Investment
scams on the Internet falsely quote ICC
Paris, 8
September 1999 - As
the World Wide Web grows so does the number, ingenuity and variety of get-rich-quick
schemes offered on-line to unwary investors who all too often are lured into
buying bogus and worthless financial instruments.
The International Chamber
of Commerce is prominently quoted in several of these schemes to them give a
spurious authenticity. The terms and jargon used are of bewildering complexity,
apparently designed to impress and confuse the inexperienced.
ICC's International Secretariat
in Paris receives a steady flow of about 50 queries a month from would-be investors
who have seen the promotions and want to know whether they are genuine. Always
the answer is that ICC is in no way connected to these schemes and that they
could be fraudulent.
For years, incautious investors
and traders have fallen victim to fraudulent proposals involving paper documents
falsely said to originate with ICC or to be backed by ICC guarantees. Non-existent
ICC instruments frequently concern trading in currencies, commodities, gold
and financial instruments.
The latest of many dubious
offerings sighted on the web refers to Bank Debenture Trading programmes under
the heading: "An Introduction to the International Chamber of Commerce - How
the Rich Make Money."
The text appears to offer
risk-free high yield investment opportunities, asserting that these programmes
have been available for years, though they are not widely known.
The International Chamber
of Commerce makes rules for the conduct of trade, among them the uniform Customs
and Practice for Documentary Credits (UCP), whose current version is known as
UCP 500.
ICC wishes to make clear
that it does not issue or endorse any financial instruments that can be traded
nor does it provide guarantees for such instruments. Any attempt to connect
ICC to so-called investment schemes is fraudulent.