US regulators target securities fraud on social media sites

US regulators charged a financial adviser with trying to sell $500 billion-worth of fraudulent securities on LinkedIn, and issued an alert warning investors of a growing number of social media schemes.

The Securities and Exchange Commission also called on investment advisory firms to bring their anti-fraud monitoring systems up to date with the evolutions in online communication. The actions signal a determination of the SEC to pursue fraud on social media sites, and raise the stakes among the many investment firms who have been struggling to find the right technology to track their staff’s social network activity and comply with federal laws.