The Alert Investor

EPISODE 07: FSI: Fraud Scene Investigator

A lifetime of  Hanna’s savings were about to vanish, but the quick actions of her FSI  or Fraud Scene Investigator granddaughter Kim, thwarted one con artist’s plans for her hard earned cash.

While the story between Hanna and her granddaughter Kim is fictional, the tale is all too familiar for investors losing billions of dollars each year to investment fraud.

More today on a new program tailored to teens, in this edition of the Alert Investor… brought to you by NASAA …the voice of state and provincial securities regulators.

Fraud affects countless investors…to combat this problem head-on, NASAA has joined forces with the Newspaper Association of America Foundation in launching “FSI: Fraud Scene Investigator.”

FSI is an interactive investor education program that teaches and empowers students to detect and stop investment fraud, using a resource they’re most familiar with—the Internet.

The FSI program teaches students how to:
>> Understand an investment account statement.
>> Examine a company’s stock chart and trading activity.
>> Research a brokerage company or individual broker.
>> Identify a common investment scam.

In the initial FSI program, titled “Suitable Investments,” students help uncover a million-dollar fraud in progress and put the mysterious con man, “Mr. X,” behind bars.

Students learn how to fight fraud firsthand by delving into newspaper stock tables, researching companies through online news sources, and deciphering the truth of an investment from fraudulent sales pitches.

To take this program to schools…we’re looking for a few good teachers to train FSI’s in their classrooms.  Thanks to the FSI Resource Guide for Teachers it’s a snap with pre- and post-program student assessment surveys, definitions of investment terms, quizzes, and tips on how to research companies, as well as what to look for in a company’s prospectus, and how to read a balance sheet. 

For more information on the Fraud Scene Investigator or FSI program … log onto  our website at  N  A  S  A  A  dot  O R G.

NASAA…. Because every investor deserves protection.