The Securities and Exchange Commission today suspended securities trading of three companies that have been the subject of spam e-mail campaigns and promotional videos on YouTube. The videos often repeat information in the companies’ press releases and are posted to coincide with traditional spam e-mail campaigns, the SEC charged.
The Commission suspended NeoTactix, Graystone Park Enterprises, and Younger America, saying in addition the spam, each has inadequately disclosed its assets, business operations, and current financial condition. The trading suspensions will last for 10 business days, starting and terminating at 11:59 p.m., ET, on April 3, 2008. The Commission has not suspended trading in all of the stocks described in the promotional videos, it said in a release.
Through its Anti-Spam Initiative, the SEC has suspended trading in the securities of 50 companies and has brought several enforcement actions against spammers, promoters, and insiders. These latest three suspensions are the result of a coordinated effort between the SEC’s New York, Denver, and Washington D.C. offices.
The SEC’s Anti-Spam Initiative is now part of the microcap fraud working group recently formed within the Division of Enforcement.The SEC Division of Enforcement’s Online Complaint Center similarly indicates a 30% decrease in spam-related complaints during the same 12-month period, with complaints dropping from more than one million complaints during the final six months of 2006 to 727,313 during the first 6 months of 2007.
Moreover, while the Online Complaint Center received 166,741 complaints in February 2007 before the SEC unveiled its anti-spam initiative in March, the number of complaints about financial spam dropped to 67,785 last month - a nearly 60 % decrease.
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