A new trend in consumer scams involves spam e-mails being sent with "hot stock alert" information. We received this example from a consumer earlier today regarding SMKG:

From: Micah Vazquez (MilesgoldbergWilcox @washingtonpost.com )
Date: Oct 18, 2007 7:06 AM
Subject: Watch This Emerging Growth Stock

SMKG IS GOING TO SOAR!
DO NOT MISS OUT!
WATCH IT ON FRIDAY OCT 19!

Company: SMART CARD MARKETING
Symbol: SMKG
Price: 0.007 (Up 40%!)
5-D Target: $0.07
30-D Target: $0.15

SMKG COULD GET YOU GAINS OF UP TO 2000% IN SHORT-TERM HOLDING!
THIS COMPANY IS SO STRONG AND UNDERVALUED THAT ONCE DISCOVERED A TAKEOVER BY A MAJOR CELL PHONE CARRIER SUCH AS AT&T IS VERY POSSIBLE!
ADD SMKG TO YOUR RADAR ON FRIDAY OCTOBER 19!

In this example, you can see the "From:" address appears to be a legitimate source (The Washington Post). However, after further investigation of the e-mail headers, we discovered the sender address was indeed spoofed.

The first rule of thumb about these "stock tip" scams is this: NEVER take investment advice from someone you do not know or have never met! These spam e-mails that arrive in your inbox are designed for one purpose; the person sending them usually invests some money in the stock (usually a penny stock) and then they send out the scam e-mail like the one above. When folks take the bait and buy a few shares, it sends the price up. The scammer then sells his shares, makes a profit, and the shares then tumble back down.

Guess who gets caught holding their shares after the tumble? The consumer who took the investment advice.

It is worth repeating, so we'll say it again. Never take investment advice from an unsolicited e-mail message! They are designed to try and tempt consumers looking to make a quick buck. Just hit delete!