Incidences of investment fraud appear to have increased over the past nine months, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
What is more, the companies behind that fraud have been predominantly based on the Gold Coast – albeit, often registered elsewhere in Australia.
ASIC and State and Territory police services have issued a warning about the increased incidences of fraud, warning that investors are being targeted all over the company.
It did so at the same time as obtaining orders against a Gold Coast company for operating an unlicensed financial services business.
According to ASIC, the fraudsters usually contact their victims by telephone and convince them to invest in schemes involving the purchase of shares or investment in index funds or currency trading schemes.
It said once an investment was made, the fraudsters provided access to a website that showed projected returns, however those returns were completely fictitious.
"These fraudsters operate without Australian financial services (AFS) licences and use false addresses and phone lines routed often to another address. In the vast majority of cases, investors lose all of their money," the ASIC warning said.
