answer 2

Don't complete the transaction. It is surely fraud. Any investment without documents to review before you pay is not for real. Why don't you report this company? There's an old saying, " A verbal agreement isn't worth the paper it's written on..." You owe them nothing. Last thing: Don't go on those websites. You never know if they are trying to break into your computer to steal personal information. Stay away from them. They're bad people.

Answer 3

Interesting... I got a call from them too ("Actually Steinberg Investment Research" that is). They are offering to sell me: 3000 shares of Companies West Group at reduced price.

I went on the companies West Group Website and called their number. There was actually a secretary who gave me a little info and was very pleasant to talk too. I still have a bad feeling about it though because it just doesn't smell right. The envelope that came in the mail has stamps on it that say Germany although the envelope came from Switzerland supposedly...

The stamps are connected with a piece of paper behind them as if they had been cut out of another letter... I don't know how they got rid of the validation stamp if that is what they have done. Anyway it does not smell right. I am worried about the fact that I even gave them my mailing address.

I asked them for references they reluctantly said they would get me that... and they have called me back but I was not home to answer the phone.

Please let me know if you have heard anything else about these people.

Answer 4

A Malaysian company, Swiss Cash, was found to be a fraud and was closed down by the government.  I heard that other fraudulent companies are "cashing in" on the Swiss name.  My browser says the url  sir-suisse.com does not exist.  Companies west group's web site shows it to be an American company listed on the Frankfurt, Germany exchange.  If it was fully legal, I would think an American company would be listed on an American exchange also.  The company's refusal to send you additional information is another "red flag" telling me  FRAUD.

I don't know about Malaysian laws, but the cost for an American company to hire a lawyer and sue in court would cost the company a lot more than $2220.

Answer 5

Verbal agreements are usually not enforceable in a court of law.

They are just trying to intimidate you.  

Just ignore them.  I doubt very much if they will persist once you call their bluff.

And just where are they going to sue you?  

A swiss company trying to sue a Malaysian in Malaysia based on a conversation?  They have little grounds, and it will cost them way more than $2,220 to do so.

Could they sue you in a Swiss court? Sure, but that will cost them ,too.  Even if they win, which is unlikely, they have to collect, and they will have to come to Malaysia for that.   They will be out much more than the $2,220.

Just report them to the authorities in Malaysia as scam artists.

Answer 6

Phone conversations can be forged. If there is no signed contract, he is probably trying to scare you into sending the money. Agreeing to buy shares over the phone is not binding. They can not prove who they were talking to, your kid or senile grandfather might have been talking to them. Deny you made the aggreement, a taped phone call is not proof. If you gave them no access information to your bank account, or any other form of over-the-phone payment. They don't have an agreement till they have your money. Google the name of the company, or the person you spoke to, information on investment fraud is usually on the web. Sometimes they use legitimate company names to make their offer sound legitimate. But you mail the payment to someone else. Call the company, tell them who you spoke to. They probably dont know him.