Giving a professional authority over your investments can be a great way to make the most of your money. There is also the chance that your broker will misuse that power.
As an investor, you may be noticing some odd things happening. Don’t sit on suspicions that you may have.
Start looking for these signs that your broker may be committing fraud or abusing your investment:
- Your broker ignores your phone calls or emails
- Your broker tells you to ignore market news
- Your broker doesn’t give you important information concerning investment activity
- Your broker starts trading high-risk investments
- There is a dramatic drop in your stock value
- You’re losing money even when the market is doing well
- Your transaction statements don’t make sense or are unauthorized by you
- You find charges and credits on your account statements that you don’t recognize
- Reports from your broker don’t align with public announcements
Though these don’t always mean you have become a fraud victim, you should always get help from a legal professional if something feels wrong.
To prove fraud, you must show that your broker has been reckless or intentionally misrepresents your investment. You may have to provide actual evidence of that misrepresentation. Be sure that you save and make notes of all your conversations, attempts to contact and documents from your broker.
An attorney will be able to help you determine the type of fraud that may have been committed and obtain the evidence necessary to prove it. Don’t let yourself be taken advantage of or lose unnecessary money. If something seems wrong, you should always ask questions and investigate.