Answer:
a. The vehicle that is not used by criminals to commit online investment fraud against innocent investors is newspaper advertisements.
b. Yes it is legal provided the newsletters make known who paid for the advertising
Explanation:
a.
With the advent of the internet, most companies have opted to use social media and other internet related means to offer investment services to the public. This is both easy and convenient since one can use very minimal costs to reach a very large audience, however, this has also made it easier for online fraudsters who use online schemes to lure investors. It has become easier for criminals to open up a site that looks legitimate, and provide contact information then offer their fraudulent investment schemes to unsuspecting buyers. The can also use social media to lure in investors. This has been the most common tool that they use for their schemes, since knowing the true identity of a social media account holder is usually difficult. The perpetrators are thus almost impossible to track and held accountable. One way that one can avoid getting conned, is by using advertisement from newspapers. Investment opportunities from newspaper advertising is the longest form of advertising, and requires the one offering the investment opportunities to disclose some personal information about them. This makes it unreliable to fraudsters for use, thus rarely liable to investment fraud.
b.
Yes it is legal for companies to pay people who write online investment newsletters to tout the companies' security provided the newsletters make known who paid for the advertising. Companies that want to market their securities can make use of online investment newsletters to do so, and since the newsletters are providing the service of advertising on their behalf, they are liable to be paid. The only condition is that the newsletters have to disclose who paid for the advertising.
