State warns investors to be aware of Ebola-related scams

The Colorado Securities Division on Friday cautioned investors to be aware of opportunistic Internet-based investment schemes related to Ebola, as the disease explodes in western Africa and appears in North America.

Nearly 1,200 domains were found with “Ebola” in their name, which have been registered with top-level domains, such as .com, .net, .org since April 2014, according to an analysis of Internet domain names by the North American Securities Administrators Association.

About 1,000 of those registrations have occurred in the last three months, according to the analysis.

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Most of the domain names are “parked” with no content, indicating that either someone has purchased the domain expecting to resell it, or that the content is not yet posted.

For instance, the following names have been registered: hotebolastocks.com; bestebolastocks.com; ebolafutures.com; ebolainvesting.com; ebolaoutbreakstocks.com; ebolastocks.com; and fundsforebola.com.

“Past experience tells us that periods of uncertainty or fear are prime time for con artists looking to make a quick score,” securities commissioner Gerald Rome said in a prepared statement. “Investors should approach with caution any unsolicited Ebola-related investment opportunities, especially those received through the Internet.”

Rome reminds investors that “pie in the sky promises of quick wealth generally are red flags signaling fraud ahead.”

He also urges individuals to contact the division to determine if both the promoter of the investment and the investment itself are licensed and registered. If not, they may be operating illegally. The division can be reached at 303-894-2320.